The pond has never concealed its main aim - to induce the sort of boredom and sleepiness that a reptile might enjoy when reclining on a hot rock.
Then some might begin to wonder at the wisdom of herpetological studies, or think bewildered thoughts at the notion of actually paying for a dose of reptile wisdom. Some might even think an extra hour in bed a worthwhile alternative ...
Nor has the pond shirked from the easiest tricks in raising such issues.
So today the pond will plunge into a lengthy bout of bromancer hysteria, followed by a climb up the "Ned" Everest of words, and it should never be forgotten that the pointlessness of the exercise is the entire point.
Sure, the bromancer might occasionally provide the occasional good humoured aside, as in the matter of his devotion to Bernard Cornwell. Sure that might provide a Viking distraction, and the pond does appreciate the humour that can arise from a show such as The Northman, blathering about historical accuracy, when the trailer for the show only made the pond wonder how the Vikings had access to steroids and a bloody good gym, with an impressive weights training schedule that would make Charles Atlas blink...
Sorry, sorry, back to the main mission ... because the more the bromancer screeches, the more the pond finds comfort in the numbing warmth of its hot rock ...
All up there are nine samplings involved in the bromancer's screeching, with his angle this time that it's a "postmodern" election. Really? The word has been around for a very long time ...
The term postmodern was first used in 1870. John Watkins Chapman suggested "a Postmodern style of painting" as a way to depart from French Impressionism. J. M. Thompson, in his 1914 article in The Hibbert Journal (a quarterly philosophical review), used it to describe changes in attitudes and beliefs in the critique of religion, writing: "The raison d'être of Post-Modernism is to escape from the double-mindedness of Modernism by being thorough in its criticism by extending it to religion as well as theology, to Catholic feeling as well as to Catholic tradition. (wiki it here).
So we've been having postmodern elections since at least 1914 ...
Never mind, the pond will accept the bromancer's basic point. There is no reality, only bromancer text, and reptile click-bait videos, and so every day the pond feels it is plunging down a rabbit hole with Alice into a postmodern surrealist nightmare ...
It goes without saying that the bromancer's big problem is that of late he's had to adopt a Janus posture, or a pox on both your houses, or better still, a pox on all your houses....
Yes, yes, all that, and that red line blather is worthy of a Rowe, but is there that much difference with the United States, as currently proposed by Fox News, Tuckyo Carlson, and the coup loving GOP?
Ah yes, the pond suspected there would be a few wondering how long it would take for the pond to go the cartoon, and it's true, of late the pond has preferred a cartoon to a tedious argument with the reptiles ...
As soon as you see that the mutton Dutton's our fearless leader, why wouldn't you wave the surrender flag and go a cartoon?
Yes, it doesn't matter if Truth Social is dodgy or that much of the money might quickly wend its way into personal bank accounts, and you can be a mango Mussolini and have no hectoring about human rights and governance on Faux Noise, and it seems that to think such heretical thoughts is apparently profoundly postmodern ... and yet if you took a look at that world from a distance, you might wonder about the sublime hypocrisy of it all ...
Never mind, on with the bromancer ...
Xi has always been an intensely orthodox Chinese communist? The notion is sublimely postmodern. Mao, for example, was an intensely orthodox Chinese Huángdì, with a new line in clothing ...
You can trace Xi's love of power back to the traditions established way back when by emperor Mao and by Qin Shi Huang ...
At this point the pond should note that the reptiles attempted to distract the pond not just with the bromancer's words but with an image ... because that's all we've got in those postmodern days ...
The pond had only just got going with Qin ...
Beginning in 213 BCE, at the instigation of Li Si and to avoid scholars' comparisons of his reign with the past, Qin Shi Huang ordered most existing books to be burned with the exception of those on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the State of Qin.
And here we are today ...
Okay, okay, the pond is never going to finish if it keeps interrupting ... and there's still "Ned" waiting in the wings, impatient for his chance to strut his hour upon the pond ...
And at this point the pond decided to fling in an image of a "good speech-maker", and at that moment the pond realised we were doomed ...
A porcupine? Why you just roll them over and give their tummy a tickle, and then you can find all kinds of uses for them ...
The porcupine is often used as a symbol of American Libertarianism due to its natural embodiment of defensiveness and the non-aggression principle.
Can a full-on tyke go full on libertarian? The pond was left wondering ...
And there you have it ... the bromancer turning from wan conceits to denouncing the performative carry-on nonsense of the liar from the Shire, the mutton Dutton and all the rest with their histrionics.
Of course he throws in an "it's astonishing that both sides" as a way of doing a bit of both siderism, and purported balance, but the performative antics only matter if you happen to be the government of the day ...
And that's how a speaker in tongues to imaginary friends and a dinkum lover of clean, Oz coal becomes a postmodernist loon in the bromancer's world.
Why it's almost enough to turn the pond full Viking, especially as it's now nattering "Ned's" turn and there's the usual Everest to climb ...
Good news, with the reptiles realising that "Ned" needs an image or three to help him out. Never mind the neutered click bait video, admire the bounding 'roos.
It's a rare return to the good old days when the cult master strode the pages and there was no talk of "Ned" reading his very own words to an admiring reptile audience.
What's that? There's still no talk, and all we'll cop is neutered click bait videos?
Never mind ... remember it's the ennui, the sheer tedium, the alienating sense of boredom that will make the winter doona seem like the only comfort left in the world ...
In the old days, some wag would have taken that snap of SloMo holding up that white screen and used it as a way of inserting some comic message ... like "I'm the dickhead that's supposed to be in charge ... and all I've got to offer is a graph ..."
Now on with "Ned" in full Chicken Little mode, screeching at the falling sky, because in this postmodern world, all we've got is reptile screeching, fear and loathing ...
One of the features of "Ned's" work is his ability to recycle the thoughts of others - as the pond knows, it certainly saves on the need for any original ideas of one's own, and the environmentally aware "Ned" is now in full recycling mode ...
The pond has no idea why they inserted that shot of a startled RBA gov and the pond decided that it needed an immortal Rowe ...
Huzzah, and more sangers with sauce lifted aloft here ...
Is this the right time for the pond to note that the heretics are out and about and can even be found in the lizard Oz?
Thank the long absent lord the pond never pays attention to the oscillating fan and his talk of furphies ... though the pond should mention that you can now get a Furphy clock, which apparently is the embodiment of hipster style ... at least if your hipster thinks Ikea and Finnish marimekko is still all the go ...
Never mind the Anzacs, go clock ...
Oh Furphy, Furphy, that it should come to this ... and "Ned" to hand in a final gobbet to wring his paws and sigh at the sky ...
An ending with a whimper not a bang, though perhaps a whimper preceding a bang?
The pond will only note that if you happen to be exposed to Sydney and Melbourne real estate prices at the moment, good luck with that ... before wrapping things up with another Rowe celebrating that red line ...
Oh my, Charles Atlas and 'The Insult' - that does take me all the way back to my comic reading years. Is there anywhere now that such things might still get published ? The Rosicrucians are still around somewhere, aren't they ?
ReplyDeleteSo Ponderous Paul was punctuated by the image of $loMo and Michelle Landry waving a bar graph about. I have tried to find an uncrumpled version of that graph, or even to read the co-ordinates from available images, because it is, well, puzzling. If it purports to show Australia as blue, doing so much better than supposedly comparable countries, there has been some fiddling with the vertical scale. The verbal was that Australia is at 5% while others are at around 7% - not the more than two to three times suggested by the bars. With $loMo's asserted respect for numbers - there must be some other explanation. Surely he would not try outright prestidigitation on such an important issue. Surely?
ReplyDeleteChadwick
Well if you continue like that, Chad, you'll be on a par with Diddy Wrote with a sign out rather than a sign in. But just remember to click on the down-pointing wee triangle and then click on Name / URL when the small pop-up menu shows. Then type in 'Chadwick' and click on Continue.
DeleteI do appreciate your concern and advice, GB, but the routine you set out for me now tells me I am offering 'Invalid URL' when I try to 'Continue'.
DeleteChadwick - signing out.
Works for me Chad - on iPad to boot
DeleteI think it’s either/or not both
DeleteErr but you should be entering Chadwick in the 'Name' line, not the URL line. The Name line is immediately above the URL line.
DeletePractice, practice - thanks Befuddled - and, again, again - GB
DeleteThe Bromancer: "Australia is having its first perfect postmodern election: nothing exists beyond the images and slogans. There is no reality, only text and images." And I'm trying to work out exactly how that differs from all the elections that I've taken any notice of for the past 6 1/2 decades ... Oh, I know, the presence and dominion of the Murdoch Media.
ReplyDeleteAny'ow, says the Bro: "As Mao Zedong frequently commented, the Bolsheviks gave the world Marxism-Leninism." Not quite correct, Bro, the Bolsheviks gave the world Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism. And throughout all of documented human history it's the Stalinism bit that has always been predominant. There are no Marxists anywhere now - if there were truly ever any - but there's apprentice and practising Stalins everywhere you look.
What I don't really get though is why so many people just follow and obey them - as they did in Russia and China then, and as they do in Russia, China, India, Brazil, Hungary, Poland, Turkey et al now. And as so many did in Germany and Japan and Spain and Portugal back then.
"You can trace Xi's love of power back to the traditions established way back when by emperor Mao and by Qin Shi Huang ..." And the Son of Heaven, every single one of 'em, and each as immortal as any Egyptian Pharaoh.
ReplyDeleteThe Bro again: "Beijing can focus on the Indo-Pacific." Which, I presume, is why there is no Chinese presence in Africa ? Yet, here's the Bro again: "China's ambition to establish logistics hubs - de facto naval bases - in countries around the world."
Ok, Bro, which is it: focus in the Indo-Pacific or all around the world ? After all, thanks to the LNP, Xi already has a "logistics hub" in Darwin.
And so, to the end, Bro: "Statements instead of missiles, press releases in place of drones." So, just another case of "all announcement no delivery" ? But hey, we'll get plenty of tanks, so when the Chinese land we'll just fuel up the tanks and rush 'em across the continent of Australia to where the Chinese are and drive 'em all back into the sea. Yes ?
If you want a lot of words and no analysis of what the parties are putting out as policy don't expect to be able to get it from Kelly or Grattan.
ReplyDeleteJust for comic relief, Freedom Boy copies “well done, good work” Angus
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/Narty0071/status/1519487567439482880?s=20&t=OIOamt7Tk-cgzZsRJdoQeA
Come to think of it, that graph Promo is holding probably comes from Angus as well.
Have we ever seen a more transparent bunch of crooks?
Just for comic relief, Freedom Boy copies “well done, good work” Angus
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/Narty0071/status/1519487567439482880?s=20&t=OIOamt7Tk-cgzZsRJdoQeA
Come to think of it, that graph Promo is holding probably comes from Angus as well.
Have we ever seen a more transparent bunch of crooks?
Yikes - don’t know why that happened & cannot edit if you post this way
DeleteBack to Google edit for you then.
Delete" remember it's the ennui, the sheer tedium, the alienating sense of boredom that will make the winter doona seem like the only comfort left in the world ..." Ok, so it's Dunbar's World from here on out, is it ?
ReplyDeleteThen Neddy lambasts us with: "A near zero cash rate when inflation runs at 5.1 per cent is untenable." Oh yeah, so when did Neddy learn all about the Phillips curve, and when did he grasp the Phelps/Friedman lesson that "The stable trade-off between inflation and unemployment proved unstable. The ability of policymakers to control any “real” variable was ephemeral. ".
But that isn't what Volcker told us: "In early 1980, Volcker said, '[M]y basic philosophy is over time we have no choice but to deal with the inflationary situation because over time inflation and the unemployment rate go together.… Isn’t that the lesson of the 1970s'?"”
https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-inflation
Just as well that "inflation" isn't a 'real variable', isn't it. But then, we are in the grip of a "threshold phenomenon": a variable will increase slowly and linearly for quite a while until suddenly, unexpectedly, a threshold is crossed and we are in the territory of the 'bent knee' graph where a linear increase suddenly becomes exponential (an E-curve): Oh my, that's that terrible subject mathematics again, isn't it. There's an approxinately 'bent knee graph' (Facebook user growth) in here:
https://www.foresightguide.com/exponential-growth-e-curves/
Anyway, as Ned assures us that Warren Hogan said: "...we've [err, we're maybe ?] at a long-run turning point" - yeah, a threshold moment by any other name.
But then Ned goes all mystical on us: "Hindsight provides the ultimate wisdom ..." Not in my lived experience or in anything I've ever encountered ... all that "hindsight" seems to offers us is, in the words of that great Australian hit song, the chance "to do it all again". We have been through this inflation cycle a few times before, yet here we are once again.
But then Ned opines that: "The 5.1 per cent inflation figure helps to turn the economic focus in the election away from the 4 per cent unemployment..." But it shouldn't, that wonderful thing the NAIRU that Ned was praising recently tells us that inflation rises as unemployment falls; so all we have to do is sack a lot of people and thus drive the unemployment number back up again. Isn't that what "the wisdom of hindsight" would tell us to do ?
But hold on, what's this Ned is saying: "The forecasts overlooked that demand recovered from Covid faster than the supply side." So it really doesn't have anything to do with the NAIRU ? Oh no, hang on: if the demand side recovered faster than the supply side then yeah, all we have to do is sack a lot of people so that the demand side lessens rapidly. See, we've been told the right stuff after all.