Phillip Adams must have suffered a brain injury.
#prayforPhillip
2
Environmentalism has always been class warfare by other means. Net Zero – the deranged dream of greens and our political class – is essentially austerity on steroids.Spiked
16
“Cooma locals. This is tame compared to the abuse I’ve been copping from everywhere. The locals are the worst. Every single one of them are cowards. Cooma is the coverup town. I have permission to speak from members of the Nowland family. I have not received one single dollar for my efforts. We want truth.”
He wants to get elected like this?
“No one has bought me a coffee to keep my podcast fuelled, it’s the mother of all conspiracies, I tells yas!”
4
New Catallaxy’s musical directorship is looking more ripe than a rotting pack of ham that has fallen behind a bar fridge.
1
We’re going to see Foster and Allen posted here soon. No, don’t stop. It can’t be as bad as being Gillard-rolled by the usual suspects. Why not some awful lollipop music lie “Sipping Soda”? Now that’s acculturation!
2
What’s the programming like on 6PR?
Non stop Exodus and one hit wonder lollipop bands interspersed with S Club Seven and Van Dyk Parks? With a touch of Foster and Allen, hosted by Alan Partridge? For those great hits and memories?
By gum I hope they have a lot of in house produced ads and programme introductions recorded in the 1970s along with those Frank Walker ads!
2
How about some Coldplay and Train too along with Meryl Bainbridge?
Just wonderful to listen to at work or during a hectic drive home. Three blabbering non entities instead of Muzak too, that would be great. I sincerely hope they also have bottom of the league football games instead of music and Rat Hadley and Basil too!
2
Are the wheels falling off the Covid wagon?
The EU has been told it was a bio-weapon, and here we now have a report that our Health Authorities, who spread the panic and caused governments to go full fascist, engaged in some very dodgy data retailing that now has no paper trail at all.
19
An “anti-terrorism” program run by the Biden Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been ousted as using its federal funding to target conservative organizations and publications, including Breitbart News.
As Breitbart reports, the Media Research Center (MRC) uncovered documents detailing the political motivations of the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant program (TVTP), which was founded by DHS in 2011 for the initial purpose of fighting the Islamic terror group Al-Qaeda.
Under Biden, the grant program has expanded significantly in its scope, and has awarded 80 different grants, amounting to $39,611,999. Of the 80 grants, 52 percent went to public institutions while the remaining 48 percent were given to private organizations. The grant program now includes several “media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives,” one of which is a training program at the University of Dayton which explicitly accused Fox News, the NRA, Turning Point USA, the Heritage Foundation, and the Republican Party itself of radicalizing Americans into neo-Nazis.
The university’s program created a graphic of a pyramid split into four different levels, which the university claims is a display of increasing “radicalization” into conservative values and traditional beliefs. The bottom tier features Fox, the NRA, Heritage, and the GOP, while the next tier up includes TPUSA, PragerU, Breitbart, and the Make America Great Again movement. The top two tiers then feature a variety of neo-Nazi imagery, including the white supremacist website Daily Stormer and the think tank National Policy Institute, run by the neo-Nazi Richard Spencer.
A seminar on the subject at the University of Dayton even compared President Donald Trump to Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, and also accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of wanting to start a “second Holocaust.” One of the speakers featured by the DHS-funded seminar series is Michael Loedenthal, a self-proclaimed leader of the far-left anarcho-communist terrorist group Antifa.
“A lot of things we’re doing are illegal” Loedenthal admitted in a speech as he was discussing his own group’s violent activities. “A lot of it involves breaking the law.”
In response to the revelations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) vowed in an interview with Breitbart to cut funding to such government grants and other organizations that have targeted conservatives in such a manner.
“I think America is going to be shocked by how much government was doing…using these government agencies with these private companies to… censor what people can see,” said McCarthy. “You’re going to find not only are we going to hold them accountable, we’re going to be able to use that basis to know legislatively what can we do that they can never do this again.”
8
Good morning Dot.
We had three inches of rain in a couple of hours here yesterday. It doesn’t always rain here but when it does, it rains. In Newcastle it hailed. And now it’s sunny.
I’m going to listen to the Doobie Brothers and maybe a bit of Clannad while sewing this morning, and then it’s out to weed the garden. The weeds are huge and lush because of all the fertiliser and warm soil. No music just the ducks squawking.
It’s a riveting life, but someone has to do it and that person is me.
Yours truly, Calli Olthwaite
18
America has been totally white-anted Tom. Nothing short of armed rebellion can save it now, and even that becomes harder given the forces arrayed against the people.
13
Paywallian:
When Daniel Andrews and his colleagues were raking through the coals of defeat in 2010 after 11 years in power, he made clear his thinking on business.
Labor under Steve Bracks and John Brumby had courted the business community with tax cuts, workers’ compensation premium reductions, responsible budgets and a drive to reconnect the ALP with the job-creating top end of town. But not Andrews.
“The problem is,” one MP ¬recalls Andrews saying, “they don’t f..king vote for us.
“It is all about the political calculation. His eyes are always on the suburbs and the votes.”
So when Andrews, in an act of Whitlamesque desperation amid the worst Victorian budget in decades, targeted big business and property investors with $8.6bn of tax rises under a $31.5bn debt reduction strategy this week it was not so much a great surprise but part of a long-running political strategy to ¬protect at all costs the Labor base and try to reward the people who keep voting for him.
Victoria’s bottom line is now ¬arguably worse than in the post-Cain-Kirner period in 1992 for the simple reason there are no large-scale assets that can be sold to deal with any deterioration in the budget in future years. If there were they would have gone under the hammer on Tuesday.
Former premier Jeff Kennett fears worse is to come because of the scale of the government’s unwieldy infrastructure program, which has suffered blowouts worth many billions of dollars and extended delays.
“He (Andrews) has no sense of what he is leaving the state and the condition it’s in,” Kennett ¬laments.
Kennett likes Treasurer Tim Pallas, but warns he and other members of cabinet have failed to confront the notoriously focused and demanding Andrews.
“They have allowed him (Andrews) to run the show totally without -objections,’’ he says.
Pallas’s failure to arrest the spending in what is now a $102bn Victorian budget has been debated among cabinet colleagues for many years; one Labor figure -describes Pallas as having operated effectively as a political chief-of-staff rather than the state’s numbers man.
“Tim is Dr Yes,” says another.
Everything about the Andrews government is achingly complex.
Despite his strategic political views on the private sector, ¬Andrews has a strong relationship with some business leaders, exercising and wielding covert power through what can loosely be called barbecue political diplomacy, with friendships (many transactional) stretching beyond the normal, but largely kept hidden from view.
His private sector contact book is extensive and includes billionaire Lindsay Fox and the broader family, former PwC chief Luke Sayers, property magnate Max Beck, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat and serial director James MacKenzie.
You can only imagine what they are thinking.
Andrews is personally close to Anthony Albanese, was close to Scott Morrison mainly via text and national cabinet during the pandemic, and has had a warm but workmanlike connection with outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan. He may not like the way some vote, but he is at one with the big end of town.
Few expect Andrews, an ¬enthusiastic golfer and wine drinker, to buckle under pressure from a friend or acquaintance who tries to knock his political strategy off balance.
As he inevitably mulls his next career after 12½ years as Labor leader (including four years in ¬opposition), both Andrews and Pallas will not be wanting to leave a legacy of financial disarray for the likely next premier, Jacinta Allan. But they will.
As one colleague says of Allan: “She is the next Joan Kirner.”
Andrews, if the budget numbers are put to one side, is an ¬acutely good political strategist, having protected Allan from the worst of the Covid-19 tasks during the pandemic, focusing her on the so-called Big Build, which has entailed a relentless number of often pointless press conferences at level crossings and train tunnels spruiking Labor’s biggest political asset.
Like NSW, Victoria has been on a years-long infrastructure drive that has led to unprecedented investment in rail and road projects, including the $13bn metro underground rail system, the $15bn-plus level crossing ¬removal strategy (probably closer to $20bn) and the rubbery agenda to build the $125bn Suburban Rail Loop.
Allan now has carriage of most of the financial time bombs including the rail loop, transport and ¬infrastructure and the delivery in 2026 of the $2.6bn Commonwealth Games, which hasn’t even been funded. At 49, she is an -experienced minister but her post-pandemic pathway has been ¬cratered by this budget.
Paul Guerra, chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, makes the perceptive ¬observation that the Andrews government has largely been built around construction and social ¬reform.
The construction agenda, worth well north of $100bn when factoring in the private sector, has had a huge trickle-down effect on the economy but he laments the higher taxes aimed at medium and large business, which also includes the $3.7bn mental health levy from 2021.
“Certainly around building things, the government largely has been focused,’’ he says, stressing that the future will be in innovation rather than taxpayer-funded monuments.
The budget may not have meaningful asset sales inked into the forward estimates but it has some significant potential savings on infrastructure, on top of the decision to shelve the $10bn airport rail link.
A prime example is the $15bn level crossing removals project, which has been a vote-winning strategy to remove 110 “dangerous” train crossings to improve rail capacity and cut congestion. The projects have become horrifically expensive as Labor has included at times grand new stations with the build. Who knows if they are ¬needed?
There are $6.5bn worth of new removals in the forward estimates and one project in eastern Melbourne has cost an eye-watering $630m for a rail project that points to a city fewer people are travelling to.
These level crossings are a historical anomaly in Melbourne, leading to congestion, injury and loss of lives. University of Melbourne associate professor of urban planning Crystal Legacy says the so-called Big Build has some productive projects but is generally “very expensive”.
She says the level crossing ¬removals are a good idea – “up to a point” – but more needed to be done on integrated planning to ¬ensure connectivity between trains, buses and trams.
The emphasis on the rail loop in Melbourne’s southeast should not come at the cost of the booming western suburbs. “There’s a really different kind of need in the west,” she says.
Everything Andrews does has a reason, but sometimes the electorate doesn’t even listen.
Victoria’s financial train wreck has been clear from the end of 2020 when the state became the only place in Australia to endure a long-term lockdown.
By 2022, when two budgets had shown the looming debt crisis and then followed the near collapse of the Victorian workers’ compensation scheme, reasonable, informed voters would have been asking themselves when it will all end. Just as everyone on Spring Street is asking when Andrews will quit politics; as a leader since 2010 and having survived a recent serious back injury. No one questions his determination.
One belief is that he will go soon amid signs the notoriously protective Premier’s Private Office is starting to wind back its controlling influence.
The contrary view is that Andrews is, like a young Mornington Peninsula red, just starting to peak.
Likening Andrews to former Labor PM Gough Whitlam, ¬another onlooker who knows ¬Andrews says his height and ¬commanding presence help him execute his ruthless internal ¬agenda.
It will be Andrews who decides when he goes.
Andrews, like Whitlam, is prone to scandal, mostly loved by Labor but loathed by the ¬political right.
He’s somewhat of a loner and, like Gough, economically reckless, as he rails against establishment media and the conservative establishment in general.
With the budget in such a bad state, the only certainty is that his and Tim Pallas’s fiscal reputation is, at best, poor.
But will anyone under the age of 50 care?
Thanks Anchor. Interesting report, and I notice that NSW Health is hiding behind the figleaf of “privacy”, or refusing to comment. As I recall, some cluey commenters here wondered at the time as well.
As the Beloved just opined, how can “privacy” come into it when you’re dealing with raw data collection and methodology? And he added…I just don’t trust governments any more.
High trust to low trust in three years.
22
I will never diss the creators of China Grove nor those who have sung Take Me In Your Arms.
3
I would expect Vic Health to delete COVID data.
I actually thought NSW Health would keep it and allow ongoing analysis of it.
I am such a rube.
10
and I notice that NSW Health is hiding behind the figleaf of “privacy”, or refusing to comment.
They are talking show bags with reference to this as the data has been scrubbed to de-indentify anyone.
3
Vicki Campion:
Peacocking public servants, thrusting their virtue-signalling plumage straight in our faces, bookended the first week after budget, when you would think cost of living would take prominence.
During Monday’s Senate estimates, a top member of the executive, the head bureaucrat of the Department of Infrastructure, launched a self-aggrandising sermon about wearing a T-shirt with an Aboriginal flag and a clenched black fist to an all-staff meeting.
Yet he could not answer questions about employing Indigenous people on government infrastructure projects.
On Thursday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison judged Nationals MP Pat Conaghan as racist for refusing to support the Voice, drawing his character assassination on just 15 minutes of Conaghan’s life.
The simplest research would have revealed that while Harrison was writing missives, intoxicated by the thesaurus, Conaghan had been concentrating on giving Aboriginal mothers a roof as they escaped the fists of their partners in Kempsey, providing medical clinics to Indigenous communities, and redirecting Aboriginal youth from a lost life of crime and despair into skills and jobs.
While Secretary Jim Betts was passionate about his T-shirt, issuing long moralistic monologues, he showed disinterest in helping Aboriginal workers kicked off government construction sites by the CFMEU.
Betts waxed lyrical about his T-shirt, delving into the history of the clenched fist, in a passionate sermon of more than 600 words, comparing wearing the black fist as solidarity with Aboriginals with his rainbow lanyard’s “solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community”, but once he moved from his apparel virtue, he got stranded in one-word answers about his actual job.
When Betts was grilled on media reports about an unnamed Indigenous labour-hire firm that had been kicked off nine government projects by the CFMEU, he had short, single-phrase answers or deflected responsibility for answering to colleagues.
Although he lauded his understanding of the Aboriginal black fist movement, he seemed surprisingly ignorant of the struggles of Aboriginal people contracted in his department’s projects.
“No,” he was not aware of it, then he dismissed it as “a matter for the Victorian government”.
He should put that on his T-shirt.
Indigenous employment targets on Commonwealth infrastructure projects were, on average, 3.5 per cent, yet apparently the executive had no interest in seeing them enforced.
When Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie pointed out the whole point of having targets was so the Department could give Indigenous Australians a career in construction, Betts appeared entirely disinterested in the subject, waiting for more appropriate questions such as on his wardrobe of other activist causes.
When McKenzie said: “What I’m hearing is the department cares less about that and can’t even be bothered to avail yourselves of every publicly-available article about Indigenous labour-hire companies getting kicked off nine projects”, Betts was mute.
Department of Infrastructure reports show about 2.5 per cent of his staff are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander – some 43 of more than 1700 people – which is less than the proportion of Indigenous people in Australia or in parliament.
It’s emblematic of the pervasive culture in government departments – the virtuous Department of Infrastructure, tongue-tied when it comes to employing Aboriginals.
Then Cowper MP Pat Conaghan woke up to an email signed off from Justice Harrison which stated: “I was moved while listening to you speak to write to you now to express my complete sadness, not that you have predictably taken the stand that you have, but that you obviously do not understand or appreciate the depths of paternalism and racism that oozed from your words.
“Your position, and the position of your party, is niggardly and cruel and mean-spirited. It is patently based upon a political stance that is indecent in its ignorance.”
His judicial colleagues, in appointing him to the Supreme Court, called him “uniquely objective” and “calm and measured” – if that is the description of calm and objective, are these attributes to be mimicked by his colleagues in the High Court when they interpret the powers of the Voice?
There has never been an Aboriginal judge in the High Court, a tightly held club; while Harrison is on full roar, he should fire another sanctimonious missive off to them.
Harrison has judged Conaghan’s character as racist from a mere 15-minute speech. He failed to inform himself of Conaghan’s history or life – that, as a person born in Kempsey, he has had first-hand experience of Indigenous issues in regional Australia, an area with 20 per cent youth unemployment, the highest in the nation, compared with Harrison’s struggle through the WASP-ish, leafy ghettos of Sydney’s North Shore.
Some of Conaghan’s “niggardly”, “cruel”, “mean-spirited” and “racist” work has resulted in $6.5m to build 26 units for homeless youth, mothers and children escaping domestic violence in Kempsey, which goes straight to Closing the Gap targets.
He’s championed support for ShoreTrack, a not-for-profit that takes vulnerable young people disengaged from the community and gives them support, skills and training.
In his maiden speech, he referred to his own electorate as: “The traditional lands of the Birpai, Djangadi (Dunghutti) and Gumbaynggirr people, whose connection goes back for tens of thousands of years”.
With just a modicum of research, Justice Harrison would have discovered this is hardly the actions of a bigot. As a highly-paid judge, it is dangerous to imply racism and, in so doing, to impugn the motives of people with a different view of you.
Betts, spare us the tokenistic rubbish when you are in one of the most privileged positions in the country to help.
And Harrison, next time you want to discuss closing the gap, try meeting Conaghan at ShoreTrack.
31
My distrust of NSW Health goes back to the Ruby Princess. Everything they did in that matter was counter-intuitive, until the excrement hit the blades.
Incompetence or intent…take your pick. The result was the spread of the virus far and wide and the scene set for the first of the lockdowns. I have no doubt they were instructed from higher up the food chain, but how high is anyone’s guess.
19
Those Leaks are AWESOME, Tom. That bloke is developing a really deft touch.
And the Knight really bites. Not sending that to my sister, she was in Sri Lanka at the beach on a certain Boxing Day.
Smith College has always been woke to the point of insomnia. Now, however, it has embraced an “anti-racism reform” that even some on the left call looney. As discussed in a prior column on the same reform implemented at the University of Southern California, Smith has removed the word “field” from its social work program as racist. The reason? It reminds some of the field work of slaves.
Maybe ban the entire imperial colonial racist English language and be done with it. We’ll all have to learn Chinese soon enough anyway, may as well start now.
19
feelthebernsays:
May 27, 2023 at 6:18 am
Phillip Adams must have suffered a brain injury.
#prayforPhillip
I think that happened a couple of decades ago.
11
Kenny in the Oz today:
Covid censorship tyranny an adventure into dystopia
The unimpeded expansion of government power, unauthorised contraction of citizens’ rights and unannounced restriction of media freedom might have done more harm than the virus.
“Might!!!”
33
@Steve T:
Clowns with sequencer software and cloth ears keep butchering actual music.
The ORIGINAL of that Al Stewart song has plenty of “beat”: Tasty, minimal drums and further driven by the piano and Bass figures.
Back in those days, people did NOT need every beat to be rammed home by a synthetic “drum”..
Furthermore, in this “re-imagining, a lot of the instrumental subtlety and high-spots have been ruthlessly ground off this masterpiece; the slick, pitch-perfect section where the Tim Renwick guitar solo dissolves into Phil Kenzie’s memorable saxophone burnout, for starters.
The whole album was engineered by some bloke called Alan Parsons…..
9
Don’t worry, Beatrix Potter is cultural appropriation, it came from the slaves.
The latest cultural warrior in need of a calming brew and a chat is Dr Emily Zobel Marshall, ‘Reader in Postcolonial Literature’ at Leeds Beckett University.
Emily has got it in for Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. This is not because Peter is a thief, a vandal, a disobedient rascal who, when ordered to go blackberrying with his siblings, nips off to wreck Mr McGregor’s vegetable patch, falls in a watering can and turns up at home with a lost jacket, having overdosed on stolen parsley.
No: Peter’s fault is that the tales about him and his fellows are ‘cultural appropriation’, according to Dr Zobel Marshall.
Although Peter, like Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, may seem ‘quintessentially English’, such stories are ‘more than just inspired by’ similar fables told by African slaves toiling on American cotton plantations in the 19th century.
In a recent article on The Conversation website, Dr Zobel Marshall points out that Potter, as a child, loved the tales of the ‘trickster hero’ Brer Rabbit.
Which is amusing because the trickster archetype is found in Indo European cultures.
feel the same about all those who condemn ‘cultural appropriation’: that modern sin of inappropriately borrowing a story, dress, custom or design from another society. It has been applied to everything from fancy dress to poetry to yoga, and those who fret tend only to be angry when the culture that picks it up is typically more ‘dominant’ than the other.
To them, it is wrong for a Western woman to wear a sari or a Chinese jacket, but perfectly all right for an Indian lawyer or an African businessman to wear a pinstriped suit — a weird outfit created by the 19th-century British and European commercial classes.
Or take music. For the cultural police, it is praiseworthy for Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE to lead the ethnically diverse Chineke! orchestra playing Mozart, but questionable for white rockers or jazzmen to pick up rhythms developed by black people.
Likewise, they look down with distaste at the British atrocity of chicken tikka masala, but would never call down fury on an Indian chef’s shepherd’s pie. It is a peculiarly contemporary and patronising way of separating us all from one another. The literary world is currently terrified of letting authors create black, Asian or Latino characters unless they themselves enjoy the ‘lived experience’ of those races. Publishers’ anxieties around these issues are only getting worse.
The best thing we can do is briefly ridicule these “academics” and then ignore them.
19
Shoot. Epic blockquote fail.
As a proud Wojila man, I claim this thread for my personal aggrandisement and associated Government and private grant funding.
By Government regulation I dedicate 3% to the arts, which will be by open tender closing in several minutes, for a sculpture on indigenous suffering right at the top to replace the painting presently offending social justice.
12
Just received an email from John Pesutto, the week in review. I can’t even bring myself to open it. Until that man’s name is removed from Libs leadership I won’t have a bar of the Libs. Such is my anger over the treatment of Moira Deeming and the Libs stupid adherence to supporting renewables rollouts. I used to donate to the Libs although never a member. They’ve lost me.
31
“Arena” and “stadium” next?
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
Dear Vanessa Hudson, this is how you can rebuild Qantas
Dear Ms Hudson,
May I call you Vanessa? I write to congratulate you on taking over what’s left of Qantas from the Lethal Leprechaun (my not-very-pet-name for Alan Joyce), along with a few suggestions that might be of interest.
Firstly, renationalise the airline. This patriotic proposition is already gaining momentum from those who remember Qantas in its halcyon days. I’m one of them and have, as they say, skin in the game, having presented my marketing credentials to the board 40-odd years ago, when Qantas’ mercy fights from a cyclone-ravaged Darwin were still fresh in the memory. It was a time when, around the world, returning Aussies would be greeted by cabin crew with a friendly grin – and “G’day, welcome ‘n’ board”. No matter where you were, you already felt halfway home when you heard that.
It wasn’t just the perfect safely record that made us proud of the world’s second-oldest airline (only the Dutch KLM was older). It was the Qantas ethos – the “vibe”, if you like.
Hence my suggestion to the board of a new motto. I can still see the smiles as I unveiled it. THE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA. It soon appeared on everything from aircraft fuselages to boarding passes to the serviettes provided with the peanuts. I subsequently suggested Qantas acquire Peter Allen’s anthem I Still Call Australia Home. Two perfect fits.
The downward spiral began, as with so many Australian institutions, with privatisation. And it accelerated during the reign of Alan Joyce. Alan found many pots of gold for himself at the end if the airline’s rainbow, but others weren’t so lucky. Not the pilots, not the cabin crews, not the ground crews, not the engineers – and certainly not the passengers.
Using Covid as camouflage, savage staffing cuts were made and the fleet became old to the point of arthritic. As I publicly complained countless times, the airline did NOT call Australia home – and did NOT deserve my motto. Qantas was NOT the Spirit of Australia.
In recent times a dispirited mockery of the Spirit of Australia has wreaked such havoc on the company’s reputation that all the “loyalty programs” on Earth will no longer restore the loyalty of passengers. And the final departure of Alan Joyce will not be of national mourning.
Much is expected of you Vanessa, or at least hoped. But the task!!
Soon, like Elvis, Alan will have left the building. With his usual inability to read the room, his final decision seems to have been an apologetic phone call to Alan Jones. Mr Jones had just learnt of his eviction from that most inner of sanctums, the Chairman’s Lounge.
Vanessa, your Mission Near Impossible, should you agree to accept it, is not to placate a shocked jock about the Chairman’s Lounge but to rebuild the lost trust of your staff and your passengers – so that once again Qantas can call Australia home, and be deserving of my motto. I’ll check back with you in a few months.
This message will self-destruct in ten seconds.
Yours most sincerely,
Phillip.
The Phillip Adams column from today’s Oz.
8
Razeysays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
“Arena” and “stadium” next?
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
I’m Danish so now I have an excuse not to talk to the natives. Thanks.
5
Knight finds himself at Ground Zero for political cartooning thanks to his fellow Victoriastanis.
5
For a lot of words, Phillip Adams doesn’t say all that much.
7
“Just received an email from John Pesutto, the week in review. I can’t even bring myself to open it. Until that man’s name is removed from Libs leadership I won’t have a bar of the Libs. Such is my anger over the treatment of Moira Deeming and the Libs stupid adherence to supporting renewables rollouts. I used to donate to the Libs although never a member. They’ve lost me.”
Have you told them, Mem? They need to know why, otherwise they won’t do anything. Just say you won’t hand over another cent until…
1. Moira is allowed back into the parliamentary party.
2. Prosciutto is gonski.
Simple.
25
What’s the programming like on 6PR?
Now Sookie’s dead I only listen to Basil.
3
feelthebernsays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:35 am
For a lot of words, Phillip Adams doesn’t say all that much.
He spends a lot of space on big noting himself though.
9
Much is expected of you Vanessa, or at least hoped.
Phil’s column, accurately edited:
Give me my free business and first class flights back.
13
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
Does this dictate apply to Razey’s wife? After all, she’s Japanese.
4
Anchor What says:
May 27, 2023 at 7:23 am
Are the wheels falling off the Covid wagon?
The EU has been told it was a bio-weapon, and here we now have a report that our Health Authorities, who spread the panic and caused governments to go full fascist, engaged in some very dodgy data retailing that now has no paper trail at all.
There is no way there will ever be a Royal Commission into the COVID-19 handling as there are no records to inspect. Every time Gladys fronted the media, backed up by the gormless Chant, she was lying. And she needed to do it every day at 11 am, she had a lot of designer outfits to showcase.
Second, there are no minutes of the so-called national cabinet so we will never know what ScoMo and the premiers discussed and on what they based their decisions.
Never forgive, never forget.
30
Fatty Adams is a must skip every Saturday. Doesn’t even provide the LOLs unlike Gemmel.
2
A few years back, I flew Qantas first class to London.
On the way back, I flew Emirates business class.
The Emirates business class experience was better.
18
I am planning a trip to Europe next year.
Planning on flying the Singapore to Europe leg with Air France.
Their on board dining experience has been getting 10/10 ratings recently.
8
Razey says:
May 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
That won’t worry me too much. The epithets applied to our betters would be much more colorful and imaginative in my native Yiddish.
Razey says:
May 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
“Arena” and “stadium” next?
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
The kids already speak American.
2
ABC headline:
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
4
Cassie of Sydneysays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:38 am
“Just received an email from John Pesutto, the week in review. I can’t even bring myself to open it. Until that man’s name is removed from Libs leadership I won’t have a bar of the Libs. Such is my anger over the treatment of Moira Deeming and the Libs stupid adherence to supporting renewables rollouts. I used to donate to the Libs although never a member. They’ve lost me.”
Have you told them, Mem? They need to know why, otherwise they won’t do anything. Just say you won’t hand over another cent until…
1. Moira is allowed back into the parliamentary party.
2. Prosciutto is gonski.
Yes. Have sent them two emails. Just the stock electronic reply. Doubt if anyone read it.
Do they know that they are voting for this @LindaBurneyMP ?
8
Second, there are no minutes of the so-called national cabinet so we will never know what ScoMo and the premiers discussed and on what they based their decisions.
The old armchair commo wants to renationalise Qantas because he doesn’t ;ile Alan Joyce, even though Joyce is a pouve and therefore ranks far above media commoners like Phatty Adams in the lefty firmament.
Joyce is about to leave Qantas after remaking it into one of the world’s most profitable airlines. He is the world’s best airline CEO and there will be a list of suitors stretching around the globe seeking his services.
He’s a maths nerd, which is why he understands hard-to-master airline balance sheets like a wizard. Good on him — even though I can’t stand his lefty politics.
Someone had to flush the old government mindset out of Qantas and Joyce’s predecessors like Geoff Dixon weren’t up to the task, so it was left to the upstart from the Irish republic.
6
ABC headline:
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
Not profits.
6
… like …
I will never diss the creators of China Grove nor those who have sung Take Me In Your Arms.
feelthebern says:
May 27, 2023 at 8:50 am
A few years back, I flew Qantas first class to London.
On the way back, I flew Emirates business class.
The Emirates business class experience was better.
Quite some years ago I was in a Qantas flight from Christchurch to Sydney. The cabin crew were hopeless, in a tizz the whole time and poorly groomed. One stewardess* looked like she just got up and threw on her uniform, her hair was tied back into a ponytail with a rubber band. It’s a three hour flight, give the people their meal and drinks and leave them alone. How hard could it be?
*She doesn’t deserve that title as she was nowhere near the grace and style of a Singapore Girl.
QANTAS is a bit like the old SECV and equivalents. Basically you have to wait for the entire workforce to retire before reform is even possible. You are talking decades.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis’ presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked.
Not that “traditional norms” means much anymore.
1
British Cycling has banned men from competing in women’s competitions.
18
Whoever is managing RFK Jr’s twitter has had a great week.
Avoids saying anything about non-COVID vaccines.
Most things right over target.
Stewart Rhodes never entered the Capitol, was never accused of violence or destruction on J6.
He was just sentenced to 18 years in prison.
This is insanity.
The weaponization of the government should concern everyone.
8
The Emirates business class experience was better.
Qatar airways business class is the best I have experienced.
3
Roger says:
May 27, 2023 at 9:01 am
Second, there are no minutes of the so-called national cabinet so we will never know what ScoMo and the premiers discussed and on what they based their decisions.
There must be minutes somewhere.
From what I understand nothing was recorded. Individual premiers may have kept private notes and we may find out long way down the road when one of them writes a memoir.
3
Brucesays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:21 am
Well aware of the songs history, Bruce. I can also appreciate a good remix.
Each to their own.
Wealth Taxes Result in Rich People Fleeing, Turns Out
Didn’t the Brits discover that in the 1960’s, when they tried “Taxing the rich until their eyes bled?”
3
Here’s a scenario for 2024.
RFK Jr runs as a non-DNC candidate.
Dem vote split.
Trump runs as a non-GOP candidate.
Republican vote split.
Throw in a Greens, Libertarian (Dave Smith) and another billionaire independent candidate.
What a laugh it would be.
2
ABC headline:
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
With taxpayer subsidies?
9
Ita Buttrose “didn’t know what Stan Grant was going through.”
She certainly has her finger on the pulse of the organisation.
(Whatever you make of Grant’s claims.)
13
feelthebern says:
May 27, 2023 at 9:14 am
Here’s a scenario for 2024.
RFK Jr runs as a non-DNC candidate. Dem vote split.
Trump runs as a non-GOP candidate.
Republican vote split.
Throw in a Greens, Libertarian (Dave Smith) and another billionaire independent candidate.
What a laugh it would be.
Tsk, tsk, feelthebern. You should know better. Dems fortify the election and Biden wins.
2
Qatar airways business class is the best I have experienced.
Unlikely Sun Cable will ever go to Singapore.
Twiggy plan was to have it end in Darwin with others along the way using it.
But it was dependent on the Darwin off take agreement.
3
Roger says:
May 27, 2023 at 9:15 am
Ita Buttrose “didn’t know what Stan Grant was going through.”
She certainly has her finger on the pulse of the organisation.
Another brilliant ScoMo appointment.
At 81 doesn’t she have enough super to retire that she must still work?
8
With taxpayer subsidies?
OK…not only did they spell the word incorrectly, they also left it dangling without the preposition or noun required to complete a meaningful sentence. I realise this is a trend but it is grammatically incorrect. The word fraught, which derives from the Dutch word for freight, is either used with a preposition and a noun or as an adjective. People who write headlines for a living – even at the ABC – ought to know this.
8
Best BC so far – Emirates then JAL. Worst – BA. Trying Air China next year and will report, provided Taiwan hasn’t been invaded.
If you want to channel Mr Creosote, go JAL FC. Tiny, immaculate cabin crew forcing a “leetle weffer more” on you as you sit, immobile from gluttony, in your well upholstered seat.
7
Now Sookie’s dead I only listen to Basil.
I remember when he said ( to paraphrase ) a man can never be a woman. His groveling apology made his nose grow an extra inch. I also remember him chastising the parents of a sick child in hospital, refused visitation because they wouldn’t to get the c-19 jab. He ridiculed and mocked them.
He’s a classic media whore and first class wanker.
11
Haven’t tried Qatar yet. The Beloved is chary of flying Air Hijab. We only went Emirates because there were no other options at the time.
5
Wealth Taxes Result in Rich People Fleeing, Turns Out
Anyone know if Gérard Depardieu has come back to France after he fled high taxes last time?
In a report submitted to the French government on Monday, it was recommended that authorities implement a once-off wealth tax on the country’s top 10 per cent for the sake of the country’s green agenda.
The topic of wealth taxes has been gaining more prominence across the West over the last number of years, with a number of left-wing politicians and activists now advocating for such a one-off toll for the purpose of funding climate change initiatives.
According to a report by Le Monde, the 150-page report penned by Professor Jean Pisani-Ferry makes a similar argument, arguing that a five per cent tax on the country’s wealthiest could generate up to €5 billion every year on average which could be spent on net zero efforts.
The only net zero it would achieve is net zero rich people, but then I suppose that’s the idea. The answer to everything is always communism.
10
Didn’t the Brits discover that in the 1960’s, when they tried “Taxing the rich until their eyes bled?”
I think The Beatles were paying over 90% tax at one point.
The joke was they got their MBEs for their contributions to the Exchequer account.
8
Cassie of Sydneysays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:43 am
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
Does this dictate apply to Razey’s wife? After all, she’s Japanese.
If she learnt Engrish from Razey-san she probably isn’t in breach of that particular form of cultural appropriation.
4
The remix was interesting, Steve. I’m with Bruce though on that pervasive beat – it was really annoying. Don’t know why they have to do it.
My son was really into Techno when it first came out…drove me crazy. At least it wasn’t rap.
Now the grandsons are into music, one very proficient on the drums and the other on his newly acquired (with muchos birthday money and chores) Gretsch which is almost as big as he is. Sadly, no one wants the piano which sits forgotten in the corner of my dining room. Until Mister Four comes to stay – then I wish I had a lock for the lid.
5
Basil knows how to find reverse gear. The tranny Panzer division mobilised quickly over that one.
2
The whole album was engineered by some bloke called Alan Parsons…..
Import the 3rd world en masse, get 3rd world problems.
6
Latest primary polls in Iowa and South Carolina have Trump up +33 and +25, with DeSantis at 17 and 20, respectively. DeSantis is being used here.
5
Haven’t tried Qatar yet. The Beloved is chary of flying Air Hijab
We flew Royal Brunei on one occasion. The plebs whinged because Economy was dry, but Business and First class had non – Mooslims to serve the grog to unbelievers.
Read fed up ex-army officer boss’s blistering text to her overseas-born staff about their ‘dirty’ kitchen: ‘You live in Australia now… your mother doesn’t work here’
Germs don’t give a damn about where you were born. I had this very same argument with an RN in Blackstone.
3
callisays:
May 27, 2023 at 9:33 am
The remix was interesting, Steve. I’m with Bruce though on that pervasive beat – it was really annoying. Don’t know why they have to do it.
It’s called getting into a disco groove, Calli. ( : I reckon a lot of young people upon hearing that would probably go on and discover the original and be introduced into another world of yet undiscovered music.
Heck, they might even find out about Alan Parson’s and go ” that’s the Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls intro … damn bro!”
Good results in this analysis. You may need to be registered to read the full study.
It is good to see that the medical profession writ large is now recognizing the benefits of supplementation for the elderly. Many have been advocating for the same and too often dismissed as cranks, despite that there have long been studies showing benefits. The trick is to know which nutrients and supplements are optimal. That’s difficult.
8
I read yesterday, that Finland’s wholesale electricity prices went to zero and stayed there for an extended period of time. No biggie right. as wholesale prices can often get to zero when there’s production overload.
But only last year, Finland was carousing to serious problems as a result of gas cut-off from Russia, obviously due to the war.
Prices went to zero with almost all being green production. The thing that has made this possible is that a decent sized nuclear plant came on stream producing masses of electricity to add to their grid. Sure, Finland suffers from the same bullshit with renew balls and it also has lot’s of hydro. However the thing that made electricity plentiful was the nuke plant coming on-board.
Surging hydroelectric power, new nuclear reactors online, and an influx of solar and wind capacity additions sent electricity prices in Finland below zero on Wednesday, in a stark reversal from last year when residents were warned of shortages after Russia cut off pipeline gas supply to its EU neighbor.
Forget the hydro , solar and wind. The thing that tipped it to zero was nuclear.
So much for that moronic energy minister telling us nuclear is too expensive.
31
Department of Infrastructure reports show about 2.5 per cent of his staff are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander – some 43 of more than 1700 people – which is less than the proportion of Indigenous people in Australia or in parliament.
I think it would be interesting to calculate the indigenous population using the proportion of Aboriginal blood as a weighting of sorts. So eight people with 1/16 blood would count as one half, while two half bloods count as a whole.
It is a bit like Full Time Equivalents in the workforce where, for example, two people working 4 hrs is equivalent to one person working full time (8 hrs).
But here we would have not FTE’s, but FBE’s (Full Blood Equivalents).
We would likely find the proportion of Indigenous in Australia to be rather less than 3.5%, and the geographic distribution very different, with far fewer FBE’s in the urban areas than the current headcounts.
But it would a great way to show just how starkly policies, programs, and funding are skewed to the cities and away from the Brueghelian hellscapes remote towns and camps.
12
In one freaking year.
Surging hydroelectric power, new nuclear reactors online, and an influx of solar and wind capacity additions sent electricity prices in Finland below zero on Wednesday, in a stark reversal from last year when residents were warned of shortages after Russia cut off pipeline gas supply to its EU neighbor.
“The average price for the day is now slightly, but nevertheless, on the negative side. Yes, it is historic,” Jukka Ruusunen, chief executive officer of grid operator Fingrid, told local news outlet Yle.
Abundant meltwater is raising hydropower production, while the newest nuclear reactor in Europe – and the biggest by capacity – started producing electricity in Finland last month. Olkiluoto 3, which has completed test production and is now regularly producing electricity, is expected to account for 30% of Finland’s power generation, the plant operator, TVO, says.
Operational issues have plagued the 1,600 MW reactor for years. But now it is expected to produce electricity for the next 60 years and is a significant addition to clean domestic production, TVO said.
After the start-up of Olkiluoto 3, power prices in Finland saw a 75% plunge between December 2022 and April 2023.
In addition, growing solar and wind capacity is also contributing to a cleaner and more abundant power supply in Finland.
“Last winter, the only thing people could talk about was where to get more electricity. Now we are thinking hard about how to limit production. We have gone from one extreme to another,” Ruusunen told Yle.
Now they want to limit production. How about dismantling solar and wind while adding another plant.
10
Edward Feser
@FeserEdward
·
4h
1/18 A false dichotomy. For one thing, recognizing the economic problem does not entail denying the cultural problem (and
@SohrabAhmari
did not say that it does). Both must be addressed. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. But there’s also a much deeper point
Quote Tweet
Adrian Pabst
@AdrianPabst1
·
May 26
@SohrabAhmari is right — a majority politics has to be anchored in constructive alternatives to the broken economic model — the culture wars are a distraction (and arguably grow out of economic discontent) twitter.com/sohrabahmari/s…
RTWT.
The Beloved is chary of flying Air Hijab.
The prayers from the pilot on the runway as you are taking off will do that for you.
2
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
A bit hard on the lowland Scots, their language is English, because they really were English all along, until some celts decided to steal their land, call themselves something else and give them a shyte accent.
4
Joyce is about to leave Qantas after remaking it into one of the world’s most profitable airlines. He is the world’s best airline CEO and there will be a list of suitors stretching around the globe seeking his services.
I got half way through that dross from Comrade Phil then scrolled on. Agree with the above. I have known 2 Qantas employees who were head office workers at different times under both Dixon and Joyce. From what I was told Dixon was a brilliant businessman but had some morally repugnant traits that I will leave at that. Joyce apparently even more gifted, apparently has a passion for aviation but prone to outbursts of rage and general hissy fits. The other and ultimately loser in all this was John Borghetti, from what I was told also very astute but passed over for Joyce and ended up at VA.
I am a long time frequent flyer of the airline. I was cynical at all the supposed improvements they announced at the start of Joyce’s reign, I had ceased using their international arm at that stage. Whilst I would say service is better on other airlines still the red roo has come a long way from the start in that regard. Have flown their international arm a few times since and gone are the bunny boilers and the service is adequate.
All the usual suspects are fulminating about the profits at the moment. They are about to modernise the B738’s to A320 Neos $110mil a pop with 134 aircraft over 10 years, that’s $14bil without modernising other aging aircraft like the A330’s that have been around nearly as long and purchase/lease of E190’s to replace the B717’s that I love to hate.
Personally I don’t like the pride barrow Joyce pushes but as a CEO he has done a pretty good job. I particularly liked the shutdown to counter the union wildcat strikes, I was in Singapore’s Changi when I learned about it having just got off a flight from Bangkok and transferring to a flight to Darwin.
3
Phatty Adams must have suffered a brain injury
How would anyone be able to tell?
As for quaintarse, I permanently banned them about five years ago. Their treatement of their customers is appalling. I’d been a quaintarse club member for two decades and the decline in standards once the toxic leprechaun took over was rapid.
There must be (national cabinet) minutes somewhere
Another item for Eddles to chase down while he’s in Beijing.
2
Another good Albrechtsen column in Teh Weekend Paywallian about you know who. A succinct summary about how she made life difficult for everyone around her – including herself.
3
JC, I was reading an article this week on Finland regarding how renewables had saved the day.
They omitted the nuclear aspect.
4
I see someone was dutifully beating the Gummint drum on petrol stations last night. “Petrol bill too high? No, no. Not taxes. Not our policies. You’re being ripped off by greedy servo owners.”
Then we read that the tolerance they are working to is 0.3%.
That is, less than a cupful in a 70 litre tank.
And, as Gez points out, the pumps are tamper proof, so any out-of-tolerance pump is a result of infrequent maintenance and could just as easily be over-delivering.
But thanks for spouting the Albo line.
I’m waiting for the usual suspects to start screaming ‘Racist!!!!11!’ while they fail to recognise it’s about the culture not the race.
But then if they could see the difference, it wouldn’t let them play the race card – which is what much of the squealing was about last night.
4
Dover Beach:
Latest primary polls in Iowa and South Carolina have Trump up +33 and +25, with DeSantis at 17 and 20, respectively. DeSantis is being used here.
Yep. He’s being used to split the Republican vote, and I believe he’s quite aware of what he’s doing.
I smell another Pence style debacle in the making.
6
Another item for Eddles to chase down while he’s in Beijing.
Alas, I fear destined to remain just an empty spot on the bookshelf like mUnty’s travel report from Malmo.
3
dover0beach says:
May 27, 2023 at 9:55 am
Latest primary polls in Iowa and South Carolina have Trump up +33 and +25, with DeSantis at 17 and 20, respectively. DeSantis is being used here.
DeSantis is smart enough to know that and is still going along with it which makes him unprincipled. I thought he had an animosity to Trump during the Maralago document raid, he did not say a word until prompted by journalists.
I thought the best option for him would have been to stay out of the primaries and then be picked as the VP candidate. He may find that antagonising Trump voters is not a winner.
On the other hand, DeSantis may know well that due to Dem cheating there is no way a Republican can win the presidency in the foreseeable future so he is just cashing in with NeverTrumpers.
3
So much for that moronic energy minister telling us nuclear is too expensive.
And so much for the L/NP who for ten years in government paid lip service to nuclear energy and left office bequeathing us the world’s most expensive pumped hydro “battery” which may never be completed.
10
I’ve posted the whole article.
Brittany Higgins is the wrong face for #MeToo
Janet Albrechtsen Follow @jkalbrechtsen Janet Albrechtsen
With two more weeks of public hearings to go, mistakes by police appear to be small compared with misjudgments by other people who chose to become personally involved with Brittany Higgins.
12:00AM May 27, 2023
Just before lunch on Wednesday, the lawyer acting for ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates reminded Detective Superintendent Scott Moller of something important he said earlier in the witness box.
“You take every opportunity to learn from a case, including this one?” Peggy Dwyer SC put to Moller.
Moller agreed. How could he not? It is hard to imagine any person involved in this scandal coming out the other end – if there is an end – without learning something about their own behaviour.
Read Next
The board of inquiry into the ACT justice system’s handling of the Higgins-Lehrmann spectacle has the potential to provide some useful markers, but only if the inquiry asks every person in this saga what they have learned about their own behaviour. If they have learned nothing, or not enough, then it will fall to inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC to tell us what he has learned about the behaviour of those he has heard from.
Last week, it was about the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions. This week was all about the cops. Next week, it will be Yates.
In Moller’s statement to the inquiry, he recalled that during his first meeting with Yates and Higgins, he asked Higgins to stop speaking with the media.
Moller said words to the effect that “if you’re going speak to the media, and this (the prosecution) can’t go ahead, it’ll all be for nothing”.
Moller says Yates responded on Higgins’s behalf: “She can’t, Scott – she is the face of the movement now.”
Yates’s lawyer this week claimed that Yates said something different, “something like, ‘excuse me, Scott, I’m just going to intervene here … I’d just like to note that the criminal justice system is just one thing that we are dealing with. And Ms Higgins has already undertaken a great deal of advocacy at a national level to bring attention to the difficulties of sexual assault survivors making disclosures and seeking support and calling for improvements across a range of areas.’ ”
In other words, not much different. Yates’s version was a long-hand way of saying that Higgins was the face of the #MeToo movement in Australia.
With the board of inquiry into its third week of public hearings, it is becoming increasingly clear that Higgins is, and was, the wrong face for the #MeToo movement. Decisions by her, and those around her, to air her allegation in the media have undermined key features of our criminal justice system.
Putting it another way, if Higgins is the right face for the #MeToo movement then heaven help the proper administration of justice in this country.
Higgins, of course, has every right to go to the media first and police second. That was her strategy from the start. But that strategy, bolstered daily by her media supporters, came at a high cost to the police investigation, to the workings of the Office of the DPP, to the trial in the ACT Supreme Court and to subsequent events.
We can try to tally up the financial costs of this saga another day. Here we are talking about the costs to the administration of justice when Higgins became the face of the #MeToo movement.
Start with the police investigation. If Higgins is portrayed as a role model for other women, then her tactic of going to the media first may be mimicked by other women. If so, the same problems that police confronted in this investigation may be repeated more frequently.
We need to understand the reasons police were concerned with Higgins’s media strategy. First, police were concerned that, by speaking to the media, a complainant might risk raising inconsistencies that could undo a successful prosecution.
The more times Higgins gave her version of events to the media, the more likely there might be new inconsistencies in what she said happened. That’s not a criticism of Higgins, more a reflection on human nature, that we don’t always repeat something in precisely the same way. That happened here. During her interview with Network Ten’s The Project, Higgins made several claims that later were shown to be wrong. That necessarily had the ability to undermine her credibility.
The “media first, police second” strategy posed another risk to our justice system. Bruce Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence, yet the media attention on Higgins and her unsubstantiated allegation necessarily undermined Lehrmann’s right to the presumption of innocence.
Those who showed scant regard for this principle in this case may change their tune when it hits close to home, when they, or someone they know, is accused of rape and faces a media onslaught akin to what Lehrmann faced.
The police made mistakes in this case. For example, Moller conceded this week that police should never have handed Higgins’s counselling notes to the DPP and Lehrmann’s first defence lawyer, John Korn. Was this error, compounded when the DPP read the notes, the result of pressures arising from the febrile atmosphere surrounding a woman touted as the face of the #MeToo movement? The normal tension between advocating a victim-centric approach and ensuring the proper administration of justice was ramped up to dangerous when Higgins became the face of the #MeToo movement.
On more than a few occasions, the normal rules, and sound judgments, appear to have been discarded for Higgins. Moller told the inquiry that during an earlier case not involving Higgins, prosecutor Skye Jerome told police officers that prosecutions would not be progressed when alleged victims didn’t hand over their mobile phones.
When police investigators told Jerome, during a briefing about the Higgins case, that Higgins had not handed her phone over, “Jerome dropped her head into her hands in what appeared to be frustration and alarm”. This wasn’t the only time there appeared to be one set of rules for Higgins and a different set for other complainants.
Moller recounted that police allowed Higgins to view CCTV footage of her and Lehrmann at Parliament House on the night of the alleged rape, after she kept insisting she wanted to see it.
Showing her that footage went against their better judgment. The normal rule is not to show this sort of footage to a complainant as they may rely on it to change their story if they remember things differently, or if they can’t remember things at all.
Last week, DPP Shane Drumgold also admitted to several errors of judgment. The impact of these mistakes is serious. It’s not just that the DPP sought to keep from Lehrmann’s defence lawyers information that might have helped them in formulating their defence. Misjudgments by the DPP have the potential to undermine our trust in the administration of system.
Moller also gave evidence this week that he thought the DPP decided to proceed with a prosecution before reading the full brief of evidence. The DPP was determined to prosecute Lehrmann no matter what, Moller said, despite concerns among senior AFP officers that there was not enough evidence.
If Yates is right that Higgins became the face of the #MeToo movement, did that impair the DPP’s judgment?
So many people in positions of power who were caught up in the hype of the Higgins media storm appeared to have made poor decisions. Those who caused the original trial to be delayed should be asking themselves how that fits with seeking a victim-centric outcome.
Similarly, Yates – who will be in the witness box next week – should be asked whether her judgment was adversely affected by Higgins’s position as the face of the #MeToo movement.
Yates, who was described by her lawyer at the inquiry this week as a highly professional, compassionate and caring support person for victims of sexual assault, should be asked whether she gave Higgins advice about the inherent dangers of her chosen media strategy.
Did Yates gently suggest to Higgins that being the face of the #MeToo movement might bring much adulation, and many magazine covers, but media attention might undermine a prosecution?
Looking at her own conduct, did Yates consider the possible consequences for the presumption of innocence, and the potential impact on the jury, of her decision to accompany into court the woman who had become the face of the #MeToo movement, with the attendant press coverage that brought every day?
As Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow SC, told The Weekend Australian last week, that conduct carried a less-than-subtle and a less-than-subconscious inference that Higgins was in fact a victim.
“It was about as subtle as if Yates had walked in wearing a T-shirt saying ‘Bruce is guilty’,” Whybrow said.
With two more weeks of public hearings to go, mistakes by police appear to be small compared with misjudgments by other people who chose to become personally involved with Higgins. We will have to wait until July to hear whether Sofronoff agrees that Higgins’s notoriety as the face of the #MeToo movement came with significant costs for justice.
22
feelthebern says:
May 27, 2023 at 10:14 am
JC, I was reading an article this week on Finland regarding how renewables had saved the day.
They omitted the nuclear aspect.
Unreal, isn’t it. The hide it instead of celebrating a marvelous achievement mixed in with luck. Luck, because the nuke plant was years in the making. Apparently, it’s possibly the largest nuke plant in Europe.
7
I wonder if there are any Indians in Finland operating service stations.
3
Less emphasis on the T-freaks in this weeks edition.
I’m waiting for the usual suspects to start screaming ‘Racist!!!!11!’ while they fail to recognise it’s about the culture not the race.
I’m reasonably certain Andy Ngo is not a racist.
Importing any people from a dysfunctional culture and concentrate them in one city while imagining they’ll embrace American values is as naive as imagining Iraq could be turned into a western style democracy by force of arms.
3
Yates’s version was a long-hand way of saying that Higgins was the face of the #MeToo movement in Australia.
On the face of it, a much curated version of what was actually said.
No normal person talks like that.
11
the L/NP who for ten years in government paid lip service to nuclear energy and left office bequeathing us the world’s most expensive pumped hydro “battery” which may never be completed
As Waffles Turnbuckle famously noted at the time, “the gliberal party is not bound by the laws of physics”. Hence water miraculously flowing uphill.
Perhaps he could go and tell it to poor ol’ Flo, the boring machine stuck in a hole and unable to keep digging.
7
A follow up to AEMO releasing a new map showing a different path for VNI West two days ago.
Their brief response to media simply said it was a technical error.
A technical error that had the map titled 5A instead of the previous option 5.
The highly professional and super expert AEMO would have us believe that they’re this incompetent when it comes to information and consultation?
The rural media are having none of it, and instead call it an accidental release of an updated plan.
The clown show continues.
19
on biz class:
Emirates better overall, Singapore close. BA is a joke. Qantas … forget it. Other airlines economy is better than biz on the last two.
Philip Adams can find someone to pay if he wants to fly at the pointy end. Just another grifting fellow traveller.
7
Frank says:
May 27, 2023 at 10:09 am
The Beloved is chary of flying Air Hijab.
The prayers from the pilot on the runway as you are taking off will do that for you.
A prayer doesn’t go astray at any time. I always ask for God’s help as we are taxiing down the runway.
4
I always ask for God’s help as we are taxiing down the runway.
Is that before or after the landing gear comes down? 🙂
Fly Olympic. They always applaud on landing.
3
It suited a lot of people that the media coverage never got any further than “Oh, poor Brittany.” Unfortunately that doesn’t cut it when you get to court. As we are seeing.
8
Roger says:
May 27, 2023 at 10:18 am
So much for that moronic energy minister telling us nuclear is too expensive.
And so much for the L/NP who for ten years in government paid lip service to nuclear energy and left office bequeathing us the world’s most expensive pumped hydro “battery” which may never be completed.
The most economical approach would be to stop it now but of course that would require politicians with a brain and a spine, ours only have bowels and reproductive organs.
5
Somalis exercising their free speech rights at a Minneapolis council election.
No one knows why there have been so many attacks on mosques in Minnesota lately, or why so many of the vandals/attackers have a history of mental illness
…
Serif Zorba stabbed an imam during prayers; he was a Muslim. He is either mentally ill or a very sincere Muslim.
Mohamad Bekheet is also a Muslim, and he defaced a sign outside an Islamic school, twice . . . with feces.
In fact, we now know that the man who set fire to the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center is a Muslim. And he, too, has some mental health issues.
No one dares to say what it really is: sectarian muzzo infighting, so when they can’t find some whitey to blame they have to go back to the old mental illness defense.
9
That boring machine stuck in the hole for Snowy Hydro 2. How about we just fill in the dirt behind it and forget the whole thing?
19
At 81 doesn’t she (Ita Buttocks) have enough super to retire that she must still work?
That’s a rather loose usage of the term, “work”. Simply turning up at the Ultimo taxpayer funded sheltered workshop Kolkhoz is about 91.3% of her jerb.
Clearly she’s been inspired by the mighty work ethic of geriatric Joe. Although at least Ita does have some clue as to what planet she’s on, even if only occassionally.
13
Fly Olympic. They always applaud on landing.
Knew a Qantas Flight Engineer on 747s. He did a year or two seconded to Olympic. After that reckoned aviation was White Man’s Magic.
2
Anyone know if Gérard Depardieu has come back to France after he fled high taxes last time?
Fleeing as he did to the ample bosom of Mother Russia. Remember Cats, this is a personage who drinks thirteen bottles of wine a day.
5
As has been said” when you taxi out and line up on the runway, if you aren’t at least a little bit nervous, you don’t understand the problem”.
5
Their brief response to media simply said it was a technical error.
Mmm…AEMO lying to the public?
If that could be proven someone might lose their job.
6
JCsays:
May 27, 2023 at 10:24 am
I wonder if there are any Indians in Finland operating service stations.
One saving grace is that truck stop deposits tend to be less squishy under the thongs in the Finnish climate.
And I doubt they wear thongs anyway.
1
I always enjoy the middle bit. The airborne part.
Except the middle bit between Cairo and Tel Aviv. And the other middle bit between Moresby and Goroka.
You can keep those.
9
Oh. And crossing the Andes. Although the view out of the window was distracting.
2
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
Does this dictate apply to Razey’s wife? After all, she’s Japanese.
Especially ones wives – ahh, the serenity
2
Sancho:
I see someone was dutifully beating the Gummint drum on petrol stations last night.
“Petrol bill too high? No, no. Not taxes. Not our policies. You’re being ripped off by greedy servo owners.”
Then we read that the tolerance they are working to is 0.3%.
That is, less than a cupful in a 70 litre tank.
And, as Gez points out, the pumps are tamper proof, so any out-of-tolerance pump is a result of infrequent maintenance and could just as easily be over-delivering.
But thanks for spouting the Albo line.
Way to go to totally miss my point which was – as Farmer Gez pointed out – the pumps can be inaccurate.
Mark Borlace of South Australia’s motoring association RAA said a 7 per cent inaccuracy rate was more than expected and the tendency toward under-pouring was “interesting”.
“If it’s just inaccuracies, then you’d think the highs and lows should be about the same — some under-pouring, some over-pouring, and it’s just calibration,” he said.
“But if the majority of them are under-pouring, then it seems unusual.”
See that bit Sancho?
“But if the majority of them are under-pouring, then it seems unusual.”
And you think it’s inconsequential, because you want to justify having a shot at me.
14
Janet Yellen has extended the debt ceiling deadline until 5 June, give Joe Biden time to do what he does best…he’s taking the Memorial Day long weekend off.
Leading Report
@LeadingReport
·
May 26
BREAKING: George Floyd autopsy confirms there were no ‘life threatening injuries.’
8
Mmm…AEMO lying to the public?
they aren’t lying
the truth is coming out like toothpaste comes out of a tube
1
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
Frought with woke and stupid. Maybe we’ll see this vandal get his comeuppance sooner than later.
2
police allowed Hoggins to view CCTV footage of her and Lehrmann at Parliament House on the night
That would be the legendary footage showing Hoggins being so sloshed she could barely stand, let alone put her shoes back on.
But hey, just let the pair of useless paralytic imbeciles in, who cares what happens afterwards, right taxpayers?
6
police allowed Hoggins to view CCTV footage of her and Lehrmann at Parliament House on the night
Groogs put on Jatz, Coon cubes, salami and those funny coloured onions. Mother says it was a wonderful night and she was lovely.
5
Roger:
I’m reasonably certain Andy Ngo is not a racist.
I’m sure he isn’t either. The relevance of this to the shouting match last night between us is…?
1
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought, yes, and maybe all for naught given the SG government has given no approvals to connect to their grid let alone any sign Sun Solar has even been in contact.
Spending $20 bn on a pinky or no promise seems quite ‘hopeful’ when there are other solar facilities being built much closer and SG has 2X capacity based on Gas already.
1
I wonder if there are any Indians in Finland operating service stations.
Look on the bright side, JC. At least Sanna now has a lot more time to party.
2
LOL. My comment about English language and cultural appropriation was merely to point out the absurdity of the leftard use of the term. I think some of you got that….
11
Crossie:
The most economical approach would be to stop it now but of course that would require politicians with a brain and a spine, ours only have bowels and reproductive organs.
The Australian Political Class is the only form of life with a thousand bellies and no brain.
4
Sancho/JC:
JCsays:
May 27, 2023 at 10:24 am
I wonder if there are any Indians in Finland operating service stations.
One saving grace is that truck stop deposits tend to be less squishy under the thongs in the Finnish climate.
And I doubt they wear thongs anyway.
Will you pair get a room for Gods sake?
And wash your hands before you touch that keyboard again.
8
Tom Hanks comes out for truth. “As the US grapples with a disinformation crisis, Tom Hanks told graduates of Harvard on Thursday to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain.
“For the truth to some is no longer empirical. It’s no longer based on data, nor common sense, nor even common decency,” the two-time Academy Award winner said during his keynote address. He invoked the Latin word for truth, “veritas”, Harvard’s motto.”
3
The relevance of this to the shouting match last night between us is…?
Qué?
You’ve lost me.
Miltonf says:
May 27, 2023 at 6:48 am
Environmentalism has always been class warfare by other means. Net Zero – the deranged dream of greens and our political class – is essentially austerity on steroids. Spiked
Not Zero is the new abortion.
2
I love schadenfreude served ice cold on a sunny Saturday morning.
“The whole industry is in shock. Even Bud’s competitors aren’t really dancing on the grave because they know it could have happened to them,” Beer Business Daily editor and publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital.
“This particular promotion just really struck a chord. It was just a bridge too far, apparently, for consumers… we’re in week six and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better,” he continued. “In fact, the numbers just keep getting a little worse every week…
Not only the beer industry. Target in the US is doubling down on woke as their shareprice doubles down on going down. And North Face got the treatment in Tom’s toons this morning. It’ll be fun to see what happens to them. The cost of going woke is getting higher, but the executives are so intent on staying in the Davos elites stratum they dare not back away. Always fun to see companies play chicken with their customers and lose, abjectly.
12
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘On the day of King Charles 111’s coronation, the ABC airs a two hour special examining how relevant the monarchy is to Australians and the Commonwealth in 2023.”
Bullshit. The TV guide said 5pm…Coronation of King Charles 111.
5
Henry George
@intothefuture45
·
8h
“Fell flat.” It generated more coverage, positive and hysterical, than anyone expected. It’s still being talked about. And it wasn’t just “US conservatives.” NatCon has had conferences in America *and* Europe. This event was about exploring its place in the British context.
Quote Tweet
John Burn-Murdoch
@jburnmurdoch
·
13h
NEW: last week a group of US hardline conservatives brought the National Conservatism conference to London. It fell completely flat. Why?
Because Britain and America are completely different societies.
More and more it becomes clear that the problem for centre-right politics is liberalism itself. The tendency of liberal influence in centre-right politics is to draw it leftward. Also, Burn-Murdoch writes for the FT. The finance press is not a friend of right politics. They may now and then align with right politics but they are ideologically at odds with right politics.
2
calli says:
May 27, 2023 at 10:30 am
I always ask for God’s help as we are taxiing down the runway.
Is that before or after the landing gear comes down? ?
Before takeoff one prayer and a different one on touchdown.
1
Nurse Betty, the petrol pump sleuth, on the matter of the stolen cup full of petrol.
Very suspicious that the pumps will err on the side of unders rather than overs, apparently.
Is it?
If you are allowed a tolerance of 0.3%, you might target an under-pour, say, of 0.1%.
Statistically, that would result in more underpouring than over.
No biggie.
If you want keep pushing the Albo press release on this one, go right ahead.
But there are more serious weights and measures issues facing the nation. Like, for example, “medical perfessionals” fiddling the drugs register in hospitals.
4
I just went through three days of training at my favourite employer. Very educational, including discussion of new WHS Act and its interaction with the mines. There are no employers and employees anymore you are now either a HBCDPOCUXYZ or a Wukka.
Sexual harassment, respect and sense of psychological safety: No trans bullsh1t. Mostly appears good sense – but be bloody careful and keep notes. The opportunities for innocent stuff to be twisted by a person capitalising are awful.
New training: Mental Health First Aid – surprisingly good training, included role play of ‘difficult conversation’.
New Training: Arc Flash. Turns out Zimbabwe isn’t the best place to get hit by lightning; its our local substation. Pictures of burn injuries were graphic. Takeaway: anything going near high voltage might trigger arc flash, and it doesn’t have to touch anything just be near it.
Takeaway 1: Forget starting a small business. You now need $5M in compliance people costs to be in business at all.
Takeaway 2: We need a powerful, professional systems approach to anything at all these days. That includes even working out what the well-meaning are doing to take your freedom from you. To be effective in either stopping Vogon-like regulatory abuse or improving over-regulation needs really hardworking, talented, knowledgeable and effective people.
15
“This particular promotion just really struck a chord. It was just a bridge too far, apparently, for consumers… we’re in week six and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better,” he continued. “In fact, the numbers just keep getting a little worse every week…
Has anyone seen Dylan Mulvaney lately, the cause of all this destruction? Is he still memorialising each new day of his girlhood?
7
To be honest I found Qantas ok to pretty good before the woke/pc crap was turned up. I refuse to use them now because of that. I should also say that ex employees I’ve spoken to have told me they were horrible to work for.
3
Ripped off.
Bought a “litre” of iodine.
997 mls.
2
I just counted the matches in my box of 50 matches.
49.
4
You’re funny Low Low
1
Spending $20 bn on a pinky or no promise seems quite ‘hopeful’ when there are other solar facilities being built much closer and SG has 2X capacity based on Gas already.
I think your talking $20billion of OUR money not Mikey’s .. no way him & Twiggy would have duked it out wiv their own loot as the stake ……..
7
Not only the beer industry.
The LA Dodgers have just alienated their Catholic fans, which would be a fair slice of their followers I would imagine, by inviting a group of draq queens who dress as nuns to their “Pride Night” game.
6
Has anyone seen Dylan Mulvaney lately, the cause of all this destruction? Is he still memorialising each new day of his girlhood?
I wonder who owns the New York Post? Weird huh? Unfortunately Newscorp management haven’t worked out that every time they pull one of these editorial stunts DeSantis’s numbers fall another few points.
9
The cost of going woke is getting higher, but the executives are so intent on staying in the Davos elites stratum they dare not back away. Always fun to see companies play chicken with their customers and lose, abjectly.
I think its corporate ESG score for the major super funds as shareholders that chains their feet to the fire.
3
To be effective in either stopping Vogon-like regulatory abuse or improving over-regulation needs really hardworking, talented, knowledgeable and effective people.
So…not the Liberal Party then.
4
I just don’t get why commercial outfits are pissing off their customers/fans. All I can think of is marxist trashing of things people hold dear.
9
Just dropping this here:
From Chris’s post above:
We need a powerful, professional systems approach to anything at all these days. That includes even working out what the well-meaning are doing to take your freedom from you.
Bin tryin’ to say this for freakin’ ages.
But, Nah! She’ll be right. Snot THAT bad yet, isit?
Yeah but nah but yeah but nah but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………
WAKE THE FECK UP!
(Breathe, Muddy. Just breeeeeeathe…).
5
I should also say that ex employees I’ve spoken to have told me they were horrible to work for.
I have 2 family members who until recently worked for Qantas, one a pilot the other ground staff. Basically, Qantas are at war with their workforce and vv. The relationship is toxic. The Q senior executive strata are viewed as a bunch of c****.
And on the subject of carriers, I refuse to put a penny into Sharia Airlines. Plenty others to choose from, rather than fund the sheiks’ vanity projects while the multi faced rag heads dabble with funding AQ et al. The ME is a vipers nest. No thanks.
13
I just don’t get why commercial outfits are pissing off their customers/fans.
Corporate management types – including (especially?) in Big Sport – are useful idiots.
8
Sorry. Forgot to mention that the bolding in that quote was mine.
As you were.
(Back to La-Firetrucking-La Land).
3
Rupe jumping horses? Hmmm … that’s new.
News.com.au has an article on Anna Kournikova.
Liberty quote: “When I got pregnant, I reduced the workload, and realised I want to devote all my time to children. Being with them is happiness, I am not going to miss a second.”
15
Corporate management types – including (especially?) in Big Sport – are useful idiots
Increasing for Big Sport and FTA TV their just paying the government piper.
2
Not sure i can blame that their on autocorrect. But I will try.
1
I think its corporate ESG score for the major super funds as shareholders that chains their feet to the fire.
Chris – That’s rapidly becoming being torn in two directions:
There’re signs that companies are starting to edge away from ESG stuff, which is good. Unfortunately in our country super funds are solidly controlled by the unions and the unions are controlled by green progressive uni graduates. So I can’t see ASX companies escaping the dilemma as easily as US ones can.
8
Chrissays:
May 27, 2023 at 11:39 am
News.com.au has an article on Anna Kournikova.
Liberty quote: “When I got pregnant …
Couldn’t be more pleased with my part in this.
5
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
A bit tough on the Irish and Welsh given the National Education Act 1831 (UK).
Speaking of petrol pumps, I’ve been trying to verify my car’s trip computing which says 6.4L/100km average. Tried about 4 times and got 7.2L/100km. Ok but not spectacular and I am a lead foot.
I just don’t get why commercial outfits are pissing off their customers/fans. All I can think of is marxist trashing of things people hold dear.
The Dialectic at work. Action, provoke and control the reaction, implement the solution you had in mind when you created the problem
The problem with their cunning plan is the reaction is NOT the one they were hoping to provoke/control.
According to a James Lindsay podcast I listened to,the big reason corporations are embracing this bullshit is to get their ESG scores up so that Blackrock etc will infest in them and that banks will lian to them. There is an audit mafia that says do this and we will bump up the E part of your scores, ignore us and you will get a big fat 0.
8
We need a powerful, professional systems approach to anything at all these days. That includes even working out what the well-meaning are doing to take your freedom from you.
There we go Muddy, its my bolding now.
Yes. You have been telling us.
Indeed Roger, the Liberal Party need not apply. They are the well-meaning trying to take our freedom from us, actually; by inaction as much as anything.
3
Couldn’t be more pleased with my part in this.
Well done!
1
miltonf
Relation is in the chief executive band, smart hard working guy from humble roots but views are decidedly left of centre. Same with others I have met higher up the corporate tree. I reckon they become so insular at some stage they actually can’t fathom that the base may think differently to what they do.
I’ll put money on it a far right disinformation campaign being the main talking point not a stupid marketing decisions being the blame, when the dust settles. For the time being Bud is doubling down on the stupid and Target also has dipped a toe in the same water with similar results.
7
Somebody over on the Oz website assuring us that Aborigines weren’t counted in the census until the 1960 referendum….they walk amongst us, and have the right to vote…
10
The problem with their cunning plan is the reaction is NOT the one they were hoping to provoke/control.
Actually in further thought, the cunning backup plan may be to drive down the price of the shares to allow a cheaper takeover.
3
Veteran cop emerges from inquiry bout bruised but not beaten
STEPHEN RICE Follow @riceyontheroad STEPHEN RICE
9:17PM May 26, 2023
It was the cops’ turn in the witness box at the Sofronoff Inquiry this week, looking as uncomfortable as you might expect of officers of the law finding themselves under cross-examination by the man who prosecuted serial killer Ivan Milat.
On this occasion, Mark Tedeschi KC is representing ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold as he seeks to defend himself against accusations of misconduct in his handling of the Bruce Lehrmann rape case.
It is also an implicit part of Tedeschi’s job here to turn the tables back on police, who Drumgold accuses of working with Lehrmann’s defence team to kill the case. First in Tedeschi’s sights this week was Detective Superintendent Scott Moller, the officer who oversaw the investigation into Brittany Higgins’ claims.
The veteran cop recounted how his entire team believed there was not enough evidence to charge Lehrmann and were appalled that the presumption of innocence was being trashed, with the DPP allegedly pushing for a prosecution before even seeing the brief of evidence.
Moller presented as a thoughtful, decent cop, frustrated at being accused of not doing his job and annoyed at Tedeschi’s repeated suggestion that ACT police were soft on sexual assault crimes.
If there was any doubt about his motives or commitment, Moller crushed it when he revealed he himself had been the victim of childhood sexual abuse.
Yes, Drumgold had applied the correct legal test for charging Lehrmann, the policeman agreed under Tedeschi’s questioning, but no, Moller had not been wrong in his approach to the case.
It was a rare concession by Moller but, in any case, a moot point: all parties to the inquiry, including police, have agreed Drumgold was within his rights to prosecute Lehrmann.
The issue for inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff is whether Drumgold overstepped the mark in doing so.
On that score, Tedeschi struggled to counter the principle claims against his client. Those included Drumgold’s attempts to prevent disclosure of police documents to the defence and his conduct after Lisa Wilkinson’s Logies speech prejudiced Lehrmann’s upcoming trial.
When the DPP went into court after the speech to argue against a delay, he misled the chief justice – he says unintentionally – in allowing her to believe that a proofing note of his meeting with Ms Wilkinson before the Logies was based on the contemporaneous notes of a junior, when in fact it was written by him after the speech. One question that ran hot at the beginning of the inquiry has now been answered.
For all the claims of “political interference”, it seems there was none from actual politicians.
Drumgold has admitted he was mistaken in suspecting political interference by former Liberal ministers Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash. He’s now blaming “a skills deficit on the part of investigators”.
On Friday, AFP Commander Michael Chew agreed that his claim of “political interference” – recorded in Moller’s diary notes – was an “unfortunate” choice of words. It was an expression of the environment police were facing, he said: pressure from the media, pressure from the DPP, pressure from Ms Higgins and her boyfriend, David Sharaz.
But Tedeschi has been unable to shake the impression his client was also caught up in the fervour of the #MeToo movement, leading him into fundamental errors in his handling of the case.
Tedeschi’s take-no-prisoners style was in stark contrast to that of Peggy Dwyer, counsel for Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates, who will appear next week. Dwyer began her examination of Moller by passing on an invitation from Ms Yates to sit down with her for a cup of tea and a chat.
By the end of the day Moller had agreed he was wrong to have cast Yates as inappropriately interfering in the case.
It’s hard to imagine Shane Drumgold will be inviting the cops around for a beer when this is over – and zero chance of it being accepted.
4
“The person most responsible for the conviction of Chauvin is the expert witness Tobin”
I believe Chauvin would (and should) have got off on appeal, but the political situation was such that there would have been riots in the streets. So much for the vaunted system of American justice.
6
Higgins truly is the face of the #MeeToo movement – although not sure how it qualifies as a ‘movement’.
She is the perfect example of its flaws: Demanding that we instantly and uncritically believe women’s accusations against men, and at the same time it is becoming clearer how little merit those claims possessed.
#MeeToo is not about justice – that is what the law courts are for. It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
14
The BoM says we’re going to have an El Nino from Hell this year, so why are these guys, gals and yxes not out doing control burns? I doubt Canadian firefighters will help us in summer. Trudy isn’t a generous sort of guy.
No one ever does enough control burning here, yet they all squawk like excited parrots when the inevitable then occurs.
7
Spriter
@Spriter99880
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the petition on the legalization of partnerships for same-sex couples in the country, Ukrainian media reports.
According to him, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is currently working on the comprehensive legislative introduction of the institution of civil partnership.
Zelensky also appealed to the Verkhovna Rada with a proposal to consider bills on the legalization of partnerships for same-sex couples.
LMAO. Bans opposition parties, looks to fast-track the above. Got to keep globohomo paying the war bills.
7
Bruce O’Nuke:
Not only the beer industry. Target in the US is doubling down on woke as their shareprice doubles down on going down. And North Face got the treatment in Tom’s toons this morning. It’ll be fun to see what happens to them. The cost of going woke is getting higher, but the executives are so intent on staying in the Davos elites stratum they dare not back away. Always fun to see companies play chicken with their customers and lose, abjectly.
It will only start getting better when the first shareholder meeting sacks the board for refusing to add to share value, and as the board shuffles off stage left, only then will the remainder take note.
Why?
Because the unemployed don’t get invites to the dinner parties that matter.
7
All the major Australian corporates and banks are furiously embracing ESG. I know, I work for one.
10
It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
A marxist lesbian project and canbra is full of them.
4
Yes that’s my observation too Cassie. Not at the coal face though.
3
Vogon-like regulatory abuse
I’ll say one thing for the Vogons – they certainly aren’t (weren’t?) one trick ponies.
1
And North Face got the treatment in Tom’s toons this morning.
We began regularly walking a local nature path two years ago now, I recall mentioning to hubby that we must be out of style because EVERYONE wore a black North Face puffer jacket, hundreds of them. I re-lined some of hubby’s nylon windbreakers from 30 years ago, they work just fine.
8
It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
Same with the attacks on soldiers who were in Afghanistan. What a loathsome abomination canbra is.
11
It will only start getting better when the first shareholder meeting sacks the board for refusing to add to share value, and as the board shuffles off stage left, only then will the remainder take note.
Why?
Because the unemployed don’t get invites to the dinner parties that matter.
Shareholders with percents to control the vote are the funds, not individuals. They are loaded with superannuation money. The fund MANAGERS have power and they have measurable goals, whcih now depend on ESG scores.
– in the absence of fund members taking power.
All the major Australian corporates and banks are furiously embracing ESG. I know, I work for one.
I’m curious to know exactly how they are doing this. Are they refusing customers for example?
2
There are planets everywhere. Guys please get that star drive going soon.
Also some professors have really fun names. I wonder if Manfred shortens his first name to “Man”? I’m not giving an excerpt because Dover’s blog settings might not like his last name.
2
Sancho:
But there are more serious weights and measures issues facing the nation. Like, for example, “medical perfessionals” fiddling the drugs register in hospitals.
Your distractor is an admission you have no case.
And it brings us right back to the original reason for this discussion
I won’t do business with people whose culture permits them to lie and cheat, and has been part of their culture for centuries. I’d think it a fairly rational decision.
Whereas you think I shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate on the basis of that culture. But as I’ve already pointed out, both you and JC have replaced the concept of culture with race.
And that allows you to play the race card. Which is just another way of telling me to shut up.
The Race card is only played when you have no argument, and you, Sancho, have no argument.
13
Well a lot of it is propaganda over the intranet – ‘indigenous’ and alphabet stuff. Zero about Australia Day or the death of the Queen or the Chilla coronation.
1
Yours truly, Calli Olthwaite
Wi’ brass tang…
1
ANZ certainly refuses to lend for coal mining.
2
and you, Sancho, have no argument.
Not only do those fucwits have no argument, they also have no clue. About anything. Best ignored.
9
MiltonF:
Speaking of petrol pumps, I’ve been trying to verify my car’s trip computing which says 6.4L/100km average. Tried about 4 times and got 7.2L/100km. Ok but not spectacular and I am a lead foot.
On both the Patrol and the 380, I use the cruise control. Recently bought a Navman which I use more for video and insurance purposes.
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate? The car speedo or the satellite? And tyre inflation seems to have only a marginal effect on speedo readouts while it does have a moderate effect on fuel consumption.
The instrumentation issue on modern vehicles must be a lawyers lunch box.
2
American justice.
Oxymoron?
As for#meetoo, it all started in 2016 with pussy hats and Trump baiting. It has now grown into a monstrous, entitled blob of vengeful, angry whiners. It was always about politics and never about justice for victims.
You only have to look at the targets.
7
Diogenes:
The Dialectic at work. Action, provoke and control the reaction, implement the solution you had in mind when you created the problem
Precisely.
The problem is that the Left can do the first two quite well, but have only moderate success at the third.
ANZ certainly refuses to lend for coal mining.
We need more competition in the banking sector.
4
Damonsays:
May 27, 2023 at 12:01 pm
“The person most responsible for the conviction of Chauvin is the expert witness Tobin”
I believe Chauvin would (and should) have got off on appeal, but the political situation was such that there would have been riots in the streets. So much for the vaunted system of American justice.
Lynch Law redux, but with the blaks holding the ropes this time?
4
Robert Sewell,
I’ll concede I had one or two more glasses of Shiraz than usual last night, being a Friday and all, but I think I’d remember a stoush and we didn’t have one. I retired early with a book. I gathe rthere was a discussion about race but it didn’t involve me.
1
Makkasays:
May 27, 2023 at 11:34 am
I should also say that ex employees I’ve spoken to have told me they were horrible to work for.
I have 2 family members who until recently worked for Qantas, one a pilot the other ground staff. Basically, Qantas are at war with their workforce
The flip side of that is that the wukkas are represented by the fat, dumb and happy unions who are pining for the good old days of the two airline policy.
The problem is, Qantas competes with airlines who don’t have that burden.
The most laughable is that goose from the LAME’s union (Purvinas?) who is regularly on their ABC screaming “safety issue” over anything and everything.
Invariably the “safety issue” can be resolved by the payment of juicy allowances and penalties to the bruvvers.
5
Congrats Sancho and Ms Kournikova
4
Hasn’t our economy been bound, gagged and abducted by various green commitments as specified in international trade agreements and UN obligations ?
Swerving away from them into nuclear might see us facing hefty penalties.
That’s how the green blackmail works.
5
Indians have one culture.
As do Swedes,Italians, Serbs, Greeks, Germans and so on. I can’t tell the difference between any of them.
A speaking tour of Tamil Nadu is on the cards for Robert. Seventh two million of them think they’re different to other Indians. Bengalis and Punjabis, can’t tell ‘em apart.
1
On both the Patrol and the 380, I use the cruise control. Recently bought a Navman which I use more for video and insurance purposes.
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate?
Wow!
Even Nurse Betty’s speedo is dudding him.
13 kmh difference?
Usually it is 3-5 max.
Are you sure it is 13 kmh?
3
Black Ballsays:
May 27, 2023 at 12:48 pm
Congrats Sancho and Ms Kournikova
Thank you.
It was only a brief moment of effort for me.
Anna deserves most of the credit.
6
I won’t do business with people whose culture permits them to lie and cheat, and has been part of their culture for centuries. I’d think it a fairly rational decision.
And which cultures are these, Nurse Betty, who are dudding you out of a cupful of petrol?
Do you have any evidence that the data is a culturally skewed towards a particular group?
Or is it just another St Ruth truck stop anecdote?
Have you counted the Weeties in your cereal packet this morning?
3
Indians have one culture.
Not the India I know.
The don’t even have one language.
English would be closest. 😀
7
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate? The car speedo or the satellite?
I have been told by someone who I forget, that the car speedos have generally been calibrated low forever, to reduce risks to the car company from being sued by their customers getting too many speeding fines, and such data being used to imply culpability in lawsuits. You should expect sticking to the speedo to result in a GPS showing 3-6km/h low.
If true.
1
Lady newsreader reports on an accident involving a car and a B-double-W.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard this weird description of a B-double. Must be a suburban language tick from shopping at Big W.
3
There is no excuse nowadays for inaccurate speedos. They should be dynamically re-calibrated as you drive using the GPS. Some cheap GPS units will get the speed by measuring distance between fixes and dividing by time taken. This will have a lot of noise which needs a lot of averaging to eliminate.
Far better is to measure speed by the Doppler shifts of the satellite frequencies. Noise is usually maybe 1 cm/s and minimal averaging is necessary
4
I was being perverse Roger.
The instrumentation issue on modern vehicles must be a lawyers lunch box.
Err, no.
See Chris’s post at 1:02.
Speedos are set to under-read by 3-5 kmh specifically to eliminate scope for litigation for speeding fines, loss of licence and injuries/death from collisions.
Can you tell me what case a person might mount against Big Auto for a speedo under-reading?
3
I was being perverse Roger.
Ah…conveying such subtleties with pixels is “fraught”, I’m afraid.
1
.
Far better is to measure speed by the Doppler shifts of the satellite frequencies.
Well, if you are prepared to accept the cancer and mind-alteration risks, that is.
1
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate? The car speedo or the satellite?
I have been told by someone who I forget, that the car speedos have generally been calibrated low forever, to reduce risks to the car company from being sued by their customers getting too many speeding fines, and such data being used to imply culpability in lawsuits. You should expect sticking to the speedo to result in a GPS showing 3-6km/h low.
I had a Toyota which had GPS navigation a few years ago that did this. When I asked the service “advisor” to look into it I was told it was a safety feature to prevent speeding! Other cars I’ve driven that have internal GPS have all read low on the speedo, but I doubt they use the GPS for speed measurement in order not to rely on it in case of outages or poor coverage. The car GPS screen, as distinct from the speedo, doesn’t indicate speed probably for that reason. I’d trust an aftermarket GPS over the car speedo any day.
2
Fraught (frôt) in Hindi means bountiful.
1
I’m curious to know exactly how they are doing this. Are they refusing customers for example?
Yes, in the case of coal. But now its more the vibey, values-y thing which all big corporates have done forever to show the org has a non-$$$ reason to be. Usually some consultants hired to workshop stuff and indoctrinate staff so they know buzzwords to lock in bonuses … Now with ESG its more than just a vibe with perm ESG-vibe hires and board-level ESG data to be published and rankings to be massaged.
Its all BS, as it always was, but the hooks are deeper and management often think this stuff is “sucess” … like some beer and flying bus companies.
I’d happily walk on the dance floor at the time. Race relations were good.
Great remix.
Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat (Extended Rework Deep ClubMix Edit) [1977 HQ]
yeah
I wish … for.a funky late night track
Hoist the Colours (Gingertail)
ranger russian hottie
Waiting for Tom.
Johannes Leak.
In case you missed it (because the J-school kiddies at the Paywallian “forgot” to post it until hours after it was due), yesterday’s Leak.
Mark Knight.
Mark Knight #2.
Mark Knight #3.
David Rowe.
Dave Brown.
Andy Davey.
Michael Ramirez.
Gary Varvel.
Tina Norton.
Phillip Adams must have suffered a brain injury.
#prayforPhillip
Environmentalism has always been class warfare by other means. Net Zero – the deranged dream of greens and our political class – is essentially austerity on steroids. Spiked
He wants to get elected like this?
“No one has bought me a coffee to keep my podcast fuelled, it’s the mother of all conspiracies, I tells yas!”
New Catallaxy’s musical directorship is looking more ripe than a rotting pack of ham that has fallen behind a bar fridge.
We’re going to see Foster and Allen posted here soon. No, don’t stop. It can’t be as bad as being Gillard-rolled by the usual suspects. Why not some awful lollipop music lie “Sipping Soda”? Now that’s acculturation!
What’s the programming like on 6PR?
Non stop Exodus and one hit wonder lollipop bands interspersed with S Club Seven and Van Dyk Parks? With a touch of Foster and Allen, hosted by Alan Partridge? For those great hits and memories?
By gum I hope they have a lot of in house produced ads and programme introductions recorded in the 1970s along with those Frank Walker ads!
How about some Coldplay and Train too along with Meryl Bainbridge?
Just wonderful to listen to at work or during a hectic drive home. Three blabbering non entities instead of Muzak too, that would be great. I sincerely hope they also have bottom of the league football games instead of music and Rat Hadley and Basil too!
Are the wheels falling off the Covid wagon?
The EU has been told it was a bio-weapon, and here we now have a report that our Health Authorities, who spread the panic and caused governments to go full fascist, engaged in some very dodgy data retailing that now has no paper trail at all.
An “anti-terrorism” program run by the Biden Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been ousted as using its federal funding to target conservative organizations and publications, including Breitbart News.
As Breitbart reports, the Media Research Center (MRC) uncovered documents detailing the political motivations of the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant program (TVTP), which was founded by DHS in 2011 for the initial purpose of fighting the Islamic terror group Al-Qaeda.
Under Biden, the grant program has expanded significantly in its scope, and has awarded 80 different grants, amounting to $39,611,999. Of the 80 grants, 52 percent went to public institutions while the remaining 48 percent were given to private organizations. The grant program now includes several “media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives,” one of which is a training program at the University of Dayton which explicitly accused Fox News, the NRA, Turning Point USA, the Heritage Foundation, and the Republican Party itself of radicalizing Americans into neo-Nazis.
The university’s program created a graphic of a pyramid split into four different levels, which the university claims is a display of increasing “radicalization” into conservative values and traditional beliefs. The bottom tier features Fox, the NRA, Heritage, and the GOP, while the next tier up includes TPUSA, PragerU, Breitbart, and the Make America Great Again movement. The top two tiers then feature a variety of neo-Nazi imagery, including the white supremacist website Daily Stormer and the think tank National Policy Institute, run by the neo-Nazi Richard Spencer.
A seminar on the subject at the University of Dayton even compared President Donald Trump to Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, and also accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of wanting to start a “second Holocaust.” One of the speakers featured by the DHS-funded seminar series is Michael Loedenthal, a self-proclaimed leader of the far-left anarcho-communist terrorist group Antifa.
“A lot of things we’re doing are illegal” Loedenthal admitted in a speech as he was discussing his own group’s violent activities. “A lot of it involves breaking the law.”
In response to the revelations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) vowed in an interview with Breitbart to cut funding to such government grants and other organizations that have targeted conservatives in such a manner.
“I think America is going to be shocked by how much government was doing…using these government agencies with these private companies to… censor what people can see,” said McCarthy. “You’re going to find not only are we going to hold them accountable, we’re going to be able to use that basis to know legislatively what can we do that they can never do this again.”
Good morning Dot.
We had three inches of rain in a couple of hours here yesterday. It doesn’t always rain here but when it does, it rains. In Newcastle it hailed. And now it’s sunny.
I’m going to listen to the Doobie Brothers and maybe a bit of Clannad while sewing this morning, and then it’s out to weed the garden. The weeds are huge and lush because of all the fertiliser and warm soil. No music just the ducks squawking.
It’s a riveting life, but someone has to do it and that person is me.
Yours truly, Calli Olthwaite
America has been totally white-anted Tom. Nothing short of armed rebellion can save it now, and even that becomes harder given the forces arrayed against the people.
Paywallian:
When Daniel Andrews and his colleagues were raking through the coals of defeat in 2010 after 11 years in power, he made clear his thinking on business.
Labor under Steve Bracks and John Brumby had courted the business community with tax cuts, workers’ compensation premium reductions, responsible budgets and a drive to reconnect the ALP with the job-creating top end of town. But not Andrews.
“The problem is,” one MP ¬recalls Andrews saying, “they don’t f..king vote for us.
“It is all about the political calculation. His eyes are always on the suburbs and the votes.”
So when Andrews, in an act of Whitlamesque desperation amid the worst Victorian budget in decades, targeted big business and property investors with $8.6bn of tax rises under a $31.5bn debt reduction strategy this week it was not so much a great surprise but part of a long-running political strategy to ¬protect at all costs the Labor base and try to reward the people who keep voting for him.
Victoria’s bottom line is now ¬arguably worse than in the post-Cain-Kirner period in 1992 for the simple reason there are no large-scale assets that can be sold to deal with any deterioration in the budget in future years. If there were they would have gone under the hammer on Tuesday.
Former premier Jeff Kennett fears worse is to come because of the scale of the government’s unwieldy infrastructure program, which has suffered blowouts worth many billions of dollars and extended delays.
“He (Andrews) has no sense of what he is leaving the state and the condition it’s in,” Kennett ¬laments.
Kennett likes Treasurer Tim Pallas, but warns he and other members of cabinet have failed to confront the notoriously focused and demanding Andrews.
“They have allowed him (Andrews) to run the show totally without -objections,’’ he says.
Pallas’s failure to arrest the spending in what is now a $102bn Victorian budget has been debated among cabinet colleagues for many years; one Labor figure -describes Pallas as having operated effectively as a political chief-of-staff rather than the state’s numbers man.
“Tim is Dr Yes,” says another.
Everything about the Andrews government is achingly complex.
Despite his strategic political views on the private sector, ¬Andrews has a strong relationship with some business leaders, exercising and wielding covert power through what can loosely be called barbecue political diplomacy, with friendships (many transactional) stretching beyond the normal, but largely kept hidden from view.
His private sector contact book is extensive and includes billionaire Lindsay Fox and the broader family, former PwC chief Luke Sayers, property magnate Max Beck, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat and serial director James MacKenzie.
You can only imagine what they are thinking.
Andrews is personally close to Anthony Albanese, was close to Scott Morrison mainly via text and national cabinet during the pandemic, and has had a warm but workmanlike connection with outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan. He may not like the way some vote, but he is at one with the big end of town.
Few expect Andrews, an ¬enthusiastic golfer and wine drinker, to buckle under pressure from a friend or acquaintance who tries to knock his political strategy off balance.
As he inevitably mulls his next career after 12½ years as Labor leader (including four years in ¬opposition), both Andrews and Pallas will not be wanting to leave a legacy of financial disarray for the likely next premier, Jacinta Allan. But they will.
As one colleague says of Allan: “She is the next Joan Kirner.”
Andrews, if the budget numbers are put to one side, is an ¬acutely good political strategist, having protected Allan from the worst of the Covid-19 tasks during the pandemic, focusing her on the so-called Big Build, which has entailed a relentless number of often pointless press conferences at level crossings and train tunnels spruiking Labor’s biggest political asset.
Like NSW, Victoria has been on a years-long infrastructure drive that has led to unprecedented investment in rail and road projects, including the $13bn metro underground rail system, the $15bn-plus level crossing ¬removal strategy (probably closer to $20bn) and the rubbery agenda to build the $125bn Suburban Rail Loop.
Allan now has carriage of most of the financial time bombs including the rail loop, transport and ¬infrastructure and the delivery in 2026 of the $2.6bn Commonwealth Games, which hasn’t even been funded. At 49, she is an -experienced minister but her post-pandemic pathway has been ¬cratered by this budget.
Paul Guerra, chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, makes the perceptive ¬observation that the Andrews government has largely been built around construction and social ¬reform.
The construction agenda, worth well north of $100bn when factoring in the private sector, has had a huge trickle-down effect on the economy but he laments the higher taxes aimed at medium and large business, which also includes the $3.7bn mental health levy from 2021.
“Certainly around building things, the government largely has been focused,’’ he says, stressing that the future will be in innovation rather than taxpayer-funded monuments.
The budget may not have meaningful asset sales inked into the forward estimates but it has some significant potential savings on infrastructure, on top of the decision to shelve the $10bn airport rail link.
A prime example is the $15bn level crossing removals project, which has been a vote-winning strategy to remove 110 “dangerous” train crossings to improve rail capacity and cut congestion. The projects have become horrifically expensive as Labor has included at times grand new stations with the build. Who knows if they are ¬needed?
There are $6.5bn worth of new removals in the forward estimates and one project in eastern Melbourne has cost an eye-watering $630m for a rail project that points to a city fewer people are travelling to.
These level crossings are a historical anomaly in Melbourne, leading to congestion, injury and loss of lives. University of Melbourne associate professor of urban planning Crystal Legacy says the so-called Big Build has some productive projects but is generally “very expensive”.
She says the level crossing ¬removals are a good idea – “up to a point” – but more needed to be done on integrated planning to ¬ensure connectivity between trains, buses and trams.
The emphasis on the rail loop in Melbourne’s southeast should not come at the cost of the booming western suburbs. “There’s a really different kind of need in the west,” she says.
Everything Andrews does has a reason, but sometimes the electorate doesn’t even listen.
Victoria’s financial train wreck has been clear from the end of 2020 when the state became the only place in Australia to endure a long-term lockdown.
By 2022, when two budgets had shown the looming debt crisis and then followed the near collapse of the Victorian workers’ compensation scheme, reasonable, informed voters would have been asking themselves when it will all end. Just as everyone on Spring Street is asking when Andrews will quit politics; as a leader since 2010 and having survived a recent serious back injury. No one questions his determination.
One belief is that he will go soon amid signs the notoriously protective Premier’s Private Office is starting to wind back its controlling influence.
The contrary view is that Andrews is, like a young Mornington Peninsula red, just starting to peak.
Likening Andrews to former Labor PM Gough Whitlam, ¬another onlooker who knows ¬Andrews says his height and ¬commanding presence help him execute his ruthless internal ¬agenda.
It will be Andrews who decides when he goes.
Andrews, like Whitlam, is prone to scandal, mostly loved by Labor but loathed by the ¬political right.
He’s somewhat of a loner and, like Gough, economically reckless, as he rails against establishment media and the conservative establishment in general.
With the budget in such a bad state, the only certainty is that his and Tim Pallas’s fiscal reputation is, at best, poor.
But will anyone under the age of 50 care?
Link.
Thanks Anchor. Interesting report, and I notice that NSW Health is hiding behind the figleaf of “privacy”, or refusing to comment. As I recall, some cluey commenters here wondered at the time as well.
As the Beloved just opined, how can “privacy” come into it when you’re dealing with raw data collection and methodology? And he added…I just don’t trust governments any more.
High trust to low trust in three years.
I will never diss the creators of China Grove nor those who have sung Take Me In Your Arms.
I would expect Vic Health to delete COVID data.
I actually thought NSW Health would keep it and allow ongoing analysis of it.
I am such a rube.
and I notice that NSW Health is hiding behind the figleaf of “privacy”, or refusing to comment.
They are talking show bags with reference to this as the data has been scrubbed to de-indentify anyone.
Vicki Campion:
My distrust of NSW Health goes back to the Ruby Princess. Everything they did in that matter was counter-intuitive, until the excrement hit the blades.
Incompetence or intent…take your pick. The result was the spread of the virus far and wide and the scene set for the first of the lockdowns. I have no doubt they were instructed from higher up the food chain, but how high is anyone’s guess.
Those Leaks are AWESOME, Tom. That bloke is developing a really deft touch.
And the Knight really bites. Not sending that to my sister, she was in Sri Lanka at the beach on a certain Boxing Day.
“Arena” and “stadium” next?
Smith College Drops Use Of Word “Field” As Racially Insensitive (27 May)
Maybe ban the entire imperial colonial racist English language and be done with it. We’ll all have to learn Chinese soon enough anyway, may as well start now.
feelthebernsays:
May 27, 2023 at 6:18 am
Phillip Adams must have suffered a brain injury.
#prayforPhillip
I think that happened a couple of decades ago.
Kenny in the Oz today:
“Might!!!”
@Steve T:
Clowns with sequencer software and cloth ears keep butchering actual music.
The ORIGINAL of that Al Stewart song has plenty of “beat”: Tasty, minimal drums and further driven by the piano and Bass figures.
Back in those days, people did NOT need every beat to be rammed home by a synthetic “drum”..
Furthermore, in this “re-imagining, a lot of the instrumental subtlety and high-spots have been ruthlessly ground off this masterpiece; the slick, pitch-perfect section where the Tim Renwick guitar solo dissolves into Phil Kenzie’s memorable saxophone burnout, for starters.
The whole album was engineered by some bloke called Alan Parsons…..
Don’t worry, Beatrix Potter is cultural appropriation, it came from the slaves.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12125807/LIBBY-PURVES-Academic-accusing-Beatrix-Potter-stealing-Peter-Rabbit-needs-lie-down.html
Which is amusing because the trickster archetype is found in Indo European cultures.
feel the same about all those who condemn ‘cultural appropriation’: that modern sin of inappropriately borrowing a story, dress, custom or design from another society. It has been applied to everything from fancy dress to poetry to yoga, and those who fret tend only to be angry when the culture that picks it up is typically more ‘dominant’ than the other.
To them, it is wrong for a Western woman to wear a sari or a Chinese jacket, but perfectly all right for an Indian lawyer or an African businessman to wear a pinstriped suit — a weird outfit created by the 19th-century British and European commercial classes.
Or take music. For the cultural police, it is praiseworthy for Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE to lead the ethnically diverse Chineke! orchestra playing Mozart, but questionable for white rockers or jazzmen to pick up rhythms developed by black people.
Likewise, they look down with distaste at the British atrocity of chicken tikka masala, but would never call down fury on an Indian chef’s shepherd’s pie. It is a peculiarly contemporary and patronising way of separating us all from one another. The literary world is currently terrified of letting authors create black, Asian or Latino characters unless they themselves enjoy the ‘lived experience’ of those races. Publishers’ anxieties around these issues are only getting worse.
Shoot. Epic blockquote fail.
As a proud Wojila man, I claim this thread for my personal aggrandisement and associated Government and private grant funding.
By Government regulation I dedicate 3% to the arts, which will be by open tender closing in several minutes, for a sculpture on indigenous suffering right at the top to replace the painting presently offending social justice.
Just received an email from John Pesutto, the week in review. I can’t even bring myself to open it. Until that man’s name is removed from Libs leadership I won’t have a bar of the Libs. Such is my anger over the treatment of Moira Deeming and the Libs stupid adherence to supporting renewables rollouts. I used to donate to the Libs although never a member. They’ve lost me.
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
I dicklessed my own uptick, as well. YESS!
Meme; Sorry I just couldn’t stop myself!
https://substack.com/redirect/1c68e7d2-2921-457d-9ad2-e3b09d995685?j=eyJ1IjoiaG85YmoifQ.bMnuNm5GLk5MFSCvcs0G5r0y-jYhpNwjaZVrL0QBwGM
Dear Vanessa Hudson, this is how you can rebuild Qantas
Dear Ms Hudson,
May I call you Vanessa? I write to congratulate you on taking over what’s left of Qantas from the Lethal Leprechaun (my not-very-pet-name for Alan Joyce), along with a few suggestions that might be of interest.
Firstly, renationalise the airline. This patriotic proposition is already gaining momentum from those who remember Qantas in its halcyon days. I’m one of them and have, as they say, skin in the game, having presented my marketing credentials to the board 40-odd years ago, when Qantas’ mercy fights from a cyclone-ravaged Darwin were still fresh in the memory. It was a time when, around the world, returning Aussies would be greeted by cabin crew with a friendly grin – and “G’day, welcome ‘n’ board”. No matter where you were, you already felt halfway home when you heard that.
It wasn’t just the perfect safely record that made us proud of the world’s second-oldest airline (only the Dutch KLM was older). It was the Qantas ethos – the “vibe”, if you like.
Hence my suggestion to the board of a new motto. I can still see the smiles as I unveiled it. THE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA. It soon appeared on everything from aircraft fuselages to boarding passes to the serviettes provided with the peanuts. I subsequently suggested Qantas acquire Peter Allen’s anthem I Still Call Australia Home. Two perfect fits.
The downward spiral began, as with so many Australian institutions, with privatisation. And it accelerated during the reign of Alan Joyce. Alan found many pots of gold for himself at the end if the airline’s rainbow, but others weren’t so lucky. Not the pilots, not the cabin crews, not the ground crews, not the engineers – and certainly not the passengers.
Using Covid as camouflage, savage staffing cuts were made and the fleet became old to the point of arthritic. As I publicly complained countless times, the airline did NOT call Australia home – and did NOT deserve my motto. Qantas was NOT the Spirit of Australia.
In recent times a dispirited mockery of the Spirit of Australia has wreaked such havoc on the company’s reputation that all the “loyalty programs” on Earth will no longer restore the loyalty of passengers. And the final departure of Alan Joyce will not be of national mourning.
Much is expected of you Vanessa, or at least hoped. But the task!!
Soon, like Elvis, Alan will have left the building. With his usual inability to read the room, his final decision seems to have been an apologetic phone call to Alan Jones. Mr Jones had just learnt of his eviction from that most inner of sanctums, the Chairman’s Lounge.
Vanessa, your Mission Near Impossible, should you agree to accept it, is not to placate a shocked jock about the Chairman’s Lounge but to rebuild the lost trust of your staff and your passengers – so that once again Qantas can call Australia home, and be deserving of my motto. I’ll check back with you in a few months.
This message will self-destruct in ten seconds.
Yours most sincerely,
Phillip.
The Phillip Adams column from today’s Oz.
I’m Danish so now I have an excuse not to talk to the natives. Thanks.
Knight finds himself at Ground Zero for political cartooning thanks to his fellow Victoriastanis.
For a lot of words, Phillip Adams doesn’t say all that much.
“Just received an email from John Pesutto, the week in review. I can’t even bring myself to open it. Until that man’s name is removed from Libs leadership I won’t have a bar of the Libs. Such is my anger over the treatment of Moira Deeming and the Libs stupid adherence to supporting renewables rollouts. I used to donate to the Libs although never a member. They’ve lost me.”
Have you told them, Mem? They need to know why, otherwise they won’t do anything. Just say you won’t hand over another cent until…
1. Moira is allowed back into the parliamentary party.
2. Prosciutto is gonski.
Simple.
Now Sookie’s dead I only listen to Basil.
He spends a lot of space on big noting himself though.
Phil’s column, accurately edited:
Give me my free business and first class flights back.
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
Does this dictate apply to Razey’s wife? After all, she’s Japanese.
There is no way there will ever be a Royal Commission into the COVID-19 handling as there are no records to inspect. Every time Gladys fronted the media, backed up by the gormless Chant, she was lying. And she needed to do it every day at 11 am, she had a lot of designer outfits to showcase.
Second, there are no minutes of the so-called national cabinet so we will never know what ScoMo and the premiers discussed and on what they based their decisions.
Never forgive, never forget.
Fatty Adams is a must skip every Saturday. Doesn’t even provide the LOLs unlike Gemmel.
A few years back, I flew Qantas first class to London.
On the way back, I flew Emirates business class.
The Emirates business class experience was better.
I am planning a trip to Europe next year.
Planning on flying the Singapore to Europe leg with Air France.
Their on board dining experience has been getting 10/10 ratings recently.
Razey says:
May 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.
That won’t worry me too much. The epithets applied to our betters would be much more colorful and imaginative in my native Yiddish.
WHO do you think you are? Outrage over ‘unprecedented land grab’ that ‘could see World Health Organization force Britain, the US and Australia into lockdowns in future pandemics’
I’ve long called him Farty Adams.
The kids already speak American.
ABC headline:
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
Yes. Have sent them two emails. Just the stock electronic reply. Doubt if anyone read it.
Horrifying.
Vote NO for The Voice
@PeterRampling9
Do they know that they are voting for this @LindaBurneyMP ?
There must be minutes somewhere.
Probably the least of his atrocities.
Bill Gates Bombshell: Billionaire’s Alleged Russian Mistress Connected to Infamous Kremlin Spy Anna Chapman
The old armchair commo wants to renationalise Qantas because he doesn’t ;ile Alan Joyce, even though Joyce is a pouve and therefore ranks far above media commoners like Phatty Adams in the lefty firmament.
Joyce is about to leave Qantas after remaking it into one of the world’s most profitable airlines. He is the world’s best airline CEO and there will be a list of suitors stretching around the globe seeking his services.
He’s a maths nerd, which is why he understands hard-to-master airline balance sheets like a wizard. Good on him — even though I can’t stand his lefty politics.
Someone had to flush the old government mindset out of Qantas and Joyce’s predecessors like Geoff Dixon weren’t up to the task, so it was left to the upstart from the Irish republic.
Not profits.
… like …
Whoa…listen to the music!
Covert?
Bombshell report claims Biden admin using taxpayer money to wage covert war on conservative, Christian groups
FDA Bans Farmers from Caring for Their Own Animals Without Costly Vet Approval
Quite some years ago I was in a Qantas flight from Christchurch to Sydney. The cabin crew were hopeless, in a tizz the whole time and poorly groomed. One stewardess* looked like she just got up and threw on her uniform, her hair was tied back into a ponytail with a rubber band. It’s a three hour flight, give the people their meal and drinks and leave them alone. How hard could it be?
*She doesn’t deserve that title as she was nowhere near the grace and style of a Singapore Girl.
Wealth Taxes Result in Rich People Fleeing, Turns Out
QANTAS is a bit like the old SECV and equivalents. Basically you have to wait for the entire workforce to retire before reform is even possible. You are talking decades.
Ron DeSantis administration officials solicit campaign cash from lobbyists
Not that “traditional norms” means much anymore.
British Cycling has banned men from competing in women’s competitions.
Whoever is managing RFK Jr’s twitter has had a great week.
Avoids saying anything about non-COVID vaccines.
Most things right over target.
Derrick Evans
@DerrickEvans_WV
Stewart Rhodes never entered the Capitol, was never accused of violence or destruction on J6.
He was just sentenced to 18 years in prison.
This is insanity.
The weaponization of the government should concern everyone.
Qatar airways business class is the best I have experienced.
From what I understand nothing was recorded. Individual premiers may have kept private notes and we may find out long way down the road when one of them writes a memoir.
Brucesays:
May 27, 2023 at 8:21 am
Well aware of the songs history, Bruce. I can also appreciate a good remix.
Each to their own.
Didn’t the Brits discover that in the 1960’s, when they tried “Taxing the rich until their eyes bled?”
Here’s a scenario for 2024.
RFK Jr runs as a non-DNC candidate.
Dem vote split.
Trump runs as a non-GOP candidate.
Republican vote split.
Throw in a Greens, Libertarian (Dave Smith) and another billionaire independent candidate.
What a laugh it would be.
With taxpayer subsidies?
Ita Buttrose “didn’t know what Stan Grant was going through.”
She certainly has her finger on the pulse of the organisation.
(Whatever you make of Grant’s claims.)
Tsk, tsk, feelthebern. You should know better. Dems fortify the election and Biden wins.
Agree, Zulu. Best business class tucker, too.
Australia PROMOTING PEDOPHILIA: Australian Government Hosts DRAG QUEEN Story Hour Inside PARLIAMENT
Yes. He’s cross with Qantas.
Get in the queue, Adams. The Beloved is about a million FFP’s in front of you.
We’re all Nazis now.
DHS: First You Watch FOX News, Then PragerU, Then You Become a Nazi (Daniel Greenfield, 26 May)
Unlikely Sun Cable will ever go to Singapore.
Twiggy plan was to have it end in Darwin with others along the way using it.
But it was dependent on the Darwin off take agreement.
Another brilliant ScoMo appointment.
At 81 doesn’t she have enough super to retire that she must still work?
OK…not only did they spell the word incorrectly, they also left it dangling without the preposition or noun required to complete a meaningful sentence. I realise this is a trend but it is grammatically incorrect. The word fraught, which derives from the Dutch word for freight, is either used with a preposition and a noun or as an adjective. People who write headlines for a living – even at the ABC – ought to know this.
Best BC so far – Emirates then JAL. Worst – BA. Trying Air China next year and will report, provided Taiwan hasn’t been invaded.
If you want to channel Mr Creosote, go JAL FC. Tiny, immaculate cabin crew forcing a “leetle weffer more” on you as you sit, immobile from gluttony, in your well upholstered seat.
Now Sookie’s dead I only listen to Basil.
I remember when he said ( to paraphrase ) a man can never be a woman. His groveling apology made his nose grow an extra inch. I also remember him chastising the parents of a sick child in hospital, refused visitation because they wouldn’t to get the c-19 jab. He ridiculed and mocked them.
He’s a classic media whore and first class wanker.
Haven’t tried Qatar yet. The Beloved is chary of flying Air Hijab. We only went Emirates because there were no other options at the time.
Anyone know if Gérard Depardieu has come back to France after he fled high taxes last time?
The Red-Green Agenda: French Government Told to Implement Wealth Tax to Fight Climate Change (25 May)
In a report submitted to the French government on Monday, it was recommended that authorities implement a once-off wealth tax on the country’s top 10 per cent for the sake of the country’s green agenda.
The topic of wealth taxes has been gaining more prominence across the West over the last number of years, with a number of left-wing politicians and activists now advocating for such a one-off toll for the purpose of funding climate change initiatives.
According to a report by Le Monde, the 150-page report penned by Professor Jean Pisani-Ferry makes a similar argument, arguing that a five per cent tax on the country’s wealthiest could generate up to €5 billion every year on average which could be spent on net zero efforts.
The only net zero it would achieve is net zero rich people, but then I suppose that’s the idea. The answer to everything is always communism.
I think The Beatles were paying over 90% tax at one point.
The joke was they got their MBEs for their contributions to the Exchequer account.
If she learnt Engrish from Razey-san she probably isn’t in breach of that particular form of cultural appropriation.
The remix was interesting, Steve. I’m with Bruce though on that pervasive beat – it was really annoying. Don’t know why they have to do it.
My son was really into Techno when it first came out…drove me crazy. At least it wasn’t rap.
Now the grandsons are into music, one very proficient on the drums and the other on his newly acquired (with muchos birthday money and chores) Gretsch which is almost as big as he is. Sadly, no one wants the piano which sits forgotten in the corner of my dining room. Until Mister Four comes to stay – then I wish I had a lock for the lid.
Basil knows how to find reverse gear. The tranny Panzer division mobilised quickly over that one.
Probably had help from these guys
If you ever wanted to get the old man wound up you started talking tax when the top marginal rate was 60c in the dollar.
Somalis exercising their free speech rights at a Minneapolis council election.
Import the 3rd world en masse, get 3rd world problems.
Latest primary polls in Iowa and South Carolina have Trump up +33 and +25, with DeSantis at 17 and 20, respectively. DeSantis is being used here.
We flew Royal Brunei on one occasion. The plebs whinged because Economy was dry, but Business and First class had non – Mooslims to serve the grog to unbelievers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12122597/Fairfield-Aged-Care-Home-boss-sends-blistering-text-staff-mother-doesnt-work-here.html?ico=related-replace
If the Health Department saw the kitchen, they’d close it down (if it is as described) And as usual, the race card is played. The hygiene standard card is not.
Germs don’t give a damn about where you were born. I had this very same argument with an RN in Blackstone.
callisays:
May 27, 2023 at 9:33 am
The remix was interesting, Steve. I’m with Bruce though on that pervasive beat – it was really annoying. Don’t know why they have to do it.
It’s called getting into a disco groove, Calli. ( : I reckon a lot of young people upon hearing that would probably go on and discover the original and be introduced into another world of yet undiscovered music.
Heck, they might even find out about Alan Parson’s and go ” that’s the Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls intro … damn bro!”
The Alan Parsons Symphonic Project “Sirius” – “Eye In The Sky” (Live in Colombia)
Roger, one of the comments
Only when the assassinations and fire bombings start.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of community use of oral nutritional supplements on clinical outcomes
Good results in this analysis. You may need to be registered to read the full study.
It is good to see that the medical profession writ large is now recognizing the benefits of supplementation for the elderly. Many have been advocating for the same and too often dismissed as cranks, despite that there have long been studies showing benefits. The trick is to know which nutrients and supplements are optimal. That’s difficult.
I read yesterday, that Finland’s wholesale electricity prices went to zero and stayed there for an extended period of time. No biggie right. as wholesale prices can often get to zero when there’s production overload.
But only last year, Finland was carousing to serious problems as a result of gas cut-off from Russia, obviously due to the war.
Prices went to zero with almost all being green production. The thing that has made this possible is that a decent sized nuclear plant came on stream producing masses of electricity to add to their grid. Sure, Finland suffers from the same bullshit with renew balls and it also has lot’s of hydro. However the thing that made electricity plentiful was the nuke plant coming on-board.
Forget the hydro , solar and wind. The thing that tipped it to zero was nuclear.
So much for that moronic energy minister telling us nuclear is too expensive.
I think it would be interesting to calculate the indigenous population using the proportion of Aboriginal blood as a weighting of sorts. So eight people with 1/16 blood would count as one half, while two half bloods count as a whole.
It is a bit like Full Time Equivalents in the workforce where, for example, two people working 4 hrs is equivalent to one person working full time (8 hrs).
But here we would have not FTE’s, but FBE’s (Full Blood Equivalents).
We would likely find the proportion of Indigenous in Australia to be rather less than 3.5%, and the geographic distribution very different, with far fewer FBE’s in the urban areas than the current headcounts.
But it would a great way to show just how starkly policies, programs, and funding are skewed to the cities and away from the Brueghelian hellscapes remote towns and camps.
In one freaking year.
Now they want to limit production. How about dismantling solar and wind while adding another plant.
RTWT.
The prayers from the pilot on the runway as you are taking off will do that for you.
A bit hard on the lowland Scots, their language is English, because they really were English all along, until some celts decided to steal their land, call themselves something else and give them a shyte accent.
Joyce is about to leave Qantas after remaking it into one of the world’s most profitable airlines. He is the world’s best airline CEO and there will be a list of suitors stretching around the globe seeking his services.
I got half way through that dross from Comrade Phil then scrolled on. Agree with the above. I have known 2 Qantas employees who were head office workers at different times under both Dixon and Joyce. From what I was told Dixon was a brilliant businessman but had some morally repugnant traits that I will leave at that. Joyce apparently even more gifted, apparently has a passion for aviation but prone to outbursts of rage and general hissy fits. The other and ultimately loser in all this was John Borghetti, from what I was told also very astute but passed over for Joyce and ended up at VA.
I am a long time frequent flyer of the airline. I was cynical at all the supposed improvements they announced at the start of Joyce’s reign, I had ceased using their international arm at that stage. Whilst I would say service is better on other airlines still the red roo has come a long way from the start in that regard. Have flown their international arm a few times since and gone are the bunny boilers and the service is adequate.
All the usual suspects are fulminating about the profits at the moment. They are about to modernise the B738’s to A320 Neos $110mil a pop with 134 aircraft over 10 years, that’s $14bil without modernising other aging aircraft like the A330’s that have been around nearly as long and purchase/lease of E190’s to replace the B717’s that I love to hate.
Personally I don’t like the pride barrow Joyce pushes but as a CEO he has done a pretty good job. I particularly liked the shutdown to counter the union wildcat strikes, I was in Singapore’s Changi when I learned about it having just got off a flight from Bangkok and transferring to a flight to Darwin.
How would anyone be able to tell?
As for quaintarse, I permanently banned them about five years ago. Their treatement of their customers is appalling. I’d been a quaintarse club member for two decades and the decline in standards once the toxic leprechaun took over was rapid.
Another item for Eddles to chase down while he’s in Beijing.
Another good Albrechtsen column in Teh Weekend Paywallian about you know who. A succinct summary about how she made life difficult for everyone around her – including herself.
JC, I was reading an article this week on Finland regarding how renewables had saved the day.
They omitted the nuclear aspect.
I see someone was dutifully beating the Gummint drum on petrol stations last night.
“Petrol bill too high? No, no. Not taxes. Not our policies. You’re being ripped off by greedy servo owners.”
Then we read that the tolerance they are working to is 0.3%.
That is, less than a cupful in a 70 litre tank.
And, as Gez points out, the pumps are tamper proof, so any out-of-tolerance pump is a result of infrequent maintenance and could just as easily be over-delivering.
But thanks for spouting the Albo line.
Roger:
I’m waiting for the usual suspects to start screaming ‘Racist!!!!11!’ while they fail to recognise it’s about the culture not the race.
But then if they could see the difference, it wouldn’t let them play the race card – which is what much of the squealing was about last night.
Dover Beach:
Yep. He’s being used to split the Republican vote, and I believe he’s quite aware of what he’s doing.
I smell another Pence style debacle in the making.
Alas, I fear destined to remain just an empty spot on the bookshelf like mUnty’s travel report from Malmo.
DeSantis is smart enough to know that and is still going along with it which makes him unprincipled. I thought he had an animosity to Trump during the Maralago document raid, he did not say a word until prompted by journalists.
I thought the best option for him would have been to stay out of the primaries and then be picked as the VP candidate. He may find that antagonising Trump voters is not a winner.
On the other hand, DeSantis may know well that due to Dem cheating there is no way a Republican can win the presidency in the foreseeable future so he is just cashing in with NeverTrumpers.
And so much for the L/NP who for ten years in government paid lip service to nuclear energy and left office bequeathing us the world’s most expensive pumped hydro “battery” which may never be completed.
I’ve posted the whole article.
Unreal, isn’t it. The hide it instead of celebrating a marvelous achievement mixed in with luck. Luck, because the nuke plant was years in the making. Apparently, it’s possibly the largest nuke plant in Europe.
I wonder if there are any Indians in Finland operating service stations.
Less emphasis on the T-freaks in this weeks edition.
—-
Fleccas Talks:
THIS WEEK IN CULTURE 150
I’m reasonably certain Andy Ngo is not a racist.
Importing any people from a dysfunctional culture and concentrate them in one city while imagining they’ll embrace American values is as naive as imagining Iraq could be turned into a western style democracy by force of arms.
On the face of it, a much curated version of what was actually said.
No normal person talks like that.
As Waffles Turnbuckle famously noted at the time, “the gliberal party is not bound by the laws of physics”. Hence water miraculously flowing uphill.
Perhaps he could go and tell it to poor ol’ Flo, the boring machine stuck in a hole and unable to keep digging.
A follow up to AEMO releasing a new map showing a different path for VNI West two days ago.
Their brief response to media simply said it was a technical error.
A technical error that had the map titled 5A instead of the previous option 5.
The highly professional and super expert AEMO would have us believe that they’re this incompetent when it comes to information and consultation?
The rural media are having none of it, and instead call it an accidental release of an updated plan.
The clown show continues.
on biz class:
Emirates better overall, Singapore close. BA is a joke. Qantas … forget it. Other airlines economy is better than biz on the last two.
Philip Adams can find someone to pay if he wants to fly at the pointy end. Just another grifting fellow traveller.
A prayer doesn’t go astray at any time. I always ask for God’s help as we are taxiing down the runway.
Is that before or after the landing gear comes down? 🙂
Fly Olympic. They always applaud on landing.
It suited a lot of people that the media coverage never got any further than “Oh, poor Brittany.” Unfortunately that doesn’t cut it when you get to court. As we are seeing.
The most economical approach would be to stop it now but of course that would require politicians with a brain and a spine, ours only have bowels and reproductive organs.
It’s obviously a rash of mental illness.
Another ‘Islamophobia’ Fizzle (26 May)
No one dares to say what it really is: sectarian muzzo infighting, so when they can’t find some whitey to blame they have to go back to the old mental illness defense.
That boring machine stuck in the hole for Snowy Hydro 2. How about we just fill in the dirt behind it and forget the whole thing?
That’s a rather loose usage of the term, “work”. Simply turning up at the Ultimo taxpayer funded sheltered workshop Kolkhoz is about 91.3% of her jerb.
Clearly she’s been inspired by the mighty work ethic of geriatric Joe. Although at least Ita does have some clue as to what planet she’s on, even if only occassionally.
Fly Olympic. They always applaud on landing.
Knew a Qantas Flight Engineer on 747s. He did a year or two seconded to Olympic. After that reckoned aviation was White Man’s Magic.
Fleeing as he did to the ample bosom of Mother Russia. Remember Cats, this is a personage who drinks thirteen bottles of wine a day.
As has been said” when you taxi out and line up on the runway, if you aren’t at least a little bit nervous, you don’t understand the problem”.
Mmm…AEMO lying to the public?
If that could be proven someone might lose their job.
One saving grace is that truck stop deposits tend to be less squishy under the thongs in the Finnish climate.
And I doubt they wear thongs anyway.
I always enjoy the middle bit. The airborne part.
Except the middle bit between Cairo and Tel Aviv. And the other middle bit between Moresby and Goroka.
You can keep those.
Oh. And crossing the Andes. Although the view out of the window was distracting.
“Anyone in Australia who isn’t of 100% English stock should cease and desist from speaking English as it is cultural appropriation.”
Does this dictate apply to Razey’s wife? After all, she’s Japanese.
Especially ones wives – ahh, the serenity
Sancho:
Way to go to totally miss my point which was – as Farmer Gez pointed out – the pumps can be inaccurate.
See that bit Sancho?
“But if the majority of them are under-pouring, then it seems unusual.”
And you think it’s inconsequential, because you want to justify having a shot at me.
Janet Yellen has extended the debt ceiling deadline until 5 June, give Joe Biden time to do what he does best…he’s taking the Memorial Day long weekend off.
they aren’t lying
the truth is coming out like toothpaste comes out of a tube
‘Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable plan unprecedented and frought’
Frought [sic] with what?
Frought with woke and stupid. Maybe we’ll see this vandal get his comeuppance sooner than later.
That would be the legendary footage showing Hoggins being so sloshed she could barely stand, let alone put her shoes back on.
But hey, just let the pair of useless paralytic imbeciles in, who cares what happens afterwards, right taxpayers?
Groogs put on Jatz, Coon cubes, salami and those funny coloured onions. Mother says it was a wonderful night and she was lovely.
Roger:
I’m sure he isn’t either. The relevance of this to the shouting match last night between us is…?
Frought, yes, and maybe all for naught given the SG government has given no approvals to connect to their grid let alone any sign Sun Solar has even been in contact.
Spending $20 bn on a pinky or no promise seems quite ‘hopeful’ when there are other solar facilities being built much closer and SG has 2X capacity based on Gas already.
Look on the bright side, JC. At least Sanna now has a lot more time to party.
LOL. My comment about English language and cultural appropriation was merely to point out the absurdity of the leftard use of the term. I think some of you got that….
Crossie:
The Australian Political Class is the only form of life with a thousand bellies and no brain.
Sancho/JC:
Will you pair get a room for Gods sake?
And wash your hands before you touch that keyboard again.
Tom Hanks comes out for truth. “As the US grapples with a disinformation crisis, Tom Hanks told graduates of Harvard on Thursday to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain.
“For the truth to some is no longer empirical. It’s no longer based on data, nor common sense, nor even common decency,” the two-time Academy Award winner said during his keynote address. He invoked the Latin word for truth, “veritas”, Harvard’s motto.”
Qué?
You’ve lost me.
Not Zero is the new abortion.
I love schadenfreude served ice cold on a sunny Saturday morning.
Beer industry “in shock” from Bud Light boycott (26 May, via Lucianne)
Not only the beer industry. Target in the US is doubling down on woke as their shareprice doubles down on going down. And North Face got the treatment in Tom’s toons this morning. It’ll be fun to see what happens to them. The cost of going woke is getting higher, but the executives are so intent on staying in the Davos elites stratum they dare not back away. Always fun to see companies play chicken with their customers and lose, abjectly.
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘On the day of King Charles 111’s coronation, the ABC airs a two hour special examining how relevant the monarchy is to Australians and the Commonwealth in 2023.”
Bullshit. The TV guide said 5pm…Coronation of King Charles 111.
More and more it becomes clear that the problem for centre-right politics is liberalism itself. The tendency of liberal influence in centre-right politics is to draw it leftward. Also, Burn-Murdoch writes for the FT. The finance press is not a friend of right politics. They may now and then align with right politics but they are ideologically at odds with right politics.
Before takeoff one prayer and a different one on touchdown.
Nurse Betty, the petrol pump sleuth, on the matter of the stolen cup full of petrol.
Very suspicious that the pumps will err on the side of unders rather than overs, apparently.
Is it?
If you are allowed a tolerance of 0.3%, you might target an under-pour, say, of 0.1%.
Statistically, that would result in more underpouring than over.
No biggie.
If you want keep pushing the Albo press release on this one, go right ahead.
But there are more serious weights and measures issues facing the nation. Like, for example, “medical perfessionals” fiddling the drugs register in hospitals.
I just went through three days of training at my favourite employer. Very educational, including discussion of new WHS Act and its interaction with the mines. There are no employers and employees anymore you are now either a HBCDPOCUXYZ or a Wukka.
Sexual harassment, respect and sense of psychological safety: No trans bullsh1t. Mostly appears good sense – but be bloody careful and keep notes. The opportunities for innocent stuff to be twisted by a person capitalising are awful.
New training: Mental Health First Aid – surprisingly good training, included role play of ‘difficult conversation’.
New Training: Arc Flash. Turns out Zimbabwe isn’t the best place to get hit by lightning; its our local substation. Pictures of burn injuries were graphic. Takeaway: anything going near high voltage might trigger arc flash, and it doesn’t have to touch anything just be near it.
Takeaway 1: Forget starting a small business. You now need $5M in compliance people costs to be in business at all.
Takeaway 2: We need a powerful, professional systems approach to anything at all these days. That includes even working out what the well-meaning are doing to take your freedom from you. To be effective in either stopping Vogon-like regulatory abuse or improving over-regulation needs really hardworking, talented, knowledgeable and effective people.
Has anyone seen Dylan Mulvaney lately, the cause of all this destruction? Is he still memorialising each new day of his girlhood?
To be honest I found Qantas ok to pretty good before the woke/pc crap was turned up. I refuse to use them now because of that. I should also say that ex employees I’ve spoken to have told me they were horrible to work for.
Ripped off.
Bought a “litre” of iodine.
997 mls.
I just counted the matches in my box of 50 matches.
49.
You’re funny Low Low
Spending $20 bn on a pinky or no promise seems quite ‘hopeful’ when there are other solar facilities being built much closer and SG has 2X capacity based on Gas already.
I think your talking $20billion of OUR money not Mikey’s .. no way him & Twiggy would have duked it out wiv their own loot as the stake ……..
Who cares?
LOL!
Revealed: Rupert Murdoch Hosted Ron DeSantis at His California Ranch and Told Him FOX News Will Support Him (26 May)
Ron DeSantis gives America the chance to move on from its punch-drunk stupor (26 May)
New York Post, by Editorial
I wonder who owns the New York Post? Weird huh? Unfortunately Newscorp management haven’t worked out that every time they pull one of these editorial stunts DeSantis’s numbers fall another few points.
I think its corporate ESG score for the major super funds as shareholders that chains their feet to the fire.
So…not the Liberal Party then.
I just don’t get why commercial outfits are pissing off their customers/fans. All I can think of is marxist trashing of things people hold dear.
Just dropping this here:
From Chris’s post above:
Bin tryin’ to say this for freakin’ ages.
But, Nah! She’ll be right. Snot THAT bad yet, isit?
Yeah but nah but yeah but nah but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………
WAKE THE FECK UP!
(Breathe, Muddy. Just breeeeeeathe…).
I have 2 family members who until recently worked for Qantas, one a pilot the other ground staff. Basically, Qantas are at war with their workforce and vv. The relationship is toxic. The Q senior executive strata are viewed as a bunch of c****.
And on the subject of carriers, I refuse to put a penny into Sharia Airlines. Plenty others to choose from, rather than fund the sheiks’ vanity projects while the multi faced rag heads dabble with funding AQ et al. The ME is a vipers nest. No thanks.
Corporate management types – including (especially?) in Big Sport – are useful idiots.
Sorry. Forgot to mention that the bolding in that quote was mine.
As you were.
(Back to La-Firetrucking-La Land).
Rupe jumping horses? Hmmm … that’s new.
News.com.au has an article on Anna Kournikova.
Liberty quote: “When I got pregnant, I reduced the workload, and realised I want to devote all my time to children. Being with them is happiness, I am not going to miss a second.”
Increasing for Big Sport and FTA TV their just paying the government piper.
Not sure i can blame that their on autocorrect. But I will try.
Chris – That’s rapidly becoming being torn in two directions:
Target, Bud Light investors lose billions on marketing misses (26 May)
There’re signs that companies are starting to edge away from ESG stuff, which is good. Unfortunately in our country super funds are solidly controlled by the unions and the unions are controlled by green progressive uni graduates. So I can’t see ASX companies escaping the dilemma as easily as US ones can.
Couldn’t be more pleased with my part in this.
A bit tough on the Irish and Welsh given the National Education Act 1831 (UK).
Speaking of petrol pumps, I’ve been trying to verify my car’s trip computing which says 6.4L/100km average. Tried about 4 times and got 7.2L/100km. Ok but not spectacular and I am a lead foot.
The Dialectic at work. Action, provoke and control the reaction, implement the solution you had in mind when you created the problem
The problem with their cunning plan is the reaction is NOT the one they were hoping to provoke/control.
According to a James Lindsay podcast I listened to,the big reason corporations are embracing this bullshit is to get their ESG scores up so that Blackrock etc will infest in them and that banks will lian to them. There is an audit mafia that says do this and we will bump up the E part of your scores, ignore us and you will get a big fat 0.
There we go Muddy, its my bolding now.
Yes. You have been telling us.
Indeed Roger, the Liberal Party need not apply. They are the well-meaning trying to take our freedom from us, actually; by inaction as much as anything.
Well done!
miltonf
Relation is in the chief executive band, smart hard working guy from humble roots but views are decidedly left of centre. Same with others I have met higher up the corporate tree. I reckon they become so insular at some stage they actually can’t fathom that the base may think differently to what they do.
I’ll put money on it a far right disinformation campaign being the main talking point not a stupid marketing decisions being the blame, when the dust settles. For the time being Bud is doubling down on the stupid and Target also has dipped a toe in the same water with similar results.
Somebody over on the Oz website assuring us that Aborigines weren’t counted in the census until the 1960 referendum….they walk amongst us, and have the right to vote…
Actually in further thought, the cunning backup plan may be to drive down the price of the shares to allow a cheaper takeover.
“The person most responsible for the conviction of Chauvin is the expert witness Tobin”
I believe Chauvin would (and should) have got off on appeal, but the political situation was such that there would have been riots in the streets. So much for the vaunted system of American justice.
Higgins truly is the face of the #MeeToo movement – although not sure how it qualifies as a ‘movement’.
She is the perfect example of its flaws: Demanding that we instantly and uncritically believe women’s accusations against men, and at the same time it is becoming clearer how little merit those claims possessed.
#MeeToo is not about justice – that is what the law courts are for. It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
The BoM says we’re going to have an El Nino from Hell this year, so why are these guys, gals and yxes not out doing control burns? I doubt Canadian firefighters will help us in summer. Trudy isn’t a generous sort of guy.
Australian firefighters arrive in Canada to assist with raging wildfires (Sky News, 27 May)
No one ever does enough control burning here, yet they all squawk like excited parrots when the inevitable then occurs.
LMAO. Bans opposition parties, looks to fast-track the above. Got to keep globohomo paying the war bills.
Bruce O’Nuke:
It will only start getting better when the first shareholder meeting sacks the board for refusing to add to share value, and as the board shuffles off stage left, only then will the remainder take note.
Why?
Because the unemployed don’t get invites to the dinner parties that matter.
All the major Australian corporates and banks are furiously embracing ESG. I know, I work for one.
It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
A marxist lesbian project and canbra is full of them.
Yes that’s my observation too Cassie. Not at the coal face though.
I’ll say one thing for the Vogons – they certainly aren’t (weren’t?) one trick ponies.
We began regularly walking a local nature path two years ago now, I recall mentioning to hubby that we must be out of style because EVERYONE wore a black North Face puffer jacket, hundreds of them. I re-lined some of hubby’s nylon windbreakers from 30 years ago, they work just fine.
It is about attacking men who are not guilty.
Same with the attacks on soldiers who were in Afghanistan. What a loathsome abomination canbra is.
Shareholders with percents to control the vote are the funds, not individuals. They are loaded with superannuation money. The fund MANAGERS have power and they have measurable goals, whcih now depend on ESG scores.
– in the absence of fund members taking power.
I’m curious to know exactly how they are doing this. Are they refusing customers for example?
There are planets everywhere. Guys please get that star drive going soon.
Astrophysicists catalog all known planet-hosting, three-star systems (Phys.org, 26 May)
Also some professors have really fun names. I wonder if Manfred shortens his first name to “Man”? I’m not giving an excerpt because Dover’s blog settings might not like his last name.
Sancho:
Your distractor is an admission you have no case.
And it brings us right back to the original reason for this discussion
Whereas you think I shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate on the basis of that culture. But as I’ve already pointed out, both you and JC have replaced the concept of culture with race.
And that allows you to play the race card. Which is just another way of telling me to shut up.
The Race card is only played when you have no argument, and you, Sancho, have no argument.
Well a lot of it is propaganda over the intranet – ‘indigenous’ and alphabet stuff. Zero about Australia Day or the death of the Queen or the Chilla coronation.
Wi’ brass tang…
ANZ certainly refuses to lend for coal mining.
Not only do those fucwits have no argument, they also have no clue. About anything. Best ignored.
MiltonF:
On both the Patrol and the 380, I use the cruise control. Recently bought a Navman which I use more for video and insurance purposes.
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate? The car speedo or the satellite? And tyre inflation seems to have only a marginal effect on speedo readouts while it does have a moderate effect on fuel consumption.
The instrumentation issue on modern vehicles must be a lawyers lunch box.
Oxymoron?
As for#meetoo, it all started in 2016 with pussy hats and Trump baiting. It has now grown into a monstrous, entitled blob of vengeful, angry whiners. It was always about politics and never about justice for victims.
You only have to look at the targets.
Diogenes:
Precisely.
The problem is that the Left can do the first two quite well, but have only moderate success at the third.
We need more competition in the banking sector.
Damonsays:
May 27, 2023 at 12:01 pm
“The person most responsible for the conviction of Chauvin is the expert witness Tobin”
I believe Chauvin would (and should) have got off on appeal, but the political situation was such that there would have been riots in the streets. So much for the vaunted system of American justice.
Lynch Law redux, but with the blaks holding the ropes this time?
Robert Sewell,
I’ll concede I had one or two more glasses of Shiraz than usual last night, being a Friday and all, but I think I’d remember a stoush and we didn’t have one. I retired early with a book. I gathe rthere was a discussion about race but it didn’t involve me.
The flip side of that is that the wukkas are represented by the fat, dumb and happy unions who are pining for the good old days of the two airline policy.
The problem is, Qantas competes with airlines who don’t have that burden.
The most laughable is that goose from the LAME’s union (Purvinas?) who is regularly on their ABC screaming “safety issue” over anything and everything.
Invariably the “safety issue” can be resolved by the payment of juicy allowances and penalties to the bruvvers.
Congrats Sancho and Ms Kournikova
Hasn’t our economy been bound, gagged and abducted by various green commitments as specified in international trade agreements and UN obligations ?
Swerving away from them into nuclear might see us facing hefty penalties.
That’s how the green blackmail works.
Indians have one culture.
As do Swedes,Italians, Serbs, Greeks, Germans and so on. I can’t tell the difference between any of them.
A speaking tour of Tamil Nadu is on the cards for Robert. Seventh two million of them think they’re different to other Indians. Bengalis and Punjabis, can’t tell ‘em apart.
Wow!
Even Nurse Betty’s speedo is dudding him.
13 kmh difference?
Usually it is 3-5 max.
Are you sure it is 13 kmh?
Thank you.
It was only a brief moment of effort for me.
Anna deserves most of the credit.
And which cultures are these, Nurse Betty, who are dudding you out of a cupful of petrol?
Do you have any evidence that the data is a culturally skewed towards a particular group?
Or is it just another St Ruth truck stop anecdote?
Have you counted the Weeties in your cereal packet this morning?
Not the India I know.
The don’t even have one language.
English would be closest. 😀
I have been told by someone who I forget, that the car speedos have generally been calibrated low forever, to reduce risks to the car company from being sued by their customers getting too many speeding fines, and such data being used to imply culpability in lawsuits. You should expect sticking to the speedo to result in a GPS showing 3-6km/h low.
If true.
Lady newsreader reports on an accident involving a car and a B-double-W.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard this weird description of a B-double. Must be a suburban language tick from shopping at Big W.
There is no excuse nowadays for inaccurate speedos. They should be dynamically re-calibrated as you drive using the GPS. Some cheap GPS units will get the speed by measuring distance between fixes and dividing by time taken. This will have a lot of noise which needs a lot of averaging to eliminate.
Far better is to measure speed by the Doppler shifts of the satellite frequencies. Noise is usually maybe 1 cm/s and minimal averaging is necessary
I was being perverse Roger.
Err, no.
See Chris’s post at 1:02.
Speedos are set to under-read by 3-5 kmh specifically to eliminate scope for litigation for speeding fines, loss of licence and injuries/death from collisions.
Can you tell me what case a person might mount against Big Auto for a speedo under-reading?
Ah…conveying such subtleties with pixels is “fraught”, I’m afraid.
Well, if you are prepared to accept the cancer and mind-alteration risks, that is.
The issue is that both cars tell me I’m doing 110km/hr while the Navman says 97km/hr. So which is accurate? The car speedo or the satellite?
I have been told by someone who I forget, that the car speedos have generally been calibrated low forever, to reduce risks to the car company from being sued by their customers getting too many speeding fines, and such data being used to imply culpability in lawsuits. You should expect sticking to the speedo to result in a GPS showing 3-6km/h low.
I had a Toyota which had GPS navigation a few years ago that did this. When I asked the service “advisor” to look into it I was told it was a safety feature to prevent speeding! Other cars I’ve driven that have internal GPS have all read low on the speedo, but I doubt they use the GPS for speed measurement in order not to rely on it in case of outages or poor coverage. The car GPS screen, as distinct from the speedo, doesn’t indicate speed probably for that reason. I’d trust an aftermarket GPS over the car speedo any day.
Fraught (frôt) in Hindi means bountiful.
Yes, in the case of coal. But now its more the vibey, values-y thing which all big corporates have done forever to show the org has a non-$$$ reason to be. Usually some consultants hired to workshop stuff and indoctrinate staff so they know buzzwords to lock in bonuses … Now with ESG its more than just a vibe with perm ESG-vibe hires and board-level ESG data to be published and rankings to be massaged.
Its all BS, as it always was, but the hooks are deeper and management often think this stuff is “sucess” … like some beer and flying bus companies.
New page!