The venerable Meade is always an essential read, and can be guaranteed to come up with some reptile comedy, and last Friday was no different, with Murdoch’s flagship hails ‘terrifyingly funny’ Succession, without a nod to the family who inspired it.
The gag's in the title, but the expanded version ran thusly ...
The best TV show in the last quarter of a century, as curated by the national broadsheet’s writers, is HBO’s Succession – widely seen, of course, as being heavily inspired by the Murdoch family, the proprietor of News Corp Australia’s flagship newspaper.
The drama in the show even prompted Murdoch’s children to discuss their own public relations strategy for their father’s death, leading to a legal battle in a Nevada court.
“Shakespeare’s King Lear by way of the world’s most torturous corporate offsite,” the paper’s summary reads. “Jesse Armstrong’s saga of the Roys turns boardroom squabbling into grand tragedy. It was terrifyingly funny, and funnily terrifying. Masterful storytelling, razor-sharp writing and unforgettable performances make this show the best in the past 25 years.”
Missing from this description was the name of the family who inspired the esteemed series.
Satisfyingly weird, though the pond did wonder what it was like to go through a day's work terrified at the thought of stepping with boss-baited breath on precious family eggshells...
The dog botherer also featured in the venerable Meade's outing, but the pond must press on with the ponderous torture of Polonial prattle, guaranteed to wipe the smile off any reader's face ...
The pond can however, guarantee a minor miracle, one akin to the concept of transubstantiation ...
The header: Albanese steals Liberals’ thunder on defence, minerals in US coup, The Prime Minister’s successful meeting with Donald Trump in Washington demonstrates that the modern-day Labor Party is better at base politics than the modern Liberal Party.
The caption: Anthony Albanese has a positive story to tell after meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House. Picture: Getty Images
The pond has already covered much of this turf in yesterday's 10 minute Everest climb with "Ned's" natter, and wishes that Polonius had settled on a different topic for his prattle, but at least he was just his usual standard 4 minute bore.
Never mind, the pond is contractually obliged to bore correspondents into a near death state where they might achieve a transcendental understanding of life, and so be it ...
The Prime Minister’s media coverage was supportive at best and sympathetic at worst. After all, he had a positive story to tell involving the President’s apparent support for AUKUS, the security partnership between Australia, Britain and the US.
AUKUS pillar one involves advanced technology including Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. AUKUS pillar two turns on the sharing of advanced technology in the area of defence and intelligence. In addition, Australia has entered into a partnership with the US to develop critical minerals and rare earths.
All this took place against the background of concerns about the intentions of the Chinese Communist Party in the region. Here the position of the AUKUS trio is shared with Japan, South Korea, The Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and other nations.
In other words, strategy-wise, it was a good time to meet Trump at the White House. Moreover, Albanese performed at his best, benefiting from the fact quite a few commentators expected otherwise, especially since it took a long time to arrange the meeting.
At this point, to add to the air of ennui, the reptiles slipped in an audio distraction ...
What joy to reduce it to a screen cap, as at the end of the next gobbet, Polonius incestuously decided to slip in a commercial for a nattering "Ned" tome ...
Years before, the latter had called the former a “village idiot” and more besides. However, the tension was relieved when Trump gave a telling but funny reply when the issue was raised by Sky News journalist Andrew Clennell. Even Albanese laughed.
For his part, deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien regretted that Albanese went along with Trump’s proposal that more Australian superannuation funds should be investing in the US. But this overlooks the fact that the US is a good market.
What was the alternative? Well, the Coalition could have claimed at least some of the praise for Albanese’s success.
AUKUS, which came into operation in September 2021, was an initiative of Scott Morrison’s Coalition government. The story is told in Paul Kelly’s Morrison’s Mission: How a Beginner Reshaped Australian Foreign Policy (Penguin, 2022).
Hard pass on that one, as the pond couldn't help note that this effort was by the numbers by the old curmudgeon, valiantly attempting a retreat into SloMo worship, as if anyone wanted to return to that form of rapture, AUKUS was an initiative of Scott Morrison’s Coalition government in September 2021. Picture: Gary Ramage
It seems that ancient history and ancient revivalist meetings are the best that the reptiles have got these days ...
The secrecy from the Australian end was so tight that Albanese, then opposition leader, and several shadow ministers received a two-hour briefing on AUKUS on the afternoon of September 15, 2021. The proposal was soon endorsed by the shadow ministry and presented to the Labor caucus on the morning of September 16, 2021.
As Kim Carr, a member of the Labor Left, wrote in The Guardian on March 21, 2023: “Caucus did not endorse the deal; no vote was taken because a vote was not proposed; the caucus simply noted the report.” Later that day, Albanese, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong and defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor put out a statement that “Labor looks forward to strengthened co-operation with our close allies through the AUKUS partnership announced today”.
All important foreign policy and trade agreements are negotiated by many – political leaders, ambassadors and their staff, public servants and sometimes outside advisers. However, if AUKUS has an Australian parent it is Morrison, not Albanese.
Then there is rare earths. Australians would be entitled to conclude that the Albanese-Trump agreement on rare earths was a breakthrough. Well, it was a development. On October 11, 2019, The Australian carried a report that stated: “Australia and the US will finalise a joint strategy on rare earths and critical minerals within weeks, as the Morrison government commits to directly back new mines across the nation.”
As usual, while the reptiles provided a link, it only led back to that story in the hive mind...
Here's the problem with that yearning for the past.
At the time, SloMo's mob did three fifths of f*ck (*blogger censorship alert) all about it, what with the SloMo government full of climate science denialists, and awkward issues lurking in the woodwork ...
Why would the Canavan caravan care about this sort of stuff, when dinkum clean Oz coal was the future ?
Wind power stands as a cornerstone in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve sustainable energy security. But behind the streamlined blades and elegant, towering structures of modern wind turbines, there lies an often-overlooked foundation—the critical rare earth elements (REEs) powering their revolution. Especially in wind turbine generators, REEs such as neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium are indispensable, driving both enhanced efficiency and the very future of global wind energy infrastructure. (here)
And they just knew that the future belonged to gas guzzlers, so why care?
Rare earth metals (REMs) play a significant role in the production of electric vehicles (EV technology) due to their unique properties and applications. Four kinds of rare earth metals are used in the production of EV magnets. (here)
And that's why China is currently cleaning the US clock when it comes to renewables and EVs.
The reptiles paused for another distraction, This week’s rare earths and critical minerals agreements signed by US President Donald Trump was built on the initial work of the Coalition. Picture: AP
In reality, the reptiles at the lizard Oz resolutely refused to recognise the future hurtling towards them, and all this wandering down memory lane by Polonius does is prove the point ...
Labor is good at running lines. Modern Labor likes to credit its former prime minister John Curtin with establishing the Australian-American alliance. But Joseph Lyons of the United Australia Party (the predecessor to today’s Liberal Party) formed close links with the US before World War II. And the formal ANZUS alliance was a product of the Robert Menzies-led Liberal Party government in 1951.
Ye ancient cats and dogs, yet more Ming the Merciless, but no snaps. Have a cartoon celebrating closer ties with authoritarians ...
So we do need rare earth metals for very handy jets ... how else to score a peace prize?
The pond keeds, it keeds, but has already been down this path with Kohler of the ABC...
Back to Polonius, by now in a state of terminal despair ...
Then there is Labor’s flexibility. In their White House exchange, Trump said this with respect to the Australian Prime Minister: “I think he’s doing a really good job and we’ve had a very good relationship. I don’t want to compare one with the other but I’ll tell you this one – they’ve got a great, they really have a great prime minister.” To which Albanese replied: “I’ll use it in my ads in ’28.” That is, the 2028 election. This is the same Albanese who campaigned on an anti-Trump administration platform in the May 2025 election.
There was concern that Albanese was Labor’s first left-wing leader – and he brought with him leading members of the Left faction such as Foreign Minister Wong. But Albanese and Wong now head a government that boasts about AUKUS – despite the fact the intended submarines will be nuclear-powered. There was a time both were in Labor’s anti-uranium camp.
Labor policy may change. But its approach to politics is highly professional and it can sell messages as its own even when they are inherited. Which leaves the opposition to AUKUS with the leftist Australia Institute and, oh yes, former Liberal prime minister Turnbull, who backed French subs.
Gerard Henderson is executive director of The Sydney Institute.
By now astute correspondents will have worked out that minor miracle.
Polonius had so worked himself up that he completely forgot to explain how it was all the ABC's fault. He didn't even mention the ABC. Not once.
This might be turning into the habit of forgetfulness ...
Now have a few more 'toons to celebrate our alliance with a very stable genius ...
And so to the bonus, and how could the pond fail to celebrate the return of the Bjørn-again one?
The pond's memory is Polonial frail, but it seems that it's been some time since the Bjørn borg starred in the lizard Oz.
It's only a three minute outing, so the reptiles say, but it was a reminder of the deep affection the reptiles have had for him ...
The pond was reminded how long ago it was with this effort by Bob Ward, back on 16th July 2018...
‘The Australian’ promotes Bjorn Lomborg’s lukewarmer propaganda
Back in those days the Bjørn-again one could produce a 7 minute ramble enthusiastically endorsing the mad monk, in his onion munching narcissistic denialist hey day ...
More for masochists ...
This outing is much reduced, done in a pro forma style, complete with a thoroughly inane and irritating gif-style visual opening flourish ...
The header: Environmental doomsters get it wrong again, Sensible, life-improving environmental policies over in recent decades were rarely sold with fearmongering. Rich countries have reduced air and water pollution dramatically through technological advances and then through regulation.
There was no caption or credit for that inane gif, and so the Bjørn-again one got into it again, as familiar and as tedious a siren song as might require him to be bound to a mast and despatched to Hades ...
We need to keep this history in mind as we are inundated with stories of climate Armageddon.
Sensible, life-improving environmental policies in recent decades were rarely sold with fearmongering. Rich countries have reduced air and water pollution dramatically through technological advances and then through regulation. Poorer countries are starting to do the same thing as they emerge from poverty and can afford to be more environmentally concerned. Forests have expanded globally, with this growth clear in rich countries and increasingly across the world. This isn’t the scary future we were promised by environmentalists.
A recent peer-reviewed study counts almost 100 environmental doomsday predictions that environmentalists have made across the past half-century. Two-thirds of them predicted doom before August 2025, and all of these have turned out to be false.
Caleb is the answer? The pond is inclined to call Caleb a cretin, but there's no reason to defame cretins.
Trust Caleb or trust a prof?
Wait, the pond's partner showed the pond a trick. All BOM did was do a hasty skin, and the old version could still be found.
In 1972, Limits to Growth famously projected that food scarcity and pollution would cause global collapse. Time magazine predicted a future with a few gaunt survivors desperately tilling freeway centre strips in what used to be Los Angeles. The world would run out of everything from aluminium and iron to oil and food.
This was the mood that shaped the first UN environmental summit in 1972, when chairman Maurice Strong declared the world had 10 years to avoid environmental catastrophe. He became the first director of the UN Environment Program and argued that doomsday was “very probable” unless we ended destructive economic growth. Thankfully, we didn’t heed his advice. Instead, persistent economic growth means more than three billion people – 41 per cent of the world’s population – don’t live in extreme poverty.
It wouldn't be a treatise on climate science lukewarm denialism if terrifying protestors didn't feature, and sure enough, A group of environmental protestors stage a demonstration by Fossil Free London outside the global headquarters of the Shell energy company this week. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Speaking of voids...
The simplistic, alarmist predictions of the 1970s is still seen in the climate alarmism that argues for expensive, inefficient policies by recycling many of the old worries of not enough food and more weather catastrophes. Climate change is a real challenge but the scares are exaggerated. For food, this is clearly shown by one of the most quoted meta-studies published in Nature. If there was no climate change the world would see 51 per cent more calories produced in 2050 than in 2010. Even with vastly worse climate change than expected, food instead would increase by “only” 49 per cent. A problem, not a calamity.
And despite fearmongering about weather disasters, hard data shows the death toll from floods, droughts, storms and wildfire has declined dramatically across the past century from half a million each year in the 1920s to less than 9000 annually during the past decade – a 98 per cent reduction. Global climate-related damages, measured in per cent of GDP as the UN insists, have been declining, not increasing since 1990.
The pond just knew there had to be a trifecta and as well as Bond - Caleb Bond - and protestors, Petulant Peta turned up to conduct the usual carry on about renewables, and add bulk, if no quality, to the Bjørn-again one's screed, Sky News host Peta Credlin slams Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen as a “climate crusader” amid his “green transition”. “Chris Bowen thinks his green transition is going fine, but in the real world, everyone knows that the government's energy policy is a slow-motion train wreck, and it was always going to be,” Ms Credlin said. “Once officialdom decided to run the power grid to reduce emissions, rather than to deliver affordable and reliable electricity, we were on a hiding to nowhere, a return to the Dark Ages, quite literally. “It's obvious what a rational energy system would entail. No more coal-fired power stations to close without a reliable alternative. More gas out of the ground at express speed. No more subsidies for renewables, because if they really are cheap, they don't need them. “And, once and for all, end the nuclear ban and test the market."
It was downhill from there, and correspondents can argue with the Bjørn-again one as they will, but the pond is pretty much over it...
As soon as someone thinks "fearmonger" is an argument, the pond is inclined to go feral ...
Alarmist climate concern has become enshrined in policy, with nearly every rich country endorsing the idea of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The best academic estimates show that the costs outweigh the benefits in the 21st century by seven to one, with policies to achieve this goal costing an unaffordable $US27 trillion ($41.4 trillion) annually.
Climate economics clearly tells us the most effective and cost-efficient approach to climate change is to invest significantly in research and development for low-carbon dioxide energy. By boosting innovation we can achieve technological breakthroughs that eventually will make green energy more affordable than fossil fuels. Instead of just rich countries buying expensive green energy to feel virtuous, that can help the whole world to switch because green is cheaper.
Just as we should give thanks that we didn’t follow the failed jeremiads of the past, today we need to recognise that climate doomsterism is not only mostly untrue but also utterly unhelpful.
Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus, visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and author of False Alarm and Best Things First.
Is there an upside?
Luckily there is. if you do a word search, you discover that the Bjørn-again one's reach is shrinking...
And the reptiles were so slack and indifferent that they waited over a month to regurgitate this load of drivel ...
Yes, there it was, being promoted as in the NY Post on 18th September.
Talk about a tired rehashing of a tired, increasingly irrelevant, determinedly monotonous hack ...
Or perhaps not talk about him.
Mebbe talk about Nazis instead, and pitch it to SBS programming, because they'd love it as a lead into the evening news ...
Ah, yes - the Bjorn again summoning up the inevitability of technology which will save us. Pay no attention to the state of things in the USA (virtually now the 'home' of his Copenhagen Coffeeclub), where about the only thing that might pass for innovation is what looks scarily like an investment bubble on 'Artificial Intelligence', and otherwise Dictator Don's minions are shutting down as many of the institutions that, over the last century or so, have done the basic research that delivered several waves of new technology.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if this Bjorn grew up reading 'Dick Tracy', and marvelled at what 'industrialist' Diet Smith discovered and produced, to make the world (and Moon) a better place. Surely Diet's approximate equivalent, Elon, will be sending quantities of Unobtainium, or Trumpium, back from Mars, in time to roll climate change here right back - that is, if anyone ever finds the tiniest downside to climate change in the next couple of decades.
Meanwhile, I am in steady discussion with my insurance brokers, who tell me, in not quite as many words, that the insurers from whom they seek quotes on my behalf - are paying no attention to supposed 'climate economics', and are quite unconvinced that our climate now is taking us to a better place.