Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Goodbye to all that for the moment ...


The pond is unwell.

It might be the cumulative effect of constant exposure to the toxic sludge of the commentariat over the years.

If the pond may misquote playwright Keith Waterhouse farewelling Jeffrey Bernard at the UK Terror here, the pond was introduced at an early age to the rabid ratbag rightwing commentariat, and "from then on, I was never to look forward."

But there's a limit to the capacity for looking backwards, especially when not well. There's a simple test. If you look at the Bolter and laugh, everything's right with the world; if you look at the Bolter and cry, it might be time for a little R and R.

For the moment, this means the pond is on leave, the extent of the leave contingent on the time needed to find a cure for current ailments. Alas, the prognosis isn't good. Apparently the bile and noxious abuse is absorbed into the nervous system, and is hard to eradicate.

This has implications for the pond.

When jolly Joe goes around celebrating the new interest rate, all the pond can do is heave and sigh.

There are others around who will be able to recollect the fatuous fraud as recently as the 6th August 2013 going on to Lateline to say:

(To Joe Hockey): Joe Hockey, John Howard and Peter Costello told us for years that low interest rates were a good thing, a sign of their great economic management. You today have turned that on its head. Are you really telling Australians now that they shouldn't celebrate when interest rates are low? 
JOE HOCKEY, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, we should celebrate when interest rates are sustainably low. It was Kevin Rudd on four November 2009 that said three per cent cash rate was an emergency level. Today they've gone to 2.5 per cent. And Leigh, they're not cutting interest rates because the economy is doing well. Interest rates are being cut to 50 year lows because the economy is struggling. (here)

Yes indeed, and on and on he went, proving that he's in the business of arguing black is white, except when it's the business of proving white is black.

JOE HOCKEY: Well Leigh, you know what? You can't pay your mortgage if you haven't got a job. And the fact is we now have rising unemployment in Australia going up to 800,000 Australians unemployed. So if your argument is that the lower the interest rates the better the economy, go and ask the British or the Americans or the Europeans that have interest rates at zero how their economies are going because I tell you what, we are now beyond emergency levels. That's the definition provided by the Labor Party, not by us, and if anyone thinks that the Reserve Bank acted today because the economy is doing really well, and Labor's doing a terrific job running the economy, they'd be deluding themselves.


Well there's serious delusion, and then there's jolly Joe.

The pond knows one thing, and that's the way Sydney's housing market is currently in the grip of a serious bubble, and if there's one thing history affirms, bubbles burst and this particular bubble, cemented by the desperate attempt to lower the dollar, an attempt failing at the moment, is going to burst in a very hard way ...

But the pond is unwell, and so for the moment, certain lyrics must be obeyed:

Make believe 
That you don't see the tears 
Just let me grieve 
In private 'cause each time I see you jolly Joe 
I break down and cry 
And walk on by (don't stop) 
And walk on by (don't stop) 
And walk on by 

The pond now has to practise the art of walking on by ... which it has to be said, sometimes requires an inordinate amount of strength.

The pond has, in the past few days, almost been tempted to leave the sick bed, to express the outrage and the horror and the nausea induced by the ABC.

Oh sure, to some it might be nothing, but really, Foreign Correspondent bombarded the airwaves with this line:

... a place of stunning natural beauty and home to some of the world's most unique wildlife ... (yes, at time of writing, you could still find that trailer on the ABC's site here).

Most unique wildlife?

Why you most unique twits, you might be somebody's ABC, the kind favoured by illiterates, but you are certainly not the pond's ABC.

Sssh, be still beating heart, walk on by ...

So what will the pond say to news that the Northern Territory's bid to establish the apparatus of a fascist state is at last going to be challenged (High Court challenge to NT arrest powers).

Sssh, be still beating heart, walk on by ...

And all this before the pond even turns to contemplating the never-ending chatter machine known as the Surry Hills 'leet machine of pontificating prats ...

But there's one observable truth in all of that. You need strength to be able to confront the chattering classes in their ivory Murdochian towers, and you need lightness and a certain frivolity and a bubbling up of disbelieving hilarity ... as you'd expect when confronted by a Murdoch press trying to explain how the current interest rates are for the best in the best of all possible worlds ... and that's hard to bring to the table when you're feeling as crook as a Tamworth dog that unwisely munched on a bit of snail killer ...

So for the moment the pond is walking on by in silence, knowing that others will be walking on by laughing, gawking and admiring the enormous stupidities paraded daily for the amusement of all ...

Have fun, and with a bit of luck, the pond will be back in due course.

And so to a few Pope cartoons, since where would the pond have been without the blessings of this particular Papist? (And as always more Pope here)



45 comments:

  1. Best wishes from a long time regional reader.

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  2. Dear Dorothy, as one who is probably a similar vintage to you, I wish you all the best. I also have had a stay in one of Melbourne's finest and recovered to continue on. Keep reading because the cartoon season starts soon when Smokin Joe releases his new comic. Try to keep smiling and get well.

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  3. So Dot, these clowns are enough to make even the robustly healthy feel unwell.

    I'm not sure what I can write to mitigate the effect of your "extra dose of toxic sludge" except to wish you well.

    Ignoring the surge of bullshit that is about to emanate from clown central is all but impossible and all I can say is stay strong and perhaps read a nice book or two instead.

    Best wishes from Bill.

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  4. Gee whizz Dot.

    Only last week I was gathered with some fellows, quipping and quoting lizard crimes against common sense. "How can you read that garbage?" said one. "Easy", I replied, "I have Dot to guide me through the morass."

    Not so easy as it transpires.

    I join everyone in wishing the very best to you in the days ahead. We cannot thank you enough.

    Chookas!

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  5. Please get well soon Dot

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  6. Get well Dot. Like via collins, I too rely on your blog for some truth and clarity

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  7. So sorry that you're again unwell, DP, and this time needing some decent respite.

    I have before warned of the dangers you put yourself through in holding a torch to the Reptiles and for their cowardly echoers. It is best to have a little time away.

    It is such an important service you do in keeping the flame alive amid North Korean-type propaganda thrust upon us. It requires courage and risking health. And always with you, a sense of humor and the absurd.

    We still have some months to endure of this Abbott government abomination. There is a glimmer of hope, if Oakes is to be believed, that he will go an early election. His coup fear of Turnbull, who looks more a cream puff every day, is greater than his fear of an electoral rout.

    Since the bankers and brokers took control in the US and UK during the Reagan-Thatcher years, things have gradually become unsustainable as they attempt to siphon off peoples accumulated wealth. I'm not sure how it's all brought back to a New Deal type of fairness but it will have to occur if we are to prevent greed destroying the planet.

    So best wishes in your recovery. We need you and many like you.

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  8. You've done well, Dot'...and may I quote ..: "You're a better man than I , Gunga Din"...put the old feet up, you deserve it.

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  9. Could be worse, DP. You could have had Abbott's healing touch. ☠
    Atul Gawande's Overkill is a darn good read. Almost enough to inspire a sub to TNY.

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  10. More best wishes Pond, get well and return soon. We'll miss you.

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  11. Best Wishes for a speedy recovery DP. You will be missed.

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  12. Hi Dorothy,

    Wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

    DW

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  13. There's been a big fuss about the Four Corners story of exploitation in the fruit and vegetable picking industry. Funny how the media are slow on the take up. This has been known for many years and has been reported to Unions, Fair Work Commission, Immigration and received widespread Internet coverage.

    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/coles-woolworths-and-the-global-free-market-outsourcing-racket,7672

    This was first reported several years ago. And nothing was done.

    Where was Bob Ellis in 2013? Why have Government authorities, unions and activists done nothing?

    http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2013/04/just-what-is-happening-with-those-png-fruit-pickers.html
    activists done nothing?

    http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2013/01/pacific-pickers-in-oz-a-step-up-from-indentured-labour.html

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  14. Get well soon; hope you can draw on that Tamworth spirit!

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  15. Peter Singer is a dickhead. If an angry Gorilla was about to kill your your child, why would regard the Gorilla as 'person'? You'd shoot the bugger and save your baby.

    That's was evolution is all about. There are no personal rights for parasitic wasps, or daleks for that matter. That is a category mistake. Singer should read more Gilbert Ryle.



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  16. It looks like I will have to change my daily routine.
    Best wishes, many thanks and get well soon.

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  17. I only discovered your blog about 3 months ago and now find it impossible to have my morning coffee without a dose of your expert shooting down of the pontificating media lackeys. Thankfully I have all your past posts to go through. You have done a fantastic job of "keeping the bastards honest".Get well soon.

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  18. Best wishes, Dot

    Bob

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  19. Oh dear! Life without Loon Pond doesn't bear thinking about.
    You'll be missed. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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  20. Dearest DP, get well soon. Reptile fatigue is no laughing matter as it can sap the spirit over time and it is no laughing matter watching this great country being daily flushed down the toilet by ideological nutters day in,day out. I've not bought a Murdoch publication or product since 1974 as, even as a young bloke,I realized the possible issue of anger management if I continued to indulge.So,step back and take in the things and one's you love and all will ease.
    I've noticed just among my small circle that there is a real anger and fatigue at this current period in history where the post Neo-Con(1979...) machine has become so all pervasive that you just feel like giving up the good fight and saying fuck it all.
    As a long time Pond reader,I will just take in a bit of revision to maintain the rage and enjoy the wit and wisdom of your blog by reading back posts by respective date.
    http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/forget-it-jake.html#.VUl1_o6qqko
    http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/so-it-goes-with-conservative.html#.VUl2co6qqko
    etc.etc.
    In closing,something to give you an up. Saw this guy with the Fugitive Popes some years back.Great artist.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2h962iU1BE
    Thank you from the fool at no.15.(really sorry about the Foxtel ad,but the prick is all pervasive- non!

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  21. Miss Parker:

    Madam,

    News of your illness and consequent absence is ill news indeed for your many admirers. Your rapier wit will be greatly missed. In hope for your rapid return to rude health, I remain,

    Your humble servant,

    Fiona

    PS. Wot the others said.

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  22. Dear Dorothy,
    I am sorry to hear that you are unwell. I hope it will not be for long. Look after yourself. I look forward to your return.
    Best wishes
    Miss pp

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    1. All best wishes DP, don't know how I'll cope without my daily dip in the Pond. Get well soon and as my old Dad would say , "See you when you Bum Cack".

      Carole

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  23. Get well soon DP. Will miss your insight and humor.

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  24. All the best, Pondster.

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  25. Thanks for everything!

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  26. We all knew that your daily dosing at the lizard Oz would eventually take its toll, Dorothy. Thank you for sparing the rest of us from it for so long. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, like all the others here, I shall miss your heroic humour.

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  27. What else is left to say? We all love you Dorothy! We all hope for a speedy recovery, but make sure you get yourself fit and healthy first, ok? Your blog provides hours of fun and insight, making me laugh until I too realize I'm crying. Will miss you dearly. Get well soon <3

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  28. Good luck and get well soon DP!

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  29. Get well soon DP. The pond has been a constant source of amazement, part of my morning, a light shining through idiocy and hypocrisy.

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  30. What the others said!

    Always a must read.

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  31. Looking back, looking in on the pond has been a glorious ride to date. Dorothy, rest, recover, and roll on in good time the day when a super lucid pond energetically bites dogs in such superb style again. Take care, be well.

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  32. So very well said by so many above. Please take care, DP; you are already missed, but your health is more important, so mustn't be selfish... :)
    Thanks for all the wonderfulness, and my fingers and toes are crossed that there will be more of it soon.
    Mish xxoo

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  33. All the best. Your efforts are much appreciated.

    Regional reader.

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  34. The ferry captain is crook? I guess we will have to wait here skipping stones across the pond until she returns.

    Get well soon, Dorothy.

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  35. Greater love hath no woman than this: to read the Murdochs so we don't have to.
    A speedy recovery my dear.

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    Replies
    1. Beautiful. Wish I'd wrote that. +10

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  36. For you Dot, I sincerely hope the illness is short, but take all the time you need to repair.

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  37. Dear Dorothy, from a long-time reader and a long-time fan (one of the first things I did on holiday in China a couple of years back when finally getting internet access was catch up on your blog!), I hope you get well soon. Thank you for absorbing the bile so we don't have to :) DP (both my actual initials, and your pseudonymous ones)

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  38. So what now?

    I have to read all that shit for myself?

    Not likely!

    Please take time to recover but bear in mind there are people who rely on you to keep them (us) sane.

    All the best ;)

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  39. "42"

    Gotcha. But which one?

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  40. From jaycee..: You're confused, Dot'...like many of us, you see yourself as the sufferer of an illness brought on by the filth out there..again..you're wrong..you are not sick..; THEY ARE!..unfortunately, the Loons have taken over the asylum and now the roles of "doctor / patient" have been reversed and the deranged are writing the commentary and governing the country..:
    "Maurice Newman says the United Nations is behind the scam of "climate change" so it can end democracy..." I wont go any further..down that way lies true madness!...they are mad..they are mad ..they are insane!

    Dorothy, whether your "illness" be physical, mental or organic, there is nothing a good feet-up and Brasillian toe massage can't fix!...give it a few days and you'll be back..your sanity is sorely needed!

    jaycee.

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