The pond is in a state of pending anxiety, because the reptiles are about to enter peak jingoism season ... but for the moment, all is relatively quiet, with more raging by the reptiles about defence - a routine that the pond is now inured to by dint of repetition ... what with the war on China always expected to arrive by next Xmas ...
Eric occupied the top far right digital spot, urging on the benefits of huge monopolies, something the reptiles know a little about, while petulant Peta had the cheek to turn up and blather about old hatreds and nations of tribes, and never mind her work for the tribal onion muncher.
So it was the usual red card for petulant Peta and if the pond wanted a lesson on old hatreds it would turn to Wilcox to sort them out ...
The pond's only hope that something, Micawber-style, might turn up in the commentary below the fold ...
Sheesh, petulant Peta on a loop, and more banging on about defence, including the lizard Oz editorialist grasping the nettle, which only reminded the pond of the nettles that used to litter Tamworth, and which only a fool would grasp...
Why do the reptiles keep yearning for the apocalypse? Cue the infallible Pope this day...
Enough of the genocide and the apocalypse already, and another thing ...
The pond has complained before and will complain again, where's some of that good old fashioned IPA Riddster science? Why has Lloydie of the Amazon turned into a compleat slacker?
Think back a little and remember the good old days of the Riddster delivering the very best science ...
Um, the pond probably shouldn't have left the Riddster on that last line, because his celebration has aged tremendously well ...
Old news now, but how the pond yearns for the Riddster to return to put the likes of The Graudian and The Conversation and the cardigan wearers back in their box ...
Another thing. Note the way that the trials and the suffering and the persecution of the orange Jesus don't even rate a mention in the headlines?
How's the pond going to segue to a Colbert routine with comical illustrations? How to sing along to waking up in Mar-a-lago?
Why is there no lead-in act that could allow the pond to offer a Luckovich?
Why is there no news from Magaville?
Why must the pond turn to The Bulwark for news of what happens when foolish dogs finally catch the car?
And then there's the young earth creationist and funding for Ukraine - long live Vlad the sociopath - and MTG and more bombs for Israel and so on and so forth ...
And with the greatest respect, that's not a postcard, this is a postcard ...
Okay, okay, the pond has turned into a slacker and a shirker, down there with Lloydie and the Riddster, so now might be the right turn to apologise for the unseemly number of correspondent notes that are heading off to the pond's spam bin ...
Unfortunately the pond has no control over blogger's settings in this area, and unfortunately once sent to the spam trap, it might take days for them to surface and for the pond note them and publish them, and by that time, the caravan has well and truly moved on.
This also means there's some repetition because some correspondents try again, and manage to evade the spam trap, and the pond is too lazy to go back and see if there's been a duplication.
What a dull day, and enough with the house-keeping already.
Perhaps the best way is simply to finish off with the bromancer droning on about defence - why accept substitutes of the Langford or Stewart kind, why take the rest when you can have the best? - thereby offering a way for correspondents to also take time off ...
Those who've hung around the pond for some time will recognise the same old manic-depressive routine offered by the bromancer...and not even a mention of the four-card trick, revealing something about the bro's childhood, could lift the pond's spirits ...
It wasn't so long ago that the bro was in a manic phase, triggered by AUKUS, the subs and the chance to nuke the country ...
Here's a sample from the wild-eyed enthusiasm days, as recent as 18th March 2023 (sorry, the pond doesn't link to the reptiles as it tries to avoid linking to paywalls) ...
Sure there were conspiracies - there always are in bro world - but there was the bro, happily bigging up a hypothetical future.
Now he's taken to endlessly droning on about drones, such that the pond almost begins to look forward to Friday and a bout of Thucydides with our Henry ...
Luckily there was just a gobbet to go, and the pond realises it's been slack and offered short weight, but tomorrow is another day ...
Um, perhaps nuke the subs and go full drone?
Never mind, at least the bromancer provided a segue into the immortal Rowe of the day ...
We take offence pretty easily here down south. Our hero Daniel has been banned from Mother Russia.
ReplyDelete//
Daniel Andrews on list of Australians banned from Russia
Martin Farrer [The Guardian 2024-04-18]
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is among more than 200 names on the latest list of Australians who have been banned from entering Russia, AAP reports.
Andrews is one of the most high-profile of the 235 current and former Victorian and South Australian MPs across the political divide who have made Moscow’s list over Australia’s “anti-Russian agenda”.
Other Victorians barred indefinitely range from deputy premier Ben Carroll, treasurer Tim Pallas and opposition leader John Pesutto, to Labor MP Paul Mercurio, independent Moira Deeming and former Labor deputy premier James Merlino.
Among the South Australians are deputy premier Susan Close, treasurer Stephen Mullighan, energy minister Tom Koutsantonis, health minister Chris Picton and opposition leader David Speirs.
Russia’s foreign ministry said overnight that the Australians had been handed indefinite bans “in response to politically motivated sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities by the Australian government”
//
This is almost unfathomable - abandoned by the motherland! Still, it may put paid to the rubbishing of Comrade Dan by the lizards. Instead, Dan stands proudly beside Liberal Leader John Pesutto. AG.
And a righteous 'badge of honour' for all of them, AG
DeleteThe Bromancer is engaging in a bit of projection; if anyone has a tired, repetitive stage act, with bugger-all mystery and zero glamour, it’s him. It doesn’t matter what the subject of the day might be, his approach is obvious from the opening sentences of every article; the Government and Minister of the day are hopeless on Defence and Foreign Affairs, the Defence Department is equally hopeless, I’m a much more credible expert on relevant matters because I’ve talked to a lot of people with impressive titles and we need to massively ramp up defence expenditure so we can have a war or two by Xmas.
ReplyDeleteIf the Bro were himself a stage magician the rabbit would be peeking out from under his top hat, you’d be able too see the strings of scarves and bunches of fake flowers jammed up his sleeves and his deck of clearly-marked cards would explode out of his hands as soon as he began a trick. I certainly wouldn’t trust him to saw a woman in half…..
Not unless that woman were the Petty Peta - he'd be trustworthy then.
DeleteOoh, look where the Van Onselen is now:
ReplyDelete"Proven newsbreaker and respected commentator Peter van Onselen has joined Daily Mail Australia as its new political editor. "
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/peter-van-onselen-joins-daily-mail-australia-as-political-editor/ar-BB1lLy5K?
No sooner does Albo declare a Future Made in Australia then indeed we start making it:
ReplyDeleteWorld-first generator turns greenhouse gas into power
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/world-first-generator-turns-greenhouse-gas-into-power/ar-BB1lNGiB?
"Charging a smartphone could one day be good for the planet after Australian researchers created a generator capable of using greenhouse gas [ie CO2] to produce electricity. "
"Sheesh, petulant Peta on a loop...". Any idea what she's on about ? "...preferencing the causes of a minority." ? Is she warning us about being far too permissive to the Murdoch Media ? 'Cos that's a bunch of tinder we'd all like to see put back in the box ... and flushed down the loo.
ReplyDelete'Townsville Bullie' acknowledging coral bleaching. But, but - it is an arm of the reptile octopus (convenient metaphor). What will local business make of that? The Bullie hitherto has presented as if Dr Pangloss was editor. Never mind those scientist types at that Institute down on the waterfront - the people who take tourists out onto the reef tell us it couldn't be better, and everyone in Australia should try to come here for their next holiday. But now it is, gasp! hinting that there might be something just a wee bit wrong with the reef?
ReplyDeleteOh - and Lloydie could be found last night being interviewed by the Woman from Wycheproof, supposedly on matters environmental. You do better to take your doses of Amazon Man in print - his speaking voice is not easy listening. Issues included indigenous management of lands in Victoria, which rapidly moved to 'it's all about the money', with a gratuitous alarm by the W from W about 'ordinary people' being able to climb mountains in future. That is a very Wycheproof worry, given Wycheproof's tiny claim to fame. Lloydie also told us that the market for fully electric vehicles was not 'inflating' at the rate that 'someone' - unspecified - suggested. As of ten minutes back, the clip had garnered 4K views, so not a ratings triumph.
ReplyDeleteOh c'mon Chad, it's a "ratings triumph" for that pair on that platform.
DeleteThe Bro: "...a rare mixture of pragmatism and courage, a combination that recalls John Howard." Well that recalls John Howard only to point out how little of those qualities he's ever possessed ? However, "...the US has even national security Republicans opposing aid to Ukraine because Democrat Biden dispenses that aid." Oh right, that kind of pragmatism and courage - the same kind it takes for US Republicans to unquestioningly obey Trump.
ReplyDeleteSo: "Marles's defence policy is riddled with contradictions and illogicality." Now that's much more reminiscent of John Winston, isn't it. But truly, if China were intent on invading Australia - I mean really intent, not just propagandising - then unless the USA comes unwaveringly to our immediate defence, we might as well surrender on day one. Which frankly I'd prefer - we'd still mostly be alive if we did that.
But what if China takes the easy road - invades New Zealand (would the US come to its defence ? would Australia ? With what ?) and then uses it as a nearby base to pick off Australia bit by bit ? How serious do these people think China's warmaking ambitions really are ?
Then: "Ukraine will this year produce 1000 different types of drones." Really ? Exactly 1000 different types ? But then Ukraine is at war against Russia for its very survival, and we are not at war with anyone - though some people just can't seem to understand that.
Funny to reflect though that Kyiv (Kiev) was the original capital when the Scandinavian tribe the Rus first 'ruled' (with a great deal of approval by many of the not yet Russians) and began the process of creating Russia (though just a little bit like the Mongols ruling China).
However we're spending: "A billion dollars over 10 years ? That's our drone effort ? By golly our enemies will tremble at that." And well they may - the nation (Australia) that gave the world the Jindivik will be a whizz with drones. And drones aren't like F35s - it doesn't take hundreds of $millions just to make a single one. And just who is "our enemies" ? Is China really likely ever to invade us ? And if not (or even if) China, then who ? Indonesia maybe ? Philippines ? Thailand ? New Guinea ? Malaysia ? India ? Sri Lanka ? Who ?
Finally: "[Joint Strike Fighters] are modern defence platforms that actually exist and work...". But they don't work very well, and can't fly as high or fast as Chinese fighters, and they can only fly for a short while before needing massive servicing and repairs. Yep, just the things that a bunch of LNPs would be proud to have bought at huge cost.
NEW... "news now, but how the pond yearns for the Riddster to return to put the likes of The Graudian and The Conversation and the cardigan wearers back in their box ..." and kills off the Bjorn again consensus.
ReplyDelete"... Formal cost–benefit analyses typically find that the net benefits of mitigation only emerge after 2050 (ref. 5), which may lead some to conclude that physical damages from climate change are simply not large enough to outweigh mitigation costs until the second half of the century. Our simple comparison of their magnitudes makes clear that damages are actually already considerably larger than mitigation costs and the delayed emergence of net mitigation benefits results primarily from the fact that damages across different emission paths are indistinguishable until mid-century (Fig. 1)."
Published: 17 April 2024
"The economic commitment of climate change"
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07219-0
"Climate crisis: average world incomes to drop by nearly a fifth by 2050
"Cost of environmental damage will be six times higher than price of limiting global heating to 2C, study finds"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/17/climate-crisis-average-world-incomes-to-drop-by-nearly-a-fifth-by-2050
From Bill Mitchell https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=61677
ReplyDelete" in the US, the Republicans and Democrats have combined to submit a new piece of legislation, the U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act – which effectively seeks to punish South Africa for taking a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice accusing it of genocide.
The US Congress is now being asked to revise the relationship between the two countries because South Africa is apparently supporting a terrorist organisation (Hamas).
One of the bill’s proponents claimed that he is “greatly concerned with South Africa’s alignment with China and Russia and embracement of Hamas in the wake of the devastating October 7th attacks”
While that is disgusting in itself, the fact that the Democrats also chose to co-sponsor the legislation makes it doubly so.
So we have come so far in this madness that calling out human rights abuses on a massive scale is siding with terrorists."
and see "Bill that calls for full review of US relations with SA crosses first hurdle in US Congress" https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-21-bill-that-calls-for-full-review-of-us-relations-with-sa-crosses-first-hurdle-in-us-congress/ (soft paywall)
An informative tutorial:
ReplyDeleteAs the COVID cash glut comes to an end, the Reserve Bank is changing the way it sets and maintains interest rates
https://theconversation.com/as-the-covid-cash-glut-comes-to-an-end-the-reserve-bank-is-changing-the-way-it-sets-and-maintains-interest-rates-226962?
"Under this approach ["ample reserves"], the Reserve Bank will continue to supply plenty of funds that banks can freely borrow at the target cash rate, which will ensure it still controls interest rates."
Now where does the Reserve Bank get all those funds from ? A big polymer printing press and mint, perhaps ?
I can see where that '3-5 years' figure for SMRs comes from:
ReplyDeletehttps://johnquiggin.com/2024/04/15/duttons-decaying-nuclear-energy-plans-have-the-briefest-half-life/