Sunday, October 18, 2020

In which the pond's Sunday meditation turns into Gladys day ...

 

 

Yesterday the pond declared a Donald day, and today, with great regret, the pond must call for a Gladys day ...

It isn't the pond's fault, the pond only follows in the footsteps of foolish reptiles, but by golly, it results in some hard yards. 

Nobody outside of NSW knows much about, or cares muchly, about Gladys, and who can blame them, especially when it comes to this storm in a fornicating teacup, but the reptiles have lathered themselves into a frenzy, because ... sex ... corruption ... politics ...

There are two key strands in all the jibber jabber that will go on down below ... (a) it's all ICAC's fault that Gladys fucked a rogue politician, they keep on doing it to saintly Liberal premiers, and (b) why hasn't comrade Dan been sacked yet, it's really all his fault?

It's the art of reptile distraction and diversion writ large, but if only they'd kept it short. 

Instead the pond has to build slowly to the Everest of reptile despair, beginning with a small bite of the mushroom to take us into Polonial wonderland ...

 


 

Polonius had never heard of him? She was fucking a loser, a deadbeat, unknown to Polonius? Well that's probably a sackable offence, right there ...

 


 

Indeed, indeed, but what a fine flogger of cancer sticks and coffin nails he made ... by golly he was a devotee of killing people in order to make a killing ... and he made sure that sports helped in the killing ...

But stay, see how Polonius neatly shifts the blame to ICAC? You've been doing it all day, ref, all year, all decades, you blind, or what? 

Sheesh, the pond already deeply bored, and turning to ancient cancer stick times, while Polonius still rambles on ... and gets stuck into the plonk ...


 

 

Well there you have it, it's all ICAC's fault that Gladys lay down with a dog, and surprisingly ended up with a few fleas in her ears ...

Now can we have the next reptile to make a meal out of Gladys' day ... come on down, Dame Slap ...

 


Given that Dame Slap is determined to make Gladys stand firm, why do the reptiles insist on showing her at the top of each piece looking like she's about to slash her wrists, or at least burst into tears? 

Look at the snap of Gladys atop the Polonial piece, look at Gladys under the beaming Dame Slap. She looks like she's just been on a visit to a pet cemetery and reeled out shell-shocked, grief-stricken at the loss of her pet Wagga poodle ...



The pond was almost reduced to tears at Dame Slap's celebration of Gladys, but once again, the reptiles couldn't resist showing her in a world of torment and pain, or at least migraine, with furrowed brow ... but at least once we get past that snap of her and her handsome suitor, we can move on to (b) and wondering why at a minimum chairman Dan hasn't been arrested, or better still, unceremoniously shot ...



Yes, yes, but this is a soap, that rogue comrade Dan remains wild and free, and we must have more of the sufferings of Gladys ...


 

That's more like it, that's what the pond was wanting, and even if it's a cartoon free day, what about a bit of art?




And so to the final Dame Slap gobbet, and mercifully, it's short ...



 

Yes, we can never have enough cancer stick salesmen in state politics ... or rogues from Wagga Wagga, so that they might tempt women, and then the blame allocated to ICAC, journalists and comrade Dan ...

And now the pond promised that Gladys' day would produce monumental, inhumane suffering, and those few who haven't already dropped off the twig, will surely do so now ...

 

 



 

Yes, it's nattering "Ned" at his most portentous and boring, his most solemn and tedious, an extended impression of the sort of bore you might meet at a party, and don't know how to escape, and so must drink heavily, and wake up the next morning wondering why you were an idiot ...

Because it's so long, the pond will keep comments to a minimum, though the pond must again remark on the way the reptiles insist on portraying Gladys, whether in snaps or cartoon form ... this time being compared to a monkey evading reality ...

And with that in mind, now let the pond's version of the hunger games begin ... because soon "Ned" will have readers dropping like flies, as if President Coriolanus was at the keyboard ...


 

Aha, don't be fooled, that was just a short intro, so that "Ned" might establish that Gladys's predicament is really all comrade Dan's fault ... especially as the reptiles glumly reported this weekend that the polls have turned in favour of that dreadful Queensland woman, so it can't be her fault ... not this week at least, she was last week's villain and the cause of all Gladys's sufferings back then ...

 


 

Oh dear, did "Ned" just admit that it wasn't entirely comrade Dan's fault? Best to get on with that other defence, that it's all ICAC's fault, what with their persecuting the cancer stick man and O'Farrell for a bottle of plonk, when all he had to say was "I can't recall", but was too dumb a politician to recall that he should have been unable to recall ...



 

 

Yes, yes, and so on and so forth ... but look, look at the way the reptiles have chosen to show Gladys yet again ... a fallen woman, riven with guilt, eyes downcast, a handmaiden or complimentary woman worthy of a Barrett ...

Why soon enough, after she's done all her confessing, she'll be out in the church with a whole set of rosary beads to recite ... and even then the pond isn't sure if the blood of the lamb will wash her clean ...

 



 

Oh what a cheap rhetorical trick, and how tedious is this old fogey down from the attic. We already know the answer, Dame Slap has told us what to think, and yet still he persists with his idle questions. Don't give yourself portentous, ponderous airs, "Ned". Do you think that the pond can read such stuff all day? Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs ...




 

Thank the long absent lord "Ned" gave up on ICAC, and switched to blaming comrade Dan ... that'll keep him going for a gobbet or two ...



Yes, yes, if only we had Boris running the show, what a whiz that virus would have been ...




 

But back to "Ned", sublimely unaware of what's happening right at this minute in other parts of the world, for that final gobbet, and shush, please, no cheering in the stands, only polite hand-clapping ...


 

The existential question posed by "Ned" is why does the pond bother ... but such was the pond's insatiable appetite that it decided to break the golden rule of no more than three reptiles, by turning to the Angelic one for a summary of the day's proceedings ...



The Angelic one at least has the virtue of brevity, and she started in promising style. She's been graced with a shot of comrade Dan at his most bemused, quizzical, confused, and questioning ... and the Angelic one has questions too ...

 

 


What on earth is happening? Has the Angelic one gone mad? What is this talk of the Ruby Princess? What is this talk of the libertarian right? What is this blather about comrade Dan being the right wing bête noir and ideological overkill?

Didn't she suffer through all of the above, as pond just did? What next, she'll imagine she's not a reptile at all, and scribble furiously about the "ideologically committed commentariat"? Has she forgotten she's a Murdochian, hitched to a lifer Murdochian of the most partisan kind? Perhaps a bit of both siderism is her only way to redemption ...



Health? Health!? What's wrong with this woman? Everyone knows it's better to die for the economy, Killer Creighton tells us every day, and so does Miranda the Devine ... it's a reptile thing ...

Never mind, please allow the pond to finish with another portrait of Gladys, with the immortal Rowe catching the reptile zeitgeist, and as always, with more Rowe here ...





14 comments:

  1. "What on earth is happening? Has the Angelic one gone mad?"

    Like you DP, I am simply stunned. First the herpetarium hires Katrina Grace and keeps her on and contributing and now Angelic Angy has gone beresk ! Yes, "ideologically committed commentariat" indeed ... has Angy somehow decided that she just can't support an "evangelical" Trump and will therefore go with that good Catholic boy Joe Biden ?

    And what's this bit about The Spectator: "...formerly a journal of well-written conservative opinion and culture, which has adopted a herd immunity or "let it rip" school of thought about the pandemic."

    And then, both siderism or no, how about this: "The Ideological partisanship intruding into the commentary on the pandemic in this country is as much a handy veil to camouflage the failures of Berejiklian's government as it is a stick to bash up Andrews' government."

    Oh wau is all I can say, just oh wau ! So you say, DP "Health? Health!? What's wrong with this woman? Everyone knows it's better to die for the economy..." And so it is, DP, so it is; even us vulnerable oldies know that ! But maybe a good mum with 9 kids has a different take from Killer Creighton. I just can't imagine why.

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  2. What - No elections in the ACT and NZ? Drumpf didn't lose a debate against himself? What about the KRudd petition sitting at 314,000 signatures and increasing at about 1,000 per hour?

    No, there is only Chairman Dan's bungled response. Victorians would be so much better off if the state was run by - - - errr - whatshisname.

    Here's the Chairman dealing with Peta Credlin

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2020/oct/15/simply-not-correct-daniel-andrews-and-peta-credlin-continue-press-conference-sparring-video

    Seeing her at a presser must be like discovering you have walked dog excrement into the house.

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    1. Danny Andrews: "I'm not going to stand here and have things put to me in an attempt to perhaps have them put to me so often that they become the truth."

      Oh way too late, Danny boy, way too late. The whole reptile world believes them already.

      Remember this:
      "But there is one big drawback to fact-checking and lie-correcting. The more often a lie is repeated, even in the context of debunking it, the more believable it becomes. Familiarity provides the impression of truth. Furthermore, false statements, even when we know they are false, influence our emotional response to people and events."
      https://medium.com/berkman-klein-center/how-to-refute-a-lie-bb315d3b93fc

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  3. Assume - Ass U Me

    So, according to Slappy; "Berejiklian says she assumed that Maguire had made all the necessary disclosures ..." Couldn't be bothered to look up the register just to check that somebody she'd had to sack from parliament and from the Libs party had done the right thing.

    So ok, it's fine for a lovelorn premier not to validate her assumptions, then.

    But for Andrews et al, well: it really, honestly looks to me that since nobody had specifically stated otherwise at the time, it was just assumed that private security would look after the quarantine hotels. Oops, ass u me again. You see, I reckon that if nobody had actually said, aloud and audible, that the cops or the ADF were going to secure the hotels, then it would just have been assumed by all and sundry that private security would be doing it.

    So once again, what we really should be finding out is by whom, and why, was that incapable bunch hired for the job. Somebody would have had to give an order of some kind - phone, email, print - to that firm to at least let them know where to secure and under what circumstances. Now why is nobody asking who that was and what was contained in the order ?

    But otherwise, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, right ? As for Andrews, so also for Gladys ?

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    1. Oh, and pardon my absent-mindedness, but governments frequently issue 'period contracts' with goods and services providers in which the parameters of a contract are decided and issued and the government can call on the contract partner(s) for goods or services at any time. Only a notification is required, the 'contract' having already been issued.

      If, perchance, the Vic Gov had a 'period' style contract with one, or more, security firms, that would reinforce the assumption that one of those firms would be brought in. Later on, I might see if I can find out unless there's anybody who already knows.

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    2. I know nothing of ‘period contracts’ GB, but it piqued my curiosity as the whole affair seems to be more about power politics than public health. A bit like the reptiles constantly bagging Labor States and praising Liberal states. All very messy.....considering you would expect a bit of bipartisanship when dealing with a pandemic. The fact is, nonetheless, that when you see the state of second waves overseas, Victoria seems to have possibly dodged a bullet. If you can be bothered and wish to be non the wiser, feel free.:)) CA.

      https://www.quarantineinquiry.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-

      09/Exhibit%20HQI0186a_RP%20First%20witness%20statement%20of%20Ms%20Kym%20Peake.pdf

      https://www.scribd.com/document/479298736/Unified-Security-Group-submission

      This link has varied submissions. More stubbies than you can poke a stick at. The actual contracts will be quite crucial, regardless.

      P.S. Liked the Sondheim link/lyrics.



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    3. “But otherwise, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, right ? As for Andrews, so also for Gladys ?”
      Can’t disagree with that GB......and having watched a fair bit of the hearings, the fact that the reptiles seem very keen to portray Gladys as a poor hapless .....and ‘very private’ victim of a cad seems a bit of a stretch.
      And all those forlorn photos just compound the incredulity.
      Gladys is a very intelligent and accomplished long term politician and not some poor love struck patsy, yet the Murdoch press would have us believe that she is just a victim who did the right thing by everyone in sacking McGuire....even though she maintained the relationship for some time after that event.
      Hmmm......and my left leg plays jingle bells if you pull it.
      CA.



      https://youtu.be/8SGVRcJARxQ

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    4. 63 pages and 38 pages (for the first one presented) respectively, CA. That takes a lot of "getting bothered" over, but I will try to find the time to at least have a scan through them. Yes, I do believe we dodged not just a bullet, but maybe a whole machine gun's worth - despite repeated attempts by SloMo and minions, the Vic Libs and the reptile press to push us into mass suicide.

      I have never worked for a State government, CA, but I have worked for, and with (as a consultant) the Commonwealth Government, including the Dept of Health and so I have some idea of just how messy and unstructured large Public Service institutions can be.

      The 'period contract' is one of those things where large organisations try to simplify things a bit for themselves. So, for instance, a PubServe department at any level doesn't want to have to issue a tender and contract comparison study every time they want to buy a dozen biros, or even a dozen laptops, so they organise a contract with one or more suppliers so that, over a period of time, the department can 'draw down' on the contracted goods or services at agreed prices and conditions (eg quality, delivery, servicing if appropriate etc.). It's quite possible that the Vic PubServe has arranged a security 'period contract' at some stage and that was why the security services could be arranged at such short notice - which would have precluded a 'competitive evaluation process' anyway.

      Glad you liked the Sondheim. I'm not alone in thinking his stuff is great.

      Was it for redemption?
      Was it for revenge?
      Was it for the bottle?
      Was it for the ledge?
      Was it for the thrill of pushing my hope to the edge?


      Hmmm. Otherwise, very appropriate, CA :-) Though I'm still not quite sure that Gladys isn't "some poor love struck patsy" at heart. Or at least seriously ambiguous and ambivalent.

      Do you issue Christmas recordings of your left leg's bells ?

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    5. It is a bit of bothered for sure. The fact appears to be that there was a very small time frame involved in getting all hands on deck and on the same page, although I also only had a cursory read.

      The trouble with pandemics is that people are often very selfish or simply don’t give a fuck.
      I have a relative who took the wife and daughter to Shepparton (twice) a while back, simply to see family and do a bit of shopping. No idea how they got through the road checks but I do know it was one of those moral dilemmas. Do you lag on family for being irresponsible and selfish or not...... I chose the latter but will never view them in the same light. Cheers,CA.

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    6. P.S. Off to finally see the new grandson, who we haven’t see for what feels like forever. He is now over 6 months old and have only seen him about 7 times....months ago. Also.... get to finally pick up my book.:))
      CA.

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    7. Ah, some interesting reading coming your way then. And I sincerely hope that the grand-offsprung comes up to scratch. :-)

      I've scanned through the first reference you linked to - WITNESS STATEMENT OF KYM LEE-ANNE PEAKE - and checked a few other web posts and as far as I can see, the Vic Gov. didn't have a period contract going, but it had the next best thing: a "preferred services panel" - ie, a list of supposedly pre-validated suppliers that it doesn't have to have a full-scale 'competitive evaluation process' in order to be able to sign an 'as required' services contract.

      There was just one small problem: Unified Security which was contracted for secirity at Rydges, isn't on the security services panel though MSS, contracted for Stamford Plaza is; however quarantine issues arose at both places.

      What seems to be the issue is that, unlike NSW, Victoria allowed the security prime contractors - notably Unified - to subcontract security duty to people apparently hired via WhatsApp. So in her statement, Kym Peake noted that:
      "234.3. By the next day [13 May 2020], the head security contractor [Unified Security] had stood down the entire sub-contracted security team at the hotel, and had replaced them with their own security personnel, brought from locations other than the Rydges".

      So there we are. A couple of readable posts:
      https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/25/victoria-may-be-able-to-pursue-security-company-for-cost-of-hotel-quarantine-failures
      https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/look-to-management-not-guards-for-fault-hotel-security-firm-20200810-p55kb4

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    8. And just to maybe round it out: because this was all done in a very great hurry, I can (based on personal experience) imagine a meeting of the 'quarantine team' discussing and sorting out a number of pressing issues and somewhere right towards the end one of the bright young things says: "Ok, so I better bring in the security firms" and gets a curt yes from someone and that was the full extent of the security decision making.

      And note, in case it somehow slips through, that the difference with NSW wasn't whether private security providers were used - they were used in NSW too - but whether the security prime contractor(s) were allowed to "recruit" individual sub-contractors. In NSW no, in Victoria, yes - though I haven't yet encountered that confirmed for MSS which also had quarantine failures.

      But in my own career, I was quite often, in my earlier days, a single person subcontractor to a main firm contracted to produce some particular piece if work.

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  4. Firstly, thanks for links which will confirm a lawyers picnic, sooner or later. I guess the old saying of even the best laid plans can go astray is a truism ....particularly when dealing with a fast escalating pandemic scenario. Between so many Departmental bureaucrats across both Fed.and State jurisdictions as well as a whole bunch of sub contracting as well, it was possibly an accident waiting to happen.

    “And just to maybe round it out: because this was all done in a very great hurry, I can (based on personal experience) imagine a meeting of the 'quarantine team' discussing and sorting out a number of pressing issues and somewhere right towards the end one of the bright young things says: "Ok, so I better bring in the security firms" and gets a curt yes from someone and that was the full extent of the security decision making.”

    Probably as good an explanation as we’ve heard from anyone to date....:))
    Reading CCP Ashton’s brief, one can reasonably come to your analysis.,
    The thing that intrigues me is how the Feds Covid Commission....and Border Force have so neatly distanced themselves from the whole affair.
    A bit like today at Senate hearings today re. Kiwi arrivals.....as soon as they leave the airport they are no longer our responsibility. Go talk to Dan and the other Premiers.
    That said, the sub contracting is going to be the issue, so between the political and media outrages, it will still be a lawyers picnic.
    Regards our not so little Grandson, he is a little hoot. Just over 6 months old, already sporting 4 teeth with another 4 probably due by next week and as happy as a lark. Has already learnt how to clap hands on request which is hilarious.
    Absolutely takes after his mum, who was also a bright little button right from the get go. Nanna was as happy as one could imagine......it has been a long wait. Cheers. CA.
    And got my book.....at last.:))

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    1. Yep, the subcontracting, plus the little sleeper as to how Unified Security, which is not in the preferred supplier list got into Rydges at all. Somebody ignored the 'preferred supplier' deal and I'd like to know who and why.

      Hope you enjoy the book even half as much as the grand-offsprung :-)

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