Friday, October 16, 2015

In which Ukker Dukker churtles at the kuwus ... or some such garbled dismantling of the special relationship with the fush and chuppers ...

It's all been jolly good fun ... and perhaps Pope has the best of it (and more Pope here) ...


Rowe also lined up for another shot (and more Rowe here).


And we all know the impression that the Shortenistas wanted to leave behind ...


Thankfully one of the benefits of the pond being dedicated to the right wing commentariat is that it doesn't have to spend much time at all contemplating the enormous tactical and strategic stupidity of Bill Shorten or Sam the man.

It can safely leave that to better minds, as with Lenore Taylor and her piece Labor's shadow boxing with Turnbull distracts from real transparency fight, which covers inter alia the incredible incompetence of the Labor party in the recent matter of Senate proceedings ...

Will the Labor party ever realise that they've got a dud on their hands in Shorten?

Probably not, but thankfully that's not the pond's beat, though it is possible to marvel at this insouciant piece of cheek:


Remember, young Fauntleroy, show absolutely no shame, remember nothing of your past, and hope that you don't get caught up in an ICAC inquiry, and foreswear any knowledge of Swiss bank accounts, and sssh, no mention of the Offset Alpine fire, and instead be as bold as brass, and you too can lecture the Earl and the world on how leaders should clean up their acts ... 

Oh, but it helps to hand out pegs so everyone can put them on their noses, or on their lips to stop their snorting at the marvel and the wonder of it all ...

The reptile beat also lets the pond off the hook for not paying any meaningful attention to the second outing of The Verdict. They tried to tidy the wretched thing up, but it was like watching an undertaker apply lipstick to a corpse - it's hard to see how a show could make a come-back from a first outing which saw ratings of 522,000 viewers, taken to the cleaners by the likes of Ten's Gogglebox with 559,000.

The numbers will be out today, but who cares. The decision to go with a panel of dead weights, losers and tossers ensues a continuity of stupidity, with Mark "you're an animal" Latham, and Anne "you'll be sent to the naughty corner" Henderson at the head of the infants class, though the obligatory boofhead footballer did his valiant best to match them in their dropkick boofheadedness ... talk about a man with a capacity to show off his screw-loose torpedo punt ...

The more they try to produce discipline in and cull insights from, this rude crowd of rowdy ruffians, the more the show loses its one guaranteed selling point ... watching a train wreck unfold.

They should have tried a different format than Beauty and the Beast, with Footy Club voting finale ... and allowed themselves a little more flexibility in the matter of panellists. Latham is no longer a novelty, he's just a very peculiar man, and in seeking to fossick out the truth behind Latham's bizarre twittering, all Karl confirmed is that one of the featured panellists is a very strange, mumbling and dissembling man ...

No, the pond is better off sticking to the tried and trusted world of the reliably weird ... the reptiles in Murdoch la la land ...

It being Friday, what better fun than to see Akker Dakker showing his sublime diplomatic skills with the Kiwis?


Now the pond has spoken sharply to the reptiles before about putting up a paywall at a front door, and leaving the back door of the blogs unlocked, so that anyone might stroll in and view what seems so prized and valuable at the front door, but turns out to be completely valueless and a waste of precious time at the rear end (talk about an ass's arse).

It turns out that the addle-brained Akker Dakker, pompous preening owl of the remove, has zero by way of diplomatic skills, though the pond was startled to realise that it might have been expecting some ... which says more about the delusions of the pond than the reality of the fat owl of the remove ...


Now forget the window dressing of the factoids in relation to the Ark Royal. That's just the senile ramblings of an old goat wandering down memory lane, filled with the delusion that he must inform a young readership, as if Akker Dakker has a readership with an average angry white male age of less than 79.

No, the real point is Akker Dakker's fond quoting of Nifty Wran and his anecdotal abuse of the useless piggy, in a way which seems completely at odds with the point that Akker Dakker was seeking to make earlier piece about the kiwi rage all being the business of ratbag civil rights lawyers.

In reality, while there are human rights involved, there are also simple and expedient and practical matters concerning relationships with other countries. It's all very well to deport criminals, but what, for example, if it's a criminal that turned up in Australia when 27 days old. What happens when you send such a criminal back to a country where they don't speak the language?

Well there are any number of examples - such as the SBS story here - and in the end it's attempt, for petty purposes, to break the old rule which is akin to the golden shopkeeper's rule, "you break it, you bought it."

In this case that can be varied to, "you brought them up, you live with the result of your work".

The notion that you can simply ship recalcitrants back to country of origin with no questions asked and no political fall-out and believe no one will notice the casual cruelties and stupidities involved in such a simplistic policy is one of the greater follies of the 'laura norder' crowd, and the current federal government ...

While the lawyers are in there criticising, it is the mutton Dutton that has cranked up the pace of this policy, and in the process managed to get the kiwis alienated and agitated.

It might have helped Akker Dakker to have read the debriefing here, which explains that it was all thanks to that fine member of Amnesty, the crud Ruddock, cranking up the machine, and well within the lifetime of the Ark Royal:

Australia’s system of mandatory deportation became even tougher in 1998 when Phillip Ruddock got amendments to the Migration Act through parliament called the ‘Strengthening of Provisions relating to Character and Conduct’. These amendments gave the Immigration Minister and Department greater powers to deport people by cancelling their visas on grounds of criminal record, criminal association or being a threat to national security — known together as the character test. Since these amendments were promulgated in 1999, immigration ministers and officials have used their new powers aggressively as part of the Coalition government’s determination to be tough on border control, crime and terrorism. They have used the character test to cancel hundreds of visas, turning the individuals concerned into unlawful non-citizens who must be detained and deported. Two categories of people have been hit particularly hard.

Well you can read more at the link, but it's enough to say that somehow this government thinks it can export its problems, without let or hindrance, and without diplomatic, social and personal consequences ....

It's come to a pretty pass when the likes of Harold Holt sounds more compassionate and intelligent and aware of the consequences than Akker Dakker and the current federal government ... but it's part of the island fortress mentality that's been cultivated in recent years ...

Well Donne had a poem about it:

No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man, or even every woman
is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; 
even if a Clod as thick as Akker Dakker bee washed away by the Sea, 
the Dinkum land of dummies is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as 
well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine 
owne were; any mans or even womans easy deportation diminishes me, 
because I am involved in Mankinde or even Womankinde; 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

Oh well, if it tolls for Akker Dakker or The Verdict, perhaps the pond could make an exception.

And so to the Twitterati, because it irritates the reptiles so ...


And hasn't the ghost of the eminent one lingered on like Banquo?



So many noble artists toiling away unrecognised on the full to overflowing intertubes ...


27 comments:

  1. Poor Toady. The cestode we mistook for his tongue must be looking for another host.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your recollection of Piggy Muldoon took me back to a famous story about him in the 70s. Story was, he boarded a bus one night carrying a duck. A drunk shouted out,
    "You can't bring that animal on here!"
    Piggy replied, "Oh yes I can. I've checked the regulations and there's nothing against bring a on a bus."
    The drunk responded, "I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the duck!"

    I liked it so much that a generation later, when the Waterfront Union Busting was on, I reworked the same gag with Peter Reith and Melbourne trams.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dot, why are the antics of Bill and Sam dismissed as 'distracting from the real ... fight', whereas Abbott doing much the same was lauded by most (Taylor included) as 'brilliant strategy'?

    Sure, Shorten's a dud, but it mystifies me as to why it's apparent in him, but was never considered in Abbott.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gra-Gra must be very pleased that Rene Rivkin is no longer around to argue the toss.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not only that, Ekker-Dekker can use 'practise' as a noun - spectacular!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Another Akker error -

    The shortest distance between Australia and New Zealand is 1491 km. This is between Resolution Island in New Zealand's Fiordland to Tasman Island, Tasmania.

    So Tassie is "the nearest Australian state", not NSW.

    I could go on all day, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The fawning corporate media are squealing like stuck pigs over the Cayman Island attacks because they know it's a brilliant political strategy. Labor is attacking the Government's only strong point (Malcolm's spurious popularity) and sticking in the public mind that he's got lots of moola stashed away in a tax haven. That's the bullet-point. Nothing else matters. The squealing just reinforces that.
    Well done Sam Dastyari. The libs have thrown $80 million of mud at Shorten, and missed. You spent nothing and got a bulls-eye.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes.

      "Politics of envy", oh what a come back it is, they think. And they go "nyah nyah nyah nyha nyah." What is that anyway? A supposed deadly RC religious nut's put down, ffs.

      Delete
    2. I'm unsure why Shortie's being pilloried.

      His critics have been conned by Merde-och's hateful toadies, I think. Why is he so bad? Is it his "zingers"? He's actually pulled that ALP rabble into a cohesive unit. I reckon the press has him as wrong (in the opposite sense) as they had Abbott wrong.

      Maybe Dot (hardly his greatest fan) can explain?
      Cheers,
      Bil

      Delete
    3. I'm not that upset with Shorten; he may not look like a leader but I don't think we need no stinkin' leader. How about a real team Oz? I think Labor with Shorten as an 'unpopular' leader could be that sort of government.

      Delete
  8. No, no, DP, it's only living proof of the famous adage: First, get a good job (barrister will do, if not, then internet entrepreneur, then merchant banker); next, get a house (or, a salubrious waterfront mansion and a prime beef property); then, you can do what you bloody-well like with the cash.
    Despite all that, Labor would have been better off reading Hillary Clinton's Take on Banks Won't Hold Up for tips on activities of the voracious vampire squid.
    Hillary, like her close advisor Barney Frank, has been pushing an idea that banks aren't at the root of any financial instability problem. Last night, she pointed a finger instead at "shadow banking," non-bank actors like AIG, and a dead investment bank in Lehman Brothers. (Interesting she didn't mention a still-viable investment bank like Goldman, Sachs, which has hosted her expensive speaking engagements.)
    Turnbull ought to be following the POTUS race very closely, and renewing old friendships at GS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not too sure about the dietary proclivities of that little nest egg, either.

      Delete
    2. Sorry UC, but through extended family ties, the pond has too much knowledge of the Shortenista. He's a loser and a dropkick, an ambitious man who doesn't understand the nature of his ambition, how to control it and use it. He used short cuts to get to power, and now thanks to the poison pill of the party structure left by the embittered Chairman Rudd, the Labor party is stuck with him ... and the more the faithful rail at Turnbull for his wealth the more they will miss the mark.

      The pond is emblematic in all this. Each week, in lieu of Ozemail, or decent broadband, we take out a business plan. The business plan at best has delivered forty bucks, but should it ever come home, we'll be sticking the result in a Swiss bank account, in best Gra Gra style ... and there's the rub. The Labor party has just as many rorts and money grubbing routines as the rich Liberals, just not as grandiose or as stylish ...

      Delete
    3. Well, Dorothy, if you don't vote Labor, you are not going to get decent broadband - and won't deserve it. Tough.

      Delete
    4. So, Dorothy, we get your bitchy family hatred of Bill Shorten expressed as an objective view on your blog. That's worse than any crap you get in the Australian - serious. Wouldn't it be better to say nothing.

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. Just in - snipped, via GetUp! Today, 3:06PM:

      "The wealthy and powerful just got their way in the Senate, without even needing a proper vote.

      The Turnbull Government just passed a law to hide the tax secrets of major private companies, owned by the likes of Gina Rinehart and James Packer.

      What's worse, it passed without a formal vote, because not enough Labor, Greens and crossbench senators were even in the room (did you know that could even happen?!). It's a sneaky move from the Coalition, and poor form from the rest for dropping the ball so badly. "

      Delete
    2. Yes, Anon, and there's the real stupidity of Bill Shorten and his strategists, and why Lenore Taylor's piece was so much to the point. You have to be astonishingly inept to manage this sort of own goal ...

      Delete
  10. Didn't Piggy Muldoon make the famous comment that he'd like to deport naughty Australians back across the ditch as this would raise the average IQ of both countries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes he did, Anon, but it was in relation to NZ migration, not naughty Australians. Same point, though.

      Delete
  11. From the Counterpunch article:

    "In 1990, the American automakers brought in $36 billion in revenue altogether, and employed over one million workers, compared to Apple, Facebook, and Google today, which together bring in more than one trillion dollars in revenue, yet employee only 137,000 workers."

    That's a joke right? The total revenue for those three companies adds up to nothing like one trillion dollars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (in reply to: "There but for the grace of God goes me.")

      Delete
  12. Here the rain never finishes: exclusive CIA torture report from the ACLU | Guardian Docs (8min26sec.YouTube. Published Oct 13, 2015.)
    "Survivors of Central Intelligence Agency torture are sueing the contractor psychologists who designed one of the most infamous programs of the post-9/11 era. Salim, one of the three ex-detainees in the suit, is a Tanzanian fisherman who says that flashbacks from his ordeal in CIA custody are a permanent part of his life." Selligman, US Psych Assoc head honcho for many years is mentioned there, advisor to the US Army, CIA, a PNACer foundation trilogy heavy, devisor of resilien/torture: kinda Asimov Mule come SSith Lord.

    Saying No to Torture: A Gallery of US Heroes
    As he prepared the case against Slahi in 2003, however, he began to worry about the "interrogation" techniques used on his future defendant and at Guantánamo more generally. As Larry Siems, the book's editor, writes in the introduction,"[Couch] had caught a glimpse, on his first visit to the base, of another prisoner shackled to the floor in an empty interrogation booth, rocking back and forth as a strobe light flashed and heavy metal blared." He recognized the technique; he'd experienced it himself when "as a Marine pilot, he had endured a week of such techniques in a program that prepares U.S. airmen for the experience of capture and torture." (Couch's training was most likely part of the U.S. military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, or SERE, program, which some have called a "torture school.")

    Martin Seligman - Sourcewatch

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now the LNP is dishing it out, LNPsych science, to dole bludgers, bringing it to our school kids, work places, Manus, Nauru, and more nasty torture dodgy research labs - all on the Australian taxpayers' cash:

      Nasty Major Can't Do Newman's Qld Chief Scientist Dr Garrett, a heavy metallurgist, said of Esher House (VIA): "profound".

      However, in 2011 at a cane-farming town in rural Queensland, Australia, a new model was being piloted by Esher House Pty Ltd:


      The model had three cornerstones:
      1.Assessing whether the client truly wanted to/believed that they could gain employment.
      2.Identifying and embedding Strengths through the VIA Me character Strengths survey.
      3.Building the unemployed clients’ mental toughness – their Resilience.


      ( Note there: US Army; "And for Government, the public-purse benefits of the “ARC & APP” model are irresistible, freeing $hundreds of millions for expenditure on more proactive, strengths-based policies" (cue: strength - STRENGTH - STRONG POLICIES - STRONG CHOICES - A STRONG PLAN : QLD LNP); note there also: “From a Welfare State to a Wellbeing State” (Cue Moorice Newman on the LNP project being "unwinding the welfare state". That statement examined here )

      Delete
    2. The Gap State High School Newsletter, Deputy Principal’s Column: The theme for this year’s Mount Coot-tha Cluster professional development program is Positivity, Creativity and Design. (see March 7th, 2014; newsletter2014_6; 907 KB)

      Dr Garrett spoke about how trends, patterns of economic, social or environmental activities change the way people live in the future, and the science and technology they will demand. It certainly was a thought provoking and insightful presentation in understanding the importance of science, research and innovation in the state's future economic, social and environmental wellbeing. --- It is also with much anticipation we also look forward to next week’s session on Positive Psychology by Justin Robinson from Geelong Grammar School who is the Head of Positive Education.

      "Resilience training"? Yeah, sure. It's rather a "money making" fancy from the dark side

      It's here. It's huge. It's hidden. It's Spawn of Seligman.

      Delete
  13. Unbelievably proud of Greg's habitat offset efforts, today, and in futurity. Well done, Greg & Co!

    ReplyDelete
  14. JOE: You say we have to come back tomorrow?
    TONY: Yes.
    JOE: Then we can bring a good bit of rope.
    TONY: Yes.
    Silence.
    JOE: Tone?
    TONY: Yes.
    JOE: I can't go on like this.
    TONY: That's what you think.
    JOE: If we parted? That might be better for us.
    TONY: We'll hang ourselves tomorrow. (Pause.) Unless Rupert comes.

    ReplyDelete

Comments older than two days are moderated and there will be a delay in publishing them.