This day the reptiles have transferred their hive mind bubble boy obsessive compulsive behaviour on to a certain PJK, or the Olympics, or whatever ...
The pond simply couldn't find any inspiration, and down below, the hole in the bucket man provided no relief ...
Some days the pond is dealt a hand more terrible than the usual terrible reptile hand and must play the cards on offer ... though it will draw the line on Nikki doing the pill and a colicky Callick callooh callay also doing the PJK thing ...
The pond will reluctantly start with the hole in the bucket man because the last thing the pond wanted or expected was to have to waste precious Friday time by fighting the whole 'Nam war thing all over again ...
Now the pond isn't going to trawl back over the chemical castration of a country or the many atrocities. Rather, having an interest in the hive mind, why did our Henry decide that now was the time to re-fight 'Nam and offer a puerile analysis of the conflict to boot?
So 'Nam, it seems, is the best distraction that our Henry can find to accompany his bog standard rant about the end of Western Civilisation as we know it...
Perhaps he thought that it was further from mind, unlike the Iraq folly or the abandoning of women to the Taliban ...
Um, those chemicals? The carpet bombing, the general chaos and the killing fields, not to mention the war spreading to other countries and producing the
Pol Pot genocide?
The reptiles produced a snap of Tet offensive destruction ...
And so on and on ...
Meanwhile, our Henry is still back fighting the Commies, apparently unaware that these days both sides of the aisle are attempting to curry favour as a way of fortifying against Chinese hegemony ...
Of all the politicians to hang your hat on, LBJ seems the most unlikely for a hole in bucket man, but it seems the clarion call of all the way with LBJ and run the bastards over still works for the old codger ...
Meanwhile the reptiles were intent on blaming the fiasco on the photographer, and so ran a huge snap of him in smirk mode, no doubt because (a) it was cheap and (b) it offered the same pictorial visual reductionism and simplification that our Henry was offering ... though much appreciated by tricky Dick and another Henry, a war monger of the first water ...
The pond still couldn't help thinking it was all a useful distraction, and a recent visitor to the colonies seemed to suggest
trouble on other fronts ...
It was only in his very last line that the hole in the bucket man admitted to his crafty plan ...
So that's it. The entire point of the re-litigation of a fundamentally useless war inherited from the French, who took a long time to get over their colonial mindset (cue Algeria) was simply so our Henry could pretend that it was somehow relevant to the genocide in Gaza, and use it to berate pious chattering idiots ...
The pond noted only one pious chattering of a useless idiot, and was somewhat shocked that our Henry didn't explain how he signed up to serve in 'Nam, or at least become one of the Playboy bunnies on parade in Apocalypse Now ... (now that's a confronting thought and image for the mind).
And so to a short interlude, because the pond has been watching the reptiles with the expectation that the hive mind would attempt to drum up a religious war.
Sadly the bouffant one was the best they could offer, and Shanners could be tossed off in two quick gobbets ...
The best the pond could do to enliven the discussion was to offer a song and dance routine from Wilcox ...
Then it was back to the bouffant one yearning for the days when you could indulge in good, old-fashioned poofter bashing, sending them off to hell after a drop off a Sydney cliff...
If this is the best they can offer, it seems like it might be a tad hard for the reptiles to get a culture war going, and so to the main event, a guest performance by a visiting prof, shamelessly encroaching on bromancer turf ... beginning with an alleged cartoon by an alleged 'toonist ...
Sorry, the pond can't help it if the reptiles started with their recently borrowed from the pond trick, sticking in a wannabe cartoonist, likely enough because it's only way for said wannabe 'toonist to get some traffic ...
If the pond wanted a real 'toon, it would have turned to the infallible Pope ...
That's the pond doing a distraction, hole in bucket man style, because truth to tell, the pond finds it terribly hard to get excited about nuking the subs.
It's a bit like nuking the country to save the planet, the pond will have long stopped blogging and been long gone before any of it comes to pass ...
Even the bromancer has taken to droning on about the drones and the need to go full Houthi, but the prof is loyal to the vision ...
Dead in the water already? Or perhaps just a slow dawdling towards extinction? Who knows, and the reptiles' visual interruption didn't really make the pond care ...
The pond appreciates the prof's enthusiasm but simply can't muster up the strength to feel anything but complete indifference ...
Never mind, at least the pond could slip in a few cartoons, as the Prof rambled on in a terribly defensive frame of mind.
The pond wouldn't be a bit surprised if a hoppy toad, gigantic billy goat buttism hovered into view ...
Yep, "none of this is to say there is not a need for contestability" is what passes for a billy goat butt in academic parlance, especially when followed up by blather about the muddled state of the public debate ... to which, to be fair, the esteemed prof has managed to add to in this outing, not helped by the reptile choice of huge snaps ...
Couldn't they or the prof have at least mentioned the elephant in the fire sale asset room?
Not to worry, the 'toon filibustering has brought the prof and the pond to a final short gobbet and a credit to the prof's current employer ...
So it's not just a real estate venture intent on taking over the whole of the inner west? They actually have academics on staff to provide content for the reptiles' paywall, thereby ensuring more shekels in the pocket of the Chairman Emeritus ...
Thank the long absent lord that's over, the pond must get back to practising drone skills on the computer, and channeling its inner Houthi, and by golly when the invading horde sweeps down King street, the pond will be ready, with its panzerfaust all set to go ... (yes, the pond has a rich fantasy life, thanks to an endless reptile diet, about as nutritionally useful as a serve of sugar frosted flakes).
In the meantime, the immortal Rowe was intent on exciting the reptiles with his own PJK moment ...
And so to a footnote arising from the minutes of yesterday's meeting. The pond would like to mention it in the "other business" section ...
Those who can remember back a day will recall Killer was on the stage, and unfortunately the
keen Keane's piece in Crikey (paywall) came far too late for the pond, but on the principle that better late than never is better than never, here's a sample ...
If only for that reference to Killer as "unfortunate", the pond had to give it a go, though this day former chairman Rudd had been forgotten, with PJK all the reptile go ... oh and to please the prof, the subs get a mention ...
Apologies for being off-topic, but I simply could not ignore this comedy performance by the Liberals.
ReplyDeleteUrged on by the ABC (well, prompted at least), the Libs have launched the successor to the Kelly O’Dwyer Fighting Fund for Women (KOff for short) – the Dame Margaret Guilfoyle Network no less. I wonder how many women under 35 have even heard of DMG, but no matter, it gives them someone to look up to, albeit historical.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-22/federal-liberal-party-quietly-launches-women-network/103615036
The Liberals are serious about women this time [joke], and this is no Liberal Lite rubbish, it was recommended by Mr Credlin himself.
Hopefully all women who were previously KOffed will be given free membership of the DMG network.
So, Friday feels better already. Looking forward to more laughs from Ned Everest on the weekend. Cheers. AG.
No topic that's a complete hoot is ever off topic at the pond, so no apologies required for delivering this delicious morsel, ta
DeleteNicely spotted, fellow Annony - ! I see that the board includes Petulant Peta herself! For those without an elephantine memory for arcane political trivia, Guilfoyle was a Minister in the Fraser Government, left politics thereafter and passed away a few years back. That seems appropriate for such an organisation. For an added bit of symbolism, there’s a small building named after her in the Tuggeranong region of Canberra; it’s been vacant, fenced off and semi-derelict for some years now.
DeleteCome to think of it if they wanted to honour a Liberal Party pioneer, why didn’t they delve back even further into history and name the organisation after Dame Enid Lyons? After all she got into politics by inheriting her seat from her late husband Joe, and only did so after producing a dozen or so children. Surely they’re attributes that the modern Liberal Party would wish to emulate?
DeleteOk, so the Liberals have definitely got all their ducks lined up. AG.
DeleteA pretty dull bunch today, DP. A Modern History period with Our Henry is much less entertaining than the usual double period (plus tutorial) of Ancient History that he usually serves up; you’d think writing about wars would prod the old fart into including at least one reference to Thucydides, but no such luck. He even forgot to make an improbable link to the current conflict until the very end; I wonder whether the unfortunate Reptile staffer tasked with checking Henry’s copy had to remind him?
ReplyDeleteThe head of the Shanners family didn’t seem able to muster much energy today, and just went through the motions in condemning the godless treachery of the Albo mob. Hopefully that feisty tradwife Ange will be by on the weekend to muster the appropriate moral outrage and delivery us a stirring homily on traditional vale’s and that all the godless, queers and weirdos deserve no protection because they’re all going to Hell anyway.
As for the Prof… Struth, just how many turgid, deathly dull screeds on ANKUS and defence policy in general can the Oz deliver? At least the Bromancer’s barking mad rants have some entertainment value. Surely even the armchair generals must have limited appetites for this stuff, though I suppose it helps them doze off after the afternoon port at the club.
Roll on the weekend - though the chances of there being anything other than more of the same are probably pretty remote.
Admirable summary Anon, the pond wishes it could have filched it for the body of the text. Sometimes the reptiles are off their game and that means the pond takes a dive. Really not to have mentioned Thucydides was unforgivable, not just by the hole in the bucket man, but by the pond failing to remonstrate with the old fart for his failure. Onwards and upwards with the tradwife ...
DeleteHenry just hasn't mentioned Thucydides in ages - what's wrong with him ? What's wrong with the Holely one, that is, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Thucydides.
DeleteEnid Lyons, the Shanahans - by gosh there's some hefty breeders out there!
DeleteContemplating Henry's contribution today, I'm wondering when he read, or otherwise encountered, all the Vietnam info he regaled us with. I recall Nicholas Gruen recounting that Henry was a rapid and rabid reader with an all but photographic memory for everything he's ever read - or otherwise encountered too, I guess.
ReplyDeleteBut I wonder why he included all the background on the Vietnam War when just quoting General Sherman ("War is hell") achieves says much the same. Though I guess it does illustrate in meaningful terms how much "hell" that is. Just like the Hamas-Israeli war which I suppose really is Henry's point.
Henry’s war stories certainly do read like a straight summation of various documents that he’s read. There’s an odd lack of any personal recollection, view or insight. That seems a bit odd given that he would probably have been studying at Uni while Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was at its height; he may even have been eligible for the conscription ballot. Is it possible that he could actually have been a young adult at so tumultuous a time without the events making the slightest impression upon him? But then, I recall a Pond commentator once remarking that indigenous issues appeared to have left Henry similarly unaffected. What an odd person the Hole in the Bucket Man can be.
DeleteAh, "[n]ot to be confused with white nationalist propaganda", so:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_propaganda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda#Etymology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Vietnam#First_Indochina_War_(1945%E2%80%931954)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_and_self-criticism_(Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism)#Vietnam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_B%E1%BA%BFn_Tre#%22Destroy_the_town_to_save_it%22_quote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War#Names
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas#2006_legislative_elections
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Liberation_Organization#Political_status
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_diplomacy_of_Israel#Terms_and_types
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalek#Modern_usage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caedite_eos._Novit_enim_Dominus_qui_sunt_eius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_of_Aaron_Bushnell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanchuan
Think you might just have a point there Anony about Henry's "odd lack of any personal recollection, view or insight". I'm not too sure just what that's a sign of, but it surely is a sign of something - too much time spent intensively reading and not enough time spent just living and feeling, perhaps.
DeleteNo known trigger warning!
ReplyDelete1972 or 3. We were shown the actual vision via a 16mm film, (we had all the toys) of Loam (didn't know his name) shooting a handcuffed person through the head. At my militaristic theocratic entitled privelaged "school' for future controllers qnd murderers of the hoi poloi.
As a way of othering both the shooter and the poor bastard murdered with his hands tied behind his back.
And we still have to suffer this?
Ahh memories. And amnesia. Unless in the service of 'us' and oz murder 'och corpse.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that reptiles currently infesting Australia (several having come from other lands) tune in to Maria Bartiromo's Sunday Morning Tutorials on Economics. For some of us it is sheer entertainment, even with Maria's particularly rasping voice turned down a notch or three, to watch as her contact crew seek a supposed economist to tell her viewers why all those economic indicators which continue to improve during the Biden term, actually carry the seeds of disaster. Stock market at absolute record height - 'So, Fred, this must have some bad implications for the bond markets, won't it?' 'Actually, Maria, I can't see how that could be, but it may be too early to tell.' Low unemployment - that puts the Fed into a corner on interest rates. Extracting oil and gas domestically at the greatest rate ever - that will give Russia a big advantage in the European market.
ReplyDeleteThe equivalent supposed pundits offered similar performance this week when our unemployment numbers came in lower than 'economists' well Mein Gott and Ross Greenwood, had 'predicted'. Greenwood was silly enough to be sticking to his '4%' right up until his screen delivered 3.7%.
So we heard about consequent problems with interest rates and wage inflation (recently popularised by Maria and some 'dial a professor') and other, unspecified 'dangers'. In no circumstances should we celebrate that a high proportion of Australians, including most of that 'disturbing' immigration (cue Simple Benson for this day) are employed.
Possibly the loopiest interpretation came from Nationals Littleproud, who started his comment with 'Now, I'm no economist, but -' then went on with a rambling tale about the people he sees in supermarkets, having so much trouble paying for the weekly groceries that other members of the family have had to seek jobs - and that explains why more people are in paid work, but that is a sign of how desperate conditions are for his 'Australian mums and dads.'
Given the likes of Littleproud, Canavan and Joyce, it's understandable that the Nationals are such stable components of the Coalition - hardly ever lose a seat in elections. Don't win many new seats, but almost never lose an old one. What is it with these 'country folks' (excluding your good self, of course) ?
DeleteI’ve heard that Bartiromo had a reasonable reputation as a competent, if conservative, economics commentator before she slid down the MAGA rabbit hole; if so, she’s yet another case of the “Everything Trump touches, dies” syndrome. The likes of Gott and Greenwood are local equivalents ; I don’t know if they had much expertise to start with, but you can’t expect to shill for the vested interests of Big Media and retain any reputation, no matter how often you’re described as a “respected analyst”.
ReplyDeleteThe reputation Bartiromo had nurtured at CNN finally evaporated when she chose to sponsor Sidney Powell on her show, with the 'memo' from unnamed conspiracy theorist which became central to Dominion's case against Fox over its allegations of weird software that - well, it is still hard to decipher just what the unnamed spirit person was trying to say, and the courts were having none of it.
DeleteWe do know, that even at that time, Ingraham, Hannity, Carlson and even Rupert himself, in what they thought were private communications, applied epithets like 'nuts' to that, er - 'theory', but let it run, because it declared their allegiance to Trump, so helped get the ratings back up.
Henry has lost the mental ability to reason that the rest of population have by now recognised that Vietnam was disaster not just for America but for the world it was also disaster for the conscripts from Australia and public opinion was against an unjust invasion by colonising countries. America history is littered with failed campaigns against countries that do not want to be controlled by America as I am afraid that is now happened to Australia and if we were to deny their contol the party in government that was to take them on would be overthrown as happened to Whitlam government.
ReplyDelete"unless you invade them first" From about 5:00 on).
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGP7H0kosb8
Now it seems that Rolls Royce will actually make the nuclear 'engines' for the UK-Au nuclear subs to be made in South Australia. RR will apparently manufacture them, seal them into transportable units, bring them to SA and install them in the subs being built.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/australia-to-send-billions-to-uk-to-build-nuclear-reactors-to-power-aukus-submarines/news-story/bf102549746d7dfaddf661fe1c028d41
That makes these nuclear units seem rather like Small non-Modular Reactors. So why not commission RR to make a few dozen of them to replace coal-powered generators on land ? Other than the thought that the RR reactors might contain 'military secrets' of design that should not be let loose in public - but surely the locally installed reactors could be kept securely away from any prying eyes.
GB intimates "the RR reactors might contain 'military secrets'"
DeleteNo "might".
Why do we obfuscate? Why has Hinkley been allowed to continue? "... Trident would be ‘unsupportable’. Professor Andy Stirling and Dr Phil Johnstone argued that the nuclear power station will ‘maintain a large-scale national base of nuclear-specific skills’ essential for maintaining Britain’s military nuclear capability"
"The links between nuclear power and nuclear weapons
"Subsidising the arms industry
"The development of both the nuclear weapons and nuclear power industries is mutually beneficial. Scientists from Sussex University confirmed this once again in 2017, stating that the government is using the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to subsidise Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system.
"As part of a Parliamentary investigation into the Hinkley project, it emerged that without the billions of pounds ear-marked for building this new power station in Somerset, Trident would be ‘unsupportable’. Professor Andy Stirling and Dr Phil Johnstone argued that the nuclear power station will ‘maintain a large-scale national base of nuclear-specific skills’ essential for maintaining Britain’s military nuclear capability.
"This could explain why Prime Minister Theresa May continues to support subsidising a project which looks set to cost the taxpayer billions. Subsidies which go to an industry which still can’t support itself sixty years after it was first launched.
...
https://cnduk.org/resources/links-nuclear-power-nuclear-weapons/
And our chief obfuscator by wedge:
"Here’s why there is no nuclear option for Australia to reach net zero"
... "In contrast, solar and wind power generators do not have inertia, do not have system strength, cannot dispatch when requested and do not provide synchronous AC power. Nevertheless, these features can be integrated into the system through modern power electronics and battery systems.
"The mining footprint of nuclear is small.There is no need for battery materials such as lithium, manganese, nickel or cobalt. Nor is there need for rare earth elements such as europium, terbium, neodymium and many others.
...
Dr Alan Finkel
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/22/heres-why-there-is-no-nuclear-option-for-australia-to-reach-net-zero
FUD and amnesia.