The thrill has gone, and the pond has begun to sound like a reptile, whining and moaning about the new layout, and with a severe case of font phobia ...
What's with all the images? Why must the pond scan the headlines, only to discover that there's nothing to be found at the top of the page about the big debate or the British elections?
As for "Politics Now", the pond is inclined to go "cartoons now" ...
It's true that the pond will be following this game plan in relation to the debate ...
... but isn't the lizard Oz supposed to be the far right ratbag newspaper of record?
Or are the reptiles experiencing colonial angst now that their American kissing cousins backing of Ron DeSanctimonious has made them heretics in the eyes of the orange Jesus?
Never mind, the pond was inordinately proud when reading Martin Kettle's Tories blame Sunak for this implosion, but they are fooling themselves. The rot goes back decades, in particular this:
..The election belongs more to campaign consultants than to voters. In the past two decades, the Conservatives have spent millions on consultants like Lynton Crosby, Mark Textor and, today, Isaac Levido. Their stock in trade, honed in Australian elections, is to use divisive cultural issues to drive wedges into their opponents’ support, pulling the centre of gravity in campaigns to the right. They are both a symptom and a cause of the debauching of politics.
It fair brought a patriotic tear to the pond's eye, Australians fucking up politics and the planet around the world...
As for the reptile offerings for the day, there was the usual serve of our Henry, and the pond supposes it must get on with it, but really, isn't the whole 'nuking the country to save the planet' now done to death?
Trust the turgid one to arrive late, and then bore the socks and stockings off everyone, though the pond's stomach began to heave as it tried to get through the bizarre mix of serifs and sans serifs...
Dear sweet long absent lord, there's the dangers in thinking aloud and then typing it down. The pond began to have visions of a gigantic nuking of the country's budget.
That said, the pond did admire the insouciant style of our Henry, dismissing the CSIRO report, while stringently avoiding any figures of his own ...
How much simpler and easier it was back in the day when nuking climate zealots and teenagers ...
That line about implementing the demands of zealots being costly has an ironic ring to it, but the pond was impressed at the way this latter day hole in the bucket man stringently avoided any analysis of actual costs ... and instead ended with a bleat ...
That's it, that's the best he's got, that's his best shot?
An adage, and a cry for rigorous, objective and transparent analysis?
It would seem that in this outing our Henry has definitely lost his Thucydides mojo. Let's hope that it's not permanent, because the entire point of reading the terminally pompous bore is to enjoy the pomposity of his references. If the arcane one can't work in a reference to a Richard Allestree, what's the point? Our Henry wears his learning heavily, and the stolidity he offers is a joy to behold ...
Of course hasten slowly is the entire point of the current enterprise... abandon renewables, and nuke the county in the sweet bye and bye and all will be well ... and the climate zealots will be left moaning and wailing in the wilderness ...asking What's next for the Climate Change Authority under Matt Kean's leadership?
As for the rest of the news, the pond still harbours grudges for the way that Assange played a useful idiot role in the matters of Vlad the sociopath and getting the orange Jesus elected the first time around, and with an apology for offering a double dose of our Henry - blame the format, blame the font - on the other hand, let the cartoonists have the final word, or image if you will ...
"...the pond still harbours grudges for the way that Assange played a useful idiot role in the matters of Vlad the sociopath and getting the orange Jesus elected...". Yeah, I'll join your club on that. And those nongs keep on calling him a 'journalist'.
ReplyDeleteDP & GB.
ReplyDeleteWhat of redactions?
Timing?
Dump some now and wait for others?
What is the definition of a journalist?
Err "the core of DP's objections".
DeleteAnd this one:
DeleteDebating whether Julian Assange is a journalist is irrelevant. He changed journalism forever
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/29/the-emergence-of-julian-assange-has-posed-one-of-the-great-questions-of-our-time
Surely it is time for Henry to chuck it in, or perhaps run for POTUS. He seems to be all mixed up about how the NBN ended up slower, costlier, later. According to Henry ...
ReplyDelete'And rarely was the error made to more spectacular effect than in the NBN, whose initial costings were literally incredible. With Labor ruling out, solely on political grounds, the option New Zealand chose of starting with a copper upgrade and progressively deploying fibre, the NBN's fixed line network ended up costing, per unit of traffic carried, 25 to 30 per cent more than its cross-Tasman counterpart, while providing consumers with slower, more expensive service.'
A correspondent (contributor, commentator, or the like) to The G, code name BlackAbbott, has reminded us of what we have to thank the Coalition for with respect to the NBN. AG.
*****
BlackAbbott
25 Jun 2024 9.28
Once upon a time an Australian government decided that they would build a national broadband network that connected everyone who lived in a city or regional town with fibre optic cable to the individual house or business. The ones that lived outside the fibre areas would be connected by dedicated wireless link. The government started the process and it was all systems go and so it started. Then the government lost the next election and new government decided that "the people" did not need fibre to the house, they would never ever have need of the capacity of fibre in the house. They would change it to fibre to the end of the street or a box, or old telephone exchange in the region. They would then use existing exchange old copper wire for delivery.
This proceeded at a leisurely pace. It was much later that 2 big things were discovered. Most of the copper wire had been pulled out by the telephone companies prior to the commencement of the network as people moved to mobiles and it needed to be rebuilt at vast, vast cost which they tries to hide, all the time the experts saying stick with fibre. The second thing was that in the areas where it had already been rolled out it was a miserable problem, far to slow and unreliable, the demand of the users in capacity exceeding the delivery capability even in the first year of the initial rollout, it was as redesigned not fit for purpose. So there was a redesign gong forward to get fibre nearer the premises. That also unsuitable and now its fibre direct or to the kerb and a rebuild of all early work. So we have a national broadband network that cost about 3 or 4 times the original estimated cost and has had serious rebuilds since it was implemented in many places. It is now near the network that was originally envisioned by the government that came up with the idea years ago.
Now. The same people who stuffed the whole internet thing are in opposition. Now out of the blue and against their anti nuclear stance of earlier years, want to build nuclear power stations around the country to create a zero emissions energy supply, these are the same mob that have actively denied climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions since the last century. AND. They reckon it will reduce the cost of electricity in 2030-50 when they will come on line and they will also de-fund renewable investment in the meantime to boost boost gas as a fill-in. But they cannot supply costings or timeline or detail other than some locations. All we need to do is elect them next election..................................................
Its like. "Trust me I'm a used car salesman". "Yes, nice motor he says, one only little old lady owner, only drove to the local shop and back" he announces, as he winds back the 500k speedo clock.
Would any one trust a mob who cannot build a network with building nuclear power plants? Canvas containment domes anyone? they are cheaper and quicker that the recommended.
[
replying to the article by Adam Morton regarding Coalition's nuclear power plan
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/25/the-coalition-talks-so-much-about-its-nuclear-energy-plan-but-provides-so-little-evidence
]