In which the pond experiments with a new methodology to survey the reptile scene ...

 

The pond's challenge to its coterie of correspondents?

Tomorrow is a travel day for the pond. 

Can't be helped, can't be avoided. The pond sometimes arranges travel days on a Sunday so that the weekend reptiles can occupy the void of the hive mind without disrupting the continuous flow of reptile verbiage.

But this day the pond won't be able to do an update of the day's reptile follies in a seemly and timely way. Never mind, the pond will include a place holder, something different, a change of scenery.

And to help keep the day lively and engaged, the pond will be proposing an official Loon Pond Competition for Correspondents.

Here's how it will hopefully work. Click on a reptile to whom you are devoted. Copy the URL.

Head to the archive.

Paste the url into the search function. Now copy and paste the verbiage into some kind of word or rtf file. Examine the dribble of drivel at your leisure. Select nuggets, or gobbets as long as the blogger comments form allows. Paste these gems into the pond's comments section.

You will then have officially entered the Loon Pond Competition for Correspondents in search of the craziest contribution.

There is no prize, save for satisfaction at a job well done and a race well won, but participants will be awarded a post-graduate degree in herpetology studies, and may refer to themselves as Doctors of pond punditry. 

There are no rules as to content. The pond usually refuses to run TG bashing reptiles because of sensitivities among the pond's TG friends. But this is an open slather field day, have at any form of bigotry, bile or absurdist surrealism that springs forth from the archive.

It can range from the silliest story, such as this one ...

Women shouldn’t hold office, says GOP woman now running for office
“I don’t know if I would vote for any female,” said state senate hopeful Mylie Biggs, the daughter of GOP Rep. Andy Biggs. (*archive link)

You don't have to move past the header for that one, but what the heck, a little colour and movement to enhance the rampant stupidity ...

At 25 years old, Biggs just clears Arizona’s age requirement to run for a legislative office. Despite her youth, though, Biggs has already managed to contradict the essence of her nascent venture into politics.
Exactly one year ago, Biggs appeared on a little-known East Valley-based podcast called The Matty McCurdy Program. During that conversation, Biggs revealed a belief that is diametrically opposed to her own candidacy: that women should not hold political office.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I would vote for any female. I don’t know if females should be in office,” Biggs told McCurdy and an unknown third person on the Aug. 6, 2024, episode, laughing about the extreme take. If anyone thought it was a joke, Biggs was sure to clear it up that she wasn’t kidding.
“There are a lot of really good women in office, I’m not trying to hate on anyone — like, some really good congresswomen,” Biggs added. “Yeah, I don’t think women should hold office in general. That’s my position. That’s my stance. I think women should run the home.”

It doesn't even have to be from the lizard Oz. Any form of nonsense qualifies, such as Mike Lofgren in Salon, How did we get from the ’60s to Trump’s kitsch White House?, Our culture turned on itself, stagnated and went rancid — that's how.

Or Sophia A. McClennen, also in Salon, Greg Gutfeld will never outshine Stephen Colbert, Fox News tries to credit Gutfeld's show for Colbert's cancellation — but the facts tell a different story, Greg Gutfeld will never outshine Stephen Colbert.

Or even the Graudian if the yarn features the sort of weirdness that also finds a home in the lizard Oz hive mind, 

Interview
‘It’s a scary time’: Sophie Lewis on the ‘enemy feminisms’ that enable the far right
Julia Carrie Wong

In a new book the scholar traces a line from reactionary tendencies in history to anti-trans feminists today

Heck, anything's allowable, though it would help if it conformed to the archive rule, so that any samples could lead to a full read, as with Peter Wehner and Robert P. Beschel Jr.'s offering in The Atlantic, Trump’s Unforgivable Sin, Voters have proved willing to tolerate corruption, but there’s one thing they won’t ignore. (*archive link)

What's the unforgivable sin? Spoilers are allowed ...

“Ultimately, our postelection poll makes clear that voters prioritized perceived effectiveness rather than upholding democracy this election,” Schoen and Cooperman wrote, “and while they are deeply skeptical towards our institutions generally, they are cautiously optimistic that the incoming administration will be effective at providing real-world solutions.”
A little more than half a year into Trump’s second term, however, the public’s confidence in his skill as a chief executive is shattering. In a recent AP/NORC poll, only about one-quarter of U.S. adults said that Trump’s policies have helped them. Roughly half report that Trump’s policies have “done more to hurt” them, and about two in 10 say his policies have “not made a difference” in their lives. Remarkably, Trump failed to earn majority approval on any of the issues in the poll, including the economy, immigration, and cutting government spending.
As a result, a politically toxic impression is hardening. Trump’s approval rating in the most recent Gallup poll is 37 percent, the lowest of this term and only slightly higher than his all-time low of 34 percent, at the end of his first term. (Among independents, Trump’s approval rating is down to 29 percent.) Americans already understood Trump to be corrupt, and proved themselves willing to tolerate that. But now they are coming to believe that he is inept. In American politics, that is an unforgivable sin.

Of course this assumes the reptiles have still left this archive avenue open, but it's working today, and it just so happens that yesterday a pond correspondent asked a most pertinent question ...

How much of tomorrow’s Lizard Oz Opinionista space is likely to be devoted to attacks on the Federal Government’s decision to recognise Palestine - 100%
Plus plenty of supposedly straightforward “news” coverage, which will be uniformly negative.

The pond is exceptionally pleased you asked that question, now lease allow the pond to adopt its new archive methodology to provide an answer ...

First a survey of the top of the digital scene early in the morning ...

Now to get down to the specifics, to observe the murmuration of the hive mind, swooping and swaying in unison.

It was Ben, packing it in, who led the wasy ...

TWO-STATE SOLUTION MOVE
Australia goes all the way with PA, as PM pins hopes on Abbas
Anthony Albanese has anchored his landmark recognition of Palestine on the assurances of a leader who has overseen payments for terrorists, in a move savaged by the Netanyahu government.
By Ben Packham

Want more of Ben packing it? Simple ... trust the archive.

Hodgey wasn't hedging her bets ...

IMPOTENT AND 89
Abbas not the best of bets on Palestine recognition
Australia has made swift elections and government reform conditions for recognising Palestinian statehood. Is Mahmoud Abbas the man to deliver?
by Amanda Hodge

Want more of Hodgey refusing to hedge? Simple ... trust the archive ...

Cameron was also cramming the hive mind position into his noggin ...

COMMENTARY By Cameron Stewart
The long phone call which turned an alliance on its head
The tension must have been palpable when Anthony Albanese told Benjamin Netanyahu why Australia was going to recognise a Palestinian state.

Want more of Cameron cramming in reptile attitudes? Simple ... trust the archive ...

And then there was "Ned" being "Ned" ...

COMMENTARY By Paul Kelly
Labor in a state of fraud and fantasy
Australia’s historic move to back Palestinian statehood next month hinges on paper promises, while Hamas remains in control of Gaza.

Remarkably "Ned" had so little to say that he fitted into a single gobbet, albeit in small text ...

But what if "Ned" is too hard to read? 

Yes, he's always indigestible, but the pond is thinking of the small font/

Easy peasy, trust the archive ...

Had more than enough? Allow Golding to summarise ...

Over on the extreme far right it was much the same story ...

How the reptiles love the genocide, the ethnic cleansing, the mass starvation as a tactic of war, the embrace of only one patented brand of religious fanaticism ...

There was Alex down in the ruck with a blood moon ...

So-called solution comes with one guarantee: bloodshed
Who will now finish the mission of rooting out Hamas in Gaza or stop it from dominating in the West Bank? The Palestinian Authority? International peacekeepers?
by Alex Ryvchin

Want more of Alex? Trust the archive ...

Geoff was also on hand chambering yet another round ...

Albanese, Wong have realised Palestine dream, but will it come true?
Anthony Albanese’s landmark decision changing Australia’s longstanding foreign policy on Palestine is opportunistic and on many levels meaningless without US involvement.
By Geoff Chambers
Political editor

Want to chamber more of Geoff? Trust the archive.

Of course you could have just turned to Golding ...

And of course the pond never forgets the bromancer, top of the world ma early in the reptile morning with ...

PM’s Palestine blunder plays to domestic cheer squad
Offering official recognition to a Palestinian state is not real­ly concerned with the politics of Gaza City and Ramallah but with Marrickville and Liverpool, Northcote and Broadmeadows.
By Greg Sheridan
Foreign Editor

Usually the pond would hang on every bromancer word, but the most shocking thing was the way that the reptiles left out "shocking" from their thumb listing of the bromancer piece.

Want the full, shocking bromancer stodge? Trust the archive ...

Or perhaps trust the Wilcox ...

And the pond hopes that the new methodology has answered the correspondent's question, and so to the only reptile the pond will offer conventional coverage to this day.

How could the pond resist the siren song of a dinkum groaning?

The header: Whatever the issue, conclusion is the same: more money, please, Whenever you read about a study that estimates the economic cost of pain, workplace accidents, dementia, eating disorders, racism or espionage, be suspicious. These reports are almost always commissioned to make the case for a broader remit for the representative agencies.

The caption for the umpteenth repeat of the snap of Jimbo looking out of sorts?: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers holds a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Don't get the pond wrong, you can still trust the archive if you want to imbibe the groaning in a different way ...

But credit where credit is due, Dame Groan wasn't eyeless in Gaza, she was eyeless on economic matters in her usual way ...

I thought it was a fad, a bit like pogo sticks and yoyos. There was a time when studies of the economic cost of (fill in the blank) would regularly be reported on. If it wasn’t pain, it was eating disorders; if it wasn’t dementia, it was irritable bowel syndrome.
The typical conclusion read: “The report demonstrates that further investment is needed in prevention as well as treatment and other support.” A similar ending was “an extension of best practice to Australian patients could lead to substantial savings and better health outcomes”.
The numbers in these types of studies were frighteningly large. But with the right intervention – ie, more taxpayer spending – these costs could be reduced.
They were almost always commissioned by the underlying provider group or some other body with an interest in additional taxpayer dollars. They were just a hidden, but effective, form of rent-seeking. As Thomas Sowell reminds us: “When politicians discover some group that is being very vocal about not having as much as they want, the ‘solution’ is to give them more.”

A serve of the Groaning wouldn't be the same without a side serve of Sharri, full disrespect, Sky News host Sharri Markson highlights the Albanese government’s “urgent” roundtable convening as national debt is forecast to hit a trillion dollars for the first time ever. The Albanese government is facing economic criticism as Australia experiences a per capita recession, stalled productivity, and forecasted debt reaching a trillion dollars. Economic complexity has sharply declined, ranking the nation 105th in global standings, while proposed tax increases on superannuation and unrealised capital gains have provoked backlash from notable figures.

Then there came a moment when the pond began to question everything ...

These studies were great business for certain economic consultancies. Once the template was set, it was often just a case of turning the handle for a different topic. The financial margins on undertaking these sorts of studies were substantial. Economically, the methodology employed was always dubious. The estimates of the prevalence of the condition in question were often selected based on very little evidence, with the highest-point figure given the most prominence.
No one denies the personal costs, distress and discomfort of many of the conditions covered. But these studies aim to do much more: they attempt to estimate the total national economic costs by considering factors beyond personal suffering.
They also make the dubious claim that, with enough additional taxpayer funding directed to provider groups, these costs can be substantially reduced. At one stage, the cumulative costs of all these afflictions and problems outlined in these reports would more than exhaust the GDP. After all, the total cost of pain in 2018 was estimated to be $139bn, with the minority of these costs borne by those actually suffering the pain.
I’m pretty sure pogo sticks won’t be coming back any time soon – I’m not so sure about yoyos – but we have recently seen the return of the cost of (fill in the blank) with the release of two self-serving studies.

She's pretty sure about pogo sticks? They won't be coming back anytime soon?

Dammit, why had the pond reverted to using Chrome? Why had it provided an AI answer?

And so on, pogo-stick drivel getting in the way of genuine search results.

Why did the bubble-headed booby, the cackling canister, the demented diode (so many more here) provide a link to a YouTube story suggesting that pogo sticks were bouncing back in Pittsburgh?

All so that the pond wouldn't have any trust in a single word that the Groaner groaned into the digital ether.

All that Dame Groan had by way of rebuttal to the jabbering junkheap was a snap, American author Thomas Sowell

Some might think the pond isn't taking Dame Groan seriously, what with her routinely rounding on those different, otherwise enabled, or perhaps a disadvantaged minority, because let's face it, she's an alright Jill, and who cares about the Jacks?

The first one emanates from the Australian Human Rights Commission, which commissioned a study on the economic costs of racism. Defining racism is itself a tricky issue and so the claim is simply made that one-fifth of workers, according to survey data, claim to have experienced racism at work. Further, it’s argued there is significant underreporting in that figure.
The drum roll estimate of the cost of racism is 3 per cent of GDP, setting a record for these kinds of studies. The 2022 study on the economic value of reducing work-related injuries and illnesses commissioned by Safe Work Australia concluded GDP would be only 1.6 per cent higher.
According to the author of the study on the cost of racism, “there are direct costs, which fall to the person who experiences racism, including medical fees or payments from insurance schemes”.
These intangible and essentially undefined costs are the biggest group. We are led to believe racism can indirectly lead to premature death.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giri Sivaraman also refers to the supposed inadequacy in the recognition of overseas qualifications. “Racism impedes productivity. Failure to recognise overseas skills and qualifications means Australia is not allowing its migrant workforce to fully contribute.”
The fact overseas skills and qualifications may not actually be equivalent to ours doesn’t occur to him. But based on this study, the AHRC is calling for “developing and implementing internal workplace anti-racism strategies for all employers, mandatory cultural safety and anti-racism training and national standards for reporting racism at work”.
The AHRC also wants strategies “to support recruitment and training equity, particularly in leadership roles”, as well as placing a positive obligation on employers to ensure there’s no racist behaviour at workplaces. Obviously, the AHRC will need more funding to fulfil its wider brief.

Of course Dame Groan doesn't mind a little racism at work, and she loves old biddy jokes too, as the reptiles flung in another snap, Giri Sivaraman

And so to the final gobbet of groaning, with correspondents hopefully slavering at the bit as they line up to have a say ...

Again, we need only return to Sowell to figure out what’s going on. “Open-ended demands are a mandate for ever-expanding bureaucracies with ever-expanding budgets and powers.”
Hot on the heels of the AHRC report came the report on the cost of espionage. Commissioned by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, it estimates that espionage cost the Australian economy $12.5bn in 2023-24. This includes the direct costs of known or suspected espionage, and public and private sector mitigation and response costs.
According to ASIO, this estimate is conservative and is based on what we’re told is a narrow definition of espionage – “theft of Australian information, critically, by or for a foreign government that is seeking an advantage over Australia”. Some of the larger costs are cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property and trade secrets of large businesses and universities, as well as cyber security incidents.
The clear message is ASIO is doing a good job in preventing espionage, but there are substantial challenges ahead that will, presumably, require even more taxpayer resources.
Whenever you read about a study that estimates the economic cost of pain, workplace accidents, dementia, eating disorders, racism or espionage, be suspicious. These reports are almost always commissioned to make the case for a broader remit for the representative agencies, as well as for greater funding from taxpayers. They lack any scholastic integrity, ignore opportunity costs and are, in effect, just marketing tools.

All good, and then for some bizarre reason, Dame Groan decided she'd throw in a billy goat butt ...

This is not to deny the importance of the topics considered. 

But, butt, billy goat, butting away, the entire point was to deny the importance of the topics considered, and in the most cavalier pogo stick and yo-yo metaphor way imaginable.

Why did she have to throw in that line? 

Well, it was so she could billy goat butt that billy goat butt with an even bigger billy goat butt ...

Butt governments must always consider the case for action, to undertake careful cost-benefit analyses and be mindful of the potential ineffectiveness of funded activities. Asking those with a vested interest in the outcome should be just part of the task.

Now there's a big butt, a reminder of where the reptiles vested interests lie ...

What a relief to end this experimental methodology day by catching up with an infallible Pope ...