The pond has developed a taste for Tuesdays and a good groaning. Where once the pond thought of it as the most arduous of days, now the pond approaches the day with aplomb, akin to a Tesla driver sitting in the back seat and approaching a pedestrian at some fair speed.
If there's going to be road kill, it can be done in the comments section. All the pond has to do is sit back, relax and present Dame Groan in all her glory.
An early start was made yesterday with an esteemed correspondent forwarding a link, in the hope of placating an angry Groan ... Ross Gittins proposing Want better productivity? Cut population growth...
...Have you joined the dots? If giving business what it wants – high immigration to grow the market and provide ready access to skilled and unskilled workers – hasn’t induced business to increase the productivity of its labour, why don’t we try the opposite?
Make it harder for business to increase profits without improving productivity and investing in training our local workforce. Of course, this would require us to value productivity improvement more highly than population growth.
Make it harder for business to increase profits without improving productivity and investing in training our local workforce. Of course, this would require us to value productivity improvement more highly than population growth.
It was a canny attempt at a pre-emptive strike, but sadly the Groaner hared off down another favourite track ...
Look, there she was at the top far right of today's digital edition of the lizard Oz, setting the topic ...
...and so there needed to be more hard work done in the comments section, because bashing Labor and defending hapless workers is the theme of the day ...
But all the pond needs to do is wonder why the reptiles felt the need to use huge snaps to break up the turgid text. Enough already ...
Now let's hear it for the giggers, and if you happen to spot Dame Groan weaving in and out of traffic rushing a cup of coffee to a lazy hipster, being a Tesla driver, you know what to do ...
Or is there some wag in the lizard Oz graphics department who secretly loves to entertain the pond?
Never mind, there was just one gobbet to go, and it was short, and full of righteous, frothing indignation ... it turns out it's all too complex and too hard for Dame Groan to understand, so somebody will have to explain it to her ...
At this point the pond supposed it should do a little work, and looked below to see what was happening ...
The craven Ceraven and the lizard Oz editorialist both bashing difficult, uppity, grumpy blacks?
Why don't they just take their lumps, get back to the mission and enjoy their flour, tea, and sugar rations? It was good enough then, and surely it's good enough now, and instead all they do is get the lizard Oz editorialist and the craven Craven agitated by their grumpiness ...
No need to go there then, especially as the craven Craven did his level best to spread FUD during the campaign, and succeeded magnificently, in a way only a prize twit might manage ...
So the pond turned back to the top, because surely that bromancer offering caught many an expert herpetology student's eye ...
Thought for the day ...
Some people think of God as an outsized, light-skinned male with a long white beard, sitting on a throne somewhere up there in the sky, busily tallying the fall of every sparrow. Others - for example, Baruch Spinoza and Albert Einstein - considered God to be essentially the sum total of the physical laws which describe the universe. I do not know of any compelling evidence for anthropomorphic patriarchs controlling human destiny from some hidden celestial vantage point, but it would be madness to deny the existence of physical laws. Carl Sagan.
The handy thing about being an atheist is that you can call a pox on all their silly houses and their assorted contending notions of a god (goddess not so much), but sadly for Sagan, the bro is an expert in madness, and routinely denies the existence of physical laws or the insights of climate science ...
Cue a quick montage ...
Hang on, hang on, how did this suddenly turn into a survey of the bro's science study classes?
Please enough already of talk of heroic leaps of faith and magical thinking, let's get back to the guilt at hand, and the pleasures of having an imaginary friend always on hand to help out with catering for loaves and bushes or offer the wisdom of a burning bush...
But that also requires a neat bit of reading of texts to get the Jews off the hook ...
Here the pond must first turn to the KJV for an appropriate text ... always the KJV version of course, because once upon a time it got tykes agitated ...
...After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God...
Hmm, a tricky case, but luckily the bromancer is as great a theologian as he is a climate scientist ...
... but there's any number of Catholics doing the same with Adolf, like this one of Cesare Orsenigo ...
If you read the wiki about the church and the Nazis, he scores a line ...
In Germany, the Catholic response to Nazism varied. Cesare Orsenigo, Berlin's papal nuncio, was timid in protesting Nazi crimes and was sympathetic to Italian Fascism.
David Kertzer: ...unfortunately — I mean, other national Roman Catholic Churches, for example, in France and in Germany have come to terms with this history.
And part of the history is how it was that, in the middle of the 20th century, the — millions of Jews could be massacred, little children, old people, by people who thought of themselves as Christian, more or less half of them Roman Catholics, but also Protestants, of course.
And in other countries, in Germany and France, the clergy has come to terms or begun to come to terms with it. But the Vatican has not. The Vatican released a statement in, I think, 1998, we remember, in which they said the — their own demonization of the Jews had absolutely nothing to do with the Holocaust.
A land grab doesn't have anything to do with belief in whatever God is your choice, nor does the displacement of an entire people, or the locking of them up in an open air prison, or practising the sort of apartheid that has been practised on Jews. Whatever making tart observations about this might be called, it isn't anti-Semitism by another name ...
Quick, the Catholic church has taken too much heat ... a snap of a Protestant bigot if you please ...
Instead, another thought for the day ...
Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware, the nonexistence of Zeus or Thor, but they have few followers now. Arthur C. Clarke ...
Poor old Arthur. Thor has a huge following. Did you see the grosses on the Thor franchise? Thor has been doing biffo b.o,. even if Thor: Love and Thunder saw a bit of a drop ...
Sorry, sorry, there's a last gobbet to go from a believer in that old patriarch in the clouds and his busybody sanctimonious, righteous, always nagging son ...
Come on KJV ...
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity. And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
Wow, so much hate, so much death, such fun in the killing fields.
Slay the beast!
So much putting to death, why there's barely time to mix cloths or put the cutlery out into the back yard ...
What a relief to turn to the infallible Pope of the day, and close out proceedings by celebrating an innocent abroad ...
It’s the touching naïveté that occasionally makes the Dame appear almost human -
ReplyDelete“Let’s face it, some large companies have tried to use the current workplace relations system to their advantage…..”
“Some”, dear Dame? I’d be surprised if there were many. It would surely be a rare major employer that didn’t attempt to use the existing system to their full advantage. Surely the Dame, as a lover of free market capitalism, would expect nothing less.
But as she herself references, “She would say that, wouldn’t she?”.
Thank you Anon, what a relief to be able to rely on comments for the Groaning ...
DeleteSo the Oz Graphics Department is now reducing old SF paperback covers? Or perhaps plundering online archives of ST fan art? What next - photos of Hitler to indicate “baddies”?
ReplyDeleteOh…..
The Bro: "Today we might say the Russians decided to invade Ukraine. Moral culpability resides only with the Moscow government, not the whole Russian people, or Russians in perpetuity."
ReplyDeleteFair enough Bromancer...but in light of such pontificating...isn't Israel blaming (and bombing) all of Gaza's populace for the despicable actions of their de facto government? Does not the moral culpability lie solely with Hamas?
Ah, but what if, like the Bromancer, you believe that all Gazans are really just Hamas believers and supporters - whether they acknowledge it or not. Then, like the Russians, and the 20thC Germans and Napoleon's French they are all to blame.
DeleteHaving already talked endlessly about collective punishment, the pond didn't go there today, but over at Haaretz the usual questions are being asked about the country heading to the far right internally and off to their far right American loon friends.
DeleteIf you can get past the Haaretz paywall, you might read In Gaza, Israel is Racing to the Moral Abyss, or Israel's 16-year Blockade of Gaza Failed. Was It Really the Only Option?
But the bro is of course as barking mad as the barking mad Israeli far right fundamentalists he supports, and so here we are, and there they are ...
Lovely piece of melange from our Dame Groan this day - thank you Dorothy.
ReplyDeleteWe had our Dame wringing her hands on behalf of the ‘owner-operated truck drivers’, so whichever form of artificial stupidity assembles the editions of the Flagship just had to add snap of Senator Squawk, to remind us of the time when she filled a ministerial slot, and spoke about that remarkable Australian contribution to the history of labour economics, when truckies supposedly struck for longer hours and less pay. And received both.
Meanwhile, in good ole free enterprise USA, um - there is a Surface Transportation Board, which has all kinds of powers over carriage of people and freight. If our Dame truly wished to discuss regulation of long-distance road freight, she might have included the functions of the STB; why, at this time of renewed reverence for our sacred constitution, she might have picked up on the item in the ‘Wiki’ on the origins of the STB, way back in 1887, but which includes -
‘The Interstate Commerce Commission had a strong influence on the founders of Australia. The Constitution of Australia provides (§§ 101-104; also § 73) for the establishment of an Inter-State Commission, modeled after the United States' Interstate Commerce Commission. However, these provisions have largely not been put into practice; the Commission existed between 1913–1920, and 1975–1989, but never assumed the role which Australia's founders had intended for it’.
Thank you Chadders, as noted above, the pond loves being able to present an unadorned Groan, and then head down to the comments section for a read ...
DeleteWhere do these Murdochracy so called journalists get their history from when they can say that Hamas are a terrorist organisation but the Jews are not. Was it not the USA and England that proclaimed that the Jews could emigrate from anywhere in the world and take Possession of the property that belonged to the Palestinian people. How would Americans or Australians feel if China was to become the most powerful country in the world and said to American Indians or Australian aborigines that had dispersed around the world in sufficient numbers and China told them they could return to their country of origin and takeover the existing people possessions of those people who had resided there for centuries. Perhaps poorly written but you get my drift.
ReplyDeleteA pic of former BCA boss? Clearly the Australian cannot afford to a pic of the current President, Tim Reed.
ReplyDeleteJudith Sloan delivered some rippers though.
After justifying one part of her argument by stating only about 5-10% of eligible casuals use the right to convert from casual to permanent status after 12 months, she then states that the IR laws are bad, because this will make it difficult for workers “for whom casual work is a stepping stone into the permanent workforce”.
She then goes on to claim that in the gig economy: “The technology connects sellers with buyers and ensues workers are paid according to agreed terms.”
Agreed terms? Perhaps a Guardian article might help with that.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/17/uber-warning-of-85-meal-hikes-under-labors-new-laws-shows-how-underpaid-gig-workers-are-experts-say
Then there was:
“This is notwithstanding the fact that the platforms are not themselves employers.”
Hello? Even Uber refers to its workers as employees (see above link) and if one has an employment contract with the platform (you know, with “agreed terms”), then you are employed by the platform. You cannot set yourself up as an Uber driver on your lonesome.
“There is likely to be considerable confusion about who is a contractor and who is an employee.”
That is exactly the current problem that requires a solution, dear Joan, dear Joan.
Still, fear the unions, fear the unions!
My father was a 'gig' worker for most of his working life - or at least for that part of it that happened after the Great Depression more or less came to an end. Didn't actually have a lot of 'contractors' back in those days. He 'passed' (as it appears we say nowadays) in 1966. He was a bricklayer (amongst the various building tradies) and the 'technology' back then that "connects sellers with buyers" was the Wednesday and Saturday 'classified ads' section in The Age. He would quite often be outside The Age office in the CBD at around 1:00am on those days to be amongst the first to get the paper and have access to the 'job ads' - but he was far from alone.
DeleteLife was a joy.
And oh yes, he was a passionate union member for all his working life.
DeleteEvery time I see Robert Gottliebsen’s name pop up these days I find myself thinking “Is he still around?” In my memory he’s a creature of the 1980-early 90s, , when he was a tv and print regular, always breathlessly fansplaining the latest triumphs of the likes of Bond, Skase and Elliot. I’m not sure where he is on the Terry McCrann Scale of Forecasting Accuracy, but his headline doesn’t give me much hope that he’s adjusted to the 21st Century.
ReplyDeleteWith that little reminder of the Bromancer in July of last year, comes a reminder to the Bro. for his statement that 'This may be a sacrifice worth making to save the planet,'
ReplyDeleteNo, Bro. - the planet will continue on, regardless of what seething human vermin do to destabilise its current condition. We understand you have 3 sons, so a personal investment in the future. The question is - what sort of life will your sons have by - let us say 2050? - and how might they feel about futures that any of their offspring - custodians of your DNA - might have?
And his grandchildren (if any) in let us say 2100 ?
DeleteRe the antagonistic relationship of christians, especially "catholics" towards Judaism as far as I know it used to be , and perhaps still is. common practice for "catholics" to offer collective prayers (let us PREY)) for the conversion of the Jews to the "one truth faith".
ReplyDeleteThe inventors and fabricators of the "new" testament wrote largely for the purposes of institutionalizing , and, therefore to achieve a victory for their particular politically powerful faction, and to thus concretize the authority of their faction and to differentiate from all other views and institutions - and especially to differentiate it from the rival institution of Judaism, by referring to christian-ism as the "true Israel", thereby suggesting that the historical tradition of the Jews had been superseded or made obsolete. And this political purpose of the "new" testament has created terrible problems for the Jews, and even all of humankind ever since.
But Hanny, but: the Christians were, by their own understanding, following the "true Israel" by accepting Jesus as the true messiah and condemning the other Israelis for repudiating the Act of God in 'creating' him.
DeleteAfter all, if you didn't accept God's messiah then you just couldn't be 'true Israelis'. And no, the passing of the Rabbi Schneerson doesn't help - he wasn't the "true" messiah either.
"...compelling evidence for anthropomorphic patriarchs controlling human destiny from some hidden celestial vantage point, but it would be madness to deny the existence of physical laws."
ReplyDeleteCarl Sagan.
A pity then that truth Carl, is stranger than fictions of reptiles.
Here are some physical laws, broken... maybe the hromancer would swap his lounge room, where "...giant alien bugs, blast their way through that wall", with the woman quoted below.
1 guess
- who?
- where?
""Imagine it—you’re sitting in your living room, which you know so well; this is the room where the family watches television together after the evening meal. . . . And, suddenly, that wall disappears with a deafening roar, the room fills with dust and debris, and through the wall pours one soldier after the other, screaming orders. You have no idea if they’re after you, if they’ve come to take over your home, or if your house just lies on their route to somewhere else. The children are screaming, panicking. . . . Is it possible to even begin to imagine the horror experienced by a five-year-old child as four, six, eight, twelve soldiers, their faces painted black, submachine guns pointed everywhere, antennas protruding from their backpacks, making them look like giant alien bugs, blast their way through that wall?"
https://www.bldgblog.com/2010/01/nakatomi-space/
I can't nake this stuff up. Reptiles and kool-aid must do the trick.
Not to downplay or ignore the real horror described, but it's also one of the pond's favourite pulp genre shows with an Xmas motif, though the pond tends these days to enjoy it ironically ...
Delete