In which Thursday at the lizard Oz sinking to a new low, with no relief from Joe, lesser member of the Kelly gang, or the lizard Oz editorialist. Only the 'toons save the day ...

 

The pond isn't surprised that the reptiles gave up a golden opportunity to ravage the Labor government over its treatment of the CSIRO, and science more generally ...

When have the reptiles ever given two figs about science?

Not a single mention of either the body or the notion tarnished the front page of the digital edition early this morning.

Ed Husic having a go at his own kind could only be found in another place. 

“If you do value science, you need to stop looking at science and research as a cost, and see it as an investment in the future, wellbeing and capability of the country,” Husic told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
“I think that the task at hand is to roll up the sleeves, get out the jar of gumption and pry open the jaws of Treasury to make sure that our national science agency is funded in the way that will be good for the country into the long term. If you want to find the money, you can find it.
“I mean, we found $600m for a football team in Papua New Guinea. I’m sure we’ll be able to find the money for our national science agency, because that is an investment, as I said, in our future capability as a country, really important.”

Well yes, but why is it that the pond must turn this morning to a couple of cartoonists to mount a more sustained critique than the hive mind could manage?

Exactly, so and thus ... never did find out about the apple from the lizard Oz.

The reptiles must really hate and despise science to give up that sort of free kick ...

And the pond shouldn't have been surprised at the lead early this morning ...

The pond had thought Dame Slap had given up her latest jihad, but she was just resting for a couple of days, leaving carriage of the jihads to minors, before returning to the fray in full throated vigour this morning.

This is the hill the reptiles prefer to die on? 

This is what they think will bring the government down?

They prefer to highlight this sort of jihad drivel over science?

Deeply, profoundly boring, and so any one interested in this jihad can head off to the archives, with the pond offering its usual "all care, no responsibility, intermittent archive at best" as a disclaimer...

Higgins case fallout
‘No parliamentary privilege here, PM’: Reynolds’ warning on Anthony Amnesia
The Prime Minister faces an extraordinary challenge from ex-minister Linda Reynolds after dismissing judges’ findings that cleared Liberals of Higgins cover-up allegations.
By Paul Garvey

Commentary by Janet Albrechtsen
Ducking, weaving Albanese fails accountability test
The Prime Minister was confronted with a test of leadership, credibility, accountability and decency over his government’s role in weaponising Brittany Higgins’ allegations against Linda Reynolds. He failed on each front.

If this is the best the reptiles can do to mount an attack on the federal government, Albo's mob might well begin to operate under the delusion that they're in for a thousand year Reich ...

As for the rest of the reptile rabble, has the pond noted that this was a deeply boring day?

The pond did? Well in the spirit of adding to the sense of ennui and tedium, the pond will say it again.

The poor old Victorians were under the hammer by that lightweight piece of fluff, petulant Peta ...

Lazy Liberal team needs to pull its weight
Victorian Libs don’t need a messiah, they need clear policies
It has been obvious for a long time that Victoria is a failing state after almost three decades of rule by the Labor Party.
By Peta Credlin

Columnist

This "Victoria is a failed, or a failing, state" routine bemuses the pond each time it visits the sparrows of the south ...

Jason Thomas tried on the aged routine of Victoria as Clockwork Orange...

Timid reforms no match for violent thugs running wild
Victoria’s leadership is complicit in its deadly Third World crime wave
It is not the fault of the hardworking Victoria Police. As in many failing states, its members are implementing government policy.
by Jason Thomas

There it was again - "failing state".

The trouble of course is that the pond could match any Melbourne eruption with a similar set of crimes in Sydney, with the local ambulance chasers always willing to lather up any number of dragons in the deep west.

As for the 'hardworking' Victoria plods? 

Where has Jason been lately, has he failed to notice all the crims back on the streets thanks to the singular incompetence of the plods in their handling of wayward lawyer X evidence?

In the Victoria Police submission, we have again accepted that permitting Nicola Gobbo to give information to officers about her own clients in this manner was profoundly wrong. As Chief Commissioner, it is appropriate that I have apologised to the courts and to the community for the events that transpired and reiterate that the way in which Ms Gobbo was managed as a human source was a profound failing.

And just who or what is Frontier Assessments?

Dr Jason Thomas is director of Frontier Assessments.

Ah, it's word salad central ...

Okay, doc, you've had your two minutes of promotional fame.

Damon was also hard at ...

‘Robotic Jess’ Wilson must learn from ‘sweaty Steve’ Bracks and ‘foot-in-mouth’ Jeff Kennett to become Victorian premier
Drop the robot and get real; that’s the message former premiers have sent new Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.
By Damon Johnston

Sheesh, Damon, not one mention of "fail" or "failing"? The pond would even have settled for flailing.

And the only way forward is to turn into a beefy boofhead as a way to Jeff the state again?

Sheesh, do better reptiles.

More generally, Jack the Insider decided he'd help the lettuce ...

Loose lips sink struggling Libs electoral prospects
It would help the Coalition if they stop talking about themselves
Vast demographic shifts are at play and they do not favour the Coalition. In raw numbers, younger voters outnumber older ones.
By Jack the Insider

Jack was into his own form of word salad ...

...The Coalition must take what slim victories come its way as a disastrous 2025 ends and 2026 is set to begin. The short-term aims are to rebuild its primary vote and hammer the Albanese government on energy prices.
But if the Liberals are still talking about themselves at this time next year, you can bet everybody else has stopped listening.

The trouble, Jack, is that we've been there and done that with nuking the country to save the planet.

On this Thursday, form the pond has stopped listening to the lizard Oz ... and has decided that the only way forward is a cartoon diet ...

Meanwhile, Amy tried the old 'strangled and smothered by red tape' routine ...

Flatten barriers to competition and watch nation soar
Increasing competition will boost the economy and help us all
Australia is moving backward on every competitiveness indicator. Our industry concentration is increasing, our leading firms appear entrenched.
By Amy Auster

Amy had all the usual blather down pat ...

... falling competitiveness means it’s time to figure out what is getting in the way of start-ups, scale-ups and challengers. Encouraging competition is the business of government, through competition policy.
Australia’s first National Competition Policy was launched in 1995, took 10 years, spent more than $10bn and increased GDP by $50bn a year – in today’s dollars – or about $5000 a household. This government has renewed National Competition Policy but more is required. Our playbook rests on three principal actions to kickstart what we call NCP 2.0.
First, empower pro-competi­tion reform leaders at every level of government. Each state and territory government should appoint a minister for competition, with a focus on removing regulatory barriers to competition – painful processes around business licensing, permit and environmental approvals, occupational licensing, health and safety compliance, and compliance with payroll, stamp duty and land taxes. At the federal level, Treasury’s promising start with the competi­tion taskforce should be expanded. The ACCC should focus on its core remit of enforcing competition law.
Second, resource the effort with funding of $20bn across 10 years to pay states for reform, reduce the federal compliance burden and facilitate new competition through consumer choice, technology and entry of new firms, products and services to Australia. The economic dividend of pro-competition reform means this investment will quickly pay for itself many times over.
Finally, we recommend a systemic effort to address all gatekeepers to competition, including where private firms or industry entities have acquired the power to determine who competes with them.
The economic imperative is clear and the time for action is now.

The pond's favourite word in that salad?

Empower.

Though the rousing Goughism, "the time for action is now" came a close second.

It turned out that Amy was just another bit of outsourcing ...

Amy Auster is chief executive of Policy Institute Australia, an independent, nonpartisan think tank.

Thursday is always the worst reptile day of the week, or perhaps the pond is getting more and more jaded, but this was surely close to the worst Thursday of all ...

That's how the pond ended up with Joe, lesser member of the Kelly gang.

The pond hadn't wanted to go there, but what alternatives were there?

The header: Will the DoJ pass the Epstein transparency test or fail the MAGA movement? Donald Trump radically overhauled the Department of Justice to stop its “weaponisation” against him by Joe Biden, but will it deliver for the MAGA base by releasing the Epstein files?

The caption, as if no one knew a mango when they saw it: US President Donald Trump and Attorney-General Pam Bondi. Picture: AFP

Joe managed just a pitiful two minutes, but then, as Dr Johnson reportedly once said, the sight of a reptile covering US politics is remarkably like a dog on two legs delivering a sermon ...

The US congress has come together in a moment of fleeting consensus over the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but the political focus will shift to how the Department of Justice will respond.
Donald Trump has launched a full-scale takeover of the department in his second term, using it as an instrument to pursue his political opponents.
This has forced out a large number of senior employees and prosecutors, with the move being justified as a response to the weaponisation of the DoJ against Mr Trump by the previous Biden administration. However, the DoJ now finds itself in new territory.
On one hand, the President’s powerful MAGA political constituency will be looking to it for answers on the Epstein files.
It is seeking justice for survivors, greater transparency and greater accountability for powerful people who have done the wrong thing.

The reptiles did their best to boost the yarn by dragging in Marge, though there was no news of the Rothschilds' skill with space lasers ... US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, speaks during a press conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act at the US Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

Sheesh, once again the pond had to call in a cartoonist to establish the right level of levity, what with grabbing women by the p*ssy (*blogger bot approved) the new standard for the conduct of US politics ...

Joe did his best, which wasn't much ...

This issue is also seen as a litmus test for the restoration of trust and confidence in the DoJ itself.
Speaking outside the Capitol Building on Tuesday morning local time (Wednesday AEDT) along with the Epstein survivors, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said the crucial challenge would come following the passage of the legislation.
“The real test will be – will the Department of Justice release the files,” she said. “Or will it all remain tied up in investigations?”
“That’s information that needs to come out. And will the list of names that these woman privately hold … come out?”
On the other hand, the DoJ knows that Trump committed only to signing the legislation into law as a political hostage at the 11th hour after unsuccessfully attempting to scuttle the House of Representatives vote for weeks.
The President continues to publicly rubbish the entire issue as a Democrat “hoax”.
And he reversed his position last weekend, encouraging Republicans to support the Epstein legislation, as a tactic to avoid the appearance of the house GOP openly defying him.
Pressed on the issue by a journalist during the White House visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Trump expressed his frustration.
“I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert,” Mr Trump said.
“I guess I turned out to be right.”

Right ...

How's that action against the WSJ going?

No word from the lesser member of the Kelly gang on that News Corp front, instead just another visual distraction ... US Attorney-General Pam Bondi during a news conference with President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Joe ended up sounding uncertain as to how to proceed ...

House Speaker Mike Johnson also said the passage of the legislation by 427 votes to one was nothing more than a “political show vote”.
These comments are unlikely to instil confidence in Republicans hoping for greater transparency from the DoJ.
Haley Robson – one of the Epstein survivors – declared on Tuesday: “I am traumatised. I am not stupid.”
Addressing Mr Trump, she said: “I can’t help (but) to be sceptical of what the agenda is.
“You have put us through so much stress … and then get upset when your own party goes against you because what is being done is wrong.”
The text of the Epstein Transparency Act lists the various documents being sought and clarifies that no record should be withheld on the “basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity”.
But it does list several grounds for permitted withholdings including allowing the US Attorney-General, Pam Bondi, to make redactions to protect victims’ privacy, uphold national security and ensure that federal investigations are not jeopardised.
How the DoJ and Ms Bondi navigate the conflicting political imperatives around the release of the Epstein files will be closely monitored.
Yet Mr Trump and Ms Bondi will be aware that, in the highly charged political environment in the US, there will be many people – including those within their own MAGA movement – looking for high-profile scalps.
They will be suspicious if none are seen to emerge.

Joe, Joe, the fix is already in, or being put in, the only question is whether they manage to burn whatever's the equivalent of the Nixon tapes ...

After that outing, the pond almost regretted not giving aid and comfort to the lettuce in the race to Xmas ...

The pond struggled to find a bonus, and turned to the lizard Oz editorialist for help ...

China says developed nations should COP net zero by 2040, China is pressing its advantage in the Amazon city of Belem, Brazil. It wants developed countries to bring forward their net-zero targets to ‘before 2040’.
Editorial
2 min read
November 20, 2025 - 12:00AM

Foolish pond. The lizard Oz editorial is always a wasteland, almost as dire as Dame Slap raging to the heavens in her brittle way about Brittany ...

With the US absent from the colourful but pretentious climate change gathering under way in the Amazon city of Belem, Brazil, China is pressing its advantage. It wants developed countries to bring forward their net-zero targets to “before 2040”. China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emissions nation, still considers itself to be a developing country. It has given itself until 2060 to hit net zero and does not have to peak emissions until the end of this decade.
The demands for accelerated action from Europe, the US and presumably Australia were made by China’s special envoy for climate change, Liu Zhenmin, and reported in the US news outlet Politico. 

Why are the reptiles referencing Politico without a link?

Is it so hard, either at the site or in the archive?

Talk about giving dictator Xi a free kick ...and yet somehow the reptiles try to make King Donald the hero in this folly ...

Mr Liu said peaking emissions early in the developed world was “climate justice” and was needed to give developing nations more time to industrialise. This goes to the heart of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process, which is really a struggle between the riches of Western nations and the expectations of the developing world. In the bureaucratese of UN diplomacy, it is called “common but differentiated responsibilities” and is a bedrock of the Paris Agreement.
The different expectations dominate the Belem negotiations, which are following a predictable path with furrowed brows and late-night sittings aiming to claim sufficient last-minute victory to keep the process alive. Organisers have made a demand that critical issues be resolved midweek so there may be a chance the COP will end on time. Three familiar issues are forcing negotiators to burn the midnight oil. And there is a sting in the tail for Australia, particularly if the Albanese government perseveres with its foolhardy push to host next year’s COP31 in Adelaide. The main game in Belem is how to increase the $US300bn a year that developing countries are being offered for climate action from developed countries to the $US1.3 trillion ($2 trillion) a year they are being told is possible, notably by China.
Another major issue is how to get signatories to the Paris Agreement to pledge action to meet the goals of limiting future temperature rises. But the most significant issue for Australia is the attempt to put a plan to phase out fossil fuel production and use back on to the formal agenda. With a consensus decision required, it is unlikely that a timetable for any phase-out will be agreed. But if Brazil succeeds in getting mention of a phase-out into the final text, it will be considered enough for activists to claim the Belem COP has been a success and the issue will dominate discussions at COP31. This will be a difficult issue for Australia if COP31 is held in Adelaide. If Australia drops its bid, as now looks possible, it still will be the top order of business at a leaders meeting in the Pacific that has been suggested as a compromise.
The bigger game at play in Belem is the way in which China has managed to weaponise climate change diplomacy for its geopolitical ends. With the US out of the talks, China is being lauded by activists and is taking a more assertive stand. Chinese negotiators have criticised the EU for not acting fast enough with its plan to cut emissions by between 66.3 per cent and 72.5 per cent by 2035 and by 90 per cent by 2040 compared with 1990 levels.
Unlike Australia, which has sent hundreds of delegates to Belem, the US has made a decision to stay away. The US State Department said: “The Trump administration refused to use taxpayer dollars to send or facilitate any official travel for this conference, which is dedicated to hamstringing the American economy and bankrupting the American people.” Something to think about.

Something to think about?

All the pond can think about is the profound anti-science stupidity of the lizard Oz ...and the way that TACO Donald is happy to screw not just the planet, but those disunited states, not to mention poor old Taiwan ...

Is there a bone saw in the house?

And with that, time to wrap up the follies with the bone saw man and his new piggy chum ... (apparently "piggy" is a term of affection in the US, as in "Ms Piggy")....

Forget the bone saw and all those files, and even that burger, with the elephant imitating the turtle reputed to hold up the world ...though there is a certain turtle-ish quality to the box ...

A fair cop, but as always the tats have it ...