Open Thread – Thurs 5 Sept 2024


Anguish, August Friedrich Schenck, 1878

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

923 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
KevinM
KevinM
September 5, 2024 12:34 am

I do dare to comment first again, not much to say but.

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 5, 2024 12:48 am

The career crash for Geoff Clark – too terrible to leave languishing on the old fred:

Disgraced Indigenous leader Geoff Clark has been found guilty of stealing close to $1m from Aboriginal organisations he once led, the verdict coming after months of secret trials.

The 71-year-old, who was once Australia’s most senior Aboriginal leader, has been convicted of stealing cash from the Aboriginal organisations he led, illegally accepting royalties from eel fishermen and lying to the courts.
His convictions can finally be revealed after a gag order was lifted on Wednesday when his final case over allegations of stealing cash for “Geoff’s deck” — a sprawling merbau timber setup featuring a bar, kitchen and pizza oven — was dropped.

The former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) chair has faced three back-to-back County Court trials since October last year where he was convicted by juries of stealing from Indigenous organisations Kirrae Whurrong Community Inc, Maar Land Council and Framlingham Aboriginal Trust over 15 years.

His thefts of more than $920k, beginning from the early 2000s, came at a time the controversial leader faced mounting legal fees in civil court over rape allegations, and criminal court over a pub brawl at Warrnambool’s Criterion Hotel, for which he was convicted of obstructing police.

A civil jury’s finding that he led two pack rapes against a teenage girl in the 1970s was upheld on appeal in 2007.

In addition to cash thefts, Clark was also found guilty of using Framlingham Aboriginal Trust funds to pay for expenses on his properties, lying on affidavits filed with courts and unlawfully taking money from eel fishermen.

Outside the County Court on Wednesday, Clark was asked by the Herald Sun whether he was sorry for what he’d done.

He refused to answer and walked from court, where he has been ordered to return next week for a pre-sentence hearing.

Clark originally faced more than 300 charges over allegations of misappropriating $2m.

But three juries returned verdicts between December 2023 and May this year, finding him guilty of two dozen theft, financial advantage by deception and perjury charges.

Clark’s son Jeremy was also convicted at trial of stealing more than $250k for his father’s legal fees in the early 2000s.

Charges against Clark’s wife Trudy were discontinued.

Clark was due to face a fourth trial, believed to be over allegations of stealing cash from the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for ‘Geoff’s deck’ at his Framlingham home, outside Warrnambool.

But the Office of Public Prosecutions withdrew those charges on Wednesday, bringing an end to his court cases and leading Judge Michael O’Connell to lift a gag order banning any reporting on the matter.
His Honour said the gag order “should now be revoked and these proceedings will no longer be suppressed because it is no longer necessary to prevent the risk of prejudice of any future jury trials, so I formally revoke that order.”

That final conclusion came after a decade-long Victoria Police probe into Clark and his family, and more than 10 months of secret trials that began in October 2023.

In a statement, Jeremy Clark said he “made an error of judgment and unreservedly apologise”.

Jeremy said he accepted responsibility for a single charge from more than 15 years ago for which “I did not personally benefit”.

“I have never conspired to commit any crimes for my father’s or anyone’s benefit,” he said.

Jeremy Clark was found guilty at trial of seven charges, including for thefts from the Maar Land Council and Kirrae Whurrong Community Inc, and false accounting between 2003 to 2005.

“My first priority has always been improving the lives and futures of my community, as well as of Indigenous Australians more broadly, and I condemn any actions taken by others that have compromised this,” Jeremy said.

“With respect to any allegation of wrongdoing at the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, I maintain my innocence and unequivocally deny those allegations. It is noteworthy that it has never been alleged that I personally benefited from any of these historical matters.”

Both Geoff and Jeremy Clark have been ordered to return to the County Court for a two-day pre-sentencing hearing on September 11.

Herald-Sun with comments open – link

johanna
johanna
September 5, 2024 2:11 am

Re the odious Geoff Clark – I vividly remember in the dying days of ATSIC seeing Geoff and his cronies living it up at the Canberra hotel where they were all staying for a meeting. Many, many drinks plus meals, room service, laundry, dry cleaning and so on – all on the ATSIC tab.

The recorded ripoffs are of the single cockroach variety – for every one you see, etc.

Their care factor for Aborigines living in dire circumstances – zero.

Apparently he is a degenerate gambler, so taxpayers funded his habit for many years. It wasn’t a secret. All of this enabled by The Aboriginal Industry, including its often well paid white advocates and employees.

Scum.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 5, 2024 2:20 am

Classics!

—-

Fortunate Son – Apocalypse Now Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T-6vxLXj9M

johanna
johanna
September 5, 2024 3:05 am

… and they’re off!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-04/alfred-deakin-stolen-generations-yoorrook-victoria/104307730

Mr Sharp said his ancestor was an “extremely complex man” who had held the then-widespread belief that Aboriginal people would die out as colonisation unfolded.

On the Deakin University website, Deakin’s contribution to nation-building reforms is recognised alongside a note that “his ideas around race and the ‘White Australia’ ideal” also caused great harm to Indigenous communities.
“While Deakin acknowledged that Australia’s First Nations people had been dispossessed by the colonists, his ideas of racial classification which were used to justify his ‘dying race’ proposition ultimately set the stage for some of Australia’s most damaging and racist policies in subsequent decades such as the Stolen Generation,” the university page reads.

Mr Sharp told the inquiry he had been researching Deakin’s role in the passage of a Victorian bill in the 1880s that had destructive consequences for Aboriginal communities.

He said his research had led him to believe that his ancestor had played a bigger role than historically acknowledged in the shaping of the laws, which he described as “the beginning of the Stolen Generations”.

One of the dozens of descendants of Alfred Deakin has decided to make a name for himself by trashing his ancestor, whose achievements he has no hope of matching.

Truth telling! What a joke.

KevinM
KevinM
September 5, 2024 3:15 am

If you think about it, it’s quite ironic that there is very clear cut border and strictly controlled border crossings between Canad and the US whil there is a free flow of people at the south.

Which crossing be the greatest dander to the US you think?

—————-
The border between Canada and the U.S. is just a clearcut line in the forest. This is above Eureka, MT

The border between Canada and the United States is one of the longest international boundaries in the world, stretching over 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres). In many forested regions, the border is marked by a distinctive clearcut line, creating a visible boundary that can be seen for miles.

This clearcut is an intentional man-made feature, maintained by both countries to ensure that the border remains clearly defined, even in the most remote areas. The line is typically around 20 feet (6 meters) wide, cutting through forests, mountains, and wilderness areas, often creating a stark contrast against the surrounding natural landscape.

One such section of this clearcut border is located above Eureka, Montana, near the Canadian province of British Columbia. In this region, the border runs through dense forests, and the clearcut line creates a striking visual effect as it slices through the landscape. The line is more than just a visible marker; it represents the peaceful and cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Both Canada and the U.S. are responsible for maintaining their respective sides of the border, ensuring that it remains free of trees, shrubs, and other obstructions.

This clearcut border is not just a geographical curiosity but also a symbol of the unique relationship between Canada and the United States. It is a reminder of how two nations, despite their differences, can maintain a peaceful and well-defined boundary across vast and often challenging terrains.

For those visiting areas like Eureka, Montana, this clearcut line offers a fascinating glimpse into the practical and symbolic efforts involved in maintaining one of the world’s longest borders.

border
Top Ender
Top Ender
September 5, 2024 3:16 am

One of the dozens of descendants of Alfred Deakin has decided to make a name for himself by trashing his ancestor

What’s the bet Deakin Uni will now start looking at changing its name?

KevinM
KevinM
September 5, 2024 3:18 am

When I was young and still went to the movies, this was my favoured.

That was back in the days of the “star-studded” epic. Another great one was The Great Race with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Natalie Wood.
Also, never forget It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

—————–

Directed and co written by Ken Annakin, “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” (1965) is another smashing British comedy from the 1960’s.

It follows a collection of oddballs from all over the world entering a race to fly from London to Paris in 1910.

Starring, amongst others, Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes, Robert Morley, James Fox, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Fröbe, Alberto Sordi and Tony Hancock.

movie
KevinM
KevinM
September 5, 2024 3:24 am

I wasn’t looking for this, lost interest in the saga of Covid but it found its way into my feed.

Sorry if I sound like Figuers, (spell?) and hurt the feelings of those perpetually taking voluntary inoculations.

pfizer
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:00 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:01 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:05 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:08 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:09 am
Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 4:09 am
Beertruk
September 5, 2024 5:20 am

Schadenfreude for the slow motion derailed train wreck Sluttney Hoggings continues.

Today’s Daily Tele:

PAIR ‘MOCKED’ SENATOR

EMMA KIRK

Text from Higgins to Sharaz about former PM Scott Morrison

Text messages between Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz illustrate how the couple orchestrated a campaign to hurt Senator Linda Reynolds and bring down the Morrison Government, a court has been told as the blockbuster defamation trial between the trio comes to an end in Perth.

During closing remarks in the WA Supreme Court on Wednesday, Ms Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett read to the court text messages between the couple, including a conversation where he said the pair was “mocking” the senator for being hospitalised after Ms Higgins went public with her rape allegation. The couple discussed the senator taking time off work, and talking with journalists about her.

In one message in a group chat Mr Sharaz wrote: “PK is absolutely shredding Jane Hume’s Labor Senator. Are you just protecting your housemate and friend, re Linda? Ha, ha.”

Ms Higgins responded: “Amazing. It’s true”.

Mr Sharaz wrote: “Suck s**t Linda, you awful human.”

In reference to then-prime minister Scott Morrison, Ms Higgins responded: “He’s about to be effed up”.

In another text conversation, the pair mockingly discussed Ms Reynolds returning to parliament.

“Linda has delayed her return to work hahah,” one read,

In another message, one of them wrote “some s**t Linda, you are walking in it”.

Mr Bennett said the messages “mock the fact the attack initiated on my client has caused her to go on sick leave”.

Ms Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz over a number of social media posts the pair made in 2022 and 2023, which were critical of Ms Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague Bruce Lehrmann. He was charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct and the charge was dropped.

Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence, and lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins. He is appealing that decision.

Mr Bennet also revealed the sum Ms Reynolds was seeking from Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz if the court found she had been defamed by their social media posts.

He proposed a starting point of $675,000 — the same figure paid out to former NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro in his defamation case.

Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young finished her closing arguments on Tuesday saying the whole matter should be dismissed, but did point out that damages in defamation matters involving politicians usually received much smaller amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Ms Higgins has been forced to sell her home in France to cover legal fees which are expected to be in the millions of dollars for both parties.

Ms Reynolds has said she had to mortgage her Perth home to pay for legal fees and risks losing the house if she is not successful in the case.

Mr Bennett told the court Ms Higgins’ evidence during her personal injury claim with the Commonwealth was complete fiction. “Every paragraph in these particulars is wrong.”

Beertruk
September 5, 2024 5:29 am

Directed and co written by Ken Annakin, “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” (1965) is another smashing British comedy from the 1960’s.

A bloody hilarious and brilliant movie. Saw it at the flicks when I was a little fella.

The blunderbuss duel between the Frogs and the Huns in balloons as they drifted over the sewerage pond.

johanna
johanna
September 5, 2024 5:38 am

Leaving aside the legal issues, the way Sharaz and whoever spoke about Reynolds when she was seriously ill was disgusting;

Good to see that the chateau is on the market.

Thanks, taxpayers!

Beertruk
September 5, 2024 6:00 am

Johanna, this is the bit I don’t understand:

Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence, and lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins. He is appealing that decision.

How can a decision in court be ‘on the balance of probabilities?’
Either he did or he didn’t.
Well, unless its different in a civil case compared to a criminal case.
I am not a legal expert and in the ‘pub test’ sense a decision like that makes no sense to me.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 6:42 am

Looks like the Tory members are going to be stiffed again.

Latest Tory leadership poll reveals runaway favourite who beats all opponents head-to-head (4 Sep)

Kemi Badenoch is leading the race to be the next Tory leader and would beat all of her rivals in a head-to-head contest, a survey of Conservative Party members has suggested.

The senior Tory had 34% of the support in the poll of more than 800 members, conducted by the ConservativeHome website between Sept 2 and 3.

Robert Jenrick tops first Tory leadership election poll as one MP is knocked out (4 Sep)

The Conservative Party’s 121 MPs voted to oust the former Home Secretary in the first round of votes.

Former immigration minister Mr Jenrick picked up 28 votes, with bookmakers’ favourite Kemi Badenoch in second place on 22.

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly was one vote behind on 21, shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat on 17 and shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride on 16.

Dame Priti picked up just 14 votes. …

MPs will then carry out further rounds of voting to select two final candidates for the party’s grassroots to choose between, with the result of the members’ ballot announced on November 2.

The MPs will almost certainly pick two wets for the poor members to “choose” from. It is possible they’ll realize the danger and allow Kemi in as one of the two but I doubt it. They don’t want someone who actually represents the base, who they fear. And if Kemi is shut out there’ll be another exodus to Farage.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 5, 2024 7:28 am

Lysander on the OOT.

i named over 26 publications that threw new light on WWII. You said “history was done, nothing to see here folks.” That’s cos your a Nazi who rewrites history from “Year Zero.”

In one of his responses to Lysander, mUnturd strongly implied that he had read every book cited, suggesting that all were summary publications, not original research.

Anyone who believes that mUnturd has read all of the books, and made balanced judgements of them is as deluded as mUnturd is.

calli
calli
September 5, 2024 7:29 am

Is all well with Cassie? I have not seen her for a couple of days.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 7:33 am

Elon deleted his post recommending that people watch the Tucker Cooper vid and replaced it with a post showing Cooper had been community noted.
This guy puts paid to the fantasy that death camps were a belated response to excess numbers of Russian POWS.
The extermination program was in full swing in Germany in 1939.
https://x.com/RealCynicalFox/status/1831243886691279320?t=gUVF8qLBnrSRaZJ5vWUHUw&s=19

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 7:33 am

Corey Gil-Shuster’s Youtube videos are always worth watching, and they are often unsettling. Gil-Shuster has been running his Youtube channel called “Ask an Israeli/Ask a Palestinian” for a decade now. He travels into the West Bank (never Gaza) with a translator and speaks to ordinary Palestinians.

Gil-Shuster has uploaded this overnight. It’s doesn’t make for pretty viewing, it’s highly unsettling.

Palestinians: When Palestine is free from river to sea, what happens to the Jews?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4iGFT9Yl9o

Ninety-five percent of Palestinians, even those on the West Bank, desire and want not just Israel gone but almost all Jews gone from the land that is now Israel. The old mantra of ‘pushing Jews into the sea” still stands, the difference in 2024 is that the Western left, be it our government, the UK government, academia, the Nazi Greens, the Nazi here, don’t just agree with Palestinians in their desire to destroy Israel and make the Jews disappear but actively provides intellectual and emotional succour to the Palestinian genocidal aim.

We hear a lot of talk about ‘genocide’ now, a much abused word. It’s actually a deliberate code not for some fabricated genocide in Gaza by the IDF but it’s a sly factual admission of the the true genocide planned for all Jews living on the land of Israel.

From the river to the sea means the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of all Jews. It will be October 7 on steroids. And the western left supports it.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 7:34 am

People are nowclaiming Tucker did this now to give Harris the win.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 7:35 am

Is all well with Cassie? I have not seen her for a couple of days.

I’m fine calli, thank you for thinking of me.. I have a frail mother to distract me!

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
September 5, 2024 7:37 am

The left in America actually loves gun violence, particularly school shootings, because it plays into their aim to disarm the population.
Gun violence, as the manifesto of the transgender Covenant School shooter shows, often stems from mental issues.
The left has encouraged mental issues.

shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 7:39 am

Text from Higgins to Sharaz about former PM Scott Morrison

Probably, a silly question but how do you get a hold of someone else’s personal phone texts and then have no legal issues with splashing them around the media &, in this matter, court proceedings …….?

Last edited 1 month ago by shatterzzz
calli
calli
September 5, 2024 7:40 am

The painting is an excellent choice, Dover. Exactly how this old sheep felt over those murders in Gaza. And for all the others held in captivity.

I took it out on a section of garden, ruthlessly eliminating every single weed. Now, in my mind, I have dedicated that area that I look out onto every morning to poor, beautiful young Eden.

The crows can gather to pick out Israel’s eyes, the latest being the UK. So much for Blake’s “New Jerusalem”.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 7:42 am

The fix is in.

Harris’ So-Called ‘Surge’ Is Thanks To Oversampling: Pollsters (4 Sep)

Critics point out that many polls have been sampling a disproportionately smaller share of Republican voters compared to exit poll data from the 2020 presidential election. The result, they say, is a misleading “phantom advantage” for Ms. Harris. According to them, this skewed sampling could be a strategic move to boost enthusiasm and fundraising for Ms. Harris’ campaign.

The pollsters defend the practice by saying it reflects the outcome of the 2020 election. But Biden received millions of fake votes, and these have been counted in the weighting the pollsters use.

They have to do this so that when they do it again and pad Kamala with fake votes they can say “see! see! our polling was right” as a way to astroturf the fraudulent election result.

shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 7:46 am

The fix is in.

Anyone who doubts “the fix is in” pleeeze contact me I have a Bridge with bonus Opera House for sale .. verrrry cheap .. LOL!

Pogria
Pogria
September 5, 2024 7:47 am

The Gurner’s family are not very sympatico with his choices. lol.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GWo_2KBWoAEYuLm?format=jpg&name=small

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 5, 2024 7:47 am

The Germans were not prepared for the huge number of Russian prisoners and they did not expect to hold them for long.
Barbarossa was meant to be a swift and decisive strike that would see the collapse of the Soviet system and a semi grateful Russian population go back to normal life under Nazi government. Their reception in Ukraine only enhanced this deluded concept.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 8:06 am
Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:08 am

@TulsiGabbard

Kamala says she believes in freedom, but I was put on a secret terror watch list after I publicly criticized her. No one will be safe from political retaliation under a Harris administration. I put my life on the line for this country. Now the government calls me a terror threat.

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:09 am

@_johnnymaga

Merrick Garland just spoke at length about “Russian interference” in the 2024 election, as well as “threats toward election workers”

He made no mention of Trump nearly being assassinated in Pennsylvania

You know… the greatest act of election interference that’s ever existed

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:10 am
Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:11 am
Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
September 5, 2024 8:12 am

Things are grim when even the Daily Telegraph has TDS:
“He wears a girdle”; top staffer reveals Trump’s secrets.

Who cares what Trump does to maintain his appearance? It would be criticised as sexist if anyone started to talk about female politicians’ cosmetics or undies.
The future of the USA is in the balance and this story belongs – if anywhere – on the kiddies News website or any of a multitude of left leaning MSM sites.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 5, 2024 8:13 am

The Nazi plan was to remove the political commissars and the officers to break down any coordinated resistance.
The summary execution of any party affiliated Russian officer or organiser is well and truly documented.
A well trod path by the Soviets as the Polish officer executions attest.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 8:15 am

Mr Sharaz wrote: “Suck s**t Linda, you awful human.”

Self-awareness is not one of Sharaz’s strong suits.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 8:21 am

“He wears a girdle”; top staffer reveals Trump’s secrets.

JFK also wore a girdle, due to his ongoing back injury from his service in World War II and his crippling Addison’s disease.

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:22 am
Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 8:22 am

I suspect it’s taken more than a ‘girdle’ to prop Sniffing Joe up.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 8:23 am

Well, so much for the RBA’s contention at a senate hearing last month that the economy was “running a little hot”.

But for the artificial stimuli of government spending and immigration, we’d have already been three months into the first recession since 1992.

Top men…and women!

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:26 am

In terms of eloquence, Vivek seems to be the American Farage.

@ChuckCallesto

JUST IN: Vivek WIPES THE FLOOR with Kamala Harris on CNN..

YOU GOT TO LOVE IT..

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:27 am

Short clip from Tucker interview.

@TrumpWarRoom

“I love Trump, man.”

Country star Jason Aldean details his journey from being politically disengaged to supporting President Trump.

MAGA!

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:28 am

@RealMacReport

Breaking: House Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx subpeoned Tim Walz’s admin. related to the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation” that stole $250 million in taxpayer funds intended to feed children in need.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 5, 2024 8:29 am

JFK had a back brace and an addiction to painkillers from having to cope with the constant back pain he suffered.
Lots of us in sympathy with his lot at that time.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 5, 2024 8:30 am

Mayo accuses Coalition of using Indigenous Australians ‘for their own political opportunity’
Noah Yim

Thomas Mayo, one of the leaders of the unsuccessful Indigenous voice to parliament campaign, accused the Coalition of using Indigenous Australians “for their own political opportunity”. 
He urged the government to “stand up” to opponents of a truth-telling commission. 
“We continue to see that we’re not closing the gap,” he told ABC TV. 
“I think bipartisanship is important and it saddens and angers me when I see, you know, politicians using us for their own political opportunity.”
Mr Mayo, when asked about truth-telling on the federal level – one of the key planks of the Uluru Statement – said he would like to see leaders “have some backbone about this”. 
“I can’t understand why anybody would be against some form of truth-telling about our past and that’s the best way to go forward with the best decisions about what can happen,” he said. 
“So I really want to see the federal government do more on truth-telling and not walk away from the Uluru Statement.”

Miltonf
Miltonf
September 5, 2024 8:32 am

The Murdoch rags are just following orders from on high which they would be more than happy to do anyway. They can go and fuk themselves

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 8:36 am

“We continue to see that we’re not closing the gap,” [Mayo] told ABC TV. 

If you really want to close the gap, close the remote settlements.

But that would not be to your political advantage, would it?

Miltonf
Miltonf
September 5, 2024 8:44 am

The very model of a Marxist wrecker.

shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 8:46 am

Thomas Mayo, one of the leaders of the unsuccessful Indigenous voice to parliament campaign, accused the Coalition of using Indigenous Australians “for their own political opportunity”. 

Pot.. kettle .. given Mayo is of Philipino heritage ….

Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:49 am
Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 8:56 am
Indolent
Indolent
September 5, 2024 9:00 am
Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 9:01 am

The next recession: prepare for the worst

Michael Collins, The Spectator (Aus ed.), 7 September 2024

Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’ of 1990 to 1991 extended for four quarters, over which time output shrank 1.7 per cent and unemployment surged to a post-Depression high of 10.8 per cent. From 1991, Australia’s economy then set a record-long expansion for a developed country, withstanding the Asia crisis of 1997 to 1998, the tech crash of 2000 and the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, before shrinking during the pandemic.

Save during the epidemic, the economy expanded for three-plus decades thanks to an export boost from China’s industrialisation, a consumer spree built on debt, strong population growth fuelled by high immigration, and lavish government spending. Of note was how low consumer inflation gifted by globalisation allowed the Reserve Bank of Australia to set ultra-loose monetary policy to protect the economy, while ignoring the asset inflation that, via the ‘wealth effect’ encouraged the debt-propelled consumption.

Capitalism fosters economic cycles because upswings are self-destructive while downswings self-correct. Typically, excessive demand during a boom creates imbalances that stir inflation, which policymakers then stomp out by slowing the economy. During a downturn, officials stimulate the economy while the other big rescuers are pent-up demand and the acceleration of Joseph Schumpeter’s ‘creative destruction’, whereby inefficient businesses disappear as capital and labour veer towards efficient newcomers.

Australia’s economy in recent times only grew due to high immigration – per capita output has declined since 2022. But such are the economy’s imbalances even new arrivals can barely ensure output growth.

The worrying issue is not so much the inevitable arrival of a recession, it’s that circumstances are likely to ensure it’s a bad recession; worse than that of 1990-91, as measured by the drop in output, length and the jobless rate. Any recession – best defined, US-style, as a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months (as distinct from two quarters of negative growth) – is likely to be harsh for five reasons

The biggest one is that consumers, who drive about 55 per cent of Australia’s GDP, are overindebted and must restrict their spending. Consumer debt to output now stands at a near-record high of 116 per cent of GDP, one of the world’s steepest ratios. This equation was just under 50 per cent in 1990.

The alarm here is that most of this debt is mortgage debt. Any jump in the unemployment rate will plunge affected households into debt distress. Enough forced home sales could trigger a housing collapse that batters the wealth of homeowners. If that were to happen, the banking system would shake. Weaker banks could collapse – as happened to state banks in 1990 to 1991 when Westpac Banking nearly failed.

A second factor worsening the coming recession is that policymakers have largely exhausted their ability to stimulate the economy for any length of time. Federal gross debt at 60 per cent of output is admittedly low by international standards – the IMF estimates the average ratio for advanced governments is 112 per cent of GDP. But Canberra expects future budget deficits (after two surpluses) because society appears unwilling to decide how much tax it is willing to pay for the services demanded of government.

A recession strains government budgets because tax receipts drop while welfare payments rise. The danger of this automatic deterioration in government finances is twofold for growth. One is the federal and state governments might need to boost taxes or reduce spending to stabilise their finances – austerity measures that impede the economy. The other is that international bond investors might demand higher yields on Australian sovereign debt that hinder the economy.

Assuming inflation drops as the economy shrinks, the RBA has scope to cut the cash rate from 4.35 per cent. While that level might be a 13-year high, it’s low on longer time spans. Once the cash rate is close to zero, the RBA could turn to unorthodox measures such as quantitative easing. But such asset buying provides little spur for the economy (while bolstering asset prices) and exposes taxpayers to losses that then strain Canberra’s budget.

The third recession-deepener is that Australia is sabotaging its export potential. Green and Aboriginal heritage considerations are hampering mineral exploration. Animal-rights activists are destroying the live export trade of sheep and cattle. A backlash against immigration is prompting the federal government to curb the number of foreign students. Whatever the merits of each impediment, shackling exporters retards the economy. Add on, too, the increased red tape, tougher green demands, stricter compliance requirements, higher energy prices and rising taxes that burden exporters.

The peril here is Australia’s reduced ability to earn foreign earnings prompts foreign investors to refrain from refinancing Australia’s record gross foreign debt, which at 110 per cent of GDP is high by international standards. Any crisis over foreign debt would shake, perhaps torpedo, Australia’s banks, which rely on selling bonds to foreigners.

A fourth recession-magnifier is there will be no foreign rescue like that of 2008 to 2009 when China’s stimulus helped saved Australia. The circumstances that make Australia vulnerable to a deep recession are replicated across the advanced world. Consumers and businesses in rich countries are indebted like their governments. The US economic outlook is for a possible recession and a reckoning over Washington’s sick finances no matter who is president. The eurozone economy is struggling. Many emerging countries are toying with crisis. China’s economy is troubled, as shown by falling commodity prices. The rise in protectionism due to wars, geopolitical jousting, green policies and a backlash against globalisation is another handicap for a struggling Australia.

A fifth recession-intensifier is that any economic crunch would send tremors across asset markets that are arguably in bubble territory. Oh, the wealth destruction if these bubbles pop.

On top the inevitable shocks from disease, natural disasters and war that always arrive, another risk is that policymakers could worsen the crisis. RBA Governor Michele Bullock appears an inflation zealot who might keep monetary policy tighter than appropriate. Political leaders might fight off the recession with money printing that engenders high (double-digit) inflation.

An optimist could say the coming recession will correct the imbalances created over recent decades. A pessimist might respond the debt imbalances are so extreme they can’t be resolved without an upheaval. The recession of the mid-2020s could be an historic downturn.

Policymakers, to be sure, have enough stimulus to mute the damage at the start of the next slump. But the stimulus won’t last long and might not do much. Leaders could quickly dump the policies hurting exporters. But those industries will take time to recover. Policymakers could prove talented at guiding the economy out of recession.

They owe it to the country to weave some magic. The major reason for the likely severity of the coming recession is that policymakers exerted too much effort to avoid smaller recessions. The pitfall of this short-termism was that it would create a bigger bust. The coming hardship might be best seen as the Great Recession we didn’t need to have.

cohenite
September 5, 2024 9:06 am

Re: latest school shooting in the US: someone has written the usual BS for the old pervert: ie more gun control. These shootings happen in gun free zones. Arm teachers or put on better security. Interesting that all the recent school shootings were by demorat family kiddies many of whom were trannies:

https://x.com/kcmsinned/status/1831422547256381581/photo/1

God help us if cackles gets in.

LB2
LB2
September 5, 2024 9:11 am

“We continue to see that we’re not closing the gap,” [Mayo] told ABC TV

Who, exactly, is “we”, in the above statement? The Clark clan (supra) may beg to differ

132andBush
132andBush
September 5, 2024 9:13 am

Things are grim when even the Daily Telegraph has TDS:

“He wears a girdle”; top staffer reveals Trump’s secrets.

They think that’s bad?

Harris is wearing a skinsuit.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 9:17 am

Harris is wearing a skinsuit.

With a fake accent to boot!

Just…weird.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 5, 2024 9:28 am

The voice was defeated … So, why do we carry on accepting Indigenous separatism across our institutions?
260 comment
As George Orwell recognised, one of the left’s tricks is to use loaded words as a form of moral intimidation. As he wrote in Politics and the English Language, “political chaos is connected with the decay of language” that’s “designed to make lies sound truthful … and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. It’s this “slovenliness of our language”, he said, that “makes it easier to have foolish thoughts”.
Notice how, in our public discourse, almost no one refers any more to “Aboriginal people”. Instead, there has been a steady shift in nomenclature – at least by most of the media and officialdom – from the term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, a simple description, to the term First Nations people, which implies a particular status.
This intellectual sleight of hand has continued apace, entirely uninterrupted by the smashing defeat of the voice.
First, “Aboriginal people” became “Australia’s first peoples”, as in the First People’s Assembly of Victoria. More recently they’ve become “First Nations people”, as in the ambassador for First Nations people, which was one of the first moves by the then new Albanese government. That’s hardly surprising, as implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart “in full” – voice, treaty and truth – was the very first commitment that Anthony Albanese made on winning the federal election in 2022.

It’s just that the Uluru statement, far from being the gracious invitation to walk the road to reconciliation together, as the Prime Minister repeatedly claimed, is actually deeply subversive of national unity. It reads: “Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent … and possessed it under our own laws and customs … This sovereignty … has never been ceded or extinguished and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.”
But the term nations implies sovereignty and the term sovereignty implies power. In other words, notwithstanding they’re part of Australia, each Aboriginal “nation” is “sovereign” in the sense of having its own authority to govern itself.
When the voice referendum was resoundingly defeated last year, 61 per cent to 39 per cent, most Australians would have expected some official recognition that the electorate had spoken and decisively rejected the Indigenous separatism inherent in the Uluru agenda. But the Albanese government has never definitively ruled out a legislated voice; is still committed to treaties (even if these are to be negotiated between “First Nations” and the states); and still has $6m in the budget for Makarrata or a so-called truth-telling commission.

Moreover, whenever he’s talking about Aboriginal people, the Prime Minister (and all his ministers) habitually use the term First Nations despite its implications for who is really entitled to call the shots in modern Australia.
The Australian Public Service Commission website advises that the government’s “preference” is to use the term First Nations people. The Walking Together Reconciliation Committee says the terms Aboriginal and Indigenous “fail to represent unique cultures”.
As for the term First Australians, it notes that “some take issue with the reference to ‘Australia’ as it compromises sovereignty for the first people that existed before ‘Australia’ came to be”. By contrast, the term First Nations, says the committee, “recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the sovereign people of this land” and is thus a “better choice” than other “outdated and offensive terms”.

Despite spending millions on a voice proposal that their customers and their staff, by and large, didn’t support, woke public companies such as Qantas and Virgin still acknowledge the “traditional owners” whenever a plane lands; and still welcome Australians to the country of the relevant Aboriginal clan rather than to the city or town that belongs to everyone.
Likewise, despite the voice referendum’s defeat, just about every building and landmark in the country, with more than one flag pole, continues to fly the Aboriginal flag co-equally with the national flag, as if the flag of some of us should have equal honour to the flag of all of us.
When voice architect Marcia Langton said there would be no more “welcomes to country” if the voice failed, many Australians quietly cheered. In the event, though, other than a handful of local councils that said they would end the practice, welcomes to country remain commonplace.

Arky
September 5, 2024 9:29 am

Vicpol cocksuckers taking union action because they don’t think they’re paid enough.
Daubing cop cars in slogans.
Hey, wankers, if you hadn’t so gleefully been the enforcement arm of the covid shutdowns there might still be enough cash in the kitty to give you a raise.

Last edited 1 month ago by Arky
bons
bons
September 5, 2024 9:31 am

A blast from the past. Our managers (from tomorrow – owners) report that for the first time since pre-covid a bunch of protest kiddies and their minders have turned up in the district.

They are apparently hunting miners, not farmers, but you never know with lefty contagions.

Nobody is suggesting that the insurgency is sponsored by JCU in support of Labor’s election ‘Big Build’ scam. Nobody, you understand, believe me!

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
September 5, 2024 9:34 am

Pogria:
I’ve only just woken up and fed Elsie, made a coffee and sat down at the computer – so I’m not real sharp yet, but  “KC and the Sunshine Band”.
Who are they? (Not the musicians, I know of them.)

m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 9:39 am

Apropos of yesterday’s Tucker Carlson missive in the ongoing Russian campaign to destabilise America and white-ant Western support for Ukraine via the culture wars, comes indictments over the Russian scheme to directly fund the likes of Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson.

I am shocked, SHOCKED, to find paid Russian disinformation shills in the American right-wing.

cohenite
September 5, 2024 9:42 am

Enough Is Enough: Researchers Introduce Yet Another New Sexuality (westernjournal.com)

While The Western Journal will stick with “LGBT” (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) as the acronym of preference when describing the gay community, the otherwise accepted acronym is quite a bit longer.
The currently used acronym consists of “LGBTQIA+,” which adds “queer,” “intersex,” and “asexual” to the original four.
The plus-symbol is meant to be a catch-all for any other rare sexual preferences, but some have opted to add a letter for each preference anyways.
Here’s one such longer acronym, courtesy of Loyola University Maryland’s contribution to the discourse: “LGBTQQIP2SA: any combination of letters attempting to represent all the identities in the queer community, this near-exhaustive one (but not exhaustive) represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirited, and asexual.”
And that acronym may just get a tad longer, thanks to researchers from Seattle University, according to the New York Post.
In a study published in “Archives of Sexual Behavior” in April, researchers posited that there may be a new form of sexuality: symbiosexuality.
“A recent review of cultural and academic discourse presented evidence that some people experience attraction to two (or more) people in a preexisting relationship,” the study noted.
In other words, a “symbiosexual” is infatuated with preexisting couples.
The paper argued that the topic of symbiosexuality was “understudied.”

We could simplify it all by calling all of them freaks.

Lawgi Dawes-Hall
Lawgi Dawes-Hall
September 5, 2024 9:48 am

JFK had a back brace and an addiction to painkillers from having to cope with the constant back pain he suffered.

The story I heard was the secret service had to spirit in a pretty young thing every three days because they were far more effective painkillers than drugs or back braces.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 9:53 am

Nazi boy thinks Dave Rubin is a paid Wussian agent!

Comedy gold. LOL.

Last night I caught up with reading the Cat and I saw this pearler from the Nazi…

The events of WWII happened 80-85 years ago. No one is going to find a new set of facts at this extremely late point. The issues have been argued to death, literally.

I fell over in both shock and laughter. I’ve read some crap here but that takes the cake. Even Bird can formulate a better argument.

I think the Nazi should stick to writing essays on the history of donuts.

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 5, 2024 10:08 am

The events of WWII happened 80-85 years ago. No one is going to find a new set of facts at this extremely late point. 

There’s a big Japanese submarine approximately east of Newcastle NSW with 86 blokes on board. Still researching it but looks as if two RAAF bombers sunk it, which will change the Air Force story for WWII.

Pogria
Pogria
September 5, 2024 10:17 am

This meme explains the Gimp’s thought process.

comment image

m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 10:17 am

~90% of Tim Pool’s company’s revenue comes from Russia, LOL.

He is currently on Twitter becoming a turnip.

IMG_5704
Top Ender
Top Ender
September 5, 2024 10:17 am
m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 10:19 am

No wonder Trump’s suits are so ill-fitting, he has to hide the girdle and the Depends.

Pogria
Pogria
September 5, 2024 10:22 am
m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 10:28 am

I look forward to Cranky condemning Tucker Carlson and his association with the shameful anti-Semitic work of Darryl Cooper.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 5, 2024 10:31 am

A small bright spot in a world of merde.

Australian Paralympic swimmer, Alexa Leary, a former triathlete profoundly damaged in a 2021 cycle training accident, has won gold in the 100m freestyle and set a new world record of 59.53.

For context: her time is a second behind Dawn Fraser at her peak and competitive with Shane Gould and the first 10 years of East German Steroidmädchen.

Last edited 1 month ago by Dr Faustus
Pogria
Pogria
September 5, 2024 10:45 am

The Green Goblin is really feeling the lack of adoration. The link up thread, shows a pic of the Goblin being arrested, wearing the obligatory Pallie Tea Towel.
The whole story is hilarious. There was a protest at Copenhagen Uni. Only TWENTY saddos turned up. Also, only six, including said Goblin, could get themselves arrested! haw.
I reckon the coppers felt sorry for her. 😀

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/09/04/greta-thunberg-arrested-at-copenhagen-palestine-protest/

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 10:45 am

dover0beach

 September 5, 2024 9:46 am

The reaction to Tucker’s interview continues to bear fruit. Absolutely clear that the most verboten subject in the West is any judgement that departs significantly from the WW2 consensus.

Churchill should’ve trusted Hitler like Stalin did?

Rabz
September 5, 2024 10:47 am

Teats Peanuthead to retire from politics according to the Aged.

Good riddance, you sleazy loathsome utterly corrupt sack of shit.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 5, 2024 10:53 am

Rabz beat me. From Herald Sun

NDIS Minister and former Opposition leader Bill Shorten will sensationally announce his retirement from politics.
Maribyrnong MP Mr Shorten is set to announce at 11am today this step down from parliament, after serving the electorate since 2007.
Long touted as a future Prime Minister, Mr Shorten led Labor to a shock defeat to Scott Morrison in 2019, after coming close to unseating Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 10:54 am

I look forward to Cranky condemning Tucker Carlson and his association with the shameful anti-Semitic work of Darryl Cooper.

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning what happened in Israel on October 7, 2023, but instead there was silence from the Nazi.

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning the explosion of Jew hatred since October 7, 2023. In fact, I don’t recall the resident Nazi condemning the events of Monday night October 9, 2023, nor do I recall the resident Nazi condemning the violence in Caulfield Melbourne in November 2023 when leftist and Muslim Nazis turned up in a Jewish suburb, on the Sabbath, to threaten, intimate and hurl insults at Jews, but instead there was silence from the Nazi.

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning the words of Greens MP, Jenny Leong, who referred to Jews as having ‘tentacles’, a description straight out of Goebbels ‘Der Sturmer” but instead there was silence from the Nazi

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning Australia’s very own Nazi party, the Australian Greens. I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning the actions of Mehreen Faruqi and that now infamous picture where Faruqi stood proudly and smilingly in front of a Goebbels like picture which said that the world needed to be ‘cleansed’ of Jews. The response from the Nazi? Silence.

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning the now weekly Jew hating festivals on our CBD streets since October 7, but instead there has been silence from the Nazi.

I look forward to the resident Nazi condemning the Hamas apologists on our university campuses, screaming genocide of Jews and harassing Jewish students but instead there has been silence from the Nazi.

Okay perhaps I missed something? Hmm, no, I haven’t, there has been DEAFENING silence from the Nazi.

As for Tucker, like Owen, like Storer, like others, I don’t know what rabbit hole he’s burrowed down. But our resident Nazi has his own unsavoury, putrid burrow hole he dug and he lives in. And that burrow hole is equally as unsavoury as anything ‘Darryl Cooper’ says. So, here’s a fact, the resident Nazi is not in any position to lecture anyone here about ‘anti-Semitism’.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 10:56 am

Getting NDIS was a hospital pass, so this is clearly rat-leaving-sinking-ship time.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 5, 2024 11:01 am

Has mUnturd ever posted a single comment criticising the DemonRats for either or both of their financial links with the CCP, or the number of CCP spies who have been found working for DemonRat politicians?

Is he so stupid that he cannot see that Wussia is a declining power (see it’s performance militarily in Ukraine), while China is a rising power? Influencers paid by Wussia are a dead end politically, Chinese spies are dangerous.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 11:04 am

Teats Peanuthead led labore to a shock defeat to Goose Morristeen in 2019, after coming close to unseating Waffles Turnbuckle in 2016.

Magnificent efforts in mediocrity. Electoral poison by any other name.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 11:05 am

NDIS Minister and former Opposition leader Bill Shorten will sensationally announce his retirement from politics.

Sensationally?

What’s he going to do…juggle flaming effigies of Trumble and SloMo at the presser?

Must be a slow news day.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
calli
calli
September 5, 2024 11:05 am

will sensationally announce his retirement from politics

Hmmm. I wonder what the “sensational” part of it will be.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 11:07 am

In news just in….

Shorten is resigning/retiring.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 11:08 am

I wonder what the “sensational” part of it will be.

He’ll come clean about his mistress for the last (almost) two years?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 11:10 am

One for Gez.

‘No, please go’: 94yo calls the cops in transmission line saga (Tele, paywalled)

On the outskirts of Tamworth, landowners are left feeling as though they are being walked all over by state-owned EnergyCo. Barnaby Joyce has called for them to march on parliament.

Calling the cops on tresspassers is a nice thing. Of course the cops will soon get instructions to ignore such callouts, which will make them even more detested by normals.

calli
calli
September 5, 2024 11:11 am

Pog’s story about Greta reminded me of this. Her use-by date has well and truly passed.

greta-2065
Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 11:11 am

“Absolutely clear that the most verboten subject in the West is any judgement that departs significantly from the WW2 consensus”
This is simply not true.
The facts of world war two are being presented as a ‘narrative’ a ‘mythology’ created by the Jewish lobby and Mr Cooper has created a new narrative out of whole cloth.
People are wondering why Tucker would give such a ramshackle ‘historian’ a platform.
The people defending him merely parrot his talking points and then jumping straight to Holocaust denial and outright anti Semitism complete with nazi era type cartoons.
Our knowledge of the Holocaust relies as much on eye witness accounts and documentation from the allied forces who entered the camps, the Nazis own meticulous record keeping as the accounts of survivors.
He gets away with it because most people are not familiar with the history and because he confirms the biased of those with ears that want to hear.

Last edited 1 month ago by Rosie
Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 5, 2024 11:13 am

Leaders could quickly dump the policies hurting exporters. But those industries will take time to recover. Policymakers could prove talented at guiding the economy out of recession.

They owe it to the country to weave some magic. The major reason for the likely severity of the coming recession is that policymakers exerted too much effort to avoid smaller recessions. The pitfall of this short-termism was that it would create a bigger bust. The coming hardship might be best seen as the Great Recession we didn’t need to have.

Wouldn’t it be nice.

Sadly, none of our current ‘leaders’ and ‘policymakers’ are going to weave any magic, or dump the policies and restrictions impacting productivity and exports. Not this side of the Recession we obviously did need to have.

Australians are going to have object lessons that:

You can’t have nice things (think unrestrained NDIS, free dentistry, cheap clean electricity, Olympic games, First World infrastructure, Waggyls) you can’t pay for;

Government, whatever it says to the contrary, doesn’t produce anything – so it has nothing of its own to give you.

None of this is new, unremarked, or suddenly rearing up out of the long grass. It’s 30 years of simmering frog – suddenly about to reach an unsustainable 100°.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 11:17 am

In troughers gotta trough news, Teats is going to become Vice Chancellor of the University of Scamberra after leaving politics in February.

What happened to the French Ambassador’s job?

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 11:19 am

People are wondering why Tucker would give such a ramshackle ‘historian’ a platform.

After previously giving Munther Isaac a soft interview in April.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 11:26 am

Tucker will simply claim it’s his role (and right) to interview controversial personages.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 5, 2024 11:27 am

Politics latest: Former Labor leader Bill Shorten set to announce retirement from politics
Rats leaving a sinking ship?

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 11:38 am

In troughers gotta trough news, Teats is going to become Vice Chancellor of the University of Scamberra after leaving politics in February.

Remember, this is why we give parliamentarians such generous remuneration and retirement packages – they find it hard to obtain employment after leaving the job.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
JC
JC
September 5, 2024 11:38 am

So it was right that Churchill ignored Hitler’s attempt to ensure the peace.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 5, 2024 11:41 am

University of Canbra:

As a university anchored in Australia’s capital, we work with government, business and industry to serve our communities and nation, and to be the capital’s educational window to the world. From this vantage point, we challenge the status quo in a relentless pursuit of original and better ways to teach, learn, research and add value – locally and internationally.

We have been ranked in the top 5 universities in the world for reducing inequalities (THE Impact Rankings 2023), 5th in Australia in the worldwide Times Higher Education Young Universities Rankings 2023 and placed number one in the ACT for full-time employment and social equity (GUG 2024). These are remarkable achievements for a young university only three decades in operation.

Times Higher Education (THE) ranks UCan #351-400 in the world on academic and research performance – slightly better than the US News College Admissions Calculator which ranks it #694.

So, better than Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria – but not nearly as good as Government College University, Faisalabad.
A fitting resting place for the horrid little goblin to suck gently on the public teat.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 11:52 am
Bear Necessities
Bear Necessities
September 5, 2024 11:55 am

Shorten always talked a good game but I never saw him play one. Nothing has been done to bring the NDIS spending ‘under control’. It is a too hard basket for any career politician to rectify.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 11:55 am

Those who burrow down rabbit holes, be they from the fringe left or the fringe right, always bump into each other in the burrow, and then they go on to form a cosy shared, mutual rabbit hole where all manner of ‘stuff’ is believed and propagated, especially about Jews.

The story of Horst Mahler is a classic example of this cosy meet up. Mahler, once a far-left radical and founding member of the Red Army and Baeder Meinhoff group, is now a far-right, Holocaust denying extremist.

In 1970, Mahler became a founding member of the leftist group, the Red Army faction (RAF). Having earlier befriended Ensslin and Baader, Mahler helped plot to spring Baader from prison after his arrest that year. Once Baader escaped, the three, along with Ulrike Meinhof, committed a series of bank robberies in September 1970. The four fled to Jordan and trained in guerrilla tactics with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

You could argue Mahler’s path was inevitable. Extremists and extremism always converge, like the letter ‘Y’. I’m reminded of the Entebbe terrorist hijacking, the German terrorists were obsessed with cleansing themselves of their parent’s crimes and complicity in the Holocaust that they signed up to an equally extremist ideology that was also, at its core, totally anti-Semitic and conspiratorial. When they hijacked that Air France plane, those German and Palestinian terrorists didn’t just separate the Israelis from the non-Israelis, NO, they separated the Jews from the non-Jews. Those Germans became Nazis.

And that night in Entebbe, when the IDF landed to free the hostages, those Nazis were eliminated. Never again means never again.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 11:55 am
shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 12:03 pm

Documents seen by the ABC show the family’s visa application included letters of support from the Greens and Animal Justice Party MPs, Animals Australia as well as character references.

Couple of interesting comments on the above snippet from a Gaza “sob” story ..
 
How can Greens and Animal Justice Party provide Support letter and character reference ? Do these Parties know them personally ?

Good point since a character reference can only be given by someone who has known the applicant personally for at least 12 months.
 
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/baby-millar-grew-up-with-the-war-in-gaza-her-family-s-visas-to-australia-were-denied-prompting-calls-for-more-options/ar-AA1q08cm?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=82484f114ee94cc4b66f4c31f73442f2&ei=53#comments

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 5, 2024 12:04 pm

Churchill did ignore Hitler’s call for peace because the window for peace had shut by that stage.
Remember that in the early stages of war, the phoney war, that France along with Britain could have advanced into Germany and created all sorts of domestic problems for Hitler, instead they sat back for months and allowed him a free rein in Poland.
Churchill wasn’t Prime Minister during those eight months.

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 12:12 pm
Chris
Chris
September 5, 2024 12:13 pm

Going bust: Small Business

‘Going bust’: Grim outlook as small Aussie businesses ‘battered’ and left behind

What was once a stalwart of Australian towns is quickly dying out, and there’s plenty of reasons why.

snip

The country will see a surge in the number of small businesses going bust over the next one to two years, Vantage Performance chief executive Michael Fingland told news.com.au.

“The conditions have become so tough and they just don’t have the cash to weather the storm that large business have,” he said.

Mr Fingland, whose company specialises in business turnaround, said the reality is customers are seeking out cheaper and cheaper prices as the cost of living bites, and small businesses cannot afford to drop their prices the way large businesses can.

He told news.com.au the increasing number of insolvencies is disproportionately made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“We’ve been averaging 8000 a year pre-Covid, we’re up to 12,000 now and it’s probably going to be at least 13,000 to 14,000 a year, and that will all come from the small to medium-sized end of the market,” he said.

snip

Mr Achterstraat said small businesses were being “battered by a perfect storm” including rent, energy, insurance and interest rates, and action was needed to save them.

“Small business owners are often between a rock and a hard place, unable to pass on these costs and are therefore working longer to absorb this pressure,” he said.

“A pipeline of complex regulation has a devastating impact on small businesses who don’t typically have large legal or compliance teams.

FMD, Newscorpse’s writing is horrible.
Sometimes though they actually have a story.

Kneel
Kneel
September 5, 2024 12:15 pm

“We hear a lot of talk about ‘genocide’ now, a much abused word. It’s actually a deliberate code not for some fabricated genocide in Gaza by the IDF but it’s a sly factual admission of the the true genocide planned for all Jews living on the land of Israel.”

The lefts leaders may have realised that when they made everything racist, nothing was, so now if everything is a genocide even when it’s not, no-one will pay attention once the real genocide begins.
Yes, they really are that evil.

Tom
Tom
September 5, 2024 12:25 pm

Simon Benson (Paywallian) on Shorten’s resignation:

The former Labor leader’s thinking began to coalesce this [University of Canberra job] idea more recently, with colleagues saying he was dismayed at the direction Labor was going on a range of issues.

As a strong supporter of the Jewish community in Melbourne, and considered a key part of the remaining pro US alliance ballast of the Labor right, privately he was appalled at the position Albanese had taken on Gaza.

Shorten’s departure before the next election says more about what he thinks about Labor’s prospects at the next election than perhaps his own personal ambition.

Those close to him say he was coming to the belief that the government was no longer assured of a second term.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 12:26 pm

The problem with teaching kids how to spot fake news is they might learn how to spot fake news…

Schools urged to teach children how to spot conspiracies and fake news (Phys.org, 4 Sep)

Glenn Bezalel is Deputy Head (Academic) at City of London School, where he teaches Religion and Philosophy. He also researches conspiracy theories at Cambridge University. His timely book “Teaching Classroom Controversies: Navigating Complex Teaching Issues in the Age of Fake News and Alternative Facts” is about teaching controversial topics, and is intended as a ‘one-stop shop’ to help classrooms grapple with the most challenging moral issues of the day.

The book offers specific guidance to teachers on how to handle discussions about the trickiest of issues in the public sphere including Holocaust denial, climate change skepticism, rising anti-vax sentiment, and what ‘being woke’ means.

Cute how they inserted Holocaust denial, although given all the marches going on in London lately they might have a tiny problem with that. But the other “examples” of fake news are all verifiably true.

In such things the kids are revolting.

The Kids Are All Right: Anti-Mass Migration AfD Most Popular Party Among Young Voters in Germany (4 Sep)

Which shows there’s a practical limit to propaganda. After a while they stop believing it.

calli
calli
September 5, 2024 12:27 pm

From Rosie’s first link to Hitler’s speech to the Reichstag:

The Fuehrer warned against interpreting his appeal as weakness and said that “Churchill may parry my words with the claim that I feel doubt or fear, but in any case I will have my knowledge that I acted rightly, according to my conscience.

My bold. That poop in itself is enough to make my gorge rise, and I’m sure it did with Churchill too. Sauron suing the hobbits for peace. Suuuure.

That thing’s conscience was perfectly clear – it had been so seared by wickedness that it could respond to nothing.

I get a lot of pleasure watching that marvellous “Downfall” clip, even the humorous ones. The superb acting, the gradual realisation that there will be no help, only despair and death.

Last edited 1 month ago by calli
Miltonf
Miltonf
September 5, 2024 12:33 pm

The University of Canbra formerly Micky mouse college of advanced ejuchashun. I thought even there that the VC would at least have to appear to be a scholar. Not so apparently. Shorten of Chiquita mushrooms and clean event fame. Good riddance.

shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 12:34 pm

So “Billy” is retiring .. to spend time with the “kiddies” .. Canberra Uni kiddies that is … Vice President, no less, the current incumbent is on over $1million a year ..
Not a bad “jerbs-fer-the-boyz” top-up after maxing out his taxpayer funded rort …… 17 years in parliament and worth $6 million .. Full pension & a $1million a year addition …… FFS!

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 5, 2024 12:36 pm

I’m astonished that that great military historian and strategist mUntard hasn’t yet worked out that, as a declining power, Wussia is looking for help. This is not against Ukraine, but against China and its obsession with rectifying so-called “unequal treaties”, all treaties whenever made, that did not give China everything it wanted.

Much of the Wussian Far East is threatened by this process. China is a rising power, its recruitment of DemonRat politicians is not to the advantage of the US. The politicians concerned are selling out the US willingly.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 5, 2024 12:38 pm

Peanut Head to become VC at the ACT teachers college, a less prestigious role than adjunct professor at the Nambour TAFE which Goose Swansteen did not even have the grace to take up. I guess Gillard’s Fabian monster, the NDIS, joins the ALPBC as beyond the control of government. The parallels with Whitlam are spooky.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
September 5, 2024 12:39 pm

It looks like substack are trying to kill off their contributors.
Download from an email and it takes you to a “Download the app” page and won’t let you go any further unless you do.
I bet Steve Kirsch isn’t pleased about that.
However, you can work around it by going to a search engine, and here’s the latest from him.

Data Corruption – Records for 878K+ people who since their vaccination died or emigrated have been removed from the version that was made available to researchers.

Double Ledger – at the Dutch Statistics Bureau: They maintain a (hidden) version of the vaccination database next to a version available to researchers;

As a consequence, the findings of all studies on COVID vaccine effectiveness that made use of this vaccination database paint an overly optimistic picture. Publications from these studies should all be retracted or corrected

Because all scientific evidence is now demonstrably based on corrupt data, the Dutch government therefore no longer acts in conformity with its international obligations inter alia ex art 2 ECHR (or full informed consent) when claiming that the experimental Covid vaccines are universally safe and effective.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 5, 2024 12:40 pm

Watching the EV carnage is a spectator sport for me.

German car sales plunge in August as EV slump worsens (TechXplore, 4 Sep)

Sales of new cars plummeted in Germany in August, official data showed Wednesday, dragged down by a record fall in demand for electric vehicles in Europe’s biggest auto market.

A total of 197,322 new cars were registered in Germany last month, the KBA federal transport authority said, a 27.8-percent drop on a year earlier.

The fall was led by a “historic decline” in sales of in battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), the VDIK car importers’ federation said, which plunged by 68.8 percent to just over 27,000 units.

Volvo has today walked back from their all EV by 2030 plan. I suppose seeing your corporate existence flash past your eyes in this way might focus one’s thought processes on the merits of reality rather than unicorn farts.

Volvo Cars abandons 2030 EV-only target (5 Sep)

Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 12:44 pm

Going to point out the article I linked that claimed Hitler wanted peace but the nasty warmongering Churchill didn’t was in the mouthpiece of a ‘white nationalist neo nazi’ magazine and published in 2018 or 19

Last edited 1 month ago by Rosie
bons
bons
September 5, 2024 12:51 pm

Just after Shorten’s Beaconsfield vaudeville show I was sitting in an aeroplane next to two power dressing business women. One flashed up a photo of Shorten and announced “this man will be PM, I mean just look at him, he’s gorgeous”.

I felt sick for our democracy and have been fearful of him ever since.

Now slither off reptile, Australia beat you.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
September 5, 2024 12:55 pm

The enemy is marching through the streets of our cities to proclaim its victory.

Could anyone have imagined twenty years ago or even in the darkest days of the Obama administration that Islamic terrorists would feel free to rampage across the streets of Manhattan waving terrorist flags?

But here we are.

No arrests. No FBI agents knocking on their doors. Despite formal condemnations and press releases, the Jihadists know that they have the backing of the Democrats, the Left, and the media. What else do they need?

This is what they’re doing a week before 9/11. Can you imagine what they’ll do on 9/11?

Why yes. We were warning you twenty, thirty years ago and you called us racists and lunatic Nazis for pointing out the dangers.
And now here we are.
I’ll accept apologies as a form of ‘Indulgence’. $10 per sin as a special one off before I put the price up. Ta.

Miltonf
Miltonf
September 5, 2024 12:56 pm

Yes good riddance. One of the nastier pollimuppets. Bi election coming up?

m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 1:04 pm

Russia is not asking the West for help against China. Putin has gone cap in hand to grovel to Xi for help against the West and its sanctions. Xi trained him like a little puppy dog to turn Russia into a Chinese client state.

Putin has had his children trained to speak Mandarin.

Figures
Figures
September 5, 2024 1:17 pm

Hitler was as evil as Monty and Churchill was a good man but, just like Eisenhower caused mass poverty in Africa and South America because he wanted to be nice to Nasser, good people can still make disastrous choices.

WWII gifted half of the world to communism. It was a complete catastrophe.

Hindsight is great but on what possible grounds did the British ally themselves with Stalin? If they were concerned about Jews (and let’s face it, it was the last thing on their mind) they could have offered to take them. Jews make great immigrants.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 5, 2024 1:23 pm

Two comment just put up on the auld thread from someone who seems to not know what day it is. 🙂

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
 September 5, 2024 12:51 pm

Speaking of bedtime reading in a reply up thread, I was also reminded of this. It’s one Hairy ordered for me, he’d read it in the 70’s and wanted to share it: “Ringolevio: A Life Played for Keeps” by Emmett Grogan.
I’m halfway through this tale of a New York bad boy from the badlands hooked on heroin at 13 and redeemed by a scholarship to an upper class private school that recognised his brilliance. It was a huge hit with the NYT book circuit at the time who adored vicariously enjoying the underbelly of life back then in louche appreciation, and they and their Democrat Party haven’t stopped much since, imho. This dip into the upper middle class certainly taught Grogan how to write, but also how to grift in the big time. He turned bad again in a bigger and more excitng pond. Ringolevio is the tale of his demise in the swinging San Franscisco’s 60’s after a spell of mayhem in Italy and Ireland.

The 50’s and 60’s are your generations and I thought you’d enjoy it, says Hairy. Yes, my generations, but not like this fear-and-loathing egotist and fantasist. I don’t know if I’ll finish it, but gee, the guy can write up a storm and that at least is appealing. He died in 1978 on the end of a needle. Dylan dedicated the 1978 Street Legal album to him.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
 September 5, 2024 1:10 pm

Don’t know if it has been mentioned here already, but Quadrant Online has gone behind a paywall also sporting a glossy new format. So much for that then, for many Cats. I understand the need to keep subscribers, but it’s still a great loss to Australia’s free internet media landscape. You’ve always had to have a subscription to comment, and recently they’ve been making the magazine content available earlier but paywalled. Now its sub for all content.

Hairy, who subscribes for me by yearly sub not by a continuing authorisation, and who sometimes also drops by for a read, was going demented online, because they require a very complicated 12 word, letter, capital, number and symbol password. Totally unnecessary for this level of risk, deems my computer fraud expert. They also seem to have mucked up the accounting (according to them we are only paid up till 2021) but thankfully the mags keep on arriving and once we’ve figured a suitable password the sub works. We’re up to date with payments, Hairy tells me. That’s just a glitch.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 1:33 pm

thought even there that the VC would at least have to appear to be a scholar

Monoversities are now the epicentres of stupidity in this country and UC is one of the three epicentres of stupidity in Scamberra (no prizes for guessing the other two).

Peanuthead as VC is a perfect fit for UC – he’s as thick as pigshite and if anything he is the antithesis of intellectual inquiry and scholarly endeavour.

As for Benson positing that Peanuthead is some courageous defender of Israel and repulsed by the blatant expedient anti-Semitism of his braindead collectivist fellow travellers in labore and the greenfilth, what a load of horse shit.

Last edited 1 month ago by Rabz
Winston Smith
Winston Smith
September 5, 2024 1:44 pm

Can I just make a minor point out to the Britishers who are counting on the “Indomitable British Spirit” to get them over this latest invasion, that WW2 didn’t start off with a Nazi Government inviting in half a million German troops, housed and fed by said government, and their wages paid by them as well?
And that 500,000 young men divided into Divisions equals 30+?
And she has many, many Ports that can bring in many, many containers with guns, ammunition, and RPGs drilling equipment, heavy machinery, and other containable goods?
And they can all be scheduled to arrive on the same day to the cheers of their adoring fans who have gathered to get their hands on their new guns, ammunition, and RPGs drilling equipment, heavy machinery, and other containable goods, along with trucks to distribute them within a day if they ignore docking and customs rules?
Laugh if you want, but it’s no longer 1939. Welcome to the Islamic way of war.

Rabz
September 5, 2024 1:46 pm

Peanut Head in a supermarket talking to some poor woman about lettuce

LOL, Bear. The sheer mind numbing banality of that evil imbecile in a nutshell.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 2:04 pm

Hard to say. Russia and UK presented different problems for Germany so whether they would have done something similar to the UK/ France is ambiguous. Had they done so, Germany would have probably attacked Russia a year earlier, and may have even won that. What would happen following that is up in the air.

Really?

In Sept of 1939, Germany attacked Poland and subsequently divided up the spoils with the Soviet Union.

Then

German troops overran Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France in six weeks starting in May 1940. France signed an armistice in late June 1940,

You’re sitting in Number 10, watching all this unfold, and you think there’s a chance, 50/50 (hard to say) that Germany had no designs on Britain or at the very least attempt to dominate Britain.

Last edited 1 month ago by JC
m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 2:08 pm

As for Tucker, like Owen, like Storer, like others, I don’t know what rabbit hole he’s burrowed down.

Profiles in courage, oy. The worst thing Cassie can bring herself to say about Tucker Carlson is his choices are “unsavoury”.

It is extremely plain where these particular rabbit holes lead: straight to Holocaust denialism and the Protocols.

Cassie is reluctant to lose friends, as they can still agree to hate the same people she hates.

Kneel
Kneel
September 5, 2024 2:09 pm

“People are wondering why Tucker would give such a ramshackle ‘historian’ a platform.”

Firstly, by Tucker’s own words, “If there are 100 people in the room, and 99 have the same opinion., I want to speak to the one.” This is not because they will be right (they probably aren’t), but because sometimes they have insights others do not, and that would change peoples mind. In this case no, but it does happen.

Secondly, the answer to bad speech is NOT censorship, it is good speech! We need to expose these people for who and what they are. They SHOULD be “platformed” and then have their arguments demolished unequivocally – if not, they tend to gain MORE attention than they otherwise would or deserve, and by publicly demolishing their arguments, less people will be sucked in by their faulty logic and revisionist history.

The above is a defense of the interviewer, not the interviewee. For better or worse, Tucker has a habit of at least appearing to sympathise with his interviewee and this often brings out more of the “real” opinions than a more adversarial approach would. No matter how distasteful those opinions are (and in this case, I think very distasteful), it is better that we know they exist than that we drive them underground where they will fester until they erupt into the very sort of thing we don’t want.

Cassie of Sydney
September 5, 2024 2:27 pm

The resident Nazi’s rabbit hole was burrowed long ago, he is now waiting for the others to arrive. As for the Protocols, our Nazi’s copy is well thumbed.

Kneel
Kneel
September 5, 2024 2:32 pm

“The resident Nazi’s rabbit hole was burrowed long ago…”

More like a worm burrowing IMO, but anyway…

Last edited 1 month ago by kneel
JC
JC
September 5, 2024 2:32 pm

Totally agree with Kneel.

I think Cooper’s views on World War II are appalling.

Regarding Jim Jones, he did offer some insightful observations.

Cooper also talked about the distinctions between the US and Europe, and he offered very interesting viewpoint. He contends that an Englishman whose territory has been English for a very long period does exist. The same is true for Italian, Spanish, and French. You name it. However, since the Revolution, the ethnic makeup of the US has undergone turbulent changes, and there is now a clear distinction between what it means to be an Englishman and what it means to be an American. He gave the example of the US’s ethnic enclaves and their formation.

Cooper brought up the 1968 Marquette riots in Chicago. As a result of black people’s large-scale migration northward in the early 20th century (referred to as the Great Migration), it was widely perceived that white people were persecuting blacks. When this is mentioned, the explanation that white people are battling black people is given. In reality, it was a Lithuanian neighborhood trying to hold onto its uniqueness.

Cooper argues that immigration to the US is perceived as much different to what’s occurring in Europe.

Last edited 1 month ago by JC
Rosie
Rosie
September 5, 2024 2:35 pm

As someone I respect said on Twitter, Cooper isn’t an historian, he’s a history reader.
Historians reference primary sources, Cooper reads their books.
He’s obviously read Buchanan which makes him neither novel or new.

chrisl
chrisl
September 5, 2024 2:42 pm
calli
calli
September 5, 2024 2:51 pm

I don’t seem to recall Shorten standing on his hind legs and bellowing support for Israel from the treasury benches. In defiance of his fellow travellers and seat warmers.

He’s a fraud and Benson is deluded.

calli
calli
September 5, 2024 2:57 pm

Does it make a difference that Churchill only became PM on May 10, 1940?

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 2:59 pm

There are 7 months between the Fall of Poland and the Fall of France.

Which is like a fraction of a second when your neighborhood is being overrun.

Wally Dali
Wally Dali
September 5, 2024 3:00 pm

So Greta Thunberg is arrested as a qvisling quran rally- and straight away Volvo shamefacedly admits it might not get to 100% battery-burny cars.
Sheesh Sweden what happened to you? You used to make cars and trucks and jets and autodimming welding masks and all sorts of things and raid and pillage all over the atlantic, now there’s grenades galore in Goteborg and a twentysomething autistic Qaren has got you by the balls.

Frank
Frank
September 5, 2024 3:03 pm

NDIS Minister and former Opposition leader Bill Shorten will sensationally announce his retirement from politics.

Plans to use the spare time to get ripped abs.

Morsie
Morsie
September 5, 2024 3:03 pm

Parliamentary pension plus a 7 figure salary , probably.Its tough being a socialist.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 3:17 pm

Big picture: the reason for WW2 was essentially the US decision to remove itself from the rest of the world. If the US had been more proactive, it may not have occurred—at least not in the same way.

Germany would have thought twice.

Dover, you strongly advocate for a much reduced US involvement. Twice it hasn’t worked out well. Perhaps third time lucky, right?

Kneel
Kneel
September 5, 2024 3:20 pm

“Cooper argues that immigration to the US is perceived as much different to what’s occurring in Europe.”

Prior to the “Biden” administration, that was largely true – however, since Biden, the US has gone down the same path as the UK, and it shows.
Same result – the peasants are revolting in the UK, and not far off it in the USA.
We are not far off the same thing here.
As in Europe, the UK and the USA, the MSM here would have you believe that opposing mass migration is “racist”. The MSM continue to gaslight us, but more are awakening to their government/globalist lies.

m0nty
m0nty
September 5, 2024 3:21 pm

Sure, but what was the dispute between Germany and Poland about? Could they have managed a resolution short of war? Would the Germans have signed the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union if the UK feel short of guaranteeing Polish independence? And would the Poles have been prepared to negotiate with the Germans if there were no secret agreements between the Brits and the French?

db is Just Asking Questions you guys, one of these days he will convince you that WWII was all Churchill’s fault.

John H.
John H.
September 5, 2024 3:22 pm

dover0beach

 September 5, 2024 2:58 pm

As to any designs on Britain, none. They had a plan, Operation Sealion, but it was never viable given the strength of the British Navy and they knew it.

The British Navy was designed to fight navies. Germany and Britain knew that if Germany wins the air war the British navy becomes too vulnerable, especially in the confines of the British channel. That was borne out in the Pacific war where air power was the deciding factor.

Lysander
Lysander
September 5, 2024 3:22 pm

Afternoon Cats!

Was thinking, even with Liebor’s leadership rule changes, I can’t see Elbow surviving two terms? Who replaces him?

Who would you pick if you had to.

I don’t like any of them but Jason Clare presents fairly well. I shudder to type it, but he seems better than the worst of them.

Labor MP Milton Dick could be fun.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
September 5, 2024 3:25 pm

Shorten pulls the plug in February. No election this year then… Wonder if they will go to a by-election? This from wikipedia and backed up elsewhere:

“There is no constitutional requirement for a by-election to be held within any particular time, or at all.”

So with that doubt they will hold the seat open till September, which means the election will be before the May budget or unlikely but may hold a by-election.

Kneel
Kneel
September 5, 2024 3:40 pm

“…the reason for WW2 was essentially the US decision to remove itself from the rest of the world.”

It’s funny, innit?
The rest of the world cries that the US is a bully etc ad nauseum, that is has troops in places it shouldn’t, that it fights wars it shouldn’t, and that it supplies “allies” with war materiel it shouldn’t.
I predict if they pulled back from everywhere, that within 6 months, the hew and cry for “Team America – World Police” would be huge.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 3:45 pm

Is this true?

Tim Pool (@timcast): outed as a Russian propagandist. Tim was being paid $100,000 a week by Tenet Media. TM took millions in Kremlin cash as part of “a scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging”). Don’t lie Tim, you knew.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 3:47 pm

Makes what Bunter Hiden was massaging out of the Russians, Ukrainians and Chinese look like small potatoes.

johanna
johanna
September 5, 2024 3:50 pm

Lizzie mentioned that Quadrant is now paywalled.

Talk about overkill! I don’t know who does their IT, but note that in previous incarnations my attempts to subscribe online either hit a brick wall or went into an endless loop. This is not difficult – millions of sites and businesses have the facility to register and pay using a card, but they never managed it.

Now this nonsense, which will just reduce the readership.

The good news is:

https://12ft.io/

does the trick.

Just enter the Quadrant address into the box, and Robert’s your mother’s brother. 🙂

Eejits.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 5, 2024 3:51 pm

For those interested in the Covid saga, Vax, big picture, latest etc I highly recommend the latest Joe Rogan with Bret Weinstein. Also mentions a Rescue the Republic event in DC on 29 September which has an impressive line up of speakers. Event is not just about freedom of health and speech but also combatting misinformation and gender issues etc. Not part of MAGA but definitely anti Harris. Will be interesting to see how many turn up.

shatterzzz
September 5, 2024 3:57 pm

Big picture: the reason for WW2 was essentially the US decision to remove itself from the rest of the world. If the US had been more proactive, it may not have occurred—at least not in the same way.
Germany would have thought twice.

Other than chest beating/shirt-fronting Germany what could America have dun ..? I’m not aware of any non aggression pacts between USA & any European nations ..
Adding to that the USA of the 1930s was very USA 1st more concerned with sorting out their own Depression recovery than any interest in OS problems..

Lysander
Lysander
September 5, 2024 3:59 pm

Dr of Islamic Studies, Jay Smith is an interesting character Cats should check out on YouTube.

Has a LOT of scholarly material proving Mohammed probably never actually existed; real compelling stuff!

Last edited 1 month ago by Lysander
DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
September 5, 2024 4:01 pm

We could simplify it all by calling all of them freaks.

Perverts was the older trrm.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 4:12 pm

Always the case

One step backward and two steps forward.

Elon Musk

Congrats to the ? legal team for defending freedom of speech, the bedrock of democracy!

Quote

@xDaily

·

11h

NEWS: In lawsuit brought by X Corp, the Ninth Circuit rules that California’s law requiring large social media companies to submit reports to the AG about their content-moderation policies and practices likely violates the First Amendment

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
September 5, 2024 4:20 pm

‘How gender transitioning brought this couple closer together.’

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-05/gender-transitioning-in-a-relationship/104271296

How very ABC.

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
September 5, 2024 4:23 pm

Shorten joins a conga line of retiring Labor politicians who find solace in what has become their Grey Havens, the ANU.

Mak Siccar
Mak Siccar
September 5, 2024 4:23 pm

For everyones entertainment … From the Oz of course …

The Mocker

To paraphrase the late Judy Garland’s character from The Wizard of Oz, Anthony Albanese is somewhat over the rainbow. Having angered LGBTIQ+ activists with his botched handling of new questions regarding gender and sexuality in the 2026 census, he now finds himself persona non grata in Paddington.

This cannot be good for his state of mind. Like the noisy minorities he constantly indulges, the Prime Minister loves to frolic in a safe space, his favourite one being the inner-city suburbs of Sydney. Hardly a year goes by without a beaming Albanese prancing along Oxford Street in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. 

Last year he became the first prime minister to march in that parade. “It was awesome,” Albanese later told Triple M Melbourne (another safe space). “There’s very little chance as a politician to walk along any street in Australia and be cheered by 200,000 people.” But sadly, the adulation Albanese craves is drying up. LGBTIQ+ campaigners have demanded he be banned from marching in further parades.
The alphabet activists are a minority in more ways than one. Until a few days ago, they were members of the tiniest minority in this country, that being Australians who believe Albanese is a man of his word. They had also believed the demise of the Morrison government meant the realisation of rainbow heaven. 

“Australia under Scott Morrison didn’t feel like a very safe place for LGBTIQ+ people,” wrote Monash University law professor Paula Gerber in June 2022, claiming the Coalition had a “heteronormative, cisgender vision of Australia”.

But would the Albanese government change this? “The answer appears to be a resounding ‘yes’,” said Gerber, praising Labor’s promise to include LGBTIQ+ questions in the 2026 census. “Collecting data about diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status provides LGBTIQ+ people with a sense they’re seen and included,” she said. 

What followed was comedic irony. Announcing in February last year the first phase of public consultations for the 2026 census, the well-meaning but maladroit Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, was spruiking a progressive headcount. 

“I’d be very surprised if the 2026 census looks exactly the same as the 2021 census,” he told ABC Radio. Speaking to Joy Media three weeks later, he had a similar message.

“Have your say, it’s really important we have that Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) process running through at arm’s length from government,” he told Joy Media. Asked whether the revised census would reflect LGBTIQ+ submissions, Leigh stressed the government’s openness to change by dissing its predecessor. 

“The former government just came through and just kyboshed any attempt to modernise the way in which sex and gender are asked about in the census,” he said.

This was to be Leigh’s pet project. Not only is the ABS’s head office is in his electorate but also, as we know from the voice referendum, the ACT is an exemplar of minority rectitude. And at first this process went smoothly. The ABS had scheduled a press conference last Monday week to brief journalists on the results of testing.
 
But that was abruptly cancelled last Sunday week, when Leigh quietly announced in a brief release the government had decided there would be “no change to the topics in the next census”. I believe the word you are looking for is “kyboshed”, Andrew Leigh. 

Not surprisingly, Canberra’s bien pensants went postal. As the Sydney Morning Herald reported, the ACT Labor Party’s left faction wanted to haul Leigh before a disciplinary tribunal for breaching the party’s policy platform.

The decision to can the changes was of course not Leigh’s, but nonetheless he is an ideal patsy (such is the political munchkin’s lot, sadly). It was not until three days after Leigh’s announcement that a cabinet member spoke publicly about the issue. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’s claim the government had made the decision because it wanted to avoid “divisive” debates was, to say the least, unconvincing.
 
The subsequent revolt by government backbenchers and Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney had little to do with their vocal public concerns about “excluding” LGBTIQ+ people from the census. Rather, they worry about being excluded from the big house on the hill. 
Kearney, like fellow Melbourne-based Labor MPs Josh Burns, Peter Khalil, and Michelle Ananda-Rajah, dreads the next election. They have recurring nightmares of being stalked by a green-skinned harpy that screams, “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!” None of them wants to share the electoral fate of former federal Labor frontbencher Terri Butler or former Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad.

Last Friday Albanese capitulated, telling ABC Radio the ABS would test one new question, that concerning sexual orientation. Asked why he had backed down, he was true to form. “No, this is the first time I have been asked about it,” he claimed. The charade continued the next day at Rockhampton when Albanese was asked by a journalist what had prompted his backflip. 

“Nothing has changed,” insisted Albanese. 

That must have been news to many, particularly ABS head honcho Dr David Gruen. Five days before that press conference, he announced that testing of the proposed new questions would not proceed, saying, “The Test would have included topics that the Government has now decided will not be in the 2026 Census”. 

No doubt Gruen is feeling exasperated over Albanese’s vacillating. Preparing a census for 26 million respondents, especially one that includes new questions, is a complex process. Gruen probably wishes he was instead testing a straightforward question. You know, something like “Do you think a talking apple tree would make a better prime minister than the incumbent?”

A suggestion for Albanese – next time you are asked why it took you so long to front the media over this debacle, just reply that you and your ministers were abducted by winged monkeys. Far-fetched as it is, that would be more believable than the answers you have given. 
Incidentally, were you wondering what part Albanese plays in this magical faraway land where he and his ministers spend so much of their time? I thought at first he would be ideal as the ruler of Oz who is ultimately revealed to be a charlatan. But that would not work as the faux wizard was at least pulling the levers behind the scenes, and as we all know, that is definitely not Albo. 

My next thought was the Scarecrow without a brain. Yes, that is a possibility. The Lion who blusters and roars but is really a blubbering coward? Now that has potential. But in the end I decided Albanese should be the last of Dorothy’s companions – the Tin Man without a ticker.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
September 5, 2024 4:39 pm

bons
September 5, 2024 12:51 pm

Just after Shorten’s Beaconsfield vaudeville show I was sitting in an aeroplane next to two power dressing business women. One flashed up a photo of Shorten and announced “this man will be PM, I mean just look at him, he’s gorgeous”.

Just more evidence that giving women the vote was a bad idea.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 5, 2024 4:46 pm

I did not look at JC’s link regarding Tim Pool being paid $100,000 per week via Russians but did see another article that mentioned Dave Rubin and two others also paid $100,000 per week. Firstly that is huge money.

I have watched both, Pool more than Rubin. If the payments are true I don’t think the Russians got value for money as can’t detect any pro Russia content. Unless of course being anti Ukraine’s war counts.

Will be interesting to see how they cover it on their podcasts.

Lysander
Lysander
September 5, 2024 4:48 pm

The University of Canberra’s Employment Inclusion Policy only ticks one out of six boxes for Bill Shorten. It states:

The University of Canberra has a number of objectives in place to continually work towards this vision.
These include:

  1. Improve employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s at the University of Canberra, aiming to reach population parity with the ACT
  2. Continue to improve our gender equity statistics at all levels of the organisation
  3. Improve our academic promotions rates for women
  4. Champion employment opportunities for employees with disabilities
  5. Promote an environment that fosters fairness, equity and respect for social and cultural diversity
  6. Support students and staff to reach their full potential through the promotion of reasonable expectations and provision of an inclusive learning climate

Employee Equity – University of Canberra

Muddy
Muddy
September 5, 2024 4:58 pm

Responding to Mak Siccar’s 4:23 p.m. census post:

Given that Far-Far-Far-Far-Rightwingers are (apparently) the most significant demographic subset of Australian society and currently breeding like bunnies (with a dramatically-reduced gestation period, according to the latest computer modelling from the BoM), would it not be appropriate for the ABS to include a question in the census acknowledging their over-representation, and enquiring into their various preferences? (What percentage of F4R-Wingers recycle their placards of hate in the correct bins each week, for example?).

Is it acceptable, I ask you, not to acknowledge the hyperactive contribution of F4R-Wingers to the present Hatescape (TM) by excluding them from the census?

cohenite
September 5, 2024 5:06 pm
Wally Dali
Wally Dali
September 5, 2024 5:13 pm

I don’t give a flying fig whether Mohammed was real or not.
What i do demand is the right to treat his memory, his teachings and his relogion with the same amount of objective disrespect with which i treat Jesus of Nazareth, thetans and the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
…plus, he was a pedo, so we should all hope he actually wasn’t real and so Aaliyah never had to suffer.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 5:15 pm

Parliamentary pension plus a 7 figure salary , probably.Its tough being a socialist.

$1m for VC of a 3rd rate university.

Nice work if you can get it.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 5:28 pm

That’s interesting Wally. But why would you treat Jesus with equal disrespect as I can’t think of anything he preached that wasn’t about loving your fellow man?

You don’t have to believe he was the son of God to hold this view.

Last edited 1 month ago by JC
H B Bear
H B Bear
September 5, 2024 5:28 pm

Not much love for Peanut Head in Teh Paywallian comments. Have to see if mine makes it through.

Roger
Roger
September 5, 2024 5:31 pm

What i do demand is the right to treat his memory, his teachings and his relogion with the same amount of objective disrespect with which i treat Jesus of Nazareth

There’s a world of difference between Mohammed and Jesus.

Even Richard Dawkins is now a cultural Christian.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
September 5, 2024 5:37 pm

Here you go.
People falling over.
Fat people falling over.
That’ll cheer you up.

calli
calli
September 5, 2024 5:38 pm

Ha! Just saw a preview of Leak’s cartoon on Kenny. The Hero of Beaconsfield and the NDIS.

It doesn’t disappoint.

Also…Tim Blair let the cat out of the bag. “He’s quitting to be with his next family”. They all know.

JC
JC
September 5, 2024 5:40 pm

Rooster, I didn’t post a link. I posted a tweet highlighted in dark font and in quotations… something you’ve never learned to do in a decade plus.

1 2 3
  1. And your daily chuckle comes courtesy of the Daily Telegraph: Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has joined the Board of…

  2. Andrew Bolt on Mzzz Allan: Victoria’s Premier has a secret she really should share with all Australians. Or she’s a…

  3. Sacred duty. https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1845455779484270690?t=fMzDRGEAZoUf0Fes2hxAnQ&s=19

  4. Stupid Forking Liberals. Again. Herald Sun sez: Former premier Jeff Kennett has come under fire from Liberal Party members after…

923
0
Oh, you think that, do you? Care to put it on record?x
()
x