As has often happened to the pond of late, the entertainment is happening outside the lizard Oz ...
The mango Mussolini has been in great form ... Judge Forces Trump to Testify for Insult Then Fines Him $10K.
It's only a mosquito bite for an incredible witness, but still ...
... and the House has a new speaker and he's a ripper coup lover ... per The Bulwark, A Coup on His Resume ...
There was more, much more, and it was with extreme reluctance that the pond turned away from this American life, producing satisfying comedy ...
Nope, not there, not a sign of her. Was she hiding in plain sight? Or could she have been relegated to the dregs?
Nope, there was Albo supporting the Chairman Emeritus model, requiring you to drop shekels into the Chairman's purse to find out what the PM was thinking.
The pond passed on the chance, just as it passed on good old Ted, sticking it to the Libs, because he's been doing it for a long time ... so who wants to feast on a serve of stale bread and mouldy cheese?
And eek ... speaking of mouldy cheese, there's the Caterist, now dressed in the robes of a compassionate carer for the downtrodden, the maligned, the poor and the suffering, and if you believe any of that, the pond has a floodwater-saturated quarry to sell you ...
It turns out that the Caterist simply can't stop gloating, but of course that would look a little unseemly, so he has to show he cares for the voiceless and the marginalised, giving them a voice in a way only a think tank bludger with his paw on government cash can do ...
Archer argued the Liberal leadership was engaged in mixed messaging. “I also think there are inconsistencies in what was said during the voice referendum.”
“We don’t want to divide the country by race, yet we are singling out abuse in Indigenous communities,” she said.
“It’s very difficult to see [this motion] as anything other than weaponising abuse for some perceived political advantage.”
She did, she did, but it zooms past the Caterist, a member of the inner-urban 'leet busy berating the inner-urban 'leet on the basis that his heart and his mind are somewhere back of Woop Woop ...
At this the pond decided to get the snaps out of the way, with one of them featuring unsavoury sign carriers ...
Like the mango Mussolini, the Caterist loves the poorly educated ... and lordly, long absent lordy, has he done a deep data dive to show it ... feast on the stats, marginalised mob, and then head off to the government for your welfare benefits, just like the Menzies mob ...
What's remarkable is the way that the reptiles simply can't give up on the gloating. The pond suspects that as a third rate sociology student, the Caterist must grab the gloats as he finds them, but this is exceptionally tedious stuff and made the pond yearn for some genuine entertainment ...
He's just a senior fellow these days? Shessh, the pond should pay more attention. He's just a feather duster, a kind of senior fellow emeritus, and now there's a new head chook ...
The Caterist is still on staff mind, and no doubt still hauling in a handsome stipend - it's an expensive business speaking up for the marginalised and the downtrodden from an inner urban shack - but who better than the Caterist to take up the cause of the dispossessed (black people excluded).
The time now seems right for him to take that final step in solidarity, and shift into an outer suburb or even better, make the move to Woop Woop ...
Meanwhile, the pond had thought today might be dire, and had taken a precautionary visit to the Speccie mob, and struck pure undiluted iron pyrites gold ...
Sane voices are still speaking up?
At this point the pond just had to check up on John Gideon Hartnett and rushed off to his wiki, to discover it had been compiled by someone with a deep, you might almost say intimate, knowledge of Hartnett's splendid beliefs and works ...
John G. Hartnett (born 24 March 1953 in Manjimup, Western Australia), is an Australian young Earth creationist and cosmologist. He has been active with Creation Ministries International and is known for his opposition to the Big Bang theory and criticism of the dark matter and dark energy hypotheses.
For those who came in late, there was a link to another wiki explaining the key concept ...
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespread version, YEC is based on the religious belief in the inerrancy of certain literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Its primary adherents are Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six literal days. This is in contrast with old Earth creationism (OEC), which holds literal interpretations of Genesis that are compatible with the scientifically determined ages of the Earth and universe. It is also in contrast to theistic evolution, which posits that the scientific principles of evolution, the Big Bang, abiogenesis, solar nebular theory, age of the universe, and age of Earth are compatible with a metaphorical interpretation of the Genesis creation account.
Great, just what the pond needed.
What better way to forget about the horrors of Gaza for a moment? What better way to do a mind dump of the gloating Caterist?
Yes, the pond realises some spoilsport will probably want to link to alarmists in the Graudian, rabbiting on in the usual way, Earth close to ‘risk tipping points’ that will damage our ability to deal with climate crisis, warns UN ...
Humanity is moving dangerously close to irreversible tipping points that would drastically damage our ability to cope with disasters, UN researchers have warned, including the withdrawal of home insurance from flood-hit areas and the drying up of the groundwater that is vital for ensuring food supplies.
These “risk tipping points” also include the loss of the mountain glaciers that are essential for water supplies in many parts of the world and accumulating space debris knocking out satellites that provide early warnings of extreme weather.
A new report from the UN University (UNU) in Germany has set out a series of risk tipping points that are approaching, but said having foresight of these meant that it remained possible to take action to prevent them. Tipping points are triggered by small increases in their driving force but rapidly lead to large impacts.
The risk tipping points are different from the climate tipping points the world is on the brink of, including the collapse of Amazon rainforest and the shutdown of a key Atlantic Ocean current. The climate tipping points are large-scale changes driven by human-caused global heating, while the risk tipping points are more directly connected to people’s lives via complex social and ecological systems.
“As we indiscriminately extract our water resources, damage nature, and pollute both Earth and space, we are moving dangerously close to the brink of multiple risk tipping points that could destroy the very systems that our life depends on,” said Dr Zita Sebesvari, at UNU’s Institute for Environment and Human Security. “We are changing the entire risk landscape and losing our tools to manage risk.”
And so on, but what chance do these alarmists have up against a genuine, certified creationist in thrall to the IPA?
He was indeed a contributor to that great ministry, with a site full of great stories ...
Back with the IPA, there were graphs that would do an ABC finance report proud ...
It turns out that this Hartnett isn't just a reliable creationist, he's a regular contributor to the Speccie mob, with a wide-ranging brief ... and just like the Caterist, he knows how to deploy talk about "woke ideology" ...
And that's just scratching the surface. Meanwhile, back to that IPA talk ... and another impeccable slide ...
If the universe is only six thousand years old as understood from a straightforward reading of Genesis, and the universe is tens of billions of light-years in expanse, then how do we see light from distant galaxies? From firm physical theory, Dr Hartnett outlines a solution to this seemingly intractable problem that is often used to question the integrity of the Bible.
It's on clearance and is only five bucks? Sorry the pond is a bit skint this week, and will settle for a final gobbet ...
Wait, there's more, and this one, An Eternal Quantum Potential or an Eternal Creator God, is only three bucks ...
Dr John Hartnett examines an array of theories that have sought to explain the origin of the universe—including Steady State Theory and multiple iterations of the Big Bang Theory. A former atheist himself, he explains that the fact that the big bang theory has an origin in time—a unique past boundary—has been particularly vexing for the atheist believers in that cosmogony. Using various approaches, big bang theorists have been trying to eliminate the beginning by replacing the Creator with an eternal quantum potential which existed for eternity past, and then 13.8 billion years ago exploded into the big bang universe, … or, so they say. They haven’t succeeded.
Dr Hartnett shows that the constantly-changing big bang theory is both unscientific and unbiblical, putting Christians who have adopted it in a very poor position. He ends by presenting a brief summary of a few biblical creationist cosmological models that acknowledge the eternal Creator God as the source of everything in the Universe.
This illustrated presentation was recorded at the 2016 Australian Creation SuperCamp in front of a live audience.
And then dammit, the infallible Pope had to ruin everything by insisting that the pond actually pay attention to the real world, an outrage considering that the alternative universe had been so much fun ... and the collective punishment going down so miserable ...
While the Caterist loves to gloat, I don’t think he’s really all that good at it. High-quality gloating needs to have an air of effortless arrogance. The Caterist, on the other hand, appears to have to really work at it; the sarcasm is laboured, the jokes fall flat. Perhaps he’s still weighed down by Pommie class consciousness, unable to shed the stigma of being an ordinary sociology graduate from a minor British university?
ReplyDeleteStill, at least he does admit that he and his cohorts are dickhead, racist dinosaurs. The honesty is refreshing.
"...the sarcasm is laboured, the jokes fall flat." I was going to say 'and that's on his good days' but he doesn't really have any of them. Though a uniform consistency is a good thing, I suppose.
DeleteJust whose side is Nick C on? His drift seems to be that Labour should move right to garner support from the marginalised (Coalition?) voters in the outer fields. This is what's known politically as a Reverse Credlin (Labour becoming Liberal Lite).
DeleteThe point is, what about the CEOs that dominate the Yes zone - who is gong to stand up for them if the Coalition is now representing the un-elites of outer Australia?
I also wonder about how many bricklayers are out there, how many are also part-time film directors (and vice versa) when times are tough, and what the past voting pattern of bricklayers in leet suburbs is like.
It gets worse. How does this compare to the demographic profiles of the marginalised electorates (all 15 of them) from the equality plebiscite; and who cares? There are definitely some key research themes for the Menzies Institute in all of this.
Another classic Nick barking mad, cherry picking dessert. Has Nick has his rabies shots? AG.
This could get to be interesting:
ReplyDeleteLaw firm threatens legal action against prime minister, senior ministers, over Gaza remarks
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/law-firm-threatens-legal-action-against-prime-minister-senior-ministers-over-gaza-remarks/ar-AA1iQhpk?
"Lawyers acting on behalf of Palestinian Australians are threatening legal action against the prime minister and other senior members of the federal government, arguing they have provided "encouragement and moral support" for alleged crimes by Israel."
The gloating Cater: "It [the government] has saddled the country with an energy policy tailor-made for the kind of inner-city suburbs where everybody is an expert in climate change but blissfully ignorant of the laws of thermodynamics." Ok, so having gained his 'Honourless Degree' in hydrodynamics, the Cater has moved on to a Mastership in thermodynamics.
ReplyDeleteNow 'thermodynamics' is essentially about the relations between heat (thermo) and other forms of energy, so I guess NickC is telling us that it takes heat to generate electricity. Though by extension, thermodynamics is also taken to mean the relationship between all forms of energy, not just the relationship between combusting fossil fuels and the generation of heat thereby.
And what does he have to tell us ? It's about those Green-left-wokies who "...demand more renewable energy without ever waking up to learn that they're about to be surrounded by a solar plant twice the size of the Melbourne CBD..." Oh yeah, that's great "thermodynamics". Perhaps, one of these days, NickC will wake up to learn that:
Surging renewable energy sees record supply to Australia’s electricity grid
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/23/surging-renewable-energy-sees-record-supply-to-australias-electricity-grid
"At one point in September nearly 100% of eastern Australia’s demand could have been met by renewables, says energy operator Aemo"
It seems that NickC has no better idea of the flow of energy than he had about the flow of flood waters.
The pond left the Caterist's climate science jibe GB, because the science seemed so brilliantly handled by the Speccie mob as to put the thermodynamic Caterist in the shade.
DeleteI think he's been "in the shade" for his entire time, DP, but he is one of ours from way back, so he deserves his regular Pond slapdown.
Delete"Its primary adherents are Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six literal days."
ReplyDeleteHow did a day (one rotation of the earth on its axis) exist before the earth itself?
Push tush - minor details, Merc.
DeletePersonally, I was gobsmacked that the Speccie’s resident Mad Scientist lead off with the feeble “Carbon Dioxide serves useful purposes, so how could lots of it be bad?” argument. I think we can all accept that substances that can be useful in small doses can be very, very bad when applied in excess.I’m sure he’d be willing to back up his claim by trying to breathe in a chamber flooded with CO2, or poisoning himself with massive overdoses of Vitamin A.
That Speccie article was appropriately headlined - “Madness” indeed. It’s a sign of how far supposedly “mainstream conservatism” has disappeared down the rabbit-hole that the rag happily gives space to such crackpottery, which once would have been mostly confined to poorly-printed pamphlets handed out by glaze-eyed prophets at street corners, railway stations and tram stops.
Hope this link works -
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, Troubled Dorothy Parker — Dorothy Parker's Ashes
Just put it into your search engine, if you are so inclined.
Deletehttps://www.dorothyparkersashes.com/dpa/56hsygfc4v9nlz0dy1cntx98wel5uw
DeleteTa, JM for the thought and GB, for the link, how the pond hates Blogger's attitude to hot links, though Joe seems to have mastered the art. You can also find it at the original location and might luck in and get behind the soft paywall ...
Deletehttps://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/04/07/brilliant-troubled-dorothy-parker/
Dorothy's main problem was that she was female and therefore just not afforded the exaggerated 'reverence' that many modest male talents were. And her romantic and sexual attachments were never considered in a serious way. Goodness gracious, she actually wanted to have a baby - who's ever heard of a real artist wanting to do that ?
DeleteAll art - especially written works - is highly subjective but critics always want to pretend that not only is it 'objective' but that they, especially, can distinguish between the good and the brilliant.
If we are casting wider for actual entertainment from arms of limited news (and I agree that there is little to be seen flying from the flagship) - it was amusing to have the front of the 'Curious Snail' devoted to the 'statement' of one Leavers, President of the Police Union, venting on efforts to reduce indigenous disadvantage, but including reference to 'inner city latte sippers', and 'virtue signallers'. We really thought that contributors to reptile publications had moved on from those phrases - we guess the Queensland coppers' union needs to work harder to keep up. My companion in life, seeing him on TV news, noted the recent attempt at a hair restoration job, and wondered if he was pitching for an LNP seat in the next state election.
ReplyDeleteBut last night we had deeply investigative journalist Sharri (disrespect intended, as we say now) interviewing Price, nope, not the almost ubiquitous Jacinta, but the almost stranded Steve, on our PM's visit to the US. They went straight to the core issue - not Gaza, nor Ukraine, nor AUKUS - and never carbon dioxide emissions - nope, Sharri read out the menu for the dinner Joe and Jill Biden shared with Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon, and invited Steve Price (yes, THAT Steve Price) to comment on 'given that so many Australian families are having trouble being able to buy groceries, is it a good look for the Prime Minister?' Steve added comment that some of the wines on the list probably cost close to $100, and, no, in his opinion, it was not a good look for the PM.
I guess they all yearn for the days of style and class under the previous Prexy, whose idea of entertaining at the White House tended to a stack of 'Maccas' on the table, with Coke, and no need for the kitchen staff to have to wash up cutlery or stemware. Make America great again, folks.
Oh you're such a meany, Chad. Fancy calling out Sharri just because she reckons Albanese should have to eat a pauper's meal at a White House dinner. And yes, it is a bit 'rich', isn't it. Now all we need to know is what Sharri's salary plus bonusses and benefits is - remembering that The Groany's salary was (and probably still is) around $360,000 pa.
DeleteYou'll always attract the pond with tales of simpleton Sharri, disrespect intended. Clearly she and Steve don't appreciate that the real art is to buy the winery ...
DeleteIt’s not every day that I get an invitation from Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall to visit their penthouse in New York. Although I met Mrs. Murdoch many years ago, when she was Mrs. Jagger (more or less), we had not kept up the acquaintance, and as for her current husband, let’s just say we don’t travel in the same circles and we have probably never supported the same political candidate.
How could I resist?
I was invited in my capacity as a wine critic—Murdoch having bought, in 2013, a vineyard in Bel Air called Moraga. One of only a handful of incorporated wineries in Los Angeles County, Moraga is the legacy of the late Tom Jones, an aerospace executive who decided in the 1970s to plant vines in one of the most expensive zip codes in the country.
There was a featured bottle of Moraga for a humble snip of US$175.
The chairman emeritus has simple, humble tastes ...
“Would you call yourself a wine buff?” I asked Murdoch. “I’m no expert,” he said, “but I’ve always loved a good, rich cabernet.” (Moraga’s red is a Bordeaux blend dominated by cabernet sauvignon.) His wife mainly drinks white. (when he had a wife).
I asked about his favorite wines; it was a short list and it included some from his homeland, Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace. Both are world-renowned syrahs, probably Australia’s best. “I’m not much for French wines,” he told me, although he enjoyed a Latour from 1956 (Hall’s birth year) given to him by his friend Jacob Rothschild. When I asked about Napa, he averred a fondness for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
The latest Grange will set you back +A$500, likely nudging 1k, and the latest Henschke will also set you back c. 1k. As for a '56 Chateau Latour, anywhere between US$500 and US$2k should see you right.
Does this mean that the chairman emeritus never shares his plonk with the minions?
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/a30985086/murdoch-wine-moraga/
It can't be all of Australia's best unless it includes Rutherglen Durif (both table and dessert variations).
Delete“Latte sippers…”. I know we probably don’t expect much originality from a representative of the Queensland plod, but how long has that one been around? Once upon a time, inner city ‘leets were the Chardonnay set - perhaps that could be updated, and ‘leets sneered at for their their love of an organic Pinot Gris? Still, I suppose asking for imagination and creativity from those of a reactionary bent is a bit of a stretch.
DeleteWine costing almost $100 a bottle - is such insanity even possible? I admit that I tend to patronise the cheaper sections of the bottle shop, but you don’t have to be too observant to realise that $100 wines aren’t exactly unknown…. Unless you’re Steve Price, who may have drifted back to memories of day when you could pick up a Kaiser Stuhl claret and a couple of bottles of Porphyry Pearl and still have change from a Five Pound note. I’m also rather ignorant of the technical arrangements of State dinners, but I was under the impression that the host nation picks up the tab, so I’m uncertain as to the reason for Sharri and Steve’s concern, unless they’re worried that Albo offered to split the bill, or at least cover the tip. Still, the line has been drawn; Sky will expect any such function hosted by Albo to be limited to a sausage sizzle at the Lodge accompanied by a couple of casks (not that there’s anything wrong with that….).
DeleteAah, Kaiser Stuhl and Porphyry Pearl - and Five Pound notes ... such memories as these.
DeleteWhat a scandal. Not a word or a thought or a tear for Ben Ean Moselle?
DeleteIn the 1970s, Ben Ean was one of few wines to be advertised on TV. A breezy, comforting egalitarianism prevailed in the ad, which featured the Little River Band: “Who wants to journey on a gigantic yacht? … Who wants to be a millionaire? I don’t”.
https://theconversation.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-ben-ean-moselle-and-what-it-says-about-australian-society-88250
Yes indeed; Lindemans and Ben Ean and Moselle and then the days when we were called 'the Chardonay Set' ... memories. Haven't had a moselle in many a year, did go for chardonnay and then Sauv Blanc and yes, now Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio when I occasionally indulge in a 'white' (it's all shiraz these days, haven't even had a 5 puton tokaji for ages, nor an After Dark fortified Durif).
DeleteBut we weren't always or only just a beer nation; my father used to tell of occasionally downing a "fourpenny dark" from one or other of the wine bars of his time.
Yes, GB, cheap red wine aside, port was all the go in the men in the pond's family because it came cheap and delivered a powerful kick. The pond can remember being handed a schooner of sherry straight from the flagon by an alcoholic uncle that was so potent and sweet that the pond had to discreetly tip it out behind everyone's backs, and then pretend to have scoffed it down in a go ...
DeleteHeh. It was a bit 'challenging', wasn't it. Though I started with port I switched over to muscatel some time later - and I still love to eat muscatel grapes - definitely the best while in season. I was never much of a sherry man though I did partake of a few bottles of dry sherry (can't remember the name in my dotage) in my earlier drinking days.
DeleteAn oldie but a goodie: All contradictions in The Bible 551 of them!
ReplyDeleteJust luverly, Joe. I take it you would be well aware of the Omphalos hypothesis ?
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalos_hypothesis#:~
But I have to say that some of the apparent 'contradictions' are really just misunderstandings; eg
Who created heaven and earth?
God the Father did it all by himself.
Jesus did it.
Well actually, 'God' and 'Jesus' are just aspects of the eternal Trinity, and both are immortally co-eternal (along with that Ghostie thing) and therefore anything done by any part of 'the Trinity' is done by all of them, no matter what name is used in speaking of them.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/special-features/classic-live-mso-eumeralla/102922054
ReplyDeleteFinally got time to listen to it, and very listenable indeed mate, thanks. But hey, isn't it just another piece of culture appropriation ?
Readers may recall Dame Slap being red-carded yesterday for an attack on the ACT judiciary.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a response to said attack, and there will doubtless be widespread amazement at allegations that the Dame’s claims were unfounded and misleading. Who could believe it?
https://citynews.com.au/2023/paper-mounts-misleading-attack-on-chief-justice/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=canberra-daily-today-s-news-today_7801
thanks for that link Anon, a useful read for anyone wanting to despise Dame Slap even more.
DeleteThe pond did enjoy the legalese ...
'Ms Albrechtsen mischievously asks whether the Chief Justice, when identifying the gross over-representation of indigenous people in custody, is suggesting that, “we shouldn’t incarcerate some indigenous people who are found guilty of serious crimes?” It’s mischievous because the chief justice said at her swearing in: “I am not talking about introducing a culture of leniency in sentencing or exposing the community to unwarranted risk (when deciding bail applications)”.'
Oh those bloody polite lawyers. It's "mischievous" in the sense of blatant, fraudulent misrepresentation and the usual Dame Slap propensity to move from prosecutor to hanging judge ...
But the pond did enjoy the use of "risible", one of the pond's favourite reptile words ...