The pond is growing increasingly resentful of the way that it must perforce follow the reptile agenda ...how then to include this recent sighting on a stroll, showing teachers on struggle street getting by with the help of tips?
Instead the same drear bunch turned up for their Friday performance, doing and saying the usual thing in the manner you'd expect of trained seals ...
The reptiles were wildly excited by the quick work of Killer Kim, but the pond didn't have to go where the immortal Rowe had already gone ...
Talk about an unappetizing stew, and of course our Henry was the potato that contributed to the stodge and the bulking up ... (or was that straw? As the pond remembers the lyrics, our incompetent Henry was incapable of fixing the bucket for lack of a way of dealing with straw).
... or by digital edition ...
In short, there are alternatives to sociopathic fear and loathing and vile fear-mongering, but not with our Henry ...
Meanwhile, on another planet ... Benji does his best to stay out of jail and the genocide goes on ...
The pond never expected it would have sympathy for a head of ASIO, but what to do when caught up in a morass entirely lacking in empathy?
Dear sweet long absent lord, why on earth was the pond forced to spend that time with a lesser member of the Kelly gang? (And what's happened to "Ned", the leader of the gang - the last we heard from him was back on 3rd August blathering about AUKUS?)
Then the hole in the bucket man truly reached the pits and went the Godwin's Law smashing caper ...
If we must speak of the Germans, can we at least have a joke rather than Godwin's Law molestation?
The pond was delighted to find this in Ars Technica ...German warship floats down Thames while playing Darth Vader’s theme (there's a video too).
The FGS Braunschweig is a German naval corvette made for stealthy littoral (shoreline) operations, but the Braunschweig ditched the stealth completely while transiting up the Thames this week on a training mission to London. Instead, the ship turned out its enlisted men to stand on deck in light blue shirts and dark pants while the boat blasted a recording of "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" from Star Wars as it floated past Tower Bridge.
Coming eight decades after Londoners lived through the German "blitz" in World War II and then spent years waiting for a German naval invasion that never materialized, playing the Big Bad Guy's theme from Star Wars films was certainly a bold choice. But a German naval spokesperson assured the BBC that the music had "no deeper message" and added that it was not some sort of commentary from the German naval staff. Rather, the boat's commander "can choose the music freely."
The little spectacle did show two things. One—assuming this was, in fact, a joke—it put the lie to the old stereotype that the Germans have no sense of humor, a stereotype that has led to the production of actual BBC headlines like "Why people think Germans aren't funny."
Second, it's a reminder that people of my generation, those who grew up watching the original (and best!) Star Wars trilogy, are now the people running the world and its weapons systems. And we're bringing our musical tastes with us, even if they come from a galaxy far, far away.
Donald Trump invoked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s religion while attacking him early Thursday in a rambling rant about Judaism and Israel.
The former president made the remarks in a Truth Social post hours after Shapiro spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Shapiro used the speech to describe Trump as “a man with no guardrails” who “wants to take away our rights and our freedoms.”
“The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President,” Trump wrote in his post.
He continued to claim that Harris “hates Israel” and hopes “in the end that it will fail.”
“Yet Shapiro, for strictly political reasons, refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had,” Trump wrote. “I have done more for Israel than any President, and frankly, I have done more for Israel than any person, and it’s not even close. Shapiro has done nothing for Israel, and never will.”
Never mind that talk of a "Jewish Governor:, the pond has filibustered enough, time for the final gobbet ... and as usual, there's "surveys", uncited and unlinked, all as a way of establishing that empathy for genuine refugees is impossible ...
What a despicable man he is, but there was more despicable to come, and the pond isn't talking about Ann Coulter ... though why not have a break without the nausea of a KitKat, but rather by briefly keeping the company of one of those notorious Kat ladies ...
Oh dear, the truly, deeply weird never know how to wisely deploy "weird" ...Ann Coulter Deletes Heartless Gus Walz Tweet After Backlash ( paywall)
Oh bless her tiny little heart, and now back to the bigotry ...
It was Rachael Kohn's show that was largely responsible for the pond giving up listening to RN.
For some reason, the drivel would coincide with the time the pond would turn on the wireless for a distraction, and the pond would be confronted by Kohn blathering on in a quasi-mystical way with some deeply weird guest, and instantly the pond would be forced to switch off ...
On the other hand, as Walz said in his speech at the DNC ..we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.
If only Kohn would mind her own damn business ... others might not share her opinions, others might make difference choices, but that's their right ... and none of her damn business ...or her wretched opinion-making ...
Sorry, the pond snapped, it needed a joke, a reminder of couches and cat ladies... before this cat lady carried on, sounding stupider and stupider by the rarified word ...
Has she ever listened to Shostakovich's 13th Symphony? Does she have the first clue about the controversy that his treatment of Babi Yar provoked?
Does she think that's a good role model for the treatment of those who dissent? Clearly she does ...
Sounds very Islamic fundamentalist to the pond...speaking of which it's only fair dibs to mention the latest monstrosities emanating from the Taliban, as reported in The Taliban publish vice laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces in public
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.
The laws were issued Wednesday after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman said. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” after seizing power in 2021.
The ministry published its vice and virtue laws on Wednesday that cover aspects of everyday life like public transportation, music, shaving and celebrations.
They are set out in a 114-page, 35-article document seen by The Associated Press and are the first formal declaration of vice and virtue laws in Afghanistan since the takeover.
“Inshallah we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice,” said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq on Thursday.
The laws empower the ministry to be at the frontline of regulating personal conduct, administering punishments like warnings or arrest if enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws.
Article 13 relates to women. It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight or short.
Women are obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.
Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings, threatening an already fragile Afghan media landscape.
Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travelers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other. The law also obliges passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.
According to the ministry website, the promotion of virtue includes prayer, aligning the character and behavior of Muslims with Islamic law, encouraging women to wear hijab, and inviting people to comply with the five pillars of Islam. It also says the elimination of vice involves prohibiting people from doing things forbidden by Islamic law.
Why does all that echo in the pond's mind?
Skip past the usual demonising video of protests designed to upset the reptiles' aged demographic ...
Thank the long absent lord that neither Kohn nor the Taliban can do what they'd like to free speech by blathering about "vagaries" ...
And so to a few closing cartoons in celebration at the end of this day's suffering at the hands of reptiles and lizard people ...
Kohn: "...public companies whose employees refuse to serve Jewish customers...". Back when I was a regular RN listener I always managed to avoid Kohn's rantings. Thankfully.
ReplyDeleteBut what's this about "public companies"? I've only heard of the one - Officeworks where a single employee refused service. Has there been many more than just one such employee in one single company who did that ? After all, I think it was only one bakery that refused a wedding cake for a same sex marriage, wasn't it ?
However, since I notice some "conservatives" are right on for refusing some people visas to enter Australia, can I take it that they do believe that "refusal of service" is a right, and righteous, thing to do ? And if so, would they expand on the list of speech and/or doings that are valid grounds for refusal ?
Unsw set up an IP spruking service after getting all Israeli's IP in the 1970's as "half the world won't deal with us". Yes, direct quote to me from head of IP spruiker, know to family for 40yrs
DeleteNow that you mention it, Anony, that does ring a faint bell in my alzheimered memory. So this 'refusal of service' thing has a real history, hasn't it. And for many, it appears that 'being Jewish' is in and of itself quite sufficient justification.
DeleteIt's Jobson Grofe, mate. Get the names right.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Henry and Joes thoughts are on granting a visa for Israel's prime minister given his material support for a terrorist organisation?
ReplyDeleteFor years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces
https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
To kill a mocking bird... slowly, by eliding death via... money, and the “News Transformation Fund”, euohamism for she'll be right maaaate journo!
ReplyDelete“If you look at Canada, they passed that over a year ago, and publishers haven’t received a penny from that yet,” Wicks said.
"But the deal immediately drew wide-ranging criticism — including from fellow Democratic legislators, reflecting a broad perception that Google had wielded its influence to wring favorable terms from Sacramento."
"Google agrees to America’s first newsroom funding deal. It’s already unpopular."
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/21/google-california-newsroom-ai-00174817
JUST TAX EL GOOG and fund JOURNALISM!
Google avoids “link tax” bill with deal to fund California journalism and AI
DeleteCritics say Google got off easy as it agrees to pay $55 million into news fund.
...
Union calls deal a “shakedown”
The Media Guild of the West union slammed the deal as a "shakedown" in a statement issued yesterday. The agreement is disappointing partly because it came "after two years of advocacy for strong antimonopoly action to start turning around the decline of local newsrooms," the group said.
...
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/google-avoids-link-tax-bill-with-deal-to-fund-california-journalism-and-ai/
If you wish to become and Australian citizen, but did not take the easy way of being born here, you must answer a series of questions about Australia, and particularly 5 mandatory questions on ‘Australian values’. The Government provides a 49 page booklet for you to study for that. It is readily available on the internet. If you scroll down to pages 44-46, you will find test questions on ‘Australian Values’.
ReplyDeleteI have just, again, looked over this section, while musing on the Henry’s piece of absolutism flapping from this day’s Flagship. Now the Henry applies some rhetorical tricks to his own wording, to try to ambush the Director General of ASIO. Henry tells us that Burgess’ term, ‘rhetorical support’ is, by the Bucketman’s assessment, ‘entirely unclear’. Now, Burgess has secondary and tertiary education, so is likely to understand the words he uses. He was also nominated to his current position by Scott Morrison/Peter Dutton, so is unlikely to be any kind of a soft lefty.
Yet it suits the Henry to write ‘But if ‘rhetorical support’ involves endorsing Hamas’s actions or values’ - then it, and those voicing it, must be proscribed in every way, including not being considered for entry to this land, for whatever, otherwise worthy, reason. That ‘if’ has great leverage.
And that, to the Henry, is how you construct ‘an insult to Australia’s values.’ It is little more than a sophomoric debating tactic, which might confuse an inexperienced opposition team in the undergraduate debates, but adjudicators would chide you for its use.
The shrinking readership of the Flagship probably have long forgotten their student debating days, if the were ever moved to participate.
Well obviously Thucydides never mentioned ‘rhetorical support’, so how could Henry have any idea what this technical debating and proclamatory term means.
DeleteAnd while we are down in the morass of dubious sources of 'opinion', used so 'presenters' get a little time off for the odd toilet break, Sky Australia has been using an 'Emily Saves America' to explain just how terribly wrong everything about the Democratic National Convention is. The first time I saw 'Emily' I thought she was one of the inevitable 'influencers', unlikely to be brought back because what she said seemed unlikely to keep the attention of even rabid Skywatchers. After she appeared a few more times, I went to the 'search engine of my choice' to find out what talent she supposedly had, that I could not identify.
ReplyDeleteAs 'influencers' go Emily is not in the top rank for numbers of followers. Her 'opinions' are pretty much those of MAGA cap wearers, on the fringe of Trump gatherings, who are soft interview targets for channels like CNN, PBS and MSNBC. Delve a little deeper, and one finds that, for example, quite stridently, she 'Stands with Alex Jones.' And, yes, that is Alexander Emerick Jones, to get our taxonomy correct.
So Sky management - if there is any - thinks this is a sound source of opinion for its watchers here in Oz? Or was Emily foist upon them from Fox, now that Ann Coulter has followed the unlovely Miranda Devine in monstering a child with developmental challenges? Yep - the teachings of Alex Jones would be of a piece with that, so go with the blue-eyed blonde to present it.
As ever, these words should not be taken as any kind of suggestion that other readers look at 'Sky News Australia' for any reason, but particularly not to chance watching 'Emily Saves America'. If you did so, it could not easily be unseen.
Before I read this comment of yours, Chad, I had no idea of the existence of an 'Emily' who saves America. And after reading it and a lightning flash around the web I still don't.
DeleteBut hey, the human population of this world is getting up to 8.1 billion, so room for plenty of Emilys and their handful of followers. Even at a rate of 1 per million that means about 8,100 of them. That's far too many even to write for Fox/Sky.