Wednesday, June 07, 2023

In which the pond takes Ted for a spin, marvels at ancient Troy's memory and enjoys a Baker's dozen ...

 


So how goes the war? No need to look to the reptiles for an answer ...





There it was, tucked down in the far right bottom of the digital edition, with Jacquelin getting a bigger splash for the trouble with Harry ...

Meanwhile, in actual newspapers, such as the NY Times and WaPo ...





And this is how the local colonial version of the Graudian looked ...




Those cuts to the lizard Oz, and the reptiles long ago abandoning any sense of what's news makes for a truly pathetic rag. Some days the war on the woke and Albo just don't cut it ...

And the comments section was no better ...





James Allan? Might the pond be allowed the pleasure of choking on its vomit instead? 

The counteroffensive needs support, but the reptiles were too lazy to get out of bed and report a major event in the war?

Never mind, as it was one of the few motors to hand, the pond decided to take Ted out for a spin, to see if the engine purred ...





Oh dear ... but it suited the reptile approach, which was in full flight yesterday with this pairing ...






That EXCLUSIVE was quickly scaled down, but the ticking clock had suddenly turned LIVE this morning ...

Meanwhile Ted was still getting his knickers in a knot ...




Is Ted suggesting that the subs deal is a stinker? No matter, the pond will be long gone, and there'll just be the ghost of an echo of Ted squawking ...



Might the pond propose that of all the reasons for nuking the country, a few subs are the least of them, and that Ted, as an expert on climate change, might at least have tried to pretend that it was better to nuke the country to save the planet ...

On the other hand ...

And so to the next item, and here the pond indulged itself, because it rarely spends time with ancient Troy, this time getting agitated about Roger ...




Remarkable really. Ancient Troy seems completely unaware that he belongs to a company that for years promoted the dark underbelly and was part of a grave risk which still can't be ignored or discounted, but which does provide a chance for a few cartoons ...








Will ancient Troy actually mention Faux Noise, or all that it did, and still does? Not likely ... Tuckyo's gone and everything is forgotten ...




But what about Faux Noise and chairman Rupert and all the crimes of his minions and Hannity and Laura and that big settlement and ...? Oh never mind, there's an excellent rival in town, so the business model can keep on keeping on ...






Well yes ancient Troy is a tad blind and also a bit dumb, and sublimely unaware, and there's no need to remedy any of that in the final gobbet ...





Um, ancient Troy, the call is coming from inside the house: "The campaign of disinformation to undermine the election result, and overturn it, was partly orchestrated by Faux Noise, Troy's American kissing cousins", but never mind, the future looks bright for the business model ...








And after that cartoon reminder, the pond couldn't help but note that yesterday the reptiles slipped in a reminder of what passes for being a columnist in the Murdochian empire ...




If anyone's looking for a domestic model for this Baker of spongy bread, might the pond suggest Akker Dakker? Baker's rant reminded the pond of some fine ranting by the fat owl of the remove about the full to overflowing intertubes ...

Long gone from the pond, but the fat owl and this Baker have the same ability to clog mouth and brain. It takes a particular skill to fling together AI, nuking the planet, pandemics and climate change ... as if they're all some form of mass delusion, but this Baker knows how to knead his Murdochian dough ...





Well it wouldn't be a reptile rant without dissing on climate science, and so the Baker shoved his bread into the oven ... stepping over a cartoon to get there ...






Make that a Baker's dozen ... because you couldn't make this stuff up ...

The pond perhaps got its model wrong. Isn't this Dame Slap rabbiting on about how climate science would be used by the UN to introduce world government by Xmas?





And there in the middle of it all, a most excellent billy goat butt, and it's true, "None of this is to diminish the challenges posed by clowns of the Murdochian persuasion ..."

As for the Allan key the pond passed on? Here's a sample to show why the pond passed ... a fine load of fear mongering and a good reason to pass on the University of Queensland, unless seeking an introduction to toad speak ...





Only a futtock of the first water could say with a straight face that Howard didn't game that notorious referendum, and though it sticks in the pond's craw to admit it, gamed it pretty bloody well ... and that makes this Garrick prof the prize futtock for the day ...

As for the pond's mood this day, this cartoon caught it well ... paint it black ...






17 comments:

  1. His column is identified as coming from a ‘professor of law’; the ‘Garrick’ bit, a f a I k, confers no special distinction, although his tenure of that chair seems to have provided opportunity for a remarkable amount of his time spent in other countries on extended ‘sabbaticals’. That is no secret - his writings in ‘Quad Rant’ and ‘Speccia’ have generously shared travel information around those countries with his readership (small in numbers, but, of course, so much more discerning than the great unwashed.)

    So we have a professor of law putting forward some uncommon postulates in the field of law. It seems that our Garrick stands aside from almost all other published professors of law in claiming there is an inherently ‘moral’ dimension to statutes on the English model. I can recall some genuinely senior legal authorities I have worked with who would give him a terse response to that one.

    He then jumps to saying what is before him is wrong on political grounds because it may take longer for our fully elected parliament to agree on some action. Of course - why doesn’t our parliament just ask the nearest professor of law, if he or she happens to be in the country, what they should do - by lunchtime tomorrow, if that is all the same? It wouldn’t matter which peripatetic professor parliament consulted, because they are well-known for their speaking as one on all the issues of our time; it’s THE LAW.

    And, it seems, it is quite wrong ‘on legal and constitutional grounds’ to consider changing the constitution. So why were those provisions on how to change the constitution included in the - whaddya call it? - constitution? Doubly wrong because this moots a ‘new chapter’ in our constitution. By any measure, the referendum of 1977 (back when they were still legal, I guess) that recognised political parties in that constitution for the first time, was a fairly revolutionary step, given that it ignores most of the titles, structures and procedures that have grown up around party divisions in our parliaments, including the Westminster model that agreed for us to have what we are allowed to call ‘our’ constitution.

    As it happens, our Garrick didn’t actually make it to the ranks of barrister and solicitor until 1988, so I guess he hasn’t caught up on that part of the Australian constitution.

    But he has ‘substantive’ positions. W S GIlbert would have been able to use them to good effect - even drawing a little on his own experience as a barrister.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we have encountered the Great Garrick Professor and his wandering ways once or twice already. But I really don't get it: he seems to be saying that our leagal system is dysfunctional because anything that's put into the Constitution will just provoke a rampage of 'acrivist judges'.

      I suppose he's telling us that's what's happening now for every word already in the Constitution surely. But I'd just ask why the First Nations folk want to have anything to do with 'our' Constitution. It's been imposed on them by force majeure of a conquering invader and has really had nothing to do with them right from its Day One.

      Still, I don't reckon our peripatetic Garrick cares in the least about that; all he's concerned with is that those 'blaks' are not given anything: not equality, and most certainly not any privileges like having a right that gives them the same freedom to consult with the parliament and executive as a whole bunch of people already have even though they are not specifically empowered by sections of the Constitution. The Catholic Church for instance.

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  2. I noticed the caption for that istock pic heading Baker's snarky rant says the WSJ article was penned by our very own bromancer. Seems the Rupebot needs debugging again.

    Further to Gerard "Cornbread" Baker's paranoid rambling I asked a certain online text aggregator to write a short article on how AI is a technocratic elite conspiracy. This was its edifying conclusion...

    "While the technocratic elite conspiracy theory surrounding AI may provoke intrigue and speculation, it lacks substantial evidence and overlooks the collaborative and inclusive nature of AI development. AI's progress is driven by the collective efforts of a global community focused on advancing scientific understanding, solving complex problems, and benefiting humanity as a whole. As AI continues to evolve, it is essential to critically examine claims and foster informed discussions to separate fact from fiction."

    There...straight from the source's mouse...take that Bakerist!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Skynet must be laughing its phantasmic head off.

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    2. Kez - any indication that an AI program, somewhere, is being fed the Kez anthology of modern verse, to prepare it to add real entertainment to mass media? Asking for a friend.

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    3. Cheers Chadders. It's nice of your friend to suggest such a project but the pond is the only internet presence I aspire to. Without the inspirational musings of DP and fellow commenteers I don't think I would bother posting anything on the web.

      Delete
    4. Then don't ever give up on that, Kez: we're a small, but dedicated, fan group here.

      Delete
  3. Ted the IInfluencer - "there'll just be the ghost of an echo of Ted squawking" 

    O'brien is a shill. And needs the boot.

    "Ted O’Brien’s Time to Talk Nuclear website was registered by business that helps US reactor company

    "Guardian Australia can reveal the web domain was registered by Helixos Pty Ltd, a Sydney-based consulting company whose projects include “supporting the commercialisation of new nuclear energy technology”.

    "Helixos lists the US company NuScale Power as one of its clients.

    "Helixos says on its own website that NuScale Power “is reinventing nuclear energy and Helixos is helping them bring it to market”. It adds: “Helixos also provides training for employees to become technology ambassadors and engage with stakeholders and the public.”

    "A search of domain records for O’Brien’s website shows the contact name for the domain registration is Lenka Kollar, a nuclear engineer who co-founded Helixos in 2020. She previously held the role of director of strategy and external relations for NuScale Power."

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/04/coalition-mps-grassroots-nuclear-power-survey-linked-to-consulting-firm

    https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/talk-time-nuclear-mb2739/

    ReplyDelete
  4. The reptile menagerie surely is degenerating fast, isn't: not just Dame Slap having a psychopathic fixture on Lehrmann and "the voice" (note 'v') but the likes of Ted Obrien who wants to inform us that: "AUKUS must succeed - the future of our nation and the stability and security of our region depends on it." Sure it does: a handful of long range subs that we'll get the first one of in 12 - 15 years (if at all) will make all the difference, won't they. Yep, no doubt about it whatsoever - Xi Jinping must be quaking in his err 'boots'?

    But the one that's worth a few words is this: "Bowen argued that Australia will struggle to store nuclear waste associated with nuclear reactors, ignoring the fact that we already do. Australia has safely stored the nuclear waste from the Lucas Heights reactor since 1958." Oh have we ? Well firstly, Lucas Heights is one small 'medical' reactor which consumes a lot less fuel and produces a lot less radioactive waste than one single 'SMR' let alone a country full of them powering all our major cities. Even a half dozen nuclear subs won't produce much, if any, more waste to be stored than an SMR or two per annum.

    And just maybe we should note:
    "In 1996 Australia sent spent fuel rods from its Hifar reactor – the predecessor to the existing Opal multi-purpose reactor – to the UK to be recycled into fuel for nuclear power plants. The “radiologically equivalent” waste will be sent to Australia under the 2022 waste repatriation project.
    The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa) reported this week that it is working with the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation “for the inspection of radioactive waste containers, set to return to Australia from the Sellafield Reprocessing Plant”.
    "
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/21/australia-to-receive-uk-nuclear-waste-shipment-amid-bitter-dispute-over-national-storage-facility

    So, packaging it up and transporting it around the world. Just what we really want to be doing with dangerous radioactive waste.

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  5. Anybody want to say anything about Troy's Stone ? No, me neither.

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  6. We are truly creatures of tradition, aren't we:

    "Behaviour predates humans by tens of millions of years but evolutionary purpose is less clear, scientists say"
    Origins of masturbation traced back to primates 40m years ago/b>
    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/07/origins-masturbation-traced-back-primates-40m-years-ago

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  7. No wonder Dame Slap scrawls so much for the Lizard Oz - she’s certainly not getting rich off book royalties -
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/take-it-as-read-book-buyers-vote-with-their-wallets-on-the-voice-20230606-p5dehw.html

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  8. Remember Sheridan's puff piece on Hungary, supported by The Danube Institute? Peter Brown, at Inside Story, https://insidestory.org.au/dazzled-by-the-danube/https:/insidestory.org.au/dazzled-on-the-danube/
    adds an interesting snippet: "During 2015 and 2016 O’Sullivan was editor of Quadrant — yes, Australia’s Quadrant — and since then he has been the magazine’s international editor. More than that, he appears to have stayed on as president of the Danube Institute throughout his editorship.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooops:

    "The Victorian government on Tuesday announced it would cease print advertising in Melbourne newspapers the Herald Sun and the Age from 1 July because the audience for print is dwindling, prompting a furious response from the Murdoch press."

    I reckon I'd be giving a "furious response" too under the circumstances. So which will be first to fold ?

    Major newspapers could face a $40m hit if governments follow Victoria in abandoning print advertising
    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/08/major-newspapers-could-face-a-40m-hit-if-governments-follow-victoria-in-abandoning-print-advertising

    I do hope Dictator Dan's lot can find another way to inform all those pre-boomer 'silent generation' folks plus the older boomers who aren't much in the way of websurfers of what a government is supposed to tell them. D'you reckon they will ?

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  10. Oh my:

    Book bans are sweeping US schools. A surprising new victim? The Bible
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/07/book-bans-are-sweeping-us-schools-a-surprising-new-victim-the-bible

    ReplyDelete

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