Devastated yet again.
The pond had steeled itself for a serve of Dame Groan, groaning away about the budget and how we'll all be rooned, but early in the morning there was no sign of the groaning ... and it was left to others to explain how we'd all be rooned ...
There was also no sign of the trial of the century or Michael Cohen. The Graudian might be doing it live, but the reptiles prefer to stay deep in the catacombs, or if you will, the hive mind...
There was Tom proudly occupying the far right space and the AJN dominating the centre space - never mind the genocide - but one item did intrigue, as the pond slipped down the page ...
The pond read it and decided that yet again the reptiles had missed the best of the yarn ... if you read the Graudian version, there was a great pay off ...
The Australian published a story about Sofronoff’s findings ahead of its public release but denied breaching any embargo. It said it would “not reveal” its sources.
The integrity commission specified its investigation would look at whether Sofronoff’s decision to prematurely hand the final report to two journalists was a breach of the requirements of the Inquiries Act 1991 and if it constituted corrupt conduct under the Integrity Commission Act 2018...
...At the time, Barr said Sofronoff had explained he believed it was “possible to identify journalists who are ethical” and that he judged neither of the pair would “take the serious step of betraying his trust by behaving unprofessionally”.
Dame Slap? The lizard Oz? Ethical journalism?
The pond doesn't need any inquiry to realise that Sofronoff is either a knave or a fool, or perhaps both ...
While doing housekeeping the pond should apologise for not noting Penni Russon's piece in The Conversation, Gender Queer was the last book an Australian council tried to ban. It’s still being appealed in federal court.
It would have been relevant yesterday, but the magic reptile land above the faraway tree has moved on.
Outside reptile la la land, the pond is slow in its reading and slow to catch up, but it really must record Amanda Yen recording Miss Lindsey explaining why Benji's mob should nuke Gaza, just to get the job done... (possible Beast paywall).
The senator continued to call the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki “the right decision” by the U.S. That decision ended the war with Japan, but killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians between the initial blasts and the deadly radiation that followed.
“Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can’t afford to lose, and work with them to minimize casualties,” Graham insisted.
It was unclear how he believed the U.S. and Israel could work to “minimize casualties,” since bombs tend not to discriminate between civilians and militants upon detonation.
Graham’s comments were so extreme that even Welker was taken aback, unsuccessfully attempting to interject as the senator talked over her.
“Can I say this?” Graham continued. “Why is it okay for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why is it okay for us to do that? I thought it was okay.”
Of course, the presumption that the U.S. was justified in nuking Japan to end World War II has been contested by historians and other critics for decades. Those bombs also decimated nearly all of Hiroshima’s and Nagasaki’s medical infrastructures, making it nearly impossible to deliver aid to the injured and dying, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Graham’s comments came as Israel appears poised to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah, which the U.N. and the Biden administration have warned would be catastrophic for the 1.4 million people sheltering there. On Sunday, as Graham went on national television to suggest incinerating Gaza, the U.N. secretary general pleaded once more to prevent the area from spiraling into all-out devastation.
You won't read that sort of marvellous logic in the lizard Oz ... and instead there was a disappointing mob clustered below the fold ...
Deprived of a damned good Groaning, the pond knew what must be done.
The pond simply had to make a gesture towards budget day, and ancient Troy and the bouffant one and the lizard Oz editorialist wouldn't cut it ...
Nor would nattering "Ned", as the pond breathed a silent prayer of relief that he'd been turned into a podcast ...
No need to go there, but it left the pond with a dilemma. If the portentous pompous bore had been reduced to a podcast, Dame Groan was likely to be venting her spleen on the morrow, what on earth to do?
So the pond does what it always does in a crisis ... reached for a serve of Mein Gott hysteria. Sure, it was a day old, and a little stale, but you need someone to cry out for the rich, and a dot form bulletin is almost as good as a listicle or a PowerPoint presentation ...
And that concludes the pond's budget coverage, but there should be a bonus, and who better, what better, than the bromancer celebrating SloMo?
It's passing strange that the launch wasn't done at Hillsong, but never mind, this is a gripping read about a gripping read ...
Just to start the day, Chad, another little bit of nostalgia. Forget your Taylors and Mileys and Cyndis, and hail to the great Ronnie Gilbert.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/A9_MpNwduAA
Oh yes, and from back in 1958, this one too:
Deletehttps://youtu.be/REryc1TpeY8
Good way to start the day, thank you GB. Agree with your 'hail' to 'Ronnie' Gilbert. I have just been over her 'Wiki' entry, and note that she was one of the many influenced by Paul Robeson. I have friends who date their own commitment to 'activism', from Robeson's visit to our land in 1960.
DeleteWas also pleased to see in comments to the 'Fever' clip that another generation is now discovering Miss Peggy Lee.
Dickensian Mien Gotte, "but you need someone to cry out for the rich".
ReplyDeleteQuiggin says "What explains the breathless coverage of absurd talking points like this. Sadly, it’s the same stuff bloggers [incl DP] have been complaining about for decades. Political journalists love conflict and don’t have a clue about policy. That hasn’t changed and isn’t likely to."*
Australian superannuation balances over$3m. Answer: approx half up to 1% of taxpayers. A half a percent tail wagging 99.5% of the dog - us.
1 person out of 200 picking 199 Aussies pockets. Where is Fagin?
Corrected Mien Gotte subhead...
"It's all passed safe through the melting-pot,' replied Fagin, 'and this is your share".
Mien Gotte channeling Bill Sykes in the AFR, says just swap pockets or! "If the money is forced out of super before death, that tax will not be paid":
"Super workarounds: what to do with $3m-plus balances"
"Choices range from setting up a family trust or transferring savings into kids’ superannuation accounts to moving the biggest investments into private company structures.
afr wealth personal-finance super-workarounds-what-to-do-with-3-million-plus-balances-20230227-p5cnwb
Dickensian. As Rowe detail notes, Smaug awaits.
*"MSM suckered on super tax concessions"
MARCH 3, 2023
... "looking at the was the mainstream print and electronic media (mis)handled the debate over the decision to reduce tax concessions on earnings of superannuation balances in excess of $3m. The weight of argument was strongly on the government’s side, and the media commentariat seemed to have conceded that. But the finance lobby has hit back with a series of utterly ludicrous arguments which have nonetheless been given headline treatment, not only by Murdoch but by Nine and the ABC. The main points are
...
"What explains the breathless coverage of absurd talking points like this. Sadly, it’s the same stuff bloggers have been complaining about for decades. Political journalists love conflict and don’t have a clue about policy. That hasn’t changed and isn’t likely to."
...
https://johnquiggin.com/2023/03/03/msm-suckered-on-super-tax-concessions/
We should not have expected a column from dear Dame Groan on this day, because, just two weeks back, she told us of how she would suffer (for us) by having to endure the budget 'lock up'. No doubt to emphasise the horror, she could not prepare a column a day or three in advance, so we cultists could note that she would be incarcerated, possibly having to sustain herself on Nescaff, as she ticked-off the points (all of them) on which she disagreed with the budget.
ReplyDeleteHer effort two weeks back already alerted us to the con that any surplus would be a phantasm, because it would come from the revenue side of the balance sheet, when IPAnomics demands that governments hoard gold and silver by not wasting revenue on anything other than defence equipment boondoggles. Redistributing any of tax revenue to the less-well off simply nurtures a dependent psychology, hastening our decline into serfdom.
Yep, that hoarding worked wonderfully well for Spain and Portugal during their colonial expansion, and it only came at the cost of a few million souls.
Yes, the pond expects a glut of reptiles tomorrow, which might provide an excuse to dodge the Groaning, as the old duck groans away about the lock up being worse than what the mango Mussolini is enduring during the trial of the century (so far), and the budget being worse than the Apocalypse.
DeleteWhile I am here, comment on terminology. We have grown accustomed to those on the right referring to people who 'pay no tax', when what they mean is those who pay no income tax. That group does not include very high earners who so arrange their finances that they pay no income tax on what would otherwise be assessable incomes going high in 6 and 7 figures. They, of course, are 'wealth creators'.
ReplyDeleteBut back to those who live under the income tax threshold. In the last few days, both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have said, casually, that 'every tax payer gets a tax cut'. That is a little discomfiting coming from their side of politics, because just about every adult pays GST. Those who do not reach the income tax threshold may well pay a higher proportion of their total income in GST than those who live above the threshold. The casual classification of 'tax payers' with those above the income tax threshold confirms the insidious nature of the GST, which J Winston Howard was well aware of.
Ignorance is rampant, Chad, and there's a whole lot of stupidity, too.
DeleteBut hey, everyone forgets that even we age-pension oldies pay GST. And petrol excise too - at least I do while I can still keep my license which I can only 'recharge' every 3 years now, instead of 10.
However, I'm looking into mobile scooters to prepare for the day (about $3500 to $5000 a go but they will get to my local supermarket and back) - though I'm probably better off taking a bus to Chadstone Mall, shopping there and taking a taxi home - not paying for a car means I can afford a couple of sizable taxi fares per week. Though what I really want to know is for how long after I can no longer roll over my license will it continue to be accepted by the bank as certifying my identity - that's my nab accounts anyway, CBA still provides me with a bank book.
So, according to the Bro, "...Danny has become a visitor in prison to the man who killed his children, and has helped to bring that man to Christianity himself." And he'll stay "in Christianity" whilst he can still benefit from sentence reductions or even just earlier 'bail' for 'good behaviour' but will he persist once he's 'out and free' ? We shall see, I guess.
DeleteRegarding the changing of Biden's mind, has he left anything out ?
ReplyDelete"What changed it [Biden's mind] were the grotesque actions of Israel itself. A campaign of indiscriminate bombing. The casual slaughter of thousands of civilians. Complete destruction of Gaza's buildings and infrastructure. The routine murder of journalists and aid workers. The forced starvation of Gaza's people. A plan to continue doing all this in Rafah with no apparent goal other than bloody revenge. And all of it without even a rhetorical pretense that Israel gives a shit about 21st century humanitarian concerns in the slightest way."
https://jabberwocking.com/israel-changed-joe-bidens-mind-all-by-itself/