In which the pond finds it hard to pick between the gutless and the useless, and settles for a good dose of hot air, and dinos duelling over a coal mine ...

(Above: a joyous Rowe to start the week, and more Rowe here).

Fortified by a Rowe - the pond always injects the visual goodness direct into the eyeball - the pond was ready and willing to begin a new week of reptile wrangling.

Oh and we finally caught up with that bout of lizard wrestling in a fun park, which just shows how many squillions a really bad movie can make in these troubled piratical times. (Any explanation, Burkie?)

So what are the reptiles up to this muserable chully murning - greetings windy Wellingtoners, try Sydney if you want real dismal bleakness - as they prise themselves off their hot rocks?

Well, first there's a little damage control required, with the usual suspects to blame - wicked Fairfaxians and greenies who should be hung from the nearest wind turbine:

Now this might require a lot of hot air on the part of Sid, seeing as how both Abbott and jolly Joe have confessed to an undying hatred, fear and loathing of wind turbines, and have pandered to the worst nonsense emanating from Senator Leyonhjelm, the anti-vacciner, anti-anthropologist of anti-wind 'science', and as the wicked Fairfaxians keep coming up with interesting stories, such as Government pulls the plug on household solar:

The Abbott government has opened up another front in its war on renewable energy by pulling the plug on investments in the most common form of alternative energy, rooftop and small-scale solar. As a storm raged over the government's directive to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to no longer back wind energy projects, it emerged that it has also put a stop to solar investments other than the largest industrial-scale projects. 
The solar industry has been left fuming by a letter to the CEFC by Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in which they direct investments in household and small-scale solar to be "excluded" from the $10 billion fund in future. 
The draft investment mandate calls for "mature and established clean energy technologies … to be excluded from the corporation's activities, including extant wind technology and household and small-scale solar".

Now any ordinary reader might think that's a good leak, and as clear and noble a statement of intent as might be found, but if so they reckon without the power of a decent sip of the kool aid:

Well played Sid, what a straight bat. What a pity you haven't been called up for Australia.

Arguably leaps forward by forcing a focus on solar.

By golly, that's reptile word-smithing at its best.

Well at least arguably ...

Of course, the wicked, deviant, devious Fairfaxians actually talked to a few solar people, and arguably they weren't so impressed with the love and enthusiasm being flung at them willy nilly:

Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes accused Tony Abbott of playing "cynical politics" after the Prime Minister insisted on Sunday that his government "supports renewables" but wants to "reduce the upward pressure on power prices". 
Mr Grimes said the CEFC had made it possible for low-income people and retirees to invest in solar and take advantage of the power bill savings that flow. 
"Tony Abbott is keeping people trapped paying higher electricity prices," Mr Grimes told Fairfax Media. 
The government tried and failed to abolish the profit-making CEFC after failing to get Senate support and its latest strike against wind and solar is expected to further scare renewable energy investors away from Australia, Labor and the Greens claim.

Well yes, but pandering to vested interests is a big part of the game, and reptiles pandering to the pandering of vested interests is an essential part of that game, since who knows when the pandering reptiles might need a little pandering of their own ....?

Meanwhile, while on environmental matters, the tone of the debate over a certain mine has reached satisfactory loon pond standards:

Hark, do you hear the loons calling each other?

But let's be fair, because at least one reptile was sympathetic to the agrarian socialists:

Hmmn, by definition, that puts Troy in the xenophobic loony camp along with Barners.

And the trouble with listening to the agrarian socialists is that Troy has to put the boot into a most beloved polly, worshipped by all decent reptiles.

And once upon a time he made made such a jolly good pie-eating companion, a sort of friendly society of pie-eaters:

But enough of The Insiders, let's get back to Troy and the illustration for his piece shows exactly who's going to cop the caning:

By golly, that illustration gives Barners a dash of the Paul Keatings, but there's no mistaking the man with his hands on the blasting box.

And so to the tale of woe and unjust and unfair treatment, and never mind that Barners is in breach of cabinet requirements and would have, in the old days, been asked to resign, or resigned, if he'd been a man of principle:

Oh dear. What a tale of woe and treachery and back-stabbing and shabbiness.

But is it news that Abbott's a bastard with an inclination to Captain's Picks? It seems so, at least to the reptiles and to Barners, and now, in classic Tamworth style, the picked-upon, long suffering Barners has snuck off to a corner of the playground, sulking, and counting the wounds and the bruises and contemplating pay-back in some distant time.

And while we're at it, let's pay out that gormless facilitator and low life, Greg Hunt:

Indeed, indeed. Hunt is gutless. But in the meantime?

Gutless or fucking useless. Take your pick ...

In the meantime, the pond just loves to see a decent dinosaur fight. If you take Barners' side, you must loathe Hunt and Abbott. And who can argue with that?

And if you take Abbott's side ... do you have a signed exemption slip explaining why you gave up therapy?

Remember, the only reason to hang around through the tedium and the ennui and the sheer dullness of the latest reptile picture - how did it make money, Burkie, in these piratical times? - is to get to the reptile on reptile fight at the climax of the show, with bonus reptile sea creature (and there's no spoilers there, if you can't see every twist coming, you need to get new glasses).

Big hat, no cattle, and still left in cabinet because you have to keep a few loons sort of in the loop so the cockies won't get too agitated ...

And so the reptiles scrabble amongst themselves, and not a reptile whisperer who can talk to the dinos anywhere in sight ...

Oh it could be a good week yet ...

So how goes the body politic? Well the pond liked this weekend summary by Reg: