Open Thread – Thurs 31 Oct 2024


Adoration of the Trinity (Landauer Altar) , Albrecht Dürer, 1510

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Cassie of Sydney
October 31, 2024 9:02 pm

They honour the dead, but that’s as far as it goes.

As it is in Judaism, we recite Kaddish to honour the dead.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
October 31, 2024 9:09 pm

We celebrate Halochistster in this house, as signified by the temples of mammon, the 4 months of celebration signified by spending piles of money on tat…

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
October 31, 2024 9:12 pm

Go Benji!

—–

Steve Inman:

Dog identifies as human

Arky
October 31, 2024 9:20 pm

Normally I’d be all for Catholic bashing.
However, as the woke nonsense has meant we had to retreat our daughter out of the other denomination’s schools, and into a trad catholic one, I’m having to embrace the recusant side of the family history.
Bugger me, next thing I’ll be giving refuge to some bloody catholic monarch’s family after they chop his head off.
(They are still weird to me, but at least they still have some conservative churches and schools, for the time being).
I don’t think they’re responsible for Halloween either.
I blame Welsh druids.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
October 31, 2024 9:26 pm

I blame Welsh druids.

The welsh druids met the Romans in Anglesey. The druids threw magical curses at the Romans and the Romans threw javelins at the druids. Javelins won by a considerable margin.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
October 31, 2024 9:31 pm

Halloween, the song.
Awesome riffery from the south.

bons
bons
October 31, 2024 9:39 pm

Obviously I have nothing against kids having fun. And, even though I deeply resent the commercial and lefty introduction of Halloween into my country, if that is what the kids want, well, off you go, enjoy.

But not in my patch. Until recently, the Beamer mums used to deliver their sprogs to harass our patch. Now they are Tesla mums. So fugg that.

Of course, it would be easy and probably fun to man the porch in a trench coat with a tray of boiled lollies, but the kelpies would probably violently express a degree of resentment.

So it is back to turning off the door bell, switching off the lights and ignoring the banging on the door.

My annnual dreams about child specific land mines were interrupted this year when God chose to participate in the event with huge hailstones that sent the Teslas scurring back to their ‘room for two cars and one boat’ lairs.

Good one God.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 31, 2024 9:45 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fCipql58x0

Ray Parker Jr. – The Other Woman- good song Halloween

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
October 31, 2024 9:49 pm

@Breaking911 16h MICHIGAN SEC. OF STATE: “This is a nationwide issue with Dominion voter access terminals…Not all the machines, just the ones that are accessible, have an issue. With the straight-party voting and a programming issue, that’s again affected the machines nationwide.”

Seems to be saying that the machine offers an option to vote for a party’s candidates in all races on the ballot, as opposed to separately ticking a candidate in every race. Well gee how unfortunate this comes to light after early voting has been open for what 2 weeks.
Boggles the mind as to how a glitch like that can ever happen even accidentally.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
October 31, 2024 9:50 pm
Last edited 22 days ago by Steve Trickler
NFA
NFA
October 31, 2024 9:51 pm
Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 10:09 pm

Of course, it would be easy and probably fun to man the porch in a trench coat with a tray of boiled lollies, but the kelpies would probably violently express a degree of resentment

I live on a street that backs onto the entrance of one of D-Town’s primary schools.

45 minutes ago (a bit after 7.45 p.m. our time) there was a knock on the front door, accompanied by giggling and the yelling of ‘Trick or Treeeeet!’

Fortuitously I remembered the occasion, and opened the door to find three hopeful ankle-biters of primary school age dressed as Minions from whatever film that is, looking hopefully upwards at me with little sacks clearly made by one of their mums – who was also in attendance, dressed as some sort of (tasty, I might add) witch.

A bag of fun-size KitKats went into each sack. ‘Thaaaaaaaank yooooou.’

Exchanged a smile with the mum. Everyone went on their way.

Just. Let. The. Kids. Be. Happy. For. Christ’s. Sake.

Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:24 pm

@BreannaMorello

The FBI is aware that voting machines are hackable.

I spoke to one former agent who told me the agency sent him to a hackers convention in Las Vegas known as Def Con.

He told me there was a room where hackers hacked into voting machines to show the companies their vulnerabilities.

He also showed me photos.

When tips about election fraud were sent to the FBI back in 2020, the agency refused to investigate them.

The FBI even fired one supervisor for asking about the tips they were receiving.

Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:25 pm
Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:28 pm
Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:29 pm
Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:30 pm

@JohnStrandUSA

The reason the DOJ was able to coerce so many plea deals from J6 defendants is because they charged them with 18 USC Section 1512(c)(2), a federal obstruction of justice statute, which can carry a 20 YEAR prison term.

The Supreme Court ruled that the DOJ illegally used the statute, which should have nullified most of the major charges against J6 defendants.

But instead of accepting this, the DOJ then began manufacturing other “crimes” and adding sentencing enhancements to cases instead.

The Biden-Harris DOJ is corrupt to the core.

Cassie of Sydney
October 31, 2024 10:32 pm

It started earlier than that, with the pack rapes led by Bilal Skaf in 2000. The msm tried to cover it up big time. Margaret Cuneen was a heroine.

Yes, and Cuneen afterwards became a target of the left. Don’t forget the ICAC targeting of Cuneen, a purely political targeting, which she fought and won.

Not for nothing is Cuneen called the ‘boxing butterly‘.

Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:32 pm

New Hezbollah leader’s 1st speech cut off mid-broadcast
“The question that is being asked is – what is the leader’s plan of action?” Qassem said. “My plan is the continuation of Nasrallah’s plan in all respects – political, cultural, and jihad. We will continue to carry out the war plan that we decided on together with the organization’s leadership, we will stay on the war path – while dealing with the political challenges and we will respond to developments at this stage.”

Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:34 pm

Evangelicals For Harris Founder Promotes Transgenderism

Evangelicals For Harris is not even pretending to be a Christian organization. But despite their theological failings and their recent Zoom meeting where their female pastors clucked over how pro-abortion they were, Evangelical For Harris is not actually a movement within the church. Rather, it is a clumsy yet well-funded attempt to counterfeit Christianity. But even its founder, Jim Ball, a long time environmentalist is not nearly as smooth or cunning as many liberals in Evangelicalism.

In a recent interview on News Nation, a liberal cable news channel, Jim Ball waffled on a question about trangenderism indoctrination in schools. 

Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:36 pm
Indolent
Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:40 pm
Arky
October 31, 2024 10:43 pm

If people want to put out supernatural symbols on a particular night to entice the neighbourhood children in, presuming that the parents are supervising them, really it’s none of my business, even if I think they are stupid, manipulated by the media and cringe.
But they don’t just rock up to the houses with the decorations.
And they aren’t very well supervised.
It’s basically communism.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 31, 2024 10:49 pm
DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
October 31, 2024 11:01 pm

And they aren’t very well supervised.
It’s basically communism.

You’re going weird. It’s small kids dressing up and playing a game.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 11:05 pm

Alternative scenario.

Primary school-age children who love dressing up are, for one day per year, allowed to dress up and ask neighbours for treats. Supervised by a parent of one or more of said children – who also may or may not dress up as part of the entertainment.

*knock knock* ‘Trick or Treeeeat!’

Front door opens.

‘Waddaya reckon this is all about eh the military industrial complex and stupid Yank shit and communist mutilation and the long march and immigrations and tekkin er jerbs and wake up to yourselves you stupid kids and you too Mum and this stupid country and by the way in my day we didn’t even have lizard people and why aren’t you misery gutsing in your rooms and yer not getting anything at Christmas either now piss off.’

Yeah. I can see that catching on. Crying ten year olds makes a country strong.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 11:07 pm

You’re going weird. It’s small kids dressing up and playing a game.

Bam.

Gabor
Gabor
October 31, 2024 11:14 pm

Indolent
October 31, 2024 10:24 pm

@BreannaMorello

The FBI is aware that voting machines are hackable.

Of all the voting systems the most vulnerable to fraud is the computerised one.

Only needs a few operators or even just the one to cause mischief.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 11:17 pm

Aaaahahahaa.

That’s the way.

Downtick me harder, daddy!

Arky
October 31, 2024 11:30 pm

Culture matters.
What people celebrate matters.
The fact that we grew up without this Halloween stuff, but now we have it, and in spades, is both interesting and worthy of debate.
If you are comfortable with retailers pushing a new day of celebration into the culture and all the dolts going along with it without a minute of thought because “let the children have fun”.
If our culture is so easily manipulated, you might consider what they might next engineer.
Given that Christianity is one degree shy of being déclassé, you might not like the next move to impose a day of celebration on your children.

Last edited 22 days ago by Arky
Louis Litt
Louis Litt
October 31, 2024 11:31 pm

All Saints Day on the 1st
Al, Souls day on the 2nd

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
October 31, 2024 11:33 pm

one of their mums – who was also in attendance, dressed as some sort of (tasty, I might add) witch.
Be warned that Satan is attractive.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
October 31, 2024 11:47 pm

So I’m old enough to remember Bonfire Night- I don’t ever remember an effigy, but plenty of whizz-bangs, fireworks and sparklers. And grass fires.
But I’m too young to remember how the tradition ever ended in WA- though for a while there were firework-smugglers running in gear from Canberra and NSW.
Was it banned? Was it de-facto banned by wowserish fire regulations? Or was there a natural death of the tradition?

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
October 31, 2024 11:50 pm

Given that Christianity is one degree shy of being déclassé, you might not like the next move to impose a day of celebration on your children.

Do you really live your life in fear of social engineers trying to ruin your world by encouraging small children to play dress-ups? It can’t be much fun.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 11:53 pm

Nobody celebrate Easter any more.

It’s a pagan Druidic knockoff hijacked by Greens and the Animal Welfare Party.

Any child dressing up as the Easter Bunny will be shot.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 31, 2024 11:58 pm

fear of social engineers trying to ruin your world

This is the key.

You don’t let social engineers ruin your world, as much as they would like to.

You make your world, and your children’s world.

Make it fun. The kids will have plenty of time to end up jaded and blame everyone else for what they see as the failings of the world.

Arky
November 1, 2024 12:00 am

Do you really live your life in fear of social engineers trying to ruin your world by encouraging small children to play dress-ups? It can’t be much fun.

Mischaracterising my arguments doesn’t add anything to the discussion, does it?
Like most Protestant blokes my age, I did not grow up with Halloween.
Yes, when the culture shifts under me, I wonder what drives it.
You see children “playing dress up”.
I see a cultural change.
I wonder if it is linked to those weird globalist ceremonies with nude, blue painted blokes on platters that seem to be coming more frequently.
I wonder if maybe things from the past that our forefathers left behind might be coming back in different guises,
I think it’s fair to question it.
But you go ahead and trust our betters to create whatever modes of worship they like. They’ve done so well with the “global village”, “love is love” “right to choose” “diversity is our strength” and etc, etc, etc.
What might be interesting and illuminating is if folks related their own memories of Halloween, Christmas and Guy Fawkes and we got to compare.
My experience and memories might not match others.
It might be different depending on location or denomination.
And age of course,

Last edited 22 days ago by Arky
Arky
November 1, 2024 12:08 am

In general, I’d say rather than just let your children go along with whatever the mass culture presents them, a person might want to look at their own upbringing and see if whatever the dullard hordes are currently engaged with makes any sense or coincides with those traditions and beliefs.
But maybe I’m an elitist kill joy.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
November 1, 2024 12:11 am

I wonder if it is linked to those weird globalist ceremonies with nude, blue painted blokes on platters that seem to be coming more frequently.
Killin’ it, Arky. Bang on target.
“Bob-a-job week” is another perfectly sensible, protestant work ethic, community-minded grass-roots tradition which has dissappeared under a rainbow blaze of diversity, rung out to the chime of self-service autoteller screens and tap-n-go plastic e-money.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
November 1, 2024 12:15 am
Zafiro
Zafiro
November 1, 2024 12:18 am

Geek bloke at work made treats for any Halloween kids who might show up. Ferrero Rocher wrappers with the chocolate removed and brussels sprouts inserted.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
November 1, 2024 12:19 am

Yes, when the culture shifts under me, I wonder what drives it.

Culture shifts all the time. It’s what it does. I agree that there are unpleasant idiots trying to push it in insanitary directions, but most people do what KD recommends and pass on the best bits to their children by letting them have fun.

Seeing any change as a threat is what doddery old conservative farts do. You’re turning into one fast. Beware! That way merely makes younger people write you off as fearing change.

It is much healthier to laugh at and scorn the stupid changes and accept the rest as the younger generation experimenting. It’s how they learn.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
November 1, 2024 12:27 am

Life, I have found, consists of doing something stupid, finding out that it’s stupid, stop doing it, and find another stupid thing to do.

Once in a while you find something to do that isn’t stupid. You can treasure those few things and point them out to others.

It changes the culture.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
November 1, 2024 12:35 am

What are your actual recollections of Halloween?

Like you, I have none. Unlike you, it doesn’t worry me. The English Christmas was largely imported from Germany in the nineteenth century. So Australia has imported Halloween. You see this as a harbinger of doom. I don’t.

Arky
November 1, 2024 12:55 am

The English Christmas was largely imported from Germany in the nineteenth century.

Except this point above deserves attention.
The “traditional” but popularised English Christmas had Father Christmas, which was swapped out for Santa Claus, at the time you indicate. During my childhood Father Christmas still got a mention, but not today.
However, we have to distinguish between the religious celebration of Christmas and the popularised version, as well as the traditional from the more modern.
A traditional religious English Christmas isn’t the same as a traditional popularised English Christmas. And neither has much to do with a consumerist “happy holidays” modern popularised version.
What we have with modern Halloween is a modern consumerist celebration like the modern populist form of Christmas, but which doesn’t even have a long local tradition at all.
Everything we know about this day comes from American cinema and retailers. These are poor reasons to do anything, let alone begin indoctrinating a whole generation of children with dubious images of the supernatural, witchcraft and death, and associate those things with treats and meeting the neighbours.
Although there are religious traditions apparently associated with the day, because of the reformation I believe, we have zero associations with those.
Minus a religious connection, all you are left with is the commercial and cultural. You know, like they commercialised transgenderism into the culture.
I believe in addition, but could stand corrected, that the religious versions of Halloween are probably conducted minus the pumpkins, costumes, trick or treating and so forth, so the two have nothing in common, as the trick and treaters are unlikely to also go to mass or whatever as part of the tradition.
In short, both the modern Christmas and Halloween are excuses for retailers to sell a few landfills worth of cheap Chinese shit for idiots to put on their front lawns, but unlike Christmas, Halloween lacks the local religious justification that the popularised Christmas of cartoon f*cking reindeer, gluttony and candy canes has.

Last edited 22 days ago by Arky
Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 1:02 am

Paying kids off in lollies so they don’t pull an “unpleasant trick” on you is the pre-cursor to running protection rackets (or joining the ALP).
Don’t do it.
Ronnie Biggs started with milk money (allegedly).

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
November 1, 2024 1:31 am

However, we have to distinguish between the religious celebration of Christmas and the popularised version, as well as the traditional from the more modern.

The puritans under Cromwell banned Christmas. The restoration brought it back. It was popular. I’m afraid people will just make some things popular and ruin traditions. It’s what they do. You’re not going to change that, no matter how deplorable it is. You’re just deploring human nature.

I favour abandoning Christmas trees and going back to oak trees on the grounds that they are sacred to Woden. At least Woden is a European god, not some new fangled foreigner like Jehovah. I’m sure your conservative instincts will make you concur.

Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:01 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:08 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:09 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:09 am
Tom
Tom
November 1, 2024 4:10 am
KevinM
KevinM
November 1, 2024 5:15 am

Another blast from the past.

There was more to Cliff’s story after he won the race that this excerpt does not dwell on, so best leave it alone.

Age against youth, there were a few other examples where endurance beat speed and fitness.
When the younger ones slept Cliff shuffled along, beating them.

—————-

Story of Cliff Young, a 61-year-old Australian farmer who defied expectations and ran his way into history. In 1983, during the grueling 875-kilometer Sydney-to-Melbourne Ultramarathon, seasoned athletes lined up in top-of-the-line gear, all under 30 and fully sponsored.

Then, Cliff showed up — clad in overalls and galoshes over his work boots. Without any professional training, he simply stood at the starting line and prepared to run like he had herded sheep all his life.
Cliff was born in 1922 to a poor farming family in Victoria, Australia.

Growing up on the family’s eight-square-kilometer farm, he had no access to horses or cars for most of his life. So, he became his own transport. When storms hit, Cliff would head out on foot to round up the farm’s 2,000 sheep, sometimes running after them for days.

At age 57, Cliff discovered long-distance running and decided to pursue it with the same dedication he brought to herding sheep, never once thinking his age was a barrier.

As he lined up for the ultra-marathon, the media and spectators were in shock. Here was an older man with no team, sponsors, or sleep strategy. Most runners aimed to finish in about five days, running 18 hours and sleeping six each day.

But Cliff was unaware of this plan and just ran as he always had, through the night and into the next day without rest. Each day, he lagged behind, but each night, while others slept, Cliff gained ground. By the last stretch, he had pulled ahead, finishing the race in 5 days, 15 hours, and 4 minutes — beating the next runner by ten hours.

Cliff’s victory shocked and inspired the nation, but he remained humble. When offered the $10,000 prize, he chose to split it evenly among the runners, refusing to take a cent. This gesture, along with his endurance and determination, turned him into a national hero.

For years afterward, Cliff continued to run, even attempting a 16,000-kilometer trek to raise money for homeless children. Despite battling cancer later in life, Cliff set a world record in a six-day marathon in 2000 at age 78.

He passed away in 2003, leaving behind a legacy of perseverance and generosity that continues to inspire athletes and dreamers everywhere.

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KevinM
KevinM
November 1, 2024 5:17 am

Has this menu changed yet, with all the health consciousness about?

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KevinM
KevinM
November 1, 2024 5:26 am

Don’t want to be unkind, but she looks like she is ready to take off and join the Halloween festivities.

————————-

In 1939, a woman in Fentress County, Tennessee, is captured standing on her porch, embodying the hard-working spirit of rural life during the era.

The scene features a wash tub, elevated by a wooden chair turned on its side.

Dressed in a sunbonnet, which offered protection from the sun, and a dark blouse paired with a tattered apron, the woman exudes a sense of resilience despite her modest attire.

In her right hand, she clutches a tall, homemade broom.

which can also make a fine means of transportation. LOL

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KevinM
KevinM
November 1, 2024 5:28 am

Timber was good enough for H Ford, so why not?

464277333_10233832548772584_5496393888807956824_n
Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
November 1, 2024 5:44 am

At MEL waiting to board.

My 2c worth overhead luggage for backpack and small bags only.

Full flight & they are pleading for people to check in carry on.

Bungonia bee
Bungonia bee
November 1, 2024 6:36 am
Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 6:47 am

Kamala’s radical third world family closely parallels Obama’s radical third world family. Neither of their experiences are rooted in the black community, but in the Soviet globalism of the sixties.

Terrorism, Genocide and Kamala’s Childhood in Africa – Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish Articles at DanielGreenfield.org

Interesting but not in a good way.

Jock
Jock
November 1, 2024 6:47 am

I am from alba so I recall going guising when I was very young. Halloween was looked down on by the church of Scotland but the old religion couldn’t be squashed. Samhain had to be celebrated. The supernatural world and ours came close. We had to protect against the sidhe. It’s a shame the old traditions are still being subverted . But now by commercialism.

Crossie
Crossie
November 1, 2024 6:51 am

Warren’s cartoon is wrong, Kamala never wore a skirt in her life. It’s pantsuits all the way down.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 7:16 am

How deep is the rot and malfeasance in the US voting system? Very deep. 

The voters think so too.

Rasmussen Poll: 49 Percent Say Election Officials Cheated (31 Oct)

By political party, 62% of Republicans, 38% of Democrats and 47% of unaffiliated voters said there are election workers and officials who have enabled fraud in elections.

More men (54%) than women (44%) said election workers and officials have enabled fraud.

I can’t see how a country can continue democratically when one party knows that the other party is cheating, and the other party doesn’t care about that.

Last edited 22 days ago by Bruce of Newcastle
Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
November 1, 2024 7:16 am

Warren’s cartoon is wrong, Kamala never wore a skirt in her life. It’s pantsuits all the way down.

Remember Hillary and Pantsuit Nation – could be pantsuits are coming apart at the seams I heard some wag say

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
November 1, 2024 7:16 am

I don’t know why Sky News persists with getting Michale Ware to comment on US politics.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
November 1, 2024 7:22 am

I think Fluffy might be the wrong adjective for Sky’s hackette Annelise — I think Puffy might be a better one — she looks decidedly puffy in recent reports — perhaps she’s in the family way

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
November 1, 2024 7:23 am

Johannes Leak’s cartoon today is magnificent in it’s content and scope-an entire essay on the entitled political class of grifters and ne’er-do-wells soiling the seats in a parliamentary chambers.

calli
calli
November 1, 2024 7:47 am

The Upgrade Albo scandal has ended where we knew it would.

The great mountain of obvious, egregious corruption has been swept aside on nit picking over domestic unsolicited upgrades and Debbildebbil Gina and the private jet.

Swallowing camels while they choke on gnats.

Last edited 22 days ago by calli
Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 7:50 am

Taps it 5 times for Trump, nothing happens, and it suddenly lights up for Harris.

@AmericaPapaBear

BREAKING

Voting machines in Kentucky are literally changing the vote from Donald Trump to Kamala Harris.

This is ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

Share this video out so everyone can see!

calli
calli
November 1, 2024 7:53 am

I’m yet to see an accusation against a conservative seeking Chairman’s Lounge access for a child, especially with a bogus +1 excuse.

Over to you, investigative j’lists.

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 7:55 am

@GrrrGraphics

The Horror Of Cackula Ben Garrison Cartoon
?
HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It’s Halloween 2024 and this time October 31st is particularly scary because we have a horrific Democrat candidate who is not only unqualified, but she’s also actively engaged in a monstrous agenda against our country. Kamala’s pumpkin is filled with garbage, not treats.

Donald Trump is a proven leader who can drive a stake through the heart of the horrific Deep State. He is the hero we need. If you see a kid dressed as Trump at your door, make sure to give him some extra candy!

May your shadow not follow you too closely and all your ghosts be friendly. Happy Halloween! Feel free to share with all MAGA Frens!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 8:01 am

If you are going to go big you may as well go really big…

Russia Fines Google More than Entire GDP of the World for Blocking Propaganda Accounts (31 Oct)

A Russian court on Wednesday slapped Google with a fine of $20 decillion dollars for refusing to run propaganda from Russian state media. Twenty decillion would be a two followed by 34 zeros, a sum exceeding the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the entire planet.

NBC News noted that a decillion is less than a googol, which has 100 zeroes, and is the number from which Google draws its name. This seems like a missed opportunity by the Russian court. A decillion dollars is still far larger than Google’s entire market capitalization, which stands at a mere $2.1 trillion.

“It’s the kind of fine you might want to pay in installments,” NBC quipped.

Just a tad more than world GDP too. It would constitute the entire world GDP for about the next hundred million trillion years, by which time the universe would have no remaining stars.

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:01 am
calli
calli
November 1, 2024 8:04 am

Lefty women of America – news flash!

Since you’re so “offended” by Trump promising to protect you regardless of your politics, be prepared for NO ONE to come to your aid when you’re being attacked or threatened. You are on your own.

You go girrrrls! Kamala Energy will be your shield!

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:05 am

If he “accurately predicted” the 2020 election then he knew about the steal, because the result was anything but genuine.
Donald Trump Now Set for Landslide: Forecaster Who Backed Kamala Harris

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:09 am

This is an excerpt because it’s paywalled. There are many people here now who are exactly like she was then. I’m shocked sometimes talking to people.
I cried when Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 – but here’s why I’m now voting for Trump
Trump’s 2016 victory shocked progressives like myself – but after digging deeper than media narratives, I learnt why we were so wrong.

I cried from Canada when Hillary Clinton lost the election to Donald Trump in 2016. My boyfriend at the time seemed unable to relate to my visceral reaction, which only made my snotty-nosed despair worse. Oh, the misogyny of it all.
Despite having dual citizenship, I had never lived in America, nor voted in an American election. That year was no exception, but Clinton was a shoo-in, I’d figured. “Who would vote for such a vile buffoon as Trump?” I thought.
Apparently, many millions.
Trump’s win that year shocked legions of progressives and feminists like myself, who trusted the media, their algorithm and their friendship circles, which had painted Trump in near-universal reports as a detestable racist, sexist and bully, whereas Clinton was the deserving, respectable heir.
We were so wrong.
Once I recovered from my anger at the unfairness of democracy in action (and my regret at having not registered to vote in the US), I began to dig deeper in an attempt to understand what I had not prior to the vote. This is, one would think, what any critical or curious thinker would do. There must be a reason so many people voted for Trump.
Living overseas myself, now in Mexico, I realise the easy answer for many Left-wingers looking on from abroad is to write off half the population as racists and misogynists – people who had “lost their moral compass” – resorting to emotionally-driven political choices like a hatred of women, and faced with Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate this year, people of colour too.
By now, though, having witnessed the unprecedented Trump triumph, we should have all learnt that things are never so simple.
It became clear to me that neither social nor mainstream media was offering the full story.

calli
calli
November 1, 2024 8:10 am

Terrible scenes from Spain. The devastation is indescribable.

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:14 am
alwaysright
alwaysright
November 1, 2024 8:19 am

Cackula – priceless

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:21 am
Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:24 am

@ggreenwald

For 2 years, anyone who said that Ukraine has no chance to defeat Russia as defined by NATO (expelling all Russian troops from Ukraine) was instantly branded a Russian propagandist (often on official blacklists from Kiev).

As usual, Western media admits it 2 years later:

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 8:25 am

Another socialist pesthole hits bottom.

Evo Morales Says Venezuela Is Aiding Socialist Blockades Starving Bolivia (30 Oct)

Well worth reading, it’s surreal. Marxism just keeps on producing terrible messes wherever it’s tried.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 8:29 am

I see the sinister totalitarian Islamist adulterer Der Sturmer and his cretinous crew have now even gagged MPs from asking questions in parliament about Southport and what Der Sturmer and his fellow Marxist Islamist loving rodents knew.

Oh that’s right, as we’re always being told, it’s only ever the right that imperils democracy, it’s never the left.

LOL, they’re mocking us, they’re ridiculing us and they’re laughing at us.

Closer to home, notice how Simon the Pimp’s whores are strangely, oddly and weirdly silent about Upgrade Albo? So much for ‘transparency’.

Yep, the joke really is on us.

JC
JC
November 1, 2024 8:31 am

If North Korean forces are now joining in the fight against Ukraine, hopefully western countries will send in troops and much needed air support.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said overnight on Wednesday that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment were moving towards Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilising development.

Mr Austin was speaking at a press conference in Washington with South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 12,000 troops to Russia.

The US and South Korea say some of the North Korean troops are heading to Russia’s Kursk region on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion. Some North Korean advance units had already arrived in the Kursk region, and Mr Austin said “the likelihood is pretty high” that Russia would use the troops in combat.

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:32 am
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 8:34 am

Bad Penny likes Cuba and betrays the USA:

Every Country Except Israel Voted Against America at the UN (31 Oct)

Really great way to encourage the US to defend us, especially when we’re so helpless.

Indolent
Indolent
November 1, 2024 8:36 am
Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
November 1, 2024 8:37 am

Fair bit of clear air turbulence over NNSW.

If I were a betting man I’d say this arvo that will be spawing anvil clouds…

calli
calli
November 1, 2024 8:38 am

It’s an odd line Cakula (LOL, pay that one) is trying to tread over Trump’s “protection” remarks.

We’ve heard, ad infinitum, that women are “victims” of everything, from DV to glass ceilings to so called reproductive rights.

When someone stands up and says he wants to protect them, Cackles goes off like a firecracker on the well worn How Dare You path. Burp.

Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 8:38 am
Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 8:38 am

You go girrrrls! Kamala Energy will be your shield!

The Shield Of Joy!

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
November 1, 2024 8:41 am

BNE Qantas buisness lounge.

Crap selection to the one food point and massive line.

No hi-vis to be seen. Yet…

alwaysright
alwaysright
November 1, 2024 8:42 am

Does anyone else think Cakula will get more than 400 million votes?

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
November 1, 2024 8:42 am

I hear the rain in Spain is staying mainly on the plain.

Yes, yes, I know. Don’t start.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
November 1, 2024 8:44 am

Penny Wong buys $3.4m luxury home weeks after PM’s beach buyForeign Minister Penny Wong has purchased a $3.4 million property in one of Adelaide’s most exclusive suburbs just weeks after her boss Anthony Albanese snapped up a $4.3m luxury pad.

Daily Tele.

alwaysright
alwaysright
November 1, 2024 8:46 am

Regardless of the election outcome, I wonder what Joe’s pardon list will look like.

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 8:46 am

Speaking of joy, there appears to be no cost of living crises affecting our elites, who are paid by us. Daily Telegraph:

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has purchased a $3.4 million property in one of Adelaide’s most exclusive suburbs, revealed on Friday by 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

The luxury purchase comes just weeks after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent $4.3 million on a beachside property at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast.

Fordham described Wong’s new home as a “multimillion-dollar” property with high-end features including a grand entryway, a formal dining room, and a large swimming pool set within lush gardens.

“Congratulations. Penny Wong, congratulations. The foreign minister has just bought a multimillion-dollar home,” he said on 2GB.

“According to the real estate ad, guests are ushered into the home via a broad and stately corridor.”

Wong’s office confirmed the purchase, stating that it was a new family home for Wong and her wife, who plan to sell their current property and that of Wong’s mother, who passed away earlier this year.

“Minister Wong and her wife have purchased a new family home. They are preparing to sell their current property and that of the minister’s mother, who passed away earlier this year,” the statement to 2GB read.

This is Wong’s third South Australian property, and while the purchase isn’t yet on the official register, the minister has two weeks to file the disclosure.

The purchase is the latest in a series of controversial headlines for the ALP, who have faced criticism over Albanese’s recent real estate splurge amid a cost-of-living crisis, as well as scrutiny over his free flight upgrades from Qantas during his time in cabinet, when he reportedly had a close relationship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

An impressive property portfolio to be sure.
Like they give a phuck about the people they purport to represent. FMD

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 8:47 am

Snap Zulu.

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 8:54 am

Monty, get in here and explain your behaviour.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 8:54 am

Grifters, narcissists and psychopaths. They certainly hold the people who pay for their lavish lifestyles in contempt. They actively damage them with their actions re energy, water, taxation and immigration. So much for the social contract.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 8:58 am

I was reading about Rachael Reeves- the same old bullshit ‘degrees’ from the LSE. Reeves and her Marxist mates have nothing to offer but misery (not for them of course).

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 8:58 am

The LSE is up there with Macquarie Uni in my list of institutions that I despise.

Crossie
Crossie
November 1, 2024 9:02 am

Sarah O’Hare’s Australian accent is really pronounced. Saw her making a short speech at some Washington DC function for medical research sponsored by Murdochs. I thought having been a supermodel and mixing with the high society she would have acquired a more international accent.

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 9:14 am

Rightio let’s see how long it lasts. Courier Mail:

Days after taking power, Queensland’s LNP government has dismantled key energy and First Nations reforms championed by the former Labor regime.

Premier David Crisafulli and his deputy Jarrod Bleijie on Thursday confirmed all work had stopped on the Pioneer Burdekin Pumped Hydro project west of Mackay.

All further hearings of the First Nations Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry had also been halted.

It comes as the first LNP cabinet in nearly a decade prepares to be sworn in on Friday, with the government yet to reveal how it has opted to structure the state’s departments.

Mr Crisafulli confirmed the Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry’s hearing scheduled for December on Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) would not go ahead.

“We won’t be allowing those to go ahead, but it will be done with respect and decency,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s anyone under any illusions about the fact that we’re not continuing that process.”

Ahaha Queensland blackocracy! I hear Stradbroke Island is kind of nice. Anytime of the year. It continues:

But Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry chair Joshua Creamer confirmed he was informed of Mr Crisafulli’s intentions to cancel the December hearings through the media.

His team were set to head to Stradbroke Island on Friday, but that has since been called off.

“I’ve had no contract with the Premier, the government or even the department regarding the ongoing of the inquiry,” Mr Creamer said.

“He is currently the Treaty Minister at the moment who I report to under the Act.

“I’ll advise the team to pause all of that work.

“Even though we haven’t been given official direction, the intention of the government is pretty clear. It would be foolish to continue the work we had planned this week.”

Sucked in flog.

Meanwhile, Mr Bleijie confirmed he would be writing to all 57 landholders in the Netherdale and Dalrymple townships west of Mackay that had sold their properties to Queensland Hydro to make way for the controversial 5GW Pioneer Burdekin pumped hydro project.

He said the government would be guided by what those landholders would like to do moving forward.

“I have asked the department and Queensland Hydro to, two days ago, stop any progress on that project, which they have done,” Mr Bleijie said.

“Labor’s hydro hoax, gone-ski.”

The 5GW pumped hydro project was the jewel in the crown of the Labor government’s renewable energy transition plan.

The LNP has repeatedly said it will support smaller pumped hydro projects — including the 2.4GW Borumba Pumped Hydro — instead but has not yet revealed where or when those facilities would be built.

A spokesman for the Save Eungella community group — which had been opposed to the project’s location — said there was a feeling of freedom now the project was no longer looming over the area.

“A huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders,” he said.

Just scrap any bullshit to do with any renewable projects and use what is abundantly in Queensland soil.
But again let’s see what happens in the blackocracy space.
Expect Labor to lampoon Crisafulli by comparing him to Robert Byrd.

calli
calli
November 1, 2024 9:16 am

And another thing…

I wondered why the court artist showed the Southport dismemberer of small girls with the lower half of his face concealed by a pullover.

Could it be that it was to conceal a beard?

cohenite
November 1, 2024 9:26 am

Texas investigating Dominion voting machines:

REPORT: Texas AG Opens ‘Criminal Investigation’ Into Dominion Voting Systems.

And with the absolutely fraudulent CSIRO/BOM state of the climate report just released Tony Heller does a simple 4 minute explanation as to why the temperature record is a lie:

Poisoning The Climate Soup

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
November 1, 2024 9:30 am

The worrying sign Australia is going to be hit by brutal UK-style inheritance tax and what YOU can do to keep Albanese’s hands off your estate
Daily Mail.

Top Ender
Top Ender
November 1, 2024 9:32 am

Qantas book author loads up again:

[Albo] loves the free concert tickets and sitting at the front row of the Australian Open Tennis. 

‘I went to the Australian Open Tennis as a journalist almost every year for 12 years and he was the only Prime Minister (I saw there).

‘Those tickets are worth thousands of dollars to sit in the front row of the International Grand Slam. He’s the first Prime Minister who I’ve ever seen do that.

‘That to me is a sign that he doesn’t quite get what it looks like to others when he’s on the gravy train. 

Daily Mail

Rabz
November 1, 2024 9:35 am

Yet more appalling reporting from the Oz:

$1bn shaved from NDIS: Teats Peanuthead puts scheme back on track

Reforms to the NDIS will shave more than $1bn from the growing cost of the ballooning scheme, ­according to new official projections that promise to deliver ­critical structural savings to the federal budget.

What utter bullsh*t. It shouldn’t take long for this courageous “projection” to be proven completely wrong, which I’ll be keeping an eye on. The NDIS is utterly out of control and will never be reined back in. The only solution would be nuking the f*cking abomination from orbit, which of course will never happen, due to the inevitable “audible in space” squawking.

Two Alien references – yay!

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
November 1, 2024 9:37 am

It’s amazing how quickly accusations of freeloading by the PM has deteriorated into the political equivalent of a food fight.
Dutton had to use private contractor flights? That would be because it’s a government benefit to use RAAF VIP flights, not an opposition one.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 9:38 am

Ha ha canbra ‘projections’- we know what they’re worth. John Kerin once made a good comment about waste and treasury economists.

Last edited 22 days ago by Miltonf
Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
November 1, 2024 9:38 am

Indeedy, tho I’ll re-iterate that the Australian Open is not the Grand Slam.
Howard was derided as a wannabe criggit tragic, but I can’t recall him attending an international test, let alone doing a Gillard-Albanese and glad-handling inside the changerooms.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 9:39 am

Cassie of Sydney
 November 1, 2024 8:29 am

I see the sinister totalitarian Islamist adulterer Der Sturmer and his cretinous crew have now even gagged MPs from asking questions in parliament about Southport and what Der Sturmer and his fellow Marxist Islamist loving rodents knew.

I seem to recall m0nster assuring us all he was a Christian and more Welsh than Tom Jones.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
November 1, 2024 9:40 am

In Green Shoots news:
[Unlinkable OZ]

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has cancelled a landmark “truth-telling” inquiry investigating the experiences of the state’s Indigenous people, as his newly elected Liberal National Party government immediately shuts down work on a mega pumped hydro project.

The inquiry’s axing comes as Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie declared Labor’s multibillion-dollarPioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme was “goneski”, after he ordered the state’s Energy Department to stop all work.

The then-Labor government announced the project in 2022 before it had been subjected to any detailed financial, engineering and environmental investi­gations.

Low hanging fruit, but a reasonable start.

There are a couple of obvious corollaries: Path to Treaty, and the whole renewables strategy (including the ridiculous Copperstring project) now don’t work as planned but presumably shuffle along as political zombies.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 9:42 am

Rosie

 November 1, 2024 8:38 am

Augustus the concreter.

I came.
I saw.
I concreted.

Last edited 22 days ago by Sancho Panzer
Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
November 1, 2024 9:42 am

The Southport Kid Killer- Axel Rudakabana, say his name!- cannot be allowed to reflect badly upon Islam. Hence no beard, no mosque. As the saying goes, look for what they’re not reporting.
That’s also why you can’t say his name, the Blob will not allow his atrocities to reflect badly upon multiculti endless migration.

Rabz
November 1, 2024 9:44 am

albansleazey doesn’t quite get what it looks like to others when he’s on the gravy train

He looks like an arrogant shameless hypocritical knobheaded parasite, hoovering OPM like there’s no tomorrow.

“But, but, but I grew up in counshel houshing, I tellsh ya”

Again.

Rabz
November 1, 2024 9:48 am

Axel Rudacopakabana

Even more Welsh than Tom Jones and Surely Bassey.

alwaysright
alwaysright
November 1, 2024 9:53 am

It takes just one.

Just one runaway voting machine.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 9:55 am

“But, but, but I grew up in counshel houshing, I tellsh ya”

I just don’t think that’s gonna wash anymore.

Roger
Roger
November 1, 2024 9:56 am

Johannes Leak’s cartoon today is magnificent in it’s content and scope-an entire essay on the entitled political class of grifters and ne’er-do-wells soiling the seats in a parliamentary chambers.

Speaking of which, a recent survey captures a growing divide between Australia’s elite caste and mainstream voters:

Mainstream v elites chasm widens ahead of federal election fight

Geoff Chambers and Richard Ferguson, The Australian, 1 November 2024

The widening gulf between ­Australia’s elite and mainstream classes is carving out a “two-speed electorate”, forcing Anthony ­Albanese and Peter Dutton to shore up support among splintering voter bases in previously safe ALP and Coalition heartlands.

[An] online survey, conducted from October 1-16, split respondents into mainstream and elite voters. The elite group consisted of voters with a postgraduate degree, earning more than $120,000 (household income) and living in metropolitan areas. The breakdown in voters was 10 per cent of elites versus the rest.

Asked whether gas, meat and electricity should be strictly ­rationed in response to climate change, mainstream voters were significantly more opposed than the elite class.

On migration, almost 60 per cent of mainstream voters said immigration numbers should be reduced compared with 39 per cent of elites. There was also a significant difference on whether migration “greatly improves the country”, with 58 per cent of elites agreeing compared with 37 per cent of mainstream Australians. Almost half of mainstream voters believe immigration “fundamentally changes the country in a way I don’t support”.

Questioned about the national direction, elites were significantly more likely to believe Australia was heading in the right direction, compared with more mainstream voters feeling the country was heading in a seriously wrong ­direction.

In relation to personal finances, elites on balance saw their situation as marginally improving over the next year, while the ­majority of mainstream voters ­believed theirs would get worse.

Twice as many mainstream voters were looking for change in leadership over stability, while elites had split views. There is a greater distrust of government among mainstream Australians compared with elites, who had more trust in government and the public service. While elites dominated public debate over a range of issues and had greater trust in academics and policy experts, the mainstream did not.

CT Group Australia managing-director Catherine Douglas said the results revealed a “tale of a two-speed electorate”…

“This trend has consequences for anyone in a leadership position, whether in politics or business,” she said. “It is important for leaders to understand that their perspectives and those of individuals around them are very likely at odds with the mainstream population.”

Seems to me our politicians could benefit from mixing with the hoi polloi at airports rather than hiding away in the Chairman’s Lounge.

Last edited 22 days ago by Roger
alwaysright
alwaysright
November 1, 2024 9:57 am

Wong has purchased a $3.4 million property

Et tu Penus

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
November 1, 2024 9:57 am

Christmas is coming. The shops are cashing in early, decorations are up already. We are heading to the UK for Christmas with Hairy’s brother’s family in London. We’ve just found out we’ve been selected by ballot to attend the Nine Lessons and Carols Ceremony held at St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge University. ‘In the Deep Midwinter’ – such wonderful memories of attending this ceremony in this elegant medieval building with it’s soaring roof which we the congregation of 2000 amost sang further into the heavens. This was more than thirty years ago, our children minded by Hairy’s brother’s family, and us making the trip to Cambridge in the dark and cold the night before to be able to get up in time to wait for hours in line in the cold for entry while the same choir entertained the waiters with jolly Christmas songs. Lucky to make it in then too. Now it’s all computerised by lots.

This ceremony is not old, it was developed for soldiers during World War 1 in 1918, though some earlier forms were known. Nine biblical lessons from the St. James bible are read, each interspersed with a Christmas carol, ancient or modern. It is justly world famous.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 10:00 am

I seem to recall m0nster assuring us all he was a Christian and more Welsh than Tom Jones.

If the Nazi comes on here and writes that something’s black, then I assume, correctly, it’s white.

Roger
Roger
November 1, 2024 10:05 am

“It is important for leaders to understand that their perspectives and those of individuals around them are very likely at odds with the mainstream population.”

A classic example being David Crisafulli, who was all for the voice, treaty and truth-telling until the referendum revealed a considerable majority of Queenslanders weren’t.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
November 1, 2024 10:08 am

There’s something you don’t see every day.

Amberly close and a weekdays but a C17 RAAF marrking just landed & taxiing at BNE.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 10:08 am

The inquiry’s axing comes as Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie declared Labor’s multibillion-dollarPioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme was “goneski”, after he ordered the state’s Energy Department to stop all work.

And how is Florence?

Barry
Barry
November 1, 2024 10:11 am

At least Crisafooli is doing something vaguely centre-right. Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison would do well to reflect, having achieved nothing as effective in 10 years compared to 3 days.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
November 1, 2024 10:12 am

Wong has purchased a $3.4 million property

I wonder if Caucus operates some sort of graduated scale of flaunting: the PM flaunts $4.3m, the FM flaunts $3.4m – backbenchers $2.5m?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 10:13 am

Asked whether gas, meat and electricity should be strictly ­rationed in response to climate change, mainstream voters were significantly more opposed than the elite class.

Those in favour are inevitably members of the “Let them eat cake” class.

Rabz
November 1, 2024 10:14 am

politicians could benefit from mixing with the hoi polloi at airports rather than hiding away in the Leipreachán’s Lounge

Enabling many, many, “full and frank exchanges of views” with less than gruntled punters.

bons
bons
November 1, 2024 10:16 am

He’s a cheap touch up our handsome boy.

It only cost Fox two snags at his barbie to have non-corporate competition removed from the Australian transport industry.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
November 1, 2024 10:22 am

Roger …

Seems to me our politicians could benefit from mixing with the hoi polloi at airports rather than hiding away in the Chairman’s Lounge.

This is, in fact, the root cause of the problems at Qantas.
I note Rockdoctor’s commentary on the appalling service in the Qantas business lounge, something which I have also observed*.
Qaintarse have reached the point where not even business class/high ff point travellers matter.
All that matters is pandering to the political class who can then be relied upon to keep the thumb on the competition scales in favour of Qaintarse.
Which, in turn, enables them to treat a largely captive audience like shit.

* This was reciprocal rights access via another airline.
I wasn’t flying Qaintarse.
As if.

Roger
Roger
November 1, 2024 10:29 am

All that matters is pandering to the political class who can then be relied upon to keep the thumb on the competition scales in favour of Qaintarse.

Which point gives the lie to anyone taking the view, which I have heard expressed, that the special treatment on offer is a trivial matter because nobody is being disadvantaged.

Last edited 22 days ago by Roger
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 10:32 am

Those in favour are inevitably members of the “Let them eat cake” class.

I love the headline.

I Never Thought I’d Say This, but Garbage and French Fries Could Win This Election (31 Oct, via Lucianne)

Let them eat fries!

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
November 1, 2024 10:32 am

The defects in the US voting system are tumbling out; multi voting, dead registrations, irregular migrants being bussed in, and a galaxy of voting machine issues. And there’s no shame or secrecy behind any of this – it’s almost as if the Establishment is proudly demonstrating US Exceptionalism in Turd World electoral fraud.

However (and without wanting to be a Jeremiah) despite the early focus of commentators and ‘Nerds for Fair Elections’, the exact same set of hurdles that existed in 2020 still stand.

There is next to no chance of the many examples of ‘irregularities’ growing up from ‘anecdotes’ into ‘legal standard of proof’ – at least not in material numbers, and not in the time frame from Electoral College to Ratification. We may all know what’s going on, but it’s hard to imagine the US Supreme Court buying into the biggest constitutional crisis evah on the basis of fragments.

Looking at the whole goat rodeo from a population statistics perspective, the next Presidency depends on whether there is sufficient Trump Turnout to overcome the steal.

Cakula (excellent) is a weapon in that regard, but not an assurance.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 10:40 am

Not as much as that Russian court wants from Goolag but still pretty chunky.

Trump sues CBS for $10B over Harris’s ’60 Minutes’ interview (31 Aug)

Former President Trump is suing CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview it broadcast with Vice President Harris earlier this month that he and his allies have claimed was edited to cast her in a positive light. The lawsuit, which seeks $10 billion in damages and was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas alleges the network engaged in “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion.”

Well since the Dems keep finding lefty judges in DC or New York to lawfare Trump over ridiculous stuff it is only fair to try a bit of turnabout in Texas.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 10:43 am

Qantas is dead to me and I used to be something of a Qantas enthusiast. Gave Virgin a go last time which was very good until they spoilt it with insulting woke BS when we landed at Eagle Farm.

Last edited 22 days ago by Miltonf
Vicki
Vicki
November 1, 2024 10:45 am

Suddenly our incoming emails have stopped. We suspect it is because we were forced to start a new Optusaccount when our Optus box was zapped by a lightning strike in our street. Got a new box . All good. But suddenly all emails have stopped. Not looking forward to trip to Sydney to Optus shop where English seems like a second language.

Vicki
Vicki
November 1, 2024 10:49 am

BTW the sinews that Wong has also purchased an expensive property confirms my belief that Labor thinks it may be dead meat at the next election. Ages ago I heard from somewhere that Wong had decided to retire after next election if they are turfed out,

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 10:51 am

Just in from The Oz….
Pauline Hanson racially vilified Mehreen Faruqi, court finds

The One Nation leader racially vilified the Greens Senator when publishing a tweet telling her to ‘piss off back to Pakistan’, a Federal Court judge has found.

Never mind the racial vilification Fatso Faruqi has engaged in.

What an effing joke.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 10:52 am

Vicky surely Optus would be able to fix your email problem remotely.

Oh come on
Oh come on
November 1, 2024 10:53 am

This whole Mohamed Al Fayed thing is a bit on the nose. Easy to accuse the dead and especially so when there’s a multi- billion pound pot at stake. Sure, he might have done it. I don’t know. I do know it seems conveniently late in the day to start pointing fingers. I’m not sure he could have been such a prolific abuser, as alleged, and gone under the radar to the extent he must have done if it were true. He didn’t have the institutional protection of, say, Jimmy Savile (or multiple grooming gangs operating throughout England but that is another story for another day). Plus the demographic of women he is alleged to have abused aren’t typically the type who keep quiet about that sort of thing, ie. posh or posh-adjacent Harrods employees. Some would have, sure. But hundreds? All too terrified to speak out until after he croaks? All of them?

Mmm yeah I’m not buying it.

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 10:57 am

I’m sure there is anti Semitic tweets in her catalogue. Hun:

One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has suffered a major loss, with the Federal Court finding a tweet she posted telling Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” was racist.

Senator Faruqi launched legal action against Senator Hanson in the Federal Court over a tweet telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”, posted on September 9, 2022.

The inflammatory exchange was sparked when the Greens deputy leader posted a tweet in the wake of the Queen’s death, declaring she “cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples”.

Senator Hanson fired back a heated tweet saying she was “appalled” by the post and suggesting Senator Faruqi “pack (her) bags and piss off back to Pakistan”.

Senator Faruqi claimed the tweet was racially discriminatory and provoked a “torrent of abuse”.

In his judgment, handed down on Friday, Justice Angus Stewart ruled the tweet was: “reasonably likely in all the circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate the applicant and groups of people, namely people of colour who are migrants to Australia or are Australians of relatively recent migrant heritage and Muslims who are people of colour in Australia.”

He found Senator Hanson had posted the tweet “because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin” of Senator Faruqi, and that the One Nation leader’s response was not made in good faith as a fair comment on a matter of public interest.

“I am comfortably satisfied that both groups of people in Australia that I have identified, being persons of colour who are migrants or of relatively recent migrant heritage and persons of colour who are Muslim, are reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to have been offended (ie profoundly and seriously), insulted, humiliated and intimidated by Senator Hanson’s tweet,” Justice Stewart said.

”There is also nothing in Senator Hanson’s tweet about the British Empire, stolen lands and wealth of colonised people, a treaty with First Nations, reparations or Australia becoming a republic; the tweet does not try to defend or comment upon British colonial history.

“Indeed, there is nothing in Senator Hanson’s tweet that is responsive to the content of Senator Faruqi’s tweet. It did not call on Senator Faruqi to apologise, or to give her wealth away, or, in terms, to stop being critical of the British Empire or Australia. Rather, it told Senator Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan.”

“Senator Hanson’s tweet was merely an angry ad hominem attack devoid of discernible content (or comment) in response to what Senator Faruqi had said.”

Justice Stewart said Senator Hanson had given no reasonable justification for publishing “messages that are racist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim”.

“(Senator Hanson) reverted most easily to those messages when responding to a Muslim, immigrant woman of colour in anger in the heat of the moment, which is consistent with the views that she has espoused publicly for decades,” he said.

Senator Hanson has been ordered to delete the post within seven days and cover Senator Faruqi’s legal costs.

Outside court, Senator Faruqi described it as a landmark legal ruling that drew a line in the sand and established that “hate speech is not free speech.”

“Today is a good day for people of colour, for Muslims and those of us who have been working so hard to build an ant-racist society,” she said.

“Today is a win for every single person who has been told to go back to where they came from.

“And believe me there are too many of us who have been subjected to this ultimate racist slur far too many times in this country.”

She said Justice Stewart’s decision was “groundbreaking and historic” and sent a message that “those who subject people to racial abuse will not get away scot-free”.

“It will set a precedent for how racism is viewed in this country,” she said.

“It is a warning for those like Pauline Hanson.”

Sorry if you vomited in your own mouth when reading this. Justice Stewart reads a lot into the Hanson tweet which is just boilerplate Left crapola.
As for Faruqi, what a turd.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 10:58 am

I regard the Jew hating Fatso Faruqi as evil, sinister and disgusting. She is far more dangerous than Lidia Thorpe.

Black Ball
Black Ball
November 1, 2024 10:58 am

And snap Cassie.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 11:00 am

This verdict against Hanson has to be appealed.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 11:02 am

“It is a warning for those like Pauline Hanson.”

The Jew hating Fatso Faruqi is threatening you and me.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 11:03 am

It also shows how dangerous the courts are. A hangover from feudalism, from 1066.

Roger
Roger
November 1, 2024 11:06 am

Hanson’s defence was that it was political speech, which is protected under the constitution.

I think there’s room for appeal here.

m0nty
m0nty
November 1, 2024 11:06 am

I seem to recall m0nster assuring us all he was a Christian and more Welsh than Tom Jones.

He was born in Cardiff to Rwandan migrant parents, so yes he is Welsh. As to his religion, the perp went to a state school and police are not treating the murders as terrorist so one would imagine he is not Muslim. He is reportedly on the autism spectrum, though.

m0nty
m0nty
November 1, 2024 11:08 am

Bruce, I am sorry to hear that you are suffering from long COVID. That sounds like a bugger of a thing to deal with, especially given how little is known about it even at this stage. I hope they discover something to fix the condition.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 11:16 am

Oh look, the Nazi has appeared, still trying to insist the Southport slasher of little girls isn’t a Muslim and is Welsh, just like Richard Burton, Tom Jones and Owen Tudor.

Yeah…and pigs fly. I think the Nazi should piss off.

Anders
Anders
November 1, 2024 11:18 am

He was born in Cardiff to Rwandan migrant parents, so yes he is Welsh.

Using that logic we’re all Australian Aborigines, hooray!

shatterzzz
November 1, 2024 11:32 am

Gotta laff at all these reports of troughers needing to check their records to see if they’ve declared upgrades .. “Joe Blow” remember his upgrade cos it’s a bit like winning the lottery BUT pollies need to check cos they, obviously, get sooo many they lose track ……
Shirley, it’d be simpler for them (pollies) to relate to how many times they were up the “back” with the common folk ..?
I mean travelling “cattle” class for an ‘elite” isn’t something they are likely to forget in a hurry …. LOL!

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
November 1, 2024 11:34 am

And how is Florence?

On the move.

TBM Florence is on the move! After tackling challenging ground conditions, Florence is pushing ahead through tough terrain.

September was a record month – 337m. Same speed, or slightly slower than a decent drill and blast team.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
November 1, 2024 11:36 am

WA billionaire Gina Rinehart pays for main table at Liberal Party dinner
WA billionaire Gina Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting bought the main table at a Liberal Party event celebrating its 80-year anniversary, the Australian Financial Review is reporting.
Held at Crown Perth on Thursday evening, and headlined by former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard, the event was held as a mixer for party donors with deep pockets.
Hancock Prospecting paid $10,000 for the table, but Rinehart herself did not attend.
However, current WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam, federal leader Peter Dutton and Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas were all present.
9 News Perth reported that many who attended the event were optimistic there would be a swing towards the Liberals in WA during the next election.
The state Liberals hold just three seats in the lower house, but are hopeful of regaining some of the five seats lost in 2022.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
November 1, 2024 11:39 am

Is it the height of Tory behaviour, to present your financial advisor, with a bottle of top shelf single malt for the job they did?

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
November 1, 2024 11:40 am

My last memory of Brisbane airport was that the Qantas Club lounge was a loud with more of an eatery feel, while the Business Lounge was less crowded and rather more comfortable. And without Hi-Vis.

shatterzzz
November 1, 2024 11:41 am

Dun it again .. grrrrrrrrh! .. Bought the lollies & choccie & for the 5th year running and no one turned up .. Admittedly, it did start raining but didn’t get serious until past seven thirty & as the few kids around me are, mainly, under 8 I’d guess they’d be finishing up by 7.30pm not starting ..
Oh, well! alwayz next year to try again .. cos you can guarantee if I don’t stock up .. the hordes will appear … LOL!
in the meantime I’ve got lotza, sugary, goodies to go with TV time to get thru ..!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 11:45 am

Bribing the base.

Albanese government looks to slash HECS debt (Sky News, 1 Nov)

This is transparent vote buying, especially since the progressive uni student class has outed themselves as such a den of antisemitism.

P
P
November 1, 2024 11:55 am

Church of All Saints, Minsk, Belarus (click to enlarge each section)

It is a significant and striking modern Orthodox Christian church. Officially known as the Church of All Saints and in Memory of the Victims of War, it is one of the largest and most prominent churches in Belarus. Construction of the Church began in 1996 and it was completed in 2008, with its consecration taking place in 2010. It was built to commemorate Belarusians who lost their lives in various wars and conflicts, with a special emphasis on the sacrifices made during World War II. As you can see, the interior of the church is richly adorned with mosaics, frescoes, and iconography of many saints.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
November 1, 2024 12:01 pm

Bribing the base.

Albanese government looks to slash HECS debt (Sky News, 1 Nov)

Gawd, our left is so insanely unimaginative. Not an original thought between them.

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 12:02 pm

The state Liberals hold just three seats in the lower house, but are hopeful of regaining some of the five seats lost in 2022.

Comedy gold!

Diogenes
Diogenes
November 1, 2024 12:07 pm

Qaintarse have reached the point where not even business class/high ff point travellers matter.

This morning a portion of an ABC interview with Joe Aston popped up on my feed ( can’t find it now). He mentions 16 million Aussies are collecting Q FF points (FMD!) – Mr Gilbert’s line from Gondoliers sprang to “when everybody’s somebody, no one’s any body”. It explains why Q can get away with anything.

Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 12:07 pm
Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 12:18 pm

“Parchin produces propellant for ATGMs, Manpads, etc. not their ballistic missiles. And the pics I’ve seen so far indicate limited damage.”
Because Iran would never ever ever censor anything.

Gabor
Gabor
November 1, 2024 12:18 pm

Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 10:32 am

Those in favour are inevitably members of the “Let them eat cake” class.

Someone the other day was talking about that historical misquotes and mistakes, misconceptions eventually will be cleared up and corrected.

Some maybe, not so in this case, poor M Antoinette never said it, and even if she did it had a solid foundation.

By the law of the land and royal decree, if the baker sold out the cheaper bread he was obliged to sell the more expensive ‘cake’ at bread prices.

Of course there were a lot of people who couldn’t afford bread either so it was a mute point, but that’s an other argument, valid as it is.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
November 1, 2024 12:19 pm

Interesting.

Sounds like a bit of a realignment of the Lebanese political landscape. They wouldn’t be doing that if they regarded retaliation by the Hezbies as a serious threat.

Hezbollah reportedly agrees to withdraw beyond Litani River, Lebanese reports claim (31 Oct)

Basically Israel has won decisively.

bons
bons
November 1, 2024 12:21 pm

https://youtu.be/Uga94uWb0CU?si=7ywrvFiwODADLg31

An outstanding expose of Starmer’s and the Merseyside Police programmed assault on free speech and anyone who dared protest on behalf of the murdered tots.

The interview with the threatening, ranting chief plodess is Gestapo level surreal. Deeply frightening.

Surely there must be trigger point with these Stalinists.

Sadly ‘establishment’ Farage has failed to challenge the Speaker’s plainly illegal ruling against discussion in the House of the massacre. Perhaps he believes that to do so would suggest that he is associated with the thugish ordinary folks who are brazenly are demanding answers about their safety and freedom.

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
November 1, 2024 12:22 pm

I’m not a particular fan of Piers Morgan, but he’s a breath of fresh air on The Five compared to Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jnr.

Jessica is such an ardent spinner for the rotten left that she is aversion therapy, while Harold tries to sugar coat his leftist support by sucking up to Judge Jeanine something awful. His tactic is to say he agrees with some minor point before launching into la la land defence of whatever the Dems are doing.

Both Jessica and Harold are defending the indefensible. This means they are complicit in the (likely) destruction of the USA as we knew it.

Piers can have contrary opinions, very fitting in a panel show, but he is more conservative than left, and much better value for the program.

Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 12:23 pm

Autism causes people to commit terrorism?
Nice try.
Going out of your to stab multiple little girls at a Taylor Swift workshop.
What kind of ricin making person would even think of doing that?

Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 12:25 pm

Germany closes Iranian consulates.
Perhaps they will start expelling all regime supporters.
https://x.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1852062198753009789?t=Jw1V0yE1_Chu31wd1Kz6iw&s=19

johanna
johanna
November 1, 2024 12:25 pm

The mystery of why US elections are so haphazardly run is explained by the admirable Roger Franklin at Quadrant here.

Like many Australians, I could never understand why it is such a mess.

Briefly, part of the deal for creating the equivalent of our Federation was that each State was in charge of elections held in that State. If that was as far as it went, things would probably be reasonably OK.

What happened was that the States, over time, delegated responsibility for elections to a host of lesser bodies like counties, cities etc, for political reasons. It’s much easier to rig an election in a smaller jurisdiction.

The only check on the delegation is that what they do cannot be incompatible with State and Federal law and their respective Constitutions. As we have seen, implementing those checks is very difficult.

A lot of the corruption and chicanery could be remedied if the States simply took back control of elections. But, that would put a lot of political noses out of joint on both sides. Hence, the absurd situation.

Ten paws to Roger for explaining the mystery. Well worth a read for anyone wanting to understand US elections.

Rosie
Rosie
November 1, 2024 12:27 pm

Iran responding the Israeli ‘non event’ immediately after the election.
They prefer a Kamala presidency.

https://x.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1852080736871866408?t=qclqVXUB2JEUEjLt01fbNQ&s=19

Philby
Philby
November 1, 2024 12:30 pm

It appears a journo thinks we should pay pollies more perhaps to cure the corruption.jailing is a better option.
Pong it seems has done a sleasy and bought new digs in SA $3.4 million is quoted

Cassie of Sydney
November 1, 2024 12:55 pm

“It is a warning for those like Pauline Hanson.”

I ask, where’s this slag’s warnings for her numerous racist acts and words?

Where’s this slag’s warning for attending numerous celebrations of unadulterated Jew hatred on our city streets since 7 October 2023, where she, time and time again, enthusiastically shouted the genocidal cry ‘from the river to the sea Palestine will be free’? Is that not racist and a call for mass murder? I don’t recall her denouncing the actions on the Sydney Opera House on October 9.

Where’s this slag’s warning for not once condemning the savagery and butchery of 7 October 2023? In fact, as evidenced a few months ago on their ABC, she supports Hamas.

Where’s this slag’s warning for attending the funeral rally of a Hezbollah terrorist and lauding him?

Where’s this slag’s warning for being pictured, with a big cheesy smile on her fat ugly face, in front of a poster that said the world needed to kept clean of people like me? The poster had the words “keep the world clean’ and a picture of a Star of David being tossed into a rubbish bin. A picture the slag proudly uploaded onto her social media, only to take it down later, presumably after wiser counsel advised her to.

Where’s this slag’s senate censure motion against her, for her rampant unadulterated Jew hatred?

But you know what? Fatso Faruqi is laughing at us and she’s right to laugh. She’s opportunistic because the Australia of 2024 allows her to be an opportunist. The laws favour her. She’s simply using the myriad of disgraceful federal and state hate speech laws to go after and silence ordinary Australians like us here, and to merrily continue with her rampant Jew hatred, because successive Coalition governments, completely lacking in balls, did F*CK ALL to repeal/rein in these laws, and until that happens, NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 12:58 pm

I think this latest development shows how right Advance is to go after the greens.

Lysander
Lysander
November 1, 2024 1:02 pm

Axel Rudakabana

I’m sure every Cat here knows plenty of Christians who hold onto Al-Qaeda military reading materials.

And, more seriously, I have no idea how one would get a hold of such materials; surely an online purchase would be picked up or flagged.

He’s obviously been radicalised by something; and it certainly isn’t the sermon on the mount.

Miltonf
Miltonf
November 1, 2024 1:06 pm

You are dealing seriously nasty people who would ship you off to a concentration camp in two shakes of a lamb’s tail if they decide you’re a ‘class enemy’. Just look at China in the 60s.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE5p8BK5HdU Aussie politicians secretly sold out the public to a US gas corporation, costing taxpayers billions while enriching themselves and…

  2. https://youtu.be/Bo-qweh7nbQ?si=r1zMJmBWbtGHirOr steve trickler on perfect match one episode – this bird asked the contestants what song would you sing to…

  3. And think of how they vilified James Auchmuty who, like Sir Robert Menzies, believed in the (now nearly defunct) traditional…

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