Here, death cultists, have another cannibalistic wafer ...

(Above: and more Pope here).

The pond had resolved not to write about the grotesque death cult whose buildings can be found dotting the Australian landscape.

After all, having a grotesque crucifixion at the heart of its imagery is quite a worry, not to mention all the devotees who kiss and fondle the stigmata, or give themselves a good whipping or wear a cilice to simulate the suffering of the death cult's leader ...

But inevitably the pond was drawn in that direction by the reptiles of lizard Oz, fawning over one of the leading adherents of the death cult.

Here we go, here we go, take it away Oz editorialist:

Uh huh. That'd be a bit like the huge task of rebuilding after the totally useless war in 2003, and didn't that work out well ...

Now let's just note that reference to Iraqi troops and "Shia militia", the rag tag assortment of odd bods mounting the assault on Daesh.

It'll come in handy when we contemplate the reptile talk of sectarianism.

Meanwhile, do go on:

It's wondrous stuff.

Suddenly, thanks to the intervention of Australia and allies, the sectarian split between Sunni and Shia which has been motoring along since the death of the Prophet in 623 is going to be sorted - you can Greg Hunt the feud in Shia-Sunni relations.

So Iran, currently an ally and an enemy,  will take a back seat - thanks to Netanyahu taking them on single-handedly - and all's going to be well.

How about that other line?

By offering military advice and vital air support, the international community has shown its solidarity with the Iraqi cause.

So what is the Iraqi cause? Is it Sunni or Shia or secular?

And how about that other line?

Sectarian power is no basis for any enduring government.

Yes a Shia state, working with Shia militia and a still heavily Shia Iraqi government is going to put an end to sectarianism.

Well it produced a snort and a horse laugh and an unseemly request to pull the other leg.

And that's when the pond spotted another commentariat column in the lizard Oz:

So having a sectarian state, a theologically driven kingdom is fine after all ...

And look, there's little Sir Echo, the bromancer, the forelock tugger, backing up everything the editorialist said:

Enough already. When Sheridan hails something as showing strategic maturity, it's a certainty it's strategically fucked ...

How could any goose justify a military expedition on the basis that "it's the right thing to do".

As if a military expedition is like keeping your room tidy.

Well Sheridan the bromancer can ...

Phew, it's about time for a cartoon breather, thanks to David Rowe, and more Rowe here:

By golly that dandy in the back is wearing a fine array of scrambled eggs on his nice white jacket ...

Moving right along, the pond also decided to take time out to read the dog consorter. You see, Kenny is wildly excited:

Yes, there's hope. Everyone and everything has changed, and soon there will be a glorious future.

Why even Triggs bashing might take a back seat - Kenny excepted - as the new age of consensus blows its triumphant trumpet.

You see, in the past, all the problems have been the fault of the press gallery, and if you ignore the press gallery, everything will be fine:

Uh huh.

Stirring stuff, which is why the pond was stirred to laughter, or perhaps despair, hearing Brian Schmidt on the radio this morning explaining the blackmailing tactics being indulged in by the poodle.

Yes, the man who initiated the most farcical petition of all time, to save ABC jobs in South Australia from the axe wielded by the poodle and his cabinet colleagues, is at it again:

Yes, there's Chris Kenny's idea of a return to stability and Politics 101 ... in poodle action, done poodle style, and presumably approved of by the man avoiding the press gallery ...

There's plenty more at The Conversation under the header Brian Schmidt: why funding science infrastructure is essential, but the key point is this - the poodle is using bully boy destabilising blackmailing tactics to get his university package through the senate, and the only bunch to suffer are a hapless lot of scientists and their infrastructure ...

Catastrophe is if we still do not have a resolution before the 2015 budget in May. At this point it will be necessary for a wholesale winding down of the nation’s scientific infrastructure capability. 

And just like if a key infrastructure provider, such as Telstra, needed to shut down and quit providing services, the damage will be immense. This will not just be to the facilities themselves, but to the nation as a whole, through the effects on the A$30 billion of RandD spent each year and the 35,000 people which depend on the infrastructure provided.

Uh huh. It's just another stage in the death cult enthusiast's long luddite war on science.

And what are we talking about? What princely sum is involved?


This is why the Research Alliance, a group of scientific, research and university bodies, today have written an open letter calling on the prime minister Tony Abbott to honour the government’s commitment to this infrastructure program. 
Our national research infrastructure needs an urgent solution independent of the higher education reform package, and I beg the Senate and the government to find a solution. 
The cost of not doing so will dwarf the A$150 million one-off payment this year.

What? Just 150 mill? All that fuss and diddly squat for the blackmailer?

Ah well, pace the dog consorter, Schmidt's probably just looking at the world through the press gallery prism, as opposed to the rose-coloured glasses the dog fucker routinely deploys ...

Speaking of fatuous stupidity, as the pond often does, the Daily Terror had a big digital splash this day featuring EXCLUSIVE news from used car salesman jolly Joe (watch out for the banana in the diff).

It isn't an EXCLUSIVE of course but it's part of the GOOD NEWS of the intergenerational report which will produce talking points for days to come:

Yes, old buggers and buggeresses are going to have to get out and do the hard yards and save jolly Joe and the nation by working for longer. No more grey nomads, it's the glue factory for the oldies ...

How these old folk might actually manage to hang on to their jobs, or having lost their old jobs at retirement age, get new ones suited to their age and skills, is one of the greater mysteries, given the disparity in numbers between those searching for jobs, and the actual number of jobs available ...

It's a mystery up there with such death cult mysteries as transubstantiation, which is to say cannibalism  and the taste for ingesting genuine human blood and flesh in the curious form of a wafer.

Oh okay, the pond is still banging on about the Four Corners' report The Jobs Game.

There is absolutely no sign that jolly Joe and his cohorts have the first clue as to how to go about the cultural and practical transformation required to keep older folk working, or to offset employers' predilection for young, cheap labour.

Which just leaves time for a parochial joke, thanks to Cathy Wilcox:

Will the death cultists save King Street from the cars that already bedevil it?

Will the death cultists do the right thing by science, instead of behaving like a flock of religious fundamentalists?

Here, have another wafer ...