Open Thread – Weekend 18 Feb 2023


The White Horse, John Constable, 1819


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H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 12:22 am

Eh oh.

win
win
February 18, 2023 12:23 am

Number one.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
February 18, 2023 12:25 am

Easy does it…

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
February 18, 2023 12:43 am

Back in Brisbane.
Job done.

Late dinner: spirale pasta with Italian pork and fennel sausage, mushrooms, sage and sour cream (with half a cup of pasta cooking water). Plus a couple of hand sanitizers.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
February 18, 2023 1:46 am

Chris Kenny column very good on Vax mandates etc. Will be interesting to see how the comments go.

Read end of old thread for Janet A’s article about Senator Reynolds and the Higgins case.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 3:35 am

Time to get out the ol’ crystal ball and make a prediction. Prediction: Brittany will claim 1 or 2 Liar Ministers scalps. You want names? Let’s say Katy Gallagher as Minister of Finance and a roughie, kd wrong as Foreign Minister. You heard it first here. Don’t forget the Premium Subscriber option. Marty Armstrong eat your heart out. Earthquakes tomorrow!

Gabor
Gabor
February 18, 2023 3:55 am

Bourne1879 says:
February 18, 2023 at 1:46 am

Read end of old thread for Janet A’s article about Senator Reynolds and the Higgins case.

A very good read indeed. Thanks, Zulu, for posting BTW.
Proves that things are not always, if ever the way, they were presented at first.

Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:05 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:08 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:10 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:11 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:12 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:14 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:15 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:16 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:17 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:18 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:20 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:21 am
Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 4:22 am
Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 5:32 am
Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 5:38 am

We are governed by parasites who have never wanted for anything. Absolutely disgusts me how Lowe can casually countenance people losing their jobs to ‘bear down on inflation’. A problem that can easily be fixed with tax cuts, reduced immigration and affordable/reliable electricity- in other the problem is thanks to the pollimupputs and their pubic serpent controllers in the first place.

Gabor
Gabor
February 18, 2023 5:48 am

Miltonf says:
February 18, 2023 at 5:38 am

Politicians favour public servants and advisors who agree with their philosophy and advise accordingly.
Ever been thus.

Same with ‘experts’ in trials, why would you call someone who might prove you wrong?

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 6:32 am

Agree Gabor but I also believe a lot of destructive policy comes from the permanent govment in Canbra.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 6:38 am

Remember pubic Parkinson accused Abbott of ‘damaging’ the pubic service. Nothing about the country of course.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 18, 2023 6:41 am

Poor ol’ Linda “Cartman” Reynolds, eh?

I’m the victim here, and don’t you fergit it.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 7:09 am

Presumably Fahrenheit 451 would be too:

British gov’t: Reading Tolkien, Orwell, and CS Lewis are indicators of …

When I first saw these documents I felt a sort of white-hot anger. But then I read on and saw that these same taxpayer-funded fools provide lists of other books shared by people who have sympathies with the ‘far-right and Brexit’.

RICU warns that radicalisation could occur from books by authors including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aldous Huxley and Joseph Conrad. I kid you not, though it seems that all satire is dead, but the list of suspect books also includes 1984 by George Orwell.

There you go, if you read Lord of the Rings you are a far-right extremist.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 18, 2023 7:16 am

The NT jacks are now saying no bones (potentially belonging to Falconio) have been found, there’s no search underway, no nothing, and the initial reports to unimpeachable media outlets yesterday were ‘factually incorrect’.

This is guaranteed to send the conspiracy nuffers into turbo mode, despite claims like this – usually from clairvoyants or a mate of a mate – bubbling up every couple of years.

O jelly man, where art thou?

Black Ball
Black Ball
February 18, 2023 7:17 am

There was a discussion about mens only clubs this last week. Hun:

It’s probably the first selfie taken inside the Athenaeum Club toilets . . . and possibly the last.

In a photo likely to seriously raise the collective blood pressure of members, Brazilian-butt-lifted MAFS star Sarah Roza posted a “mirror selfie” from inside the female toilets.

Come again?

Since 1868, the private club at the Paris end of Collins St has been exclusively male.

The Athenaeum is one of several Melbourne clubs that continue to deny women as members, along with the Melbourne Club and the Melbourne Savage Club.

The reality-star-cum-influencer posted the bathroom selfie to social media because she thought the Athenaeum had changed its mind.

“Apparently females couldn’t attend because lots of secret men’s business was going on between the high flyers and the big decision makers of our country behind its very fancy doors on ritzy Collins St,” Roza declared.

“Last month they finally changed their longstanding club rules and the all-male members voted to accept women as equals.”

Page 13 was as much in shock as the members lunching on their cream of pumpkin soup (no solids).

Calls were duly made.

“There has been no vote, that is wrong,” said one member.

But there had been a “pivot” to more opportunities for members’ partners, or women guests to attend the club in some capacity.

“But this photograph will probably put back their cause to the 17th century,” laughed the member.

“There will be more wobbling bellies than there are breasts for the near future,” he cackled. (gasp, the misogyny!)

Another insider spoken to by Page 13 said it’s the younger members at the club who don’t want to allow women in.

He described them as “the third generation dickheads.”

Last year, a confidential survey commissioned by the Athenaeum’s 700 members found it was the young fogeys who were opposed to change.

It was not the first time the club has tested the female waters.

Former state Liberal Party director John Ridley resigned from the club in protest in 2009 after failing to open the Athenaeum to women.

Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel and ex-Collingwood president and broadcaster Eddie McGuire also pushed for change, but to no avail.

It’s no secret some of the more progressive and fiscally minded members think they are sitting on a wasted opportunity, or to be frank, a gold mine.

Last year, Melbourne missed out on global private members social club Soho House when a move to redevelop South Yarra’s Poolman House was rejected.

Some think the Athenaeum in Collins St would be the perfect alternative if it allowed female membership.

Nestled nearby is culinary king Chris Lucas’ broadening restaurant empire. Just this week he announced that the fit-out for his new French bistro Batard, at the old Society venue in Bourke St, was moving apace.

Meanwhile, the Athenaeum rooftop is considered one of the most prized pieces of hospitality real estate in the CBD.

“One of the old clubs will break ranks and that will be the end of it,” said an insider. “It will become the place to go. The Athenaeum is absolutely beautifully poised to go from regressing into the 1850s or going on to the 2050s.”

One Athenaeum member said club president Peter Brannighan (who declined to answer calls made at the front door at the club at 87 Collins St) is a stickler for tradition .

Members say he is unlikely to push for a vote to allow female members any time soon.

So, back to Roza, who declared “the times they are a changing.”

No. Not yet!

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
February 18, 2023 7:22 am

Poor Ol NutCase. I’m the idiot here, and don’t you forget it.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
February 18, 2023 7:25 am

Thanks ZK2A for posting the Janet A article.

Suispect Reynolds would be not so sympathetic to the poor “used” Knickerless in private.

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
February 18, 2023 7:26 am
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 7:30 am
Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 18, 2023 7:38 am

Story of the century, to date (the Tele):

‘A man who used four different aliases to donate sperm – fathering up to 60 children – was unmasked when parents attending a picnic unwittingly discovered most of their children looked the same.’

This is pretty good. But – wait for it:

‘The man donated to members of the LGBTQI community and it was at one of their support events that parents made the shocking discovery.’

Gold. Absolute gold. This bloke made a mint from flogging (fnarr) his taddies to turkey baster enthusiasts on the webs as well as through ‘official channels’. He’s an Indian fellow, and evidently all the muncher mummies got a bit suss when comparing all the half-Indian kids at the picnic.

Well done sir. Very well played indeed.

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
February 18, 2023 7:43 am

So, he was an Indian Peter Griffon?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 7:43 am

Andrea Widburg writing about our multitalented friend David Archibald:

A counterintuitive take on the risk that China poses to the world (16 Feb, via Lucianne)

Good stuff!

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 7:47 am

There was a discussion about mens only clubs this last week. Hun:

It’s probably the first selfie taken inside the Athenaeum Club toilets . . . and possibly the last.

In a photo likely to seriously raise the collective blood pressure of members, Brazilian-butt-lifted MAFS star Sarah Roza posted a “mirror selfie” from inside the female toilets.

Come again?

Since 1868, the private club at the Paris end of Collins St has been exclusively male.

The Athenaeum is one of several Melbourne clubs that continue to deny women as members, along with the Melbourne Club and the Melbourne Savage Club.

The reality-star-cum-influencer posted the bathroom selfie to social media because she thought the Athenaeum had changed its mind.

“Apparently females couldn’t attend because lots of secret men’s business was going on between the high flyers and the big decision makers of our country behind its very fancy doors on ritzy Collins St,” Roza declared.

“Last month they finally changed their longstanding club rules and the all-male members voted to accept women as equals.”

Page 13 was as much in shock as the members lunching on their cream of pumpkin soup (no solids).

Calls were duly made.

“There has been no vote, that is wrong,” said one member.

But there had been a “pivot” to more opportunities for members’ partners, or women guests to attend the club in some capacity.

“But this photograph will probably put back their cause to the 17th century,” laughed the member.

Meanwhile

From a ‘bone room’ to yoga: St Paul’s College journey on consent

When St Paul’s, the final male bastion among Sydney University’s residential colleges, opened its doors to women, the hope was for healthy interest from both genders. It got a stampede.

For many years, St Paul’s was an outlier among the colleges for refusing to accept girls at undergraduate level.

However Further down in that Article

Women’s and Sancta Sophia Colleges will remain single-sex. Said Donnelly: “Ultimately, our strength lies in being a women’s college. Our point of difference would be lost.

“There’s still a great attraction for women in living together. Not because they are hiding from anything. There are certain benefits, such as access to leadership roles. Women have had the choice [of co-ed at Sydney University] for years, but we still have a great attraction.”

What’s Good for the Goose is NOT Allowed for the Gander

Again I ask the Question – “Why do Women/Females always want to shut down Male Single Sex Schools, Colleges & Men’s Clubs – yet are allowed to have Single-Sex Female Institutions?”

calli
calli
February 18, 2023 7:51 am

Thanks for posting the Reynolds story Zulu. An interesting read. So much for the Sisterhood.

I couldn’t help but think of Kitching also. But dead women tell no tales.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 7:57 am

It’s just like Scouts which allows girls but guides don’t allow boys. Part of the war against men and boys

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 7:59 am

The men hating carpet munching branch of cultural Marxism

Black Ball
Black Ball
February 18, 2023 8:01 am

Bolt yesterday I think, although he normally has his column on Thursday. Anyhoo:

Suddenly the battle for our future is today. Will the Albanese government wake up from its anti-gas and anti-coal madness, or give in to the Greens’ crazy ultimatum?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has looked like an excited child driving a Ferrari at high speed on a dark mountain road.

Does he have any idea what he’s doing? Will he take us all over the cliff with him?

Nothing Albanese has done has been so potentially disastrous as his meddling with our gas industry.

Even Japan is warning Albanese to pull up. One of our biggest industries is being destroyed, and we risk crippling gas shortages next year.

Australia has a gas industry only because big multinationals thought Australia safe enough to risk vast amounts of money to find gas and develop it.

For example, Japan’s Inpex spent $30bn on one project off the West Australian coast, and to raise that money it had to guarantee supply contracts.

Around Australia, it’s a similar story. Companies invested huge money in gas (and coal and oil), assuming our governments wouldn’t suddenly change the rules, steal their stuff, or force them to break contracts.

But that, unbelievably, is exactly what Albanese and his ministers are doing, with a holy light of global warming in their eyes. Let me list their blundering.

One, this government declared it didn’t really want fossil fuels long-term.

Two, it said big gas companies must slash global warming emissions by five per cent each year under what’s called the Safeguard Mechanism. The cost will be huge.

Three, the government handed $10m to the Environment Defenders Office, which fights big gas projects of companies such as Woodside Energy and Santos.

Four, the government said, oops, we’re already short of cheaper gas for Australia, and told gas companies to sell us more of their supplies and at a cheap price this year, and a “reasonable” price after that.

And five, as of April 1, the government says it will decide every three months whether to stop or limit exports of gas if Australia doesn’t have enough. It could even force gas companies to break their contracts.

To that, add the damage from global warming hysterics in state governments. Just this week, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean promised to ban offshore coal, oil and gas production.

What’s more, the Federal Court even froze a $5bn gas project in the Timor Sea because Santos didn’t consult a traditional owner on the Tiwi Islands, more than 100km away.

Japan, which has sunk many tens of billions of dollars into projects here, is horrified by Australia’s suicidal madness. Its prime minister rushed here to ask Albanese to promise not to disrupt Japan’s supplies.

You might think upsetting Japan is no big deal – hey, Australian gas for Australians – but the result could be no Australian gas for anyone.

Energy expert Saul Kavonic, of Credit Suisse, says gas companies were now “treating Australia like a Venezuela, or Argentina or the Middle East or Africa because of the sovereign risk”, and pulling their investments.

Senex Energy has already scrapped a $1bn investment. Cooper Energy put off a decision on an offshore gas project in the Otway Basin. Energy giant Woodside warned it would struggle to justify exploring for more gas off Victoria.

But Kavonic says more worrying are the decisions by the big investors we don’t hear about.

“The investment that’s stopping is happening silently … They are not announcing it, they are not picking a fight, they are simply putting capital elsewhere.”

Kavonic warns the result could be acute shortages of gas next year on Australia’s east coast.

That’s why Albanese now faces a moment that could decide his government’s fate – and Australia’s.

The Opposition says it will vote against Albanese’s new Safeguard Mechanism plan, because consumers will be hit with the extra costs.

That leaves Albanese needing the Greens’ votes in the Senate to get it through, but the Greens – seemingly insane – say they won’t pass it unless Albanese bans all future coal and gas projects.

Ominously, Resources Minister Chris Bowen suggested on Wednesday he was open to compromise.

Any compromise would be just one more warning to investors in gas – or coal or oil – that their money is not safe or welcome here.

How pure Albanese’s new green Australia will then be. And how very poor.

And a final sick twist: none of this will make any detectable difference to the planet’s temperature. All Albanese’s pain is for absolutely nothing.

132andBush
132andBush
February 18, 2023 8:03 am

. He’s an Indian fellow, and evidently all the muncher mummies got a bit suss when comparing all the half-Indian kids at the picnic.

Well they would go down that root.

min
min
February 18, 2023 8:06 am

This week I sent a letter to the Chair of our OCC giving him a lawyer’s advice that if all the members had signed his 16 page letter to me whether they had read it or not they were culpable also for the libellous accusations made about me but offering that I would accept a letter of apology . No acknowledgement as yet in the meantime I was not well , fatigue , feeling nausea, and unable go stand or walk after being up As I have been
Overworking since last July researching , investigating bullying of the above Chair re putting all the costs of the recladding and building defects rectification on residents who only have 24% of the building while owner of Retirement Village owns 76% and benefits . I have evidence galore on misrepresentation , demeaning and pejorative statements made at meetings the list goes on . I thought therefore BP might be up but no low under 100
Doctor visited and diagnosed a medication problem and took me off one pill and sent me for blood tests. She also saw the black mould in my apartment an and as she has patients from here so knows what is going on so have asked if necessary for a stress report if needed. Feeling better today altho pharmicist friend said it could take a week.

Indolent
Indolent
February 18, 2023 8:10 am

Outstanding article from Bad Cattitude.

nothing is obvious to scared people

and make no mistake, they 100% knew better.

being overly trusting and fooled by them is one thing, but for they themselves to do it was utterly reprehensible.

this was not public health, it was product advertising based on known and knowably false premises.

there is just no other way to spin it.

they deliberately changed the definitions of everything to push this narrative.

it was not an accident.

this was a campaign.

the “experts” that have been working you over for 3 years were not experts in drugs, epidemiology, biology, immunology, or some other germane field.

they were experts at manipulation, at nudges, at propaganda.

and they have had a field day telling it like it ain’t to take the world on an unprecedented joy ride of hassle and harm.

we have not seen the last of them and rest assured, they will find a way to try this again.

and then as in 2020, fear will be their weapon.

fear will be the mind killer they use to run roughshod over rationality and turn the demos once more into the mob.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 8:11 am

Absolutely disgusts me how Lowe can casually countenance people losing their jobs to ‘bear down on inflation’. A problem that can easily be fixed with tax cuts, reduced immigration and affordable/reliable electricity- in other the problem is thanks to the pollimupputs and their pubic serpent controllers in the first place.

No, as Friedman said ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’.

The root causes of inflation today are fiat currency and the welfare state. Governments can produce Fiat currency out of thin air at virtually no cost, so they do. They then use it to buy votes and line their own pockets and ‘not one citizen in a hundred’ can see what they are doing.

There were centuries in the past where prices really didnt rise at all because they used sound money (gold and silver) which was expensive to produce. Fast forward to the last hundred years where the creation of central banks and the disconnection from the gold standard means 95% of the value of even mainstream currencies like the USD, AUD and the GBP have been lost due to inflationary printing.

The only cure to this is the collapse of the current fiat currency system, the end of the welfare state and the return to sound money. Sadly, things have to get a lot worse before we see that.

My solution: guns gold and bitcoin.

Entropy
Entropy
February 18, 2023 8:16 am

I can well believe Reynold’s side of the story. That email is pretty conclusive.

That said, Reynold’s lack of ability as defence minister is underlined by how good a job Dutton did after.

Entropy
Entropy
February 18, 2023 8:20 am

Interest rates were far too low for far too long.

The return of interest rates to the real value of money is something that has long had to happen eventually. The loss of jobs and failing mortgages is the result of undervaluing money for too long, not the corrective action returning to real prices.

Crossie
Crossie
February 18, 2023 8:24 am

RICU warns that radicalisation could occur from books by authors including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aldous Huxley and Joseph Conrad. I kid you not, though it seems that all satire is dead, but the list of suspect books also includes 1984 by George Orwell.

Of course the little people will not be allowed to read 1984, our rulers are using it as a “how to” manual.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 8:24 am

And in more ‘low intensity heatwave’ apocalypse listen to the voice how dare you news: todays forecast temperature in Sydney will be 31C, a temperature never before exceeded in the last 400 days.

Translation – its summer again in Sydney, same as last year.

duncanm
duncanm
February 18, 2023 8:26 am

Subtle hit job on Avi Yemeni this weekend in Fairfax.

Every figure he’s associated with is ‘far right’, but critic Andy Meddick, from the Victorian Animal Justice Party with two transgender kids, is just “Andy Meddick”.

Clown world.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 18, 2023 8:30 am

two transgender kids

Even if you are into all that, this is a statistical impossibility.

Crossie
Crossie
February 18, 2023 8:35 am

Entropy says:
February 18, 2023 at 8:20 am
Interest rates were far too low for far too long.

The return of interest rates to the real value of money is something that has long had to happen eventually. The loss of jobs and failing mortgages is the result of undervaluing money for too long, not the corrective action returning to real prices.

Things are far worse now then in the 80s when real estate prices rose but so did wages and salaries in step with them. Most people who got a mortgage knew that within a certain time both the value of their property and their pay will put them in safer territory. I knew a crash was coming when prices went up but not people’s earnings or at least nowhere near the real estate prices and the sole reliance was on low interest rates. I blame some of this on the financial industry who kept their mouths shut for the most part.

The other people hugely responsible are our politicians who allowed the enormous migrant intake, the builders and developers simply took advantages of Canberra’s crimes.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 8:36 am

FYI for KIA & Hyundai Owners

https://www.drive.com.au/news/hyundai-and-kia-hit-with-class-action-engine-fires-failures-500000-cars-affected/

While the applicants will be represented by Johnson Winter Slattery, the class action is being funded by London-based legal organisation Woodsford.

In a media statement, Woodsford claims Hyundai and Kia were aware of engine defects as far back as 2015.

Woodsford – Kia Engine Class Action

Action no. NSD 132 of 2023 in the Federal Court of Australia

On 15 February 2023, class action proceedings were commenced against Kia (the Australian entity, Kia Australia Pty Ltd, and its South Korean parent, Kia Corporation) in the Federal Court of Australia in relation to defective engines in various Kia vehicles sold in Australia from 2011 to date. The proceedings are funded by UK-based litigation funder Woodsford and Johnson Winter Slattery have been retained to act as solicitors for the applicants in the proceedings.
Case summary

The Kia Engine Class Action alleges that numerous vehicles sold by Kia in Australia since 2011 were sold with engines that were manufactured and/or designed defectively and, as result, have the propensity to exhibit faults, including:

knocking or tapping sounds;
internal damage to the engine;
increased oil and/or fuel consumption;
sudden loss of power (including while driving) and engine failure;
the emission of smoke from the engine compartment; and/or
in some cases, fire.

If you purchased or leased one of the vehicles mentioned below, with a 4-cylinder Theta II MPI, Theta II GDI, Gamma II GDI or Nu GDI petrol engine, after 1 January 2011, you may be a group member in the Kia Engine Class Action, and may be entitled to damages or compensation. If you think you may be a group member, you can register using the form below.
Is my car affected?

Vehicles affected include certain variants of the following model lines:
Model Model year
Rio 2012-16
Cerato and Cerato Koup 2009-current
Optima 2011-20
Stinger 2018-current
pro_cee’d 2014-15
Seltos 2020-current
Sportage 2010-21
Sorento 2010-12
Rondo 2014-18

Further details regarding the Kia Engine Class Action, including a more detailed list of affected vehicles, will be available on this website in the coming weeks – please check back again soon.
Register now

Please fill out the form below to register your interest and provide vehicle details for the Kia Engine Class Action. This will make it easier for us to contact you and provide you updates and notices in relation to the action.

Contact details

Interesting Mate in the UK invests Funding Class Action Cases & from Memory Woodford Class Actions are one of the Group Class Actions he invests in.

Indolent
Indolent
February 18, 2023 8:36 am

Pretty out there but so is the whole “Great Reset” “One World Government” thing which, unfortunately is being seriously tried. This is an attempt to specify the means. It may sound a bit lunatic but then that’s exactly what our current masters are – lunatics.

Chinese spy balloons, UFOs, Project Blue Beam and the New World Order

Johnny Rotten
February 18, 2023 8:36 am

A Husband was fixing a door and he found that he needed a new hinge, so he sent the wife, Mary Louise, to the hardware store. At the hardware store Mary Louise saw a beautiful teapot on a top shelf while she was waiting for Joe the Storekeeper to finish waiting on a customer. When Joe was finished, Mary Louise asked how much for the teapot? Joe replied “That’s silver and it costs $100!” “My goodness that sure is a lotta money!” Mary Louise exclaimed. She then proceeded to describe the hinge that her husband had sent her to buy, and Joe went to the backroom to find a hinge. From the backroom Joe yelled “Mary Louise, you wanna screw for that hinge?’ To which Mary Louise replied “No, but I will for the teapot”.

Johnny Rotten
February 18, 2023 8:37 am

Drink is the only opponent I have been unable to beat.

– George Best

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 8:39 am

And right on cue, Daniel McAdams on Lew Rockwell today:

Government spending money that it doesn’t have, that the Federal Reserve counterfeits, causes prices to soar. While dollars lose their value, the idea of an arbitrary and undefinable “living wage,” can seem attractive. After all, who doesn’t want “free” money? But government spending even more money that it doesn’t have, that the Fed counterfeits, would only drive up prices even further. The government’s ‘solution’ to the problem the government created, would only create bigger problems!

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 8:43 am

Ford Halts Production of Its F-150 ‘E’ Truck, but Don’t Worry – It’s Just a Problem With the Battery

Recently, California’s hair gel king and ethically challenged governor gleefully noted that the EU was following California’s lead and would ban all manufacturing of gas-powered cars passed 2035. Gavin Newsom is running for president soon and wants you to know that he is leading the world in happy talk and things that make no sense.

Does Gavin mean that Europe will soon be covered in human poop, littered with used needles, with homeless on every street and highway, and every park will be a tent city shanty with an overburdened electrical grid? That doesn’t sound all that enticing, Gov Hairgel.

As Newsom was announcing California’s push to cripple the power grid during future summers, Ford Motor Company is shutting down its production of the F-150 E paperweights. Ford announced that it was just one battery, that they identified the problem and are working to fix it.

In a recent moment of lucidity (though it was mocked with laughter during the State of the Union), Biden admitted that the nation would be dependent on oil for at least 10 years. More like 100 years or more. E vehicles look great in commercials but they cannot fill the need for commercial vehicles or long-range trips or ships, in the foreseeable future. And it’s clear that once drivers run out of battery power like a dimming light on a dark night, you are stuck, not for minutes to fill a tank with gas, but maybe for hours as you plug in (if you can plug in)..

Although Ford’s production line was shut, it claimed its battery-driven trucks presently on the road are safe and fully charged:

Someone should tell this guy: – “How’s your day going? “

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 8:50 am

Landmark Study Vindicates Everyone Who Touted Natural Immunity to COVID-19

We are going to need a new industry that simply spends its time fact-checking the so-called “fact-checkers.”

That’s the story after a new landmark study published in The Lancet offered vindication to everyone who touted natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination.

For years, the powers that be, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House, and the press, dismissed the idea of taking natural immunity into account when debating vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

They were wrong, so much so that even the mainstream media are having to admit it.

Eli Klein
@TheEliKlein
An incredible visual in The Lancet proving that prior Covid infection confers better protection than vaccinations (It’s the longest line on these graphs). This should put the issue to rest once and for all.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 8:54 am

The many and varied benefits of Multikulti:

A professor of law at Melbourne University, Beth Gaze, says: “With the expansion of our subcontinental community I think it’s inevitable that caste discrimination is going to turn into a major problem in Australia.”

The Grauniad ( jargon alert! “intersentionality”)

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 8:56 am

If that $3m number is anything close to the truth Brittany has made off like a bandit. Her actual entitlement seems much closer to dollar zero. I suspect we’ll find out at some stage. She would be well advised not to tip it into Dumpy Dave’s defence.

Cassie of Sydney
February 18, 2023 8:56 am

Re. the Higgins miasma. Yes, Reynolds was a useless defense minister but she wasn’t the only useless minister in the Abbott/Turdbull and Morrison governments, however nobody deserved this and I’ll now give her some credit, she’s decided to speak up to tell her story. Good. Also, let’s give credit to Albrechtsen and The Oz for the journalism around this, they haven’t flinched. I’ve said from the first day this story emerged, that the Higgins affair was, like Pell, deliberately orchestrated, a hit job designed to rock and bring down the Morrison government. It worked a treat. I strongly suspect one of the chief ringleaders behind this was the vile Senator Wonk. I remember watching Wonk and the equally vile Senator Gallagher from the ACT interrogate Reynolds at the senate hearing, it was pretty disgraceful, Wonk and Gallagher were vicious to Reynolds and I thought at the time, what effing bitches. When Kitching died and the “mean girls” story was revealed in all its mean details, I can’t say I was surprised. Of course, don’t forget, there was another “mean girl” participant in the Higgins and Porter miasmas, the unlamented Senator Keneally. She’s now gonski, finally despatched by the sensible electors of Fowler and Ms Keneally has more pressing concerns, her son Daniel has been charged with a serious offense so, in the interests of subjudice I won’t make any further comment about Keneally junior’s guilt or innocence. All I’ll say is that Daniel Keneally, like Bruce Lehmann and George Pell, must be accorded the legal right of “innocent until proven guilty”. It’s just a pity Daniel’s own mother and her uber progressive friends in the Labor party, the Greens, the MSM, and on social media sewers didn’t accord that right to Pell, Lehmann and Porter.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 8:59 am

Having worked briefly there, the central bank is immensely – and I really mean extraordinarily – hierarchical, insular, supercilious, hubristic, resistant to outside influence, and exceptionally slow to recognise and respond to its own mistakes.

Philip Lowe must be replaced by an RBA outsider.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 9:02 am

… and I’ll now give her some credit, she’s decided to speak up to tell her story

I suspect her lawyer might be running things now. Like a postman being chased by a pitbull. I don’t think this is the last we have heard from Ms Reynolds.

Indolent
Indolent
February 18, 2023 9:04 am
feelthebern
feelthebern
February 18, 2023 9:04 am

The donor class wants a “safe” GOP nominee to run against a “safe” DNC candidate.
The whole process leading into 2024 should be viewed via that lens.

Safe = business as usual for the donor class.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 9:05 am

Newsmax Reporter Grills John Kirby on Biden’s Decision to Use $400,000 Missiles to Shoot Down Benign Objects (VIDEO)

You suspected Biden was a loon
Shooting missiles at stray balloons
Setting off explosions below the sea
to cut off gas to Germany
And Joe is needing of psychiatry
Before he launches World War III.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 9:06 am

That’s the story after a new landmark study published in The Lancet offered vindication to everyone who touted natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination.

If the real infection, and your natural, broadbased, multifaceted immune response to it doesn’t produce immunity, isolated exposure to one (obsolete) antigen via injection was never going to. This was blind freddy obvious from day one.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 9:06 am

Yep, the Mean Girls are front and centre to the Brittany debacle. One down, two to go.

Indolent
Indolent
February 18, 2023 9:07 am
Bourne1879
Bourne1879
February 18, 2023 9:11 am

Not had a chance to digest it all but more was added to the Reynolds/ Higgins article after I first read it last night.

So the question I have is to whom did the Carla Zampati jacket belong?

Either way good on Reynolds for telling her side. I did not realise she had been counted as a hostile witness during trial but had thought she would not be good for Higgins story. That also explains why Lisa Wilkinson did not and could not give evidence. Both were not helpful to Higgins version.

The way the case was politicised as a weapon against Reynolds and Coalition is evil. Reynolds could not win.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 18, 2023 9:12 am

The Kitching story is fascinating.
How did a Labor party grifter participate in the Victorian gravy train all her life, which was the reason she got the Senate gig, then when she gets to Canberra she starts to tap the brakes.

Rafiki
Rafiki
February 18, 2023 9:12 am

The Albrechsten story reveals that Reynolds claims that she afforded “agency” to Higgins by respecting her right to decide whether to report her allegations to the police, and that she had sought advice from Sex Discrimination Commissioner Jenkins. In March 2021 Jenkins said publicly that this policy followed a “victim-centred” policy.

In the context of a complaint having been made, this language clearly implies that the complaint was valid. This of course reverses the presumption of innocence. In relation to sexual offence trials it can and no doubt has led to false convictions.

Note too that by delaying complaint to the police, and vacillating about whether to proceed, Lehrmann was denied the opportunity to engage lawyers to gather evidence in denial of the charges. Did it ever occur to Reynolds that she should not have assumed that there was a valid reason to provide support to Higgins without at least telling Lehrmann of Higgins’ allegations? Or, as the tenor of her story suggests, did she assume that there had been a rape?
And, in all this bleating by Reynolds, there is no reported word of solace towards Lehrmann, but lots about Higgins was misused by media and Laborious.

shatterzzz
February 18, 2023 9:14 am

Drink is the only opponent I have been unable to beat.
– George Best

https://postimg.cc/qt2jnmWK

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 18, 2023 9:14 am

The Feds won’t solve the monetary policy dilemma until they can effectively control the profligate spending of state governments.
Lowe should have some power to reign in the debt driven political circus that Andrew’s has implemented. Why is there no debt ratio cap put upon states as they are supposedly the junior partners and rely on the commonwealth to access general taxation?
Andrews is running a rogue operation based on debt driven popularity that is underpinned by taking more and more of the state GDP under direct government control through wage or contract.
The commonwealth compact with states during covid clearly showed us that the arrangement favours the petty interests of the premiers and not the general good of the country.
A new arrangement is a must.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 9:19 am

So what did Reynolds do that was “wrong”? I would think there are a few questions to be answered inside the Dept of Finance at the moment.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 9:20 am

And in another example of Scott Adams ‘right for the wrong reasons’ news today:

The WSJ has a unique solution to combat inflation, By Rajan Laad
Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal carried a piece prescribing a practical solution to combat inflation.

Here’s the headline and its lede: To Save Money, Maybe You Should Skip Breakfast

For years, I was *never* hungry in the mornings, but forced down a ‘healthy breakfast – usually a grain based cereal – ‘to start the day off right’.

I gave it up when I went ‘carnivore’ because its not practical to grill a steak at 6am whilst getting ready for work. Amazingly, my health improved, I lost my mid morning hunger, and lost my hypertension, irritable skin and lungs and eczema- and 18kg.

In retrospect, it all makes sense – our caveman ancestors never had breakfast, they went to work on an empty stomach and ate mainly at night. Kellogs trained us to start the day with carbs in a box, which lead to an insulin spike and a ‘hungry growl’ by morning tea time (which a donut or cake sated for a few hours), and again at lunch, an mid afternoon etc etc etc.

Following the intent of our ancestral operating manual (no breakfast, most of the day without food, eat meat around a fire in the evenings) certainly improved my health and wellbeing. Amazingly, even the ‘health food companies’ dont seem to know this.

shatterzzz
February 18, 2023 9:20 am

The Kitching story is fascinating.
How did a Labor party grifter participate in the Victorian gravy train all her life, which was the reason she got the Senate gig, then when she gets to Canberra she starts to tap the brakes.

I don’t think she changed .. more the media needed something to stretch their clickbait headlines when she died “suddenly’ .. and it’s never , ever a media problem to find some, irrelevant, pollie/celebrity craving renewed, public, recognition to offer an opinion ……!

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 9:21 am

The Kitching story is fascinating.

Peanut Head’s mate.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 18, 2023 9:23 am

Code Pink pulls out of tomorrow’s anti war protest in DC.
Demonstrating what they have always been accused of (& clearly have been from the get go), a DNC front organisation.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 9:24 am

The CBO Exposes Biden’s $5.45 Trillion Lie

I & I Editorial Board
February 17, 2023

While spending the country into ruin, President Joe Biden likes to portray himself as a fiscal conservative who has cut the deficit in half in the past two years.

But a new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office shows just how big a lie this is — a 5 1/2 trillion dollar lie, to be exact.

During his State of the Union speech last week, Biden not only claimed that “my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion — the largest deficit reduction in American history,” he also claimed that he’s a miser compared to Donald Trump. “Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. … Nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone — the last one,” he said.

“They’re the facts. Check it out. Check it out.”

Well, we checked it out. And it is perhaps the most flagrant of all Biden’s lies. The evidence shows that Biden is, in fact, the most fiscally reckless president in history.

Days after Biden’s speech, the CBO released its latest 10-year forecast for the federal budget.

What it reveals is that Biden sharply increased the deficit last year, this year, and next year, and he has set the country on course to add a total of $5.45 trillion to the federal deficit over the following decade.

How do we know this? Because two years ago, when the CBO released its 2021 budget forecast, it did so before any of Biden’s policies had been enacted. That report assumed that the laws in place at the end of President Donald Trump’s term remained in effect for the next decade. So, it serves as a baseline against which we can measure the impact of Biden’s policies.

Here’s what the numbers show:

In January 2021, the CBO projected the federal red ink that year would be $2.3 trillion. The actual deficit was $2.8 trillion. For those math-challenged journalists who keep parroting Biden’s lie about cutting the deficit, that’s an increase of $517 billion.

He added $320 billion to the deficit in 2022, and will add $447 billion this year, CBO data show.

And, if Biden’s policies are left in place through 2031, deficits will be $5.45 trillion higher than they would have been had Trump’s policies remained in effect. (See the chart at the top of the page.)

You can’t blame the exploding deficit on the Trump tax cuts. Before Biden took office, the CBO’s “baseline” forecast for total federal revenues over the next decade was $49 trillion. Now it’s $55 trillion. That’s a $6 trillion increase.

You can’t blame the exploding deficit on the economy, either. The CBO’s current forecast for economic growth over the next decade is actually slightly higher than it was when Biden took office.

No. The massive increase in deficits under Biden has one cause and one cause only: spending. Biden’s policies from just his first two years are projected to increase federal spending from 2022-2031 by an eye-popping $12 trillion, the CBO data show.

No matter what the Gaslighter in Chief says, these are the facts, folks.

When it comes to the deficit, the only thing Biden has achieved is to dig the nation so deep into a hole that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to climb out.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 9:26 am

Farmer Gez says:
February 18, 2023 at 9:14 am

The Feds won’t solve the monetary policy dilemma until they can effectively control the profligate spending of state governments.

Lowe should have some power to reign in the debt driven political circus that Andrew’s has implemented.

Another huge-money PR job in Daniel Andrews already huge marketing machine

Big_Nambas
Big_Nambas
February 18, 2023 9:30 am

Staff at TrialSite | Quality Journalism
Feb. 17, 2023, 2:00 a.m.

The State of Florida’s health agency, called Florida Health, has issued an urgent health alert associated with the COVID-19 vaccination program. The agency reports disturbing increases in safety signals associated with mass COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and now calls for absolute transparency among healthcare providers—they should notify patients of these risks.

The agency reports that the mass vaccination scheme was a series of countermeasures as part of a national public health emergency: “The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges that the health and medical field have never encountered.” Now, the State Surgeon General believes with unfolding data (depicted in the chart below) that adaptive policy making, programs, and procedures may be in order.
What’s Causing the Alert?

The State Surgeon General reports “a substantial increase in Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports from health centers and facilities in Florida after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.”

The state’s health agency reports the following:

1,700% increase in VAERS reports post the release of the COVID-19 vaccines
400% increase in overall vaccine administration for the same time period
4,400% increase in life-threatening conditions (novel increase not seen during the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign)

https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/florida-health-issues-urgent-health-alert-identifying-disturbing-safety-signals-linked-to-covid-19-mrna-vaccination-8d52c3b7

bespoke
bespoke
February 18, 2023 9:30 am
Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
February 18, 2023 9:30 am

In Hmmm, Nobody Is Talking About It news:

Jack Posobiec
@JackPosobiec

Biden distracted you with all the UFO still while this story quietly dropped in the background

And no one is talking about it

Well, nobody except:

The New York Times
The Financial Times
Bloomberg
The Guardian
CBS
Etc etc
And all of the Australian media…

[Pro Tip: Goggle can sometimes be your friend.]

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 9:31 am

No, as Friedman said ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’.

No. There were massive deficits when Trump was prez and because the real economy was strong inflation was not a problem.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 9:34 am

insular, supercilious, hubristic, resistant to outside influence, and exceptionally slow to recognise and respond to its own mistakes.

yes that’s certainly the vibe I picked up- a club for the ‘in ‘ people, the ‘official family’ as Brian Toohey called them. People with pee haitch dees and first class honours in bullsh*t.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 18, 2023 9:34 am

School library discards outdated and offensive books on colonisation
Adam Carey
By Adam Carey
February 18, 2023 — 5.00am

Dozens of 20th century non-fiction titles deemed historically inaccurate or offensive have been removed from the Northcote High School library as part of a push to decolonise the school’s book collection.

Texts that refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as nomads or hunter-gatherers, or that depict European colonisation as peaceful and omit reference to frontier conflict, are among those that were cut from the school’s collection.

The audit resulted in 36 books being removed from the library and a further 12 titles being filed under a new restricted category.

Victoria’s school librarians’ association, which is developing a “diversity toolkit” for schools seeking to update their collections, said Northcote had set an example for other schools to follow. Northcote has also encouraged other schools to follow its lead.

The large government school in Melbourne’s north leaned heavily on the guidance of Dr Al Fricker, a Dja Dja Wurrung man and expert in Indigenous education with Deakin University, in auditing all 7000 titles on its library shelves.

Some of the books removed were almost 50 years old and were simply gathering dust anyway, Fricker said.

“A lot of them had been on the shelves basically untouched and unborrowed for well over 10 years. There were a couple that hadn’t been touched since the mid ’90s,” he said.

“We wouldn’t accept science books being that old in the library, so why do we accept other non-fiction books to be that old, because nothing is static?”

Some of the discarded books contained offensive or outdated terminology to refer to First Nations. Others were removed because they promoted heroic stereotypes of colonialist settlers but overlooked the frontier wars.

The books that were drawn out during the audit were divided into three categories: those that were old but accurate and still fit for the collection; those that were deemed inappropriate for a school library and removed; and a third category of books that, although problematic, contained unique material that could not easily be sourced elsewhere.

These books were kept in the collection but flagged as restricted, with a blurb explaining why.

“It just means that [students] don’t just accept those books at face value and take them as gospel, but they are able to critically engage with them and recognise that in some ways they are quite valuable, but in other ways they’re also problematic,” Fricker said.

Several contemporary titles on Indigenous issues have also been added to the school’s collection.

Northcote High librarian Richard Smallcombe said the school was inspired by a Queensland school that undertook a similar audit. Diana Blyton, a member of his team, approached Dr Fricker for guidance.

Each morning, Blyton combed through the school’s non-fiction collection, taking out books with Indigenous content for evaluation.

Dr Fricker would visit weekly and go through each title with staff, judging them for accuracy, authenticity and language.

“Titles that we found did not meet our criteria were deleted and some titles that did not meet the criteria but we wanted to keep them for historical purposes were archived,” Smallcombe said.

“By going through this process, which did take a fair bit of time, we now have an Indigenous collection that is relevant to staff and students and provides them with a wide range of titles on a number of different subjects.”

Books were assessed to make sure they were predominantly written by First Nations people, or had First Nations people working or authorising them and did not use outdated images or inappropriate language such as “aborigines”.

Cataloguing and spine labels with the three-letter categorisation ABO were also removed.

When adding titles, books about the immediate community – in Northcote’s case the Wurundjeri and Victorian Koori people and cultures – were given priority.

Northcote High principal Chris Jones said inclusivity was important to the school.

“Our library audit is part of the work that ensures that all of our students, including our Indigenous students, can access a culturally appropriate and safe library,” he said.

The audit has caught the attention of other teacher-librarians, Susan La Marca, the School Library Association of Victoria’s executive officer, said. In many cases, outdated non-fiction books remain in a school library because of a lack of resources, she said.

“Anyone worth their salt recognises libraries have got to have accurate information, and they do their very best to,” La Marca said. “Most school libraries are very happy to get rid of the old and bring in the new, but often they’re constrained by other factors like funding.”

La Marca said schools also used digital resources to provide students with accurate and up-to-date reading materials on Indigenous issues.

What comes next, burning such books?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 9:35 am

flyingduk says:
February 18, 2023 at 9:20 am

In retrospect, it all makes sense – our caveman ancestors never had breakfast, they went to work on an empty stomach and ate mainly at night. Kellogs trained us to start the day with carbs in a box, which lead to an insulin spike and a ‘hungry growl’ by morning tea time (which a donut or cake sated for a few hours), and again at lunch, an mid afternoon etc etc etc.

Following the intent of our ancestral operating manual (no breakfast, most of the day without food, eat meat around a fire in the evenings) certainly improved my health and wellbeing. Amazingly, even the ‘health food companies’ dont seem to know this.

flyingduk.

I am doing that at the moment

My wife would not have a hope – if she hasn’t had Bacon & Eggs before Tennis on a Tuesday she feels lethargic and she cannot, having had breakfast, go past 2pm without having food

I am lucky, can handle no food till after 5pm easily, with just 2 Long Blacks and water.

Off Grog for a couple of weeks to give the body a break, but have bought some good reds in last week, and tossing up on buying Penfolds St Henri and Bin 28 exclusive six-bottle offer Members Offer of 3 x ST HENRI SHIRAZ 2017 AND 3 x BIN 28 SHIRAZ 2019 OFFER for $425

shatterzzz
February 18, 2023 9:36 am

That’s the story after a new landmark study published in The Lancet offered vindication to everyone who touted natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination.

Always fascinated with the yes & no tales I read about the VAX .. I’ve never commented on either the for or against arguments for the simple reason that although I’m in my mid 70s and, supposedly, vulnerable
I never considered having the VAX cos I never bought into the hype, felt or got sick enuf to worry .. sniffles/sore throats/flu they come and go, every year but I’m still here! ..
I had enuf needles during chemo to last two lifetimes ….. FFS!

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 18, 2023 9:42 am

All I’ll say is that Daniel Keneally, like Bruce Lehmann and George Pell, must be accorded the legal right of “innocent until proven guilty”.

Very generous of you Cassie, because it must be said that the evidence against Keneally is far stronger than that against Pell and Lehrmann, to the point where the NSW Government has already paid out against a wrongful imprisonment claim.

shatterzzz
February 18, 2023 9:43 am

La Marca said schools also used digital resources to provide students with accurate and up-to-date reading materials on Indigenous issues.

And these are the same folk who believe “Dark Emu” is non fiction! .. sez it all really ….!

Dot
Dot
February 18, 2023 9:43 am

KD

Any chance of a 1989 Toyota Corolla up your way? A red one, if you can.

The stupid German parts are getting too expensive.

Dot
Dot
February 18, 2023 9:45 am

Miltonf says:
February 18, 2023 at 9:31 am
No, as Friedman said ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’.

No. There were massive deficits when Trump was prez and because the real economy was strong inflation was not a problem.

It was a problem. Trump’s agenda didn’t get through fully, did it?

It was mitigated, but it was still a problem.

duncanm
duncanm
February 18, 2023 9:45 am

I’m getting a bit hooked on this Bald Eagle webcam in Big Bear, outside San Bernadino.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 9:46 am

I never worked for either Treasury or the RBA but the reputation of both (like practically every institution you care to name) has declined since I first graduated in the late 80s. As an Econs graduate the RBA was the top of the tree, as a general grad possibly Macquarie, Shell or QANTAS. One employer for life would generally be a cause for concern, although I know 3 personally – one the WA managing partner of a top tier law firm and two in-house for WA govt departments. Now nearing 30+ years in the workforce.

Dot
Dot
February 18, 2023 9:49 am

Newsom v Haley in 2024

The donor class, super delegates, PACs & Nat’l Cttee’s won’t have it any other way.

duncanm
duncanm
February 18, 2023 9:50 am

In retrospect, it all makes sense – our caveman ancestors never had breakfast, they went to work on an empty stomach and ate mainly at night.

dingo’s breakfast. A piss and a good look around.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 9:52 am

The Feds won’t solve the monetary policy dilemma until they can effectively control the profligate spending of state governments.

They can do so via the Loan Council, but since it in practice consists of the Commonwealth and state treasurers, it could be seen as putting hte foxes in charge of the chicken coop.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
February 18, 2023 9:53 am

Each morning, Blyton combed through the school’s non-fiction collection, taking out books with Indigenous content for evaluation.

Dr Fricker would visit weekly and go through each title with staff, judging them for accuracy, authenticity and language.

The authentic Dr Fricker.

Dot
Dot
February 18, 2023 9:54 am

https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/money-supply-m0

This chart is more important than any opinion piece you may have read since Christmas on economics.

The cash “high powered money” base has virtually tripled since the COVID issue was weaponised as a cudgel to implement authoritarianism in Australia.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 9:57 am

No, as Friedman said ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’.

No. There were massive deficits when Trump was prez and because the real economy was strong inflation was not a problem.

1)’Slowly then quickly’? H/T Hemmingway.
2) The Cantillon Effect means the newly printed money goes into a narrow part of the economy first – in the West that was into the property market, and the financial market (shares etc) first, only now is it ‘trickling down’ into energy, food and other everyday items.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 18, 2023 9:58 am

I’m not too worried about the dying Indian caste system as we’ve introduced our own caste of expert science Brahmins whose wisdom and position is unquestionable for the common folk.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 18, 2023 10:01 am

Dot:

It’s my last day in Mongyang today – come the morn, I’m rolling with the hound to Port Augusta, and north from there.

89 Corollas shouldn’t be too hard to find up there. Probably get a couple of free ‘silver pillows’ in the footrests as well.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 10:01 am

‘Sorry, Sorry, Sorry’ Review: You Cannot Grovel Enough

Never mind the importance of forgiveness, just leverage your hurt feelings to make life miserable for those of whom you disapprove.

Why is it that so many apologies ring hollow? Instead of bringing healing and solace, hapless attempts to express regret just make things worse. Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy—whose website SorryWatch provides a running study of bad apologies—have some ideas. They’ve brought those ideas together in “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies.”

Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy propose six simple steps to “great apologies.” The first step is simply to say, “I’m sorry”; the second, to say what one is sorry for. The third step is to acknowledge why what one did was bad. Four, make no excuses; five, promise not to do it again. Six, offer to make things right. “In a world that desperately needs more kindness and respect,” they write, “apologizing is a concrete way to provide those things.”

Sound advice, no doubt. But anyone who has followed the authors’ postings will know that kindness is not exactly at the top of the agenda at SorryWatch.

The authors enjoy clumsy and inept apologies far more than socially successful ones. After all, bad apologies are a sort of moral slapstick, full of pratfalls and comic humiliations

Thus throughout “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry,” Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy delight in the “delicious” spectacle of the rich and famous making fools of themselves. They flay, among others, Reese Witherspoon and Jerry Lewis, Sharon Stone and Lena Dunham, Chris Brown and Mario Batali. Each of them has, in one way or another, groveled with embarrassment or tardy contrition—for infractions major and minor—and have made a dog’s breakfast of their apologies, tainting them with displays of vanity, condescension or cluelessness.

And why not enjoy the spectacle? Celebrity misbehavior is hardly above reproach. But executioners—even when the condemned are about to lose their livelihoods, not their lives—should be wary not to enjoy their task too much. Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy don’t seem to be too concerned about overdoing the whole Schadenfreude business. An “online pile-on is fabulous barn-burning fun when a famous person deserves it,” they enthuse. “It can be super-fun to pillory someone.”

So much for kindness.

Of course, there is more to feeling regret and wanting to get it off one’s chest than theatrical gestures—which may be why we’ve had so many books on the topic in recent years: among others, “A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right,” “The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can’t Stop Saying It” and “Sorry About That: The Language of Public Apology.”

It says something about our cultural moment that so much regret seems required of us—and so much instruction seems needed.

Apologies are often offered not just for their own sake but in the hope that they will elicit forgiveness from the person injured or from the community that has taken offense. But Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy harrumph at the impulse to forgive, especially when it is recommended by religion:

“In pretty much any faith tradition you might ascribe to, the pressure to forgive is generally a big honking deal,” they say with typical subtlety, adding: “Religious traditions tend to valorize forgiveness when not encouraging an eye for an eye and/or some nice recreational stoning.”

For the authors, religious scruple just compounds the suffering of people “who have been wronged and legitimately don’t want to or aren’t able to forgive.”

In an article last year in the New Yorker on the authors and their website, Jill Lepore lamented the internet’s unforgiving response to trespass: “You must apologize according to my rules for apology,” she wrote, summarizing the outlook. “If you do, I may forgive you. If you don’t, I will punish you, and damn you unto eternity.” It’s an attitude that, regrettably, suffuses “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry.”

There can indeed be a strange potency to feeling aggrieved and demanding contrition—if not abasement—from others. “The person apologizing has to voluntarily give up some of their power,” the authors say. Those who forgive squander the opportunity to snatch up the power that the supplicant has surrendered. Why would anyone, Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy suggest, ever want to do that?

The message is: Leverage your status as the wounded party and use your hurt feelings to make life miserable for those of whom you disapprove.

The comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla has observed that demanding an apology is “an exercise in strength. It’s me saying I have dominion over you. I control you.”

People “don’t even want the apology. They want the power of coercing the apology.” Mr. Carolla was speaking, with disapproval, of the role that apology plays in cancel culture, the modern practice of shunning those with unapproved opinions. Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy are confident that cancellation is mostly a phony conceit—and they don’t seem to mind it when it happens. Celebrities get away with “vast depths of bad behavior” with “minimal long-term effects,” they say. By way of example they offer up “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling, arguing that, “despite online claims that she is transphobic”—a distortion in any case—she “still rakes in big movie, merch, and amusement park bucks.”

Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy often dress up their enterprise in the authority of social-science research, as when they cite a 2010 “meta-study” that “found that American college students were 40 percent less empathetic than students of the 1970s to 1990s.” Perhaps young moderns are less empathetic, but “40 percent less empathetic”? The specificity feels unpersuasive.

Ms. Ingall and Ms. McCarthy clearly consider themselves moralists. Not only do they deliver judgment; they are eager to instruct. “Model good behavior to those in your orbit,” they write. That’s a fine recommendation.

A good place to start would be to stop encouraging one’s readers to take quite so much pleasure from the mortification of others.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 18, 2023 10:04 am

feelthebernsays:

February 18, 2023 at 9:12 am

The Kitching story is fascinating.
How did a Labor party grifter participate in the Victorian gravy train all her life, which was the reason she got the Senate gig, then when she gets to Canberra she starts to tap the brakes.

If you view her actions through the prism of ALP factional politics it starts to make sense.

Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum
February 18, 2023 10:05 am

The authentic Dr Fricker.

Is a fauxboriginal

shatterzzz
February 18, 2023 10:06 am

Reading the local paper from Geordie-Land and the sob stories of folk who’ve missed out on the “fitba” tix allocation to Wembley in a coupla weeks time (Toon in 1st Wembley final since 1955 .. Carabo Cup, 4th rate comp. but still a final .. LOL!) ..
Anyway most of the comments are hilarious but I reckon this one a worth a share .. LOL!

stopthewaste
2 HRS AGO
Similar happened to a mate of mine at the tractor exhibition at the NEC.
He had bought a family ticket and took his nine kids and his Mrs to go and see it, he loved tractors, the whole family did. When they tried to go in they were stopped and told a family ticket covered two adults and three kids maximum. Gutted, devastated, foaming, it absolutely crippled him to the point he fell out of love with tractors, a changed man.
Several weeks later, his neighbour house caught fire. Flames coming out of the windows, smoke coming out of the roof, the neighbours bairns screams could be heard as far as the local flat roofed pub on the estate.
Thinking nothing of his self, my mate ran up to the front door, put his mouth to the letter box and sucked all of the smoke and fire from the place.
When the fire brigade asked him how he did it, he explained
“I’m an ex-tractor fan”.
And that’s a better story than the rubbish above about some football tickets.

bespoke
bespoke
February 18, 2023 10:14 am

The message is: Leverage your status as the wounded party and use your hurt feelings to make life miserable for those of whom you disapprove.

A well know tactic of frightbats yet people still fall for it.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 10:15 am

I’m not too worried about the dying Indian caste system as we’ve introduced our own caste of expert science Brahmins whose wisdom and position is unquestionable for the common folk.

Presents a conundrum for the prog-left…

How do you justify dismantling one caste system whilst implementing another?

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 18, 2023 10:16 am

The Loans Council was neutered by the Financial Agreement 1994.
The economic genius Keating allowed the states to issue their own securities and the commonwealth no longer is the chief borrower on their behalf.
Keating is the reason Andrews can tax and debt trap Victoria into oblivion.

Shy Ted
Shy Ted
February 18, 2023 10:17 am

re the patient burning in Perf – from the Daily Mail –

Specific details of the incident have been withheld due to privacy laws, however it was confirmed on Friday that the patient is being treated at Fiona Stanley Hospital which has a specialist burns unit.
They remain in a critical but stable condition.

They?

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 10:18 am

Aleryk Fricker is a proud Dja Dja Wurrung man

Mmm, yes…because nothing says Dja Dja Wurring like “Aleryk Fricker.”

Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 10:26 am

It’s my last day in Mongyang today – come the morn, I’m rolling with the hound to Port Augusta, and north from there.

Hottest month of the year, KD. Make sure there are gallons of drinking water on hand in case of misadventure.

Bon voyage!

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 18, 2023 10:27 am

In direct contrast to the commonwealth and state relationship, local governments have stringent financial control placed upon them by state governments.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 10:27 am

Keating is the reason Andrews can tax and debt trap Victoria into oblivion.

The Opposition and voters have no say?

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 10:29 am

Are you here all week Roger? How’s the veal?

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 10:31 am

The Opposition and voters have no say?

problem is Roger there’s no official opposition here- Avi Yemini and Rakshan Fernando are the real opposition.

caveman
caveman
February 18, 2023 10:31 am

School library discards outdated and offensive books on colonisation

Great we can have Dark Emu with 36 alternative endings

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 10:33 am

In direct contrast to the commonwealth and state relationship, local governments have stringent financial control placed upon them by state governments.

Essentially because, unlike the states, they have no sovereign powers.

Gez, I agree federation needs an overhaul, but my de facto position is that granting more powers to the Commonwealth is not the answer.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 10:35 am

School library discards outdated and offensive books on colonisation

It just goes to show how ejucashun has been completely captured by marxists. Great argument for home schooling. It’s not about education, it’s indoctrination. Are all teachas and dons really that rotten?

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 10:38 am

problem is Roger there’s no official opposition here

I’m well aware of that; but rather than bemoan that fact, Victorians with an interest in these matters should get involved in the political process.

Andrews won’t be there forever and Victoria’s problems will have to be addressed by someone.

Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 10:39 am

The Opposition and voters have no say?

Roger, the Victorian Liberals are a caricature of an opposition who believe in nothing and ran in last year’s state election with a recycled leader who’d already been rejected by voters.

Apart from the Turnbull-Morrison circus, Victoria was the reason they earned the nickname SFL.

Old School Conservative
Old School Conservative
February 18, 2023 10:43 am

They?

Absolutely. It’s in common usage everywhere.
A TAFE RSA exam has a video of a very pretty young woman with ample décolletage approaching the bar.
Question – They approach the bar. What is your responsibility to check their ID?
Absolute madness.

will
will
February 18, 2023 10:43 am

Lowe should have some power to reign in the debt driven political circus that Andrew’s has implemented.

the only power he has is over interest rates, and he is using it.

fiscal issues ae due to governments

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 10:47 am

Well I gave up on the lieboral pardy in 2015. I played a very small part in ousting Medick and electing Ralph Babet. I support Advance Australia. I really think UAP and PHON need to amalgamate before we can get a strong alternative to the uniparty.

As far as getting involved in the political process goes, lieboral party membership was a WOFTAM- no real input from members who were only wanted to hand out HTVs and pay fees. That’s my take anyway.

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
February 18, 2023 10:49 am

the only power he has is over interest rates, and he is using it.

fiscal issues ae due to governments

Also, the RBA does what they are told by the government…

In the end, they are not independent, the government can still order them around by a “silver or lead” policy.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 10:51 am

Andrews won’t be there forever and Victoria’s problems will have to be addressed by someone.

Kennett pulled off a Twiggy-esque feat of economic policy – Victorians got billions on assets that today you could not give away. My boss and his firm did similar work for Telstra before I joined, recommending separation of the Yellow Pages (pre-internet) with a then value of around $3bn. It never happened obviously.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 10:54 am

As I’ve said before, the Bailleu-Napthine government was pretty wishy washy but tolerable but I’ve heard bad things about Guy and zoning regs. As for the abomination in NSW- O’Barren-Baird-Gladishocklian-Parrotwerp. Worse than Carr and that’s saying something.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 18, 2023 10:55 am

Roger.
I like your faith in the democratic process but bad players like Andrews have no interest in fair play. 40% of Vic GDP is under direct state influence and a good percentage of the rest is beholden to the state for business through either direct contract or regulation.
Crony capitalism with a socialist bent won’t be defeated at the ballot box unless the wheels fall off. Do we have to wait for the train to derail before we fix the track?

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
February 18, 2023 10:56 am

I’m well aware of that; but rather than bemoan that fact, Victorians with an interest in these matters should get involved in the political process.

I used to think that, tried to get involved in LNP policy development at a local level, and ran into the wall of lightweight careerists. Masters and Mistresses of the Political Universe, jockeying for position on the greasy pole.

There’s nothing quite as motivational as being taken aside for a fatherly chat – ’It’s great that you’re interested, but what you need to realise is…’ – by a farking 20-something.

It’s where the dimwits that infest government come from and the whereby they are sustained.

Pogria
Pogria
February 18, 2023 10:57 am

The Babylon Bee’s remake of Handler’s It’s Great to be Childless.
Too funny!

rickw
rickw
February 18, 2023 10:57 am

School library discards outdated and offensive books on colonisation

I’ll be right over with my Ute to pick them up.

Books are awesome! They can’t be “curated” by some woke arsehole at google. The follow up will be moving to more online information sources, which can be readily “updated”. Real live 1984.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 18, 2023 10:59 am

Is a fauxboriginal

Kimberly Aborigines would have said “His mother bin eatem white bread..”

Tom
Tom
February 18, 2023 10:59 am

As far as getting involved in the political process goes, lieboral party membership was a WOFTAM- no real input from members who were only wanted to hand out HTVs and pay fees.

Once again, I return to a question I cannot answer: what the hell was Sir Robert Menzies thinking when he named his creation the Liberal Party of Australia in the 1940s?

I can only assume that, like Donald Trump, his ego was so huge he naively believed the party would always be like him.

Top Ender
Top Ender
February 18, 2023 11:00 am

It was always going to be a dangerous day in the White House when the President called the Australian Prime Minister, but it had to be done. The most powerful man in the world had a job to do.

“Excuse me, sir,” said the aide tactfully, “but you called him last year.”

“Did not,” said POTUS. “Didn’t, didn’t, didn’t.”

More at Quadrant

Jorge
Jorge
February 18, 2023 11:00 am

There is no rich and poor, now.

There is no left and right.

There is only funded and unfounded.

Blair Cottrell.

Jorge
Jorge
February 18, 2023 11:01 am

Unfunded

calli
calli
February 18, 2023 11:01 am

O’Barren-Baird-Gladishocklian-Parrotwerp. Worse than Carr

I wouldn’t say “worse”. Hideous in a different way. The way of deceit and betrayal and abandonment.

Carr was horrible in the pedestrian, grinding, grey filtered Labor Party way. Completely predictable.

This latest lot have been like a crate of fireworks that has gone spectacularly wrong. You expect a marvellous light show and end up with third degree burns.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 11:01 am

As far as getting involved in the political process goes, lieboral party membership was a WOFTAM- no real input from members who were only wanted to hand out HTVs and pay fees. That’s my take anyway.

A good way to get a start in politics is at the local government level.

Build a profile and challenge the political machines from without.

Those of us who are passed all that can find good local candidates to support.

Defeatism only paves the way for the entrechment of the present malaise.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 18, 2023 11:05 am

Northcote High School’s library decolonisation
Titles removed included
The dawn of time: Australian aboriginal myths in paintings Roberts, Ainslie; Mountford, Charles P
Was it only yesterday?: Australia in the twentieth century world Coupe, Sheena M; Coupe, Robert; Andrews, Mary
Ape-man: the story of human evolution Robin McKie
Mythology: Aboriginal studies Sandra Cahir
A history of New South Wales Beverley Kingston

Titles added include:
A Man Called Yarra Robert Hillman, Stan Yarramunua
The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia’s First Peoples Cory Tutt, Blak Douglas
Gunyah Goondie and Wurley: the Aboriginal Architecture of Australia Paul Memmott
William Cooper by Bain AtwoodFirst Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars Duane Hamacher
Country: future fire, future farming Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe

Yep, Bruce Pascoe is in the list of authors added…. added…

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:05 am

Carr was horrible in the pedestrian, grinding, grey filtered Labor Party way.

Just beautiful. What allows pure dross to rise to the top of the Liars talent puddle.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 11:08 am

Once again, I return to a question I cannot answer: what the hell was Sir Robert Menzies thinking when he named his creation the Liberal Party of Australia in the 1940s?

Yes, except the Conservative Party in the UK is to the left of the Liberal Party.
Sometimes you just have to demolish a termite-infested house and start anew.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:09 am

There’s nothing quite as motivational as being taken aside for a fatherly chat – ’It’s great that you’re interested, but what you need to realise is…’ – by a farking 20-something.

It’s where the dimwits that infest government come from and the whereby they are sustained.

Yes and quite often a branch’s ‘leading lights’ will be the local MP’s staffers.

Roger
Roger
February 18, 2023 11:10 am

I was talking to a young lawyer at dinner last night who said that the covid response had redpilled (not her term, but that’s what she described) many of her colleagues. She’s involved in a fairly significant case here in that regard. I won’t go into further details for obvious reasons but there are reasons for hope in some of the younger generation.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:10 am

A good way to get a start in politics is at the local government level.

You might want to talk to a friend’s husband who joined the local council last year (admittedly for the 2nd time, the first as a naive yoof). We’re still laughing about that one.

calli
calli
February 18, 2023 11:12 am

I’m trying to work out what’s so horridly horrid about Kingston’s book. Just looked at the précis and nothing untoward in an “outdated” or “offensive” way stands out.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:13 am

Defeatism only paves the way for the entrechment of the present malaise.

Agree and it’s not an option.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 11:14 am

It’s OK Zulu. It’s not as if the kids could actually read those books.

Not a single student can do math at grade level in 53 Illinois schools. For reading, it’s 30 schools (15 Feb)

If you can’t read you have to believe what the MSM is telling you on TV news.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:15 am

The courts haven’t provided much hope in the way of Covid excesses protection, at least so far in the West. Would nice to think that there is some coming ( albeit belatedly).

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:15 am

I wouldn’t say “worse”. Hideous in a different way. The way of deceit and betrayal and abandonment.

Yes that’s a better way of putting it. Nevertheless, I reckon the real assault on electricity generation in NSW happened under the lieborals.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:19 am

The West being the land of Sneakers for the avoidance of doubt. If you’re not living within line of sight of the Big Sneakers codpiece you’re just camping out as someone once said.

calli
calli
February 18, 2023 11:20 am

Agreed, milton. If the cupboard is bare, sell off assets.

It sounds like a good way to return cash flow to a struggling business, but it’s no good with governments. They’re selling off the very things that generate income.

Maybe the economists here can explain why it’s a good idea.

Robert Sewell
February 18, 2023 11:23 am

MiltonF:

It just goes to show how ejucashun has been completely captured by marxists. Great argument for home schooling. It’s not about education, it’s indoctrination. Are all teachas and dons really that rotten?

Yes they are. Those who aren’t are fellow travellers or supporters.

Entropy
Entropy
February 18, 2023 11:23 am

Speaking of Jk Rowling and cancelling, apparently there is a thre part podcast about it all called “the witch trials of JK Rowling” about to be released, with the promo being the most popular Apple podcast.
However, at least last night you have to pretty well type in the exact title in the search to get it to pop up. Just “JK Rowling” just gives you a list of lame attempts at cancelling Rowelling.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:24 am

Well consider Kennett’s sale of Hazelwood vs O’Barrell’s give away of Liddell. The private owners of Hazelwood gave it something of a renaissance while the new owners of Liddell are rent seekers and asset strippers.

cohenite
February 18, 2023 11:24 am

Al Goodwyn’s cartoon this morning from Tom’s toons shows a powerful Nicki Haley about to take out a garbage with Trump in it. How fu.ked is that. Trump, the greatest POTUS ever, who did more for the US and the world than anyone else, is still treated like a dinosaur by idiots in the media.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:27 am

My enforced absence from my local cafe gave me greater appreciation of the importance of local parks and the public streetscape generally. This has caused issues for at least 3 LGAs in the vicinity.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:29 am

Trump, the greatest POTUS ever, who did more for the US and the world than anyone else, is still treated like a dinosaur by idiots in the media.

why are you surprised? The meja in the west now are like Pravda in the 70s. At least Pravda didn’t peddle obscenity and perversion afaik.

rickw
rickw
February 18, 2023 11:30 am

Can someone put together a “Great Reset” booklist? Something to anchor 5-30 year olds in reality!

Robert Sewell
February 18, 2023 11:31 am

Roger:

I won’t go into further details for obvious reasons but there are reasons for hope in some of the younger generation.

Start with disappointment, Roger. That way you won’t be …disappointed, and may just be pleasantly surprised.
Slim chance, but.

Makka
Makka
February 18, 2023 11:31 am
cohenite
February 18, 2023 11:32 am

From Advance Australia

$100 million… every single day.
How would you feel if I told you that’s how much Australian taxpayers spend on direct government support for Indigenous communities?
That’s $39.5 billion of direct government expenditure a year1.
That’s more than we spend on the NDIS ($35.5 billion), Medicare ($31.3 billion) or defence ($38 billion).
It’s about the same as the Federal Government’s entire spend on schools and universities ($39.7 billion).
That doesn’t even include the EXTRA $424 million announced by Albo on Monday to “close the gap” (yes, an extra $1.2 million a day!).
Well, Australians are generous and compassionate and we all agree that Indigenous people need to be respected and supported.
But despite the outlay of this enormous amount of real money, there has been almost no discernible improvement in the lives of Indigenous Australians.
The gap just isn’t closing.
In fact, if the NDIS or Medicare were delivering outcomes as bad as this $100 million a day, there would be a Royal Commission.
It would be a global scandal.
And those responsible – starting with the Prime Minister – would resign in disgrace.
But every day we do spend this $100 million and instead of demanding to know why Aboriginal Australians are still so far behind, Anthony Albanese and a group of high-profile activists want to rip up our Constitution to accommodate a dangerous and divisive ‘Voice to Parliament’.
It’s so bad, it’s breathtaking.
This is why tens of thousands of Australians have already joined ADVANCE’s Fair Australia campaign by pledging to vote NO in the referendum.
This is why Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is leading the fight against the dangerous and divisive Voice.
And it’s why Fair Australia flew New Zealand equality campaigner Casey Costello from Hobson’s Pledge to Canberra to warn your politicians about the true cost of the Voice.
New Zealand’s version of the Voice has been an absolute disaster
NZ equality campaigner Casey Costello and Fair Australia’s spokeswoman Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at Parliament House raising the alarm about the true cost of the Voice.
According to Casey, Instead of a “voice”, New Zealanders copped “a self-appointed, elitist minority advocating that they speak for all Maori”, which has just made things worse for the people it was set up to help.
Sound familiar?
The PM should be explaining to you why the billions of dollars spent on direct support for Indigenous Australians is wasted before he throws good money after bad on a Voice referendum.
Albo needs to be straight with the Australian people and tell us how much is too much.
Because if $100 million a day isn’t enough, how much is?
1 Productivity Commission, 2017 Indigenous Expenditure Report. $33.4 billion in 2017 adjusted for inflation is $39.5 billion in 2023.

https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/indigenous-expenditure-report/2017/ier-2017-indigenous-expenditure-report.pdf

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 18, 2023 11:32 am

The treatment of Hazelwood v Liddel is much more than a function of ownership, as I’m sure you would appreciate. Running certain types of assets into the ground is the inevitable outcome of what passes as policy in this joke of a country.

rickw
rickw
February 18, 2023 11:32 am

This has caused issues for at least 3 LGAs in the vicinity.

I imagine a bear in various parks with no pants will do that!

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 18, 2023 11:34 am

correct me if I’m wrong but I understand dickhead dan put Hazelwood out of business by jacking up coal royalties to make it unprofitable.

Cassie of Sydney
February 18, 2023 11:37 am

“Very generous of you Cassie, because it must be said that the evidence against Keneally is far stronger than that against Pell and Lehrmann, to the point where the NSW Government has already paid out against a wrongful imprisonment claim.”

Indeed, however I’ll still wait for the courts to decide, something his mother didn’t do with Pell, Lehmann and Porter, when she happily participated in the lynching, in broad Australian daylight, of each man.

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 18, 2023 11:41 am

Presents a conundrum for the prog-left…

*Nothing* presents a conundrum to the left due to their – er – ‘flexible’ moral standards.

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 18, 2023 11:41 am

Rogersays:
February 18, 2023 at 10:15 am
I’m not too worried about the dying Indian caste system as we’ve introduced our own caste of expert science Brahmins whose wisdom and position is unquestionable for the common folk.

Presents a conundrum for the prog-left…

How do you justify dismantling one caste system whilst implementing another?

Since when have the so-called “progressives” ever worried about being consistent.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 11:42 am

Top Ender says:
February 18, 2023 at 11:00 am

It was always going to be a dangerous day in the White House when the President called the Australian Prime Minister, but it had to be done. The most powerful man in the world had a job to do.

“Excuse me, sir,” said the aide tactfully, “but you called him last year.”

“Did not,” said POTUS. “Didn’t, didn’t, didn’t.”

More at Quadrant

The campaign for the Voice, therefore, would feature the PM in a converted Tesla with an open top. Some of the security advisors wanted a Popemobile-style bulletproof clear glass box, but Elbow himself overruled it on the grounds of it being unAustralian. He would proudly stand in the car as the processions would wind their way through each capital city. The lyrics would be belted out of the public address vans.

It was a busy Saturday in Melbourne as the first cavalcade skirted the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Thousands of Greens and Labor supporters were there, having been paid $10 and a free Maccas to turn up.

The procession was ten vehicles long. There was a fire engine, personed with lady-boy firefighters. There were three police cars, all electric, and all with an LGBTIX@#$ stripe down the side. The fifth vehicle was the PM’s Tesla.

It had to be said Elbow was in good form. His microphone technique was the stuff of several rehearsals.

The lyrics were great:

I’m the voice, try and understand it
An extra vote for some, let’s make it clear
Oh, whoa
We’re not gonna live with violence
We’re gonna give you free beer

The procession wound its way down the street, and the supporters yelled and screamed.

Nearby, a small group of northern Queensland Aboriginals, down for the footy. They were very black, and very lost, having been dumped by an Uber driver who thought they wanted to go to the cricket.

“Who was that, cuz?”

“Dunno, some bloke says he’s the voice.”

“Does that mean anything for us, bro?”

“Nuh, I read about it online. It’s a thing to make the PM more famous”.

“He’s a good singer but. Great voice he has.”

Robert Sewell
February 18, 2023 11:42 am

Milton F:

Defeatism only paves the way for the entrechment of the present malaise.

Defeat and its acceptance is a necessary stage in regrowth.
Like a timber prop to stop the roof from caving in while you rescue something valuable, then when you’ve done that, take it away and let the rubble bounce.
You cannot rebuild while half the structure is still standing but of no use to anyone.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
February 18, 2023 11:44 am

Roger I’ve stated before about younger people being smarter than we give credit for. More and more I’m seeing my kids hit with the reality stick. It is a delight to see. They are responsible for themselves. I think it is the ones with no dog in the fight that are the problem.

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 18, 2023 11:46 am

Farmer Gezsays:
February 18, 2023 at 10:27 am
In direct contrast to the commonwealth and state relationship, local governments have stringent financial control placed upon them by state governments.

None of which prevents them from implementig their raving green fanyasies, wasting huge sums of money on yartz centres (see Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour), travelling overseas to their “Twin City” destinations, and joining international green “agreements”.

C.L.
C.L.
February 18, 2023 11:46 am

Amazing how whenever a Brittany-critical story is published, her weirdo ‘fiancee’ – Ike to her Tina – organises a counter-splash about ‘what she’s up to now.’

Worst revelation From Albrechtsen’s feature in the Weekend Australian?
That sociopaths Gallagher and Wong came very close to killing a second Liberal woman.

Ans still no demand from the Liberals for a NACC inquiry into Albanese’s payoff for services rendered to the ALP. They won’t fight for anything.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 18, 2023 11:46 am

Thermageddon is striking our nation terribly!

‘Extreme’ heatwave bakes most major cities across Australia (Sky mainpage headline, 18 Feb)

Adelaide will cook through 27 degrees on Saturday and 30 degrees on Sunday … In Melbourne, there will be temperatures of 23 degrees on Saturday and 27 degrees on Sunday.

This is so awful that we must eat bugs and drive EVs.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 11:47 am

Approximately Zero

Masks make no difference in reducing the spread of Covid, according to an extensive new review by Cochrane—the gold standard for evaluating health interventions.

The gold standard for medical evidence is the randomized clinical trial, and the gold standard for analyzing this evidence is Cochrane (formerly the Cochrane Collaboration), the world’s largest and most respected organization for evaluating health interventions. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and other nations’ health agencies, it’s an international network of reviewers, based in London, that has partnerships with the WHO and Wikipedia. Medical journals have hailed it for being “the best single resource for methodologic research” and for being “recognized worldwide as the highest standard in evidence-based healthcare.”

It has published a new Cochrane review of the literature on masks, including trials during the Covid-19 pandemic in hospitals and in community settings. The 15 trials compared outcomes of wearing of surgical masks versus wearing no masks, and also versus N95 masks. The review, conducted by a dozen researchers from six countries, concludes that wearing any kind of face covering “probably makes little or no difference” in reducing the spread of respiratory illness.

It may seem intuitive that masks must do something. But even if they do trap droplets from coughs or sneezes (the reason that surgeons wear masks), they still allow tiny viruses to spread by aerosol even when worn correctly—and it’s unrealistic to expect most people to do so. While a mask may keep out some pathogens, its inner surface can also trap concentrations of pathogens that are then breathed back into the lungs. Whatever theoretical benefits there might be, in clinical trials the benefits have turned out to be either illusory or offset by negative factors.

Oxford’s Tom Jefferson, the lead author of the Cochrane review, summed up the real science on masks: “There is just no evidence that they make any difference. Full stop.”

This lack of evidence would be enough to keep any new drug or medical treatment from being approved—much less one whose purported benefits had not even been weighed against the harmful side effects.

As the Cochrane reviewers disapprovingly note, few of the clinical trials of masks even bothered to collect data on the harmful effects on subjects. Most public-health officials and journalists have ignored the downsides, too, and social-media platforms have censored evidence of those harms. But there’s no doubt, from dozens of peer-reviewed studies, that masks cause social, psychological, and medical problems, including a constellation of maladies called “mask-induced exhaustion syndrome.”

Yet public-health officials, in violation of the first-do-no-harm principle, continue recommending or mandating masks without good evidence of their effectiveness or any pretense of cost-benefit analysis.

Masks are still required in many hospitals and other institutions.

C.L.
C.L.
February 18, 2023 11:47 am

“…second Liberal woman.”

Robert Sewell
February 18, 2023 11:48 am

Latest from The National Shooting Council:
Here.

C.L.
C.L.
February 18, 2023 11:48 am

Adelaide will cook through 27 degrees on Saturday and 30 degrees on Sunday … In Melbourne, there will be temperatures of 23 degrees on Saturday and 27 degrees on Sunday.

LOL.

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 18, 2023 11:53 am

Rogersays:
February 18, 2023 at 10:33 am
In direct contrast to the commonwealth and state relationship, local governments have stringent financial control placed upon them by state governments.

Essentially because, unlike the states, they have no sovereign powers.

Gez, I agree federation needs an overhaul, but my de facto position is that granting more powers to the Commonwealth is not the answer.

Remove income taxing power from the Commonwealth to the states, transfer the GST to the Commnwealth.

Make the states solely responsible for health (this would mean the end of Medicare, and the resultant perpetual cost shifting between the states and Commonwealth on health spending), and education (except possibly the Group of Eight universities). Introduce funding for the school pupil, not the school, fully transferable.

Confine the Commmonwealth only to its Constitutionally derived responsibilities for defence, international relations and international quarantine.

Yeah, I know, tell me I’m dreaming.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 18, 2023 11:55 am

Boambee John says:
February 18, 2023 at 11:46 am

Farmer Gezsays:
February 18, 2023 at 10:27 am
In direct contrast to the commonwealth and state relationship, local governments have stringent financial control placed upon them by state governments.

None of which prevents them from implementig their raving green fanyasies, wasting huge sums of money on yartz centres (see Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour), travelling overseas to their “Twin City” destinations, and joining international green “agreements”.

Add to the above list

Central Coast Council’s dire finances, including more than $565 million of debt, laid out in damning report

The sixth largest council in Australia, Central Coast Council, is in the grip of a financial crisis with a forecast budget blowout of more than $200 million and accrued debts of more than $565 million.

Debt continues to grow

Mr Persson’s report details how the council went from a $65 million surplus to a $200 million deficit in four years.

The 10-page document reveals the Central Coast Council’s operating loss for the current financial year is forecast to be about $115 million, on top of last year’s known $89 million deficit.

Central Coast councillors sacked over financial crisis as public inquiry report is tabled

Thirteen councillors were suspended in October 2020 after revelations the council had accrued an estimated $89 million deficit, and had no cash to pay its staff.

The council was about half a billion dollars in debt, in what has been described as the “greatest financial calamity” in the state’s local government history.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
February 18, 2023 11:55 am

As the main entry point into Australia it was a disgrace.

Without qualification every major Asian airport is better than Sydney.

Harlequin, your account is exactly the same experience we had a few weeks ago at Sydney Airport, especially that ‘merging’ line up in the long snaking curve to customs. That was complete chaos which put Hairy ten people behind me and in the general fluster with all of our luggage and heavy Lapland coats falling about on the trolley and upon which rested his Customs Declaration Card and his machine-entry Immigration Card, the latter we discovered when we eventually reached Customs had become lost somewhere back in the fray. Customs took his passport and double-checked him there, causing a delay. It was something they were very used to, with people clutching those little cards in the long jostling wait with their baggage and which wouldn’t happen if Customs had better systems and staffing.

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 18, 2023 11:55 am

Old School Conservativesays:
February 18, 2023 at 10:43 am
They?

Absolutely. It’s in common usage everywhere.
A TAFE RSA exam has a video of a very pretty young woman with ample décolletage approaching the bar.
Question – They approach the bar. What is your responsibility to check their ID?
Absolute madness.

“They” are too illiterate to phrase that as “Customers approach the bar …”

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 18, 2023 12:00 pm

Bruce of Newcastlesays:
February 18, 2023 at 11:08 am
Once again, I return to a question I cannot answer: what the hell was Sir Robert Menzies thinking when he named his creation the Liberal Party of Australia in the 1940s?

Yes, except the Conservative Party in the UK is to the left of the Liberal Party.
Sometimes you just have to demolish a termite-infested house and start anew.

After sterilising the ground with a potent insecticide.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
February 18, 2023 12:00 pm

How lovely that Constable painting is on the top o’ thread. We visited ‘Constable country’ in the UK in May, a glorious Springtime, and the scenes he painted are still near enough to the same as those shown in his paintings. Absolutely unchanged are the cloud formations, presaging Turner’s visions of these.

Cassie of Sydney
February 18, 2023 12:01 pm

Reporting in from Prideland, or perhaps that should be “Queerland”. Just returned from a long walk, it’s a beautiful day here in Sydney, albeit hot. Will go and visit my sister so I can go for a swim.

Walking down Oxford Street, I came across Paddington Park, opposite Paddo Town Hall. There’s an exhibition going on there of “Queerography”, clearly a pun on “photography”. Did you know? My goodness, they appropriate and wreck everything. I didn’t walk down to see the exhibition, no thanks. But outside the entrance to the park, there is a picture of a pristine male body, all hairless and sculptured, designed no doubt to lure in the hoards of queer males who’ve travelled to Prideland from all parts of the western world. I can’t see your average lesbian being interested in such queerography but I might be wrong. Anyway, walking a few metres further down, I saw nuns in the park, in full habit but with their skirts hitched showing their fishnet stockings, I blinked, but then I realised that these were the “sisters of perpetual indulgence”, a group of decrepit, old, has been, homosexual males who’ve been around for decades pushing their unfunny, nasty and offensive “nun” shtick. As with the equally unfunny and tedious Chaser Boys, these males just roll out the same old rubbishy and offensive shtick. I suppose these old misogynistic homosexual males still think they’re funny, instead they’re sad. Most decent people find their shtick offensive, unfunny and reeking of misogyny.

But, I noticed a young woman laughing at the “nuns”, she clearly thought the “nun attire” was a hoot. Seeing the woman laugh, I thought to myself, ahhh yes you stupid, stupid woman, you think men dressing up as women, religious women, to mock and denigrate is funny, but I bet you’re the first to cry, scream and wail “misogyny” when it suits you. And let me tell you something else young woman, there is nothing more misogynistic than a homosexual male. And I wanted to finally tell this silly young woman that men who put on “women face” and “nun attire” to mock, sneer and denigrate, are just as offensive as those who put on blackface, and so presumably, you wouldn’t care if someone put on blackface?

That’s enough from Queerland.

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  1. Interesting choice of headline from the BBC: ‘Biden roasts Trump at correspondents dinner.’ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68915195 I assume the roasting was metaphorical.

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