<< SUNDANCE COOLS ~ MAIN ~ THEY SAVED THE ARM >>
BACK SOON
I’m out of here for a time. Deepest thanks to readers, friends, News Ltd mates and fellow journalists who wrote, emailed, phoned, left messages, and posted their prayers and support. You’ve helped me through a tough week; hell, you softened that week right up into a fine weeky paste. That week got beat on hard.
See you soon, and no prying through my collection of antique bold tags while I’m out. I’ll know.
This is amazing. Teen takes on donor’s immune system.
She won’t need anti rejection drugs. If they can figure out why this has happened it will make transplants much better with less dreadful drugs to take.They said it’s never happened before, but I found this article Chimerism and Tolerance in a Recipient of a Deceased-Donor Liver TransplantStephen I. Alexander, M.B., B.S., Neil Smith, M.B., B.S., Min Hu, M.D., M.Med., Deborah Verran, M.B., Ch.B., Albert Shun, M.B., B.S., Stuart Dorney, M.B., B.S., Arabella Smith, M.B., B.S., Boyd Webster, M.B., Ch.B., Peter John Shaw, M.B., B.S., Ahti Lammi, M.B., B.S., and Michael O. Stormon, M.B., B.S. in the NE Journal of Medicine: Volume 358:4 pp. 369-374 January 24, 2008.
ACP has just announced that The Bulletin Magazine has been closed, going since 1880.
linky to the only article I can find at the moment.
Of course the rot set in after Tim left.
#5 Kae: This household cancelled its Bulletin subscription just after Tim left; not just because he left but also because the magazine had been sinking slowly into the msm quagmire over its latter years.
Quadrant is now the only Australian example of print media worth buying.
(Suggestions for others are invited and will be examined carefully.)#7
Funny you should mention that.
I renewed a sub almost two years ago, it’s due to expire any tick of the clock and have noticed it sliding recklessly down the crapper for a while - oh, OK, it’s already down the bottom of the crapper.I’ve just been looking, between work stuff, at Quadrant on line to see what I can see that’s interesting… and there is some interesting stuff in the December one. But I’ll have to read it later.
#6 Dr Jayant Patel could not be reached for comment.
ACP Magazines Chief Executive Officer, Scott Lorson,
today announced that weekly news and current affairs title The Bulletin with Newsweek would cease publication from the current issue of the magazine which went on sale on 23 January 2008.Scott Lorson? Who is he?
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 23 at 09:11 PM • permalinkHere in Los Angeles, I am so horribly beset by drought that I am looking at four straight days of rain, thunderstorms and more rain. DAMN YOU AL GORE! DAMN YOU FOR NOT ACTING SOONER!
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 23 at 09:52 PM • permalinkThe Pallies blow holes in the Gaza-Egypt border fence, and our friends in the media are spinning like crazy. Check out David Hardaker’s opening gambit:
(Sound of an explosion)
“In Gaza a sound like this normally means an Israeli attack. Coming in the early morning hours, this time it meant freedom, of sorts.”
The crossing into Egypt is treated in the same light-hearted tone you might use for a colour piece on the start of the post-Christmas sales. Of course, this means the MSM can no longer ignore the inconvenient truth that Gaza also has a border with Egypt. Who knew? Still, they’ve got that covered: the Age is careful to stress that the only reason Hosni Mubarak is enforcing the blockade is because those sneaky American/Jewish finks made him sign an agreement to do so.
And in other news:
Suicide bomber falls down stairs ...
A would-be suicide bomber fell down a flight of stairs and blew himself up as he headed out for an attack in Afghanistan, police say.
LOL
#14 cuckoo: It was my impression that, technically, Gaza was still part of Egypt, and the West Bank was part of Jordan. Mind you, I could easily have missed something in all the border changing, and I am happy to be corrected if that is the case.
Maybe Egypt doesn’t want Gaza while it’s full of exploding Pallies.14 Is a Katyusha Rocket the sound of the explosion?
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 23 at 10:12 PM • permalinkThese threads are getting so long, I can’t remember where I saw it, but C.L. posted a link to a story about “The Three Little Pigs” being banned in Britain from fear of incurring Islamic displeasure.
I. Smell. Opportunity. Islamically correct bedtime stories!
Little Red Kefiyah
The Caliph’s New Dishdasha
Snow Fatima and the Seven Djinns
The Little Explosive-Vest Girl
So I speak with Kirsty in Audience and Consumer affairs about the David Hardaker report. I complain bitterly that they have not responded to my complaint. She tells me that she is waiting on a bundle of documents from Hardaker, that she has no idea when will arrive.
So I say this: Pull the story. I have given you ample evidence that it is just a blatant propaganda slur.
She says no, she has to wait on his response. So I say, what would a document look like that proved that Jews were getting pals addicted to drugs in order to steal their homes??
I continue on this theme for a while because as far as I can tell even if you imagined this to be true, there is no document that could ever, at any time, in any way act as proof for this.
Her response: “I am not prepared to answer this on the phone”
Captain—but what about all the irrefutable photos of masked men in Israeli fatigues with big Stars of David on the breast pocket, handing out syringes and rubber tubing to little Pali children, right on the street corners? Hah? Hah? Explain THAT, if you can….
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 23 at 10:59 PM • permalinkI have been an intermittent subscriber to The Bulletin since the ‘70’s when I used to enjoy reading such luminaries as David McNicoll telling the proles how he enjoyed himself at the Member’s enclosure at Royal Randwick, and how much he paid for his latest pure silk tie, and various Commos raving about the Worker’s Paradise that was just around the corner.
Letters to the Editor have always been high quality.
Amid all the dross, there was always a hard core of committed journalists, who actually went out and found stories which the Bulletin published without fear or favour.
In recent times, Brian Toohey and Adam Shand stand out, and there were many more over the years.While Tim had his column there, I continued with the sub, but the rest of the magazine was slowly sliding into the all pervading lefty groupthink of much of today’s dead tree media, so I bid them a fond farewell when my subscription expired.
I am sorry to see such an iconic title disappear from the shelves, but the reality is that the internet will see see to the demise of many similar publications.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2008 01 23 at 11:02 PM • permalink#21 captain,
Melanie Phillips has a very interesting take on current happenings in Gaza and British Media’s attitude to them.
Well worth reading.
#19 Paco,
if you go to the UK Telegraph site, and type “three little pigs” into the search engine, you’ll find the story.
I tried to link to the page but it would only go to the front page when I previewed.
Good Luck!
Bill Clinton meltdown. It’s a Vast CNN Conspiracy!
[pedantic]
#1 (#501) Kae, “pinnacle” is antonymically expressed by the word “base”—personally, though, I would use some license and allow “nadir”.
I do like your neologism of “binnacle”, but as an old sailor (USN), I can tell you that a binnacle is a case or box on the deck of a ship, generally mounted in front of the helmsman, in which navigational instruments are placed for easy and quick reference as well as to protect the delicate instruments.
[/pedantic]
I gave my Mom a full-sized brass binnacle to put near the spyglass at the family home (my brother turned it into a very fine weather station—although you can’t tap the barometer ‘cuz it’s under glass).
By the way, THIS is the view from the “binnacle” (I used to be able to jump over the tree to right when me Da’ and me brothers built the house).
(not much wit or humour posted by me lately, I know…still looking for reasons to get up in the morning)Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 23 at 11:44 PM • permalinkTraffic Alert
At least the “Bridge to Nowhere” never killed anybody. Today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced a settlement with the contractors for Boston’s Big Dig Project. The contractors didn’t get off lightly, at $458M, though the project’s costs exceeded $15B. Interesting to note though is the “Catastrophic Reopener” clause, allowing the Commonwealth to sue again, if something really, really bad happens.
During the press event, the Massachusetts Attorney General went on (about 5:30 into the video):
We believe that the catastrophic reopener that the U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan referred to provides a safety valve for the Commonwealth should another event like the ceiling tunnel collapse occur, and we are not prohibited should that happen. We hope it will not, we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will not, but there have been so many issues with this tunnel and there are contingencies known and unknown that we believed that it was important to provide the catastrophic reopener in terms of protecting the Commonwealth.
Now there’s confidence for you!
RichS—If you stop and think about it, this means the state of Massachusetts has a vested
financial interest in seeing its citizens killed by its product…Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 24 at 12:02 AM • permalink#37 (RichMcE) Interesting notion. Given history, a future suit would likely be brought on behalf of the Commonwealth, and the actual injured parties would likely have to file their own private suits. Proceeds from the Commonwealth’s suit would likely go to the “General Fund” from which the state operates.
Akin in some ways to the tobacco settlement monies of the late-1990’s.
#21 Captain:
A typical ABC response. This “I’m fireproof” attitude is especially strong with senior employees like Hardaker.
If you have not blocked caller ID on the phone you to used to call them, you will now be on their database and they can bring up your details on their screen as soon as any subsequent calls come in from you.
A few months ago, I rang up to complain about poor reception of ABC TV signals in our area.
The bloke on the other end was distant and unhelpful. When I asked him to confirm that there was nothing wrong with the ABC’s signals, he replied, “Yes, Mr (my real name). Just like I told you the last time you rang.”
I had not given him a name so he must have had it up on his screen from my caller ID number.
I asked him when I had last called on this matter and he immediately answered, 23rd April 2004.
Scary Big Brother stuff!A very dear friend of mine had a tumour, and now he’s dead, God rest his soul. The tumour was benign but he got mown down by a bus.
I hope you get well soon.
Posted by harry hutton on 2008 01 24 at 12:58 AM • permalink#33 Mental Floss:
That’s one very lucky birdy to be flying around in that beautiful place.
While your are in an antonymical mood, perhaps you can help me find an antonym for “sceptic”. I need a noun that has similar pejorative overtones to those used by warmeners when they refer to climate change non-believers as “sceptics”.
The word “gullible” comes close to my needs, but I don’t think its use as a noun is widely accepted.You will not get this perspective on Gaza and Israel from the MSM:
“Fuelling the Gaza Jihad” by David Hornik#34 & 28
I heard again today, but not actually about Tim. It was a thankyou for posting the news.We know that the surgery was successful.
We know that Tim is on the road to recovery.That should do for now. I am not going to pester anyone for more information.
I am sure that as soon as it’s possible Tim will post for us. (No-one will be able to stop him, of course!)
Again, this is what I know so far:
From a work colleage of his on 22 Jan at 3:43pm:
Happily, I am told Tim’s operation appears to have been a complete success and the doctors are confident they’ve got it all. He should be out of hospital in 10 to 12 days.
From a source very close to Tim 22/1 at 10:19pm:
24 hours since surgery, which went very well according to surgeon. Tim’s in a lot of pain, recovery will be slow. But he’s demanded a laptop, which is a good sign. He may blog later in the week.
Keep up the well wishing. It’s terrific.
tksAnd this from my Aunt who undertook the same surgery 20 years ago:
If his operation is similar to mine, ... then he has my sympathy - it was a horrid few months. However, I’m told these days that everything is so much more improved - I still need to be convinced!
Tell Tim and his girlfriend not to hasten recovery. He should take time out to smell the roses. Yep, he’ll be bored to death (pardon the pun!) but it is so important that he is positive, calm and happy and not to worry about anything. He should opt to do some of the nice things he’s put off for years.
As soon as I hear more I will let everyone know.
#33
Dear Mr Pendantic* FlossI know there’s such a thing as a binnacle, that’s why I called it a BIN-acle, from the Australian “bin”, where you put your trash and “accle” somewhere near the top.
And what’s Ralph got to do with anything, anyway?
Love and best wishes
Bratty K
My net’s been on the fritz for hours, how bad is that!?!?!
*resist at all costs!
#39
Skeets
Getting through to the ABC, a bit like pushing shit uphill with a stick, or poking butter up a porcupine’s bum with a hot needle?Broken url removed by the Management as it was destroying the page formatting. Sorry.
Sorry Pogria, this is not me.
For the record, if you see any 1.618’s on other blogs/sites have fun with them, but they’re not 1.6.
If you would like to purchase the 1.618 name here for $2000 dollars please send the cheque to Tim Blair, and I’ll gladly forward the password for you to enjoy blogging in here.It will help his recovery fund.
Who is Sarah? Please feel free to post your blog name here. Kae are you lurking?
#51 I’m afraid people would look askance at me if I bought it and then pretended to be you. I would probably look at myself a little funny too.
Posted by Col. Milquetoast on 2008 01 24 at 02:02 AM • permalinkWow - that would be the Harry Hutton at #40.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 01 24 at 02:03 AM • permalinkHello colonel, I think someone out there would to purchase the 1.618 name and post here to help tim blair recover.
I say, have you thought of 1.619 as a name? I’m suprised the left can’t count after 1.618
Name consultation are $50 dollars, cheque to Tim Blair, then I’ll suggest names for our new bloggers if you like.
((( margos would you like to buy my name?)
Dear[pedantic] Mental Floss
(not much wit or humour posted by me lately, I know…still looking for reasons to get up in the morning)
My good friend, then you best look deeper…try the eyes of your child, or wife.
If that doesn’t work, then since I will be making landfall on your nation in the near future, I shall seek you out and really piss you off.
YOU of all people should know that YOU have EVERY FUCKING reason to “get up in the mornings”. If you cannot SEE those reasons, then you have become BLIND, to reality!
That IS NOT YOU, Mental Floss. Stop listening to false and questioning inner thoughts and speaking, DAMMIT!
Hey, 1.6. - there can only be one true 1.6 and no-one is fooled by those shoddy imitations.
Bad news about the Bulletin. I guess it just goes to show that people don’t like to pay for self-indulgent drivel.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 01 24 at 02:17 AM • permalinkHi 1.6,
I want to echo what Margos Maid stated.
Whenever that pile of shit that posts as you on any blog, we ALL of us know it isn’t you.
No matter how hard that scum tries, he/she knows they’re in a losing corner. Most of us here are very familiar with each others writing style, and to a certain extent, our personalities.
Don’t worry yourself over it 1.6.
Ignore them. That hurts them the most.
I’m pleased to get up every morning and find that there are more people who find the UN a long running fiasco rather than some sort of magical kingdom where the world’s ills are solved.
Thanks Joseph Klein.#56 My friend, I am abashed.
You are right. I don’t know what it is. Yes, there is pain and yes, there is the loathèd stupefaction of powerful medication taken in quantity.
This is no excuse.
Am I consciously seeking sympathy? Upon reflection it would appear I am. Why else type each word, read it carefully before posting—and yet press “Submit”?
I am pressing “Submit” in my mind as much as on the page.
I want no sympathy save that you have shown me, El Campeador.
I read or was told something once about sympathy—that if it is inconsistent with any acknowledged virtue, it is nothing more than disguised selfishness.
I have been selfish here, on these pages, and I apologise.
Expect better of me in future.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 24 at 03:19 AM • permalink#63 I’m onto you SandiM.
That word Crikey! I take to be a clear reference to Steve Irwin - an environmentalist renowned for his carefully considered approach to occupational health and safety, brutally murdered by a CIA trained sting ray.
Yet another innocent Australian victim of the Americans.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 01 24 at 03:19 AM • permalinkHey Mental Floss- no apologies required amongst friends.
Keep us updated on your condition - hoping things turn for the better.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 01 24 at 03:26 AM • permalink# ∞ (you know what I mean)
Then let us speak no more of it—lest I become, well, fivelorn.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 24 at 04:33 AM • permalinkFloss, the demise of cognitive functions for a few months is well worth the pick up of a few years of your own brand of wit.
Drug yourself to the eyeballs and come back strong and well, well wait.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 24 at 05:00 AM • permalinkRe Bulletin.
Picked up a copy today in the doctor’s waiting room and saw it contained stories by Thomas Keneally and Tim Flannery. Put it down again. It only reinforced by feeling that the Bulletin swerved to the left in pursuit of the trendy iiner-city reader and ceased to be relevant to the other 99.9% of potential readers. Won’t mourn it.Re Tim. The pain will go away - eventually. But it’s just days since Tim was slashed open and had his organs severely rearranged. He may have been a sleep and in an operating theatre but as far his body is concerned it is no different to any other trauma - such as a car crash.
Hey Floss! You can be fivelorn if you like, but do keep on adding to our group’s verbal paintball, and no talk of underlawn, ok?
You are valued, and even when you feel like shit your loved ones will benefit from every effort you make to be a regular figure in their lives. I really enjoy having you around - I’m sure they do too.
Now: we’ve had tentacle porn. Is there binnacle porn?Just to put Heath Ledgers demise in a little perspective.
Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 24 at 05:23 AM • permalinkWe’re numnber one! We’re number one!We’re numberr one hundred and twenty eaight!
Way to go. Yet another bit of eniro-twaddle. LINKPosted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 06:05 AM • permalinkMentalFloss,
For what it’s worth, you’re one of the reasons I come here every day and spend hours reading the comments. Most times I scan the comments first looking for your take on matters. Your acumen and discourse exceed most everyone, certainly mine.
I hope your health continues to improve my friend.
Posted by wronwright on 2008 01 24 at 06:37 AM • permalinkBack soon seems to have gone and now back.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 24 at 07:27 AM • permalinkBe of good cheer, Mental Floss. Perhaps what you need is an entertaining fable.
An Islamically Correct Fairy Tale
The Caliph’s New Dishdasha (Part I)
Once upon a time, there lived a Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, who so loved clothes that he would wear a new dishdasha every hour of the day, and each dishdasha was finer and more exquisite than the last. His tax collectors labored without cease to wring money from his Muslim subjects, and the Jews and Christians wept from the oppressiveness of the jizya (which was just, inasmuch as they are infidels and refuse to acknowledge the Prophet. Peace be on him!).
Now it came to pass, that two Jewish tailors, who had heard of the Caliph’s fascination with elegant dishdashas, devised a scheme by which they might profit at no cost to themselves (a tremendous mark-up, even for these grasping People of the Book). They approached the gates of the palace, and asked for an audience with the grand vizier.
“Your excellency”, commented the one tailor. “We have heard of the Caliph’s reputation as a man of excellent taste in clothes, and we have come to offer him our services.”
“Indeed”, said the other tailor, “a man of such rare refinement deserves the finest dishdasha that can be made by the hands of men, and we can create for him such a garment in practically no time.”
The two tailors were conducted into the presence of the Caliph, and there they spun their tale. “For only a hundred gold pieces, your majesty, we can make you a dishdasha without comparison”, said the one tailor. “Quite so, Pillar of the Faith,” said the other. “And not only is it of luxurious quality, but when you put it on, it will be invisible to fools.”
The Caliph immediately determined that he must have such a robe, and he paid the hundred gold pieces to the tailors, gave them comfortable apartments in which to work, and ordered that they be fed from his own table.
The tailors sequestered themselves for two weeks, pretending to be working on the dishdasha. The Caliph sent daily for reports on their progress, and when it became evident that his excitement had reached fever pitch, the tailors sent word to the grand vizier that the dishdasha was finished.
The two tailors were ushered into the private chamber of the Caliph, where he was attended by the grand vizier, and by his physician, a Christian. The tailors invited the Caliph to disrobe, and when he had, they pretended to help him on with the magical dishdasha.
The Caliph looked at himself in the mirror, barely able to suppress his horror. “By the beard of the prophet!”, he thought. “Am I a fool, then, for I see nothing but my own nakedness! Well, for the sake of preserving my people from such knowledge, and sparing them mental unrest, I will act as though I can see it.”
“It is beautiful, to be sure”, said the Caliph. “What say you, my vizier? Is it not elegant?”
The grand vizier – an honest old Muslim, who, because of his nearsightedness, could not see beyond the end of his nose, said, “I have never see your majesty arrayed to such splendid advantage” (and in this, he spoke truth, for, because of his poor eyesight, he had never really seen the Caliph arrayed at all).
The physician – a cowardly cross-worshipper, who did not scruple to forsake his duty to preserve his sovereign from pneumonia in order to avoid gaining the reputation of a fool – exclaimed, “Certainly, your majesty, neither the Eastern emperor nor the Pope in Rome possesses anything to match it.”
The Caliph’s New Dishdasha (Part II)
Now, in anticipation of receiving his new dishdasha, and of having the opportunity to reveal himself to his people in all his glory, the Caliph had already arranged for a procession through the marketplace. This he determined to carry out, and, attired in his splendid new robe, walked in state with his various attendants among the crowd.The salaams of the people quickly gave way to murmurs and furtive whispers as the Caliph made his way through the marketplace. His subjects had been advised of the marvelous qualities of the dishdasha, and no one wanted to be thought a fool, so the people resumed their respectful cheers. But suddenly, a small boy – too young to be adept at flattery, or to disbelieve the evidence of his own eyes – said in a loud voice, “Look! The Caliph has a tiny pee pee!”
A woman cried, “Hush, child! Are you a fool?” But an old man said, “The boy’s innocent eyes have seen the truth. The Caliph has no dishdasha.” The people then began to chatter among themselves, and to wonder at the Caliph’s nakedness.
The Caliph, now convinced that he had been taken in by the tailors, and that he was most certainly naked, nonetheless determined to maintain his dignity. Smiling loftily at his subjects, he shouted, “Guards! Slaughter these dogs of unbelievers!”
The End
Some lite reading for anyone that is missing Andrew Bolt and his weekly rant regarding the “stolen generation”.
This pile of pure propaganda is put out by Reconciliation Australia.
Posted by mr creosote on 2008 01 24 at 08:59 AM • permalinkI am not sure who put it up here first, (possibly kae) but it is spreading widely across the land:
$orry.
I will set fire to my last $50 bill before I give it to any of these welfare spongers/ professional victims/bludgers/ no hopers/opportunists/scam merchants/con artists etc. . . . .
Krool and Hartless, they cry. It’s MY money you are pissing away on noble savage fantasies, you dickheads
I despise serial liars and apparatchiks like this “Reconciliation Australia” mob, paid for by working taxpayers to promote a victim mentality and racist attitude in the general population, and incidentally lining their own pockets along the way.
Who hires and pays these turds?
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2008 01 24 at 09:24 AM • permalinkKevni’s laughable (pre-election) view of the world slowly but surely crumbling:
THE union movement is gearing up to defy the Rudd Government’s plea for wage restraint as agreements in key areas of industry fall due.
What a surprise!
A PRODUCTIVITY Commission paper has criticised the influential Stern review on global warming for making value-laden assumptions that inflated estimates of the economic costs of warming.
The internal staff working paper, released as Australia prepares its own version of the Stern review, called the original British review’s conclusions “as much an exercise in advocacy as it is an economic analysis of climate change”.
It acknowledged Nicholas Stern’s contribution to the field, but said it was impossible to say whether some assumptions were “definitively right or wrong”.
The former World Bank chief economist’s review had “erred” in not making key value judgments explicit, or testing different parameters in his modelling, the paper said.
The commission paper, originally prepared for internal use in response to the Stern review’s October 2006 release, was published yesterday.
It was given to the Labor-initiated Garnaut review, which is modelled on the Stern review, over the Christmas break.
When then Opposition leader Kevin Rudd announced Labor’s review last year, headed by Australian National University economist Ross Garnaut, he said Australia needed its own version of the Stern review. “The Stern report to the British Government sent a clear warning that, left unchecked, climate change will have catastrophic economic consequences,” Mr Rudd said.
Now his own government department is telling him Stern is rubbish. Expect the usual barrage of journalistic <strike>hard questions</strike> softballs about this embarrassment.
Bwahahahahaha
You couldn’t shut the Kruddster up before the election.Every time Woody Woodpecker opened her beak, she was told to shaddup, Nobody ever heard of Wayne Swan until he came out of the woodwork as Treasurer (God help us), the Minister for Plastic bags and Antarctic Flights was told to shut his gob on <snort> “climate change”, the market crashes over 5% a day since the election and where is our fearless leader?
Fuck knows.
Once again, I thank Science that I am a rabid RWDB and cashed out before the Commo pricks got their hands on the keys to the Treasury.
Just wait till the $orry disaster hits the public purse.
The Usual Suspects (O’Donohue, Mansell, Clark etc) are slavering like the Hounds of Baskerville.Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2008 01 24 at 11:22 AM • permalinkHmm. “Psychopathic” bear?
Knut may not mate because of his extensive exposure to humans.
Zookeeper: Go, on, Knut, go on. Say hello to your mate.
Knut (Working the Times crossword puzzle): Hmmm?
Zookeeper: I said, go on over there and say hello to “Cindy”.
Knut (Removes spectacles and glares at zookeeper): Dude. She’s a bear.
Zookeeper: I know she’s a bear! That’s the whole point. You’re supposed to mate with her.
Knut: Oh, right. So we can have kids and you and your staff can debate about whether “mom” should be allowed to scarf down as many cubs as she likes, or whether you ought to bite the bullet and actually save them from a toothy death. Listen, man, if you’d had your way, I’d probably have wound up as a pair of fuzzy white slippers for your wife.
Zookeeper: But this is the way it’s supposed to be in nature! You’re a bear!
Knut: I like to think that I’ve risen above such deterministic modes of thinking. Pity you haven’t. (Glances at Cindy). Tell you what: you like her, you mate with her. I won’t say anything to your missus. (Replaces spectacles and resumes working crossword puzzle). I mean, it’s not like I could tell her or write her a note or anything. I’m a bear, remember?
#91 C.L.
Prepare yourselves for the onslaught of hysterical coldenists:
Russian scientist says Earth could soon face new Ice Age.
I’m not at all surprised. That headline had been predicted on these pages for some time.
Damn panicky sheep.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 01 24 at 01:06 PM • permalink(Replaces spectacles and resumes working crossword puzzle).
LOL!
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 01 24 at 01:09 PM • permalinkWill PACO Industries be at the forefront of the soon-to-be burgeoning carbon debit market?
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 01 24 at 01:13 PM • permalinkPaco Enterprises. Sorry.
Paco Industries is the manufacturing arm, I assume, and “carbon debits” are not “manufactured” per se, but something more akin to stocks and bonds.
A apologize for my error. I really should do better…
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 01 24 at 02:23 PM • permalink“disturbed circus bear”
Something tells me there’s a tragic event involved in the origin of that description.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 01 24 at 02:25 PM • permalink#108 Rebecca: I find reading this blog to be good therapy. Of course, I have other hobbies, too.
[url=”
]http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm”] Gun ownership poll at USA Today[/url]Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 24 at 02:59 PM • permalink#89
Mr Creosote, I’m pretty sure from the little I’ve read (I have to get ready for work), that this:All State and Territory governments have acknowledged past practices and policies of forced removal of Indigenous children on the basis of race. As part of this formal acknowledgement, all State and Territory governments have apologised for the trauma these policies have caused.
is a lie. Total tosh.
#90 Pedro the Ignorant
I’d love to claim credit, but it was egg_ who coined $orry.#95
Heat put on Stern report
Hurrah!
66, Margos Maid:
That word Crikey! I take to be a clear reference to Steve Irwin - an environmentalist renowned for his carefully considered approach to occupational health and safety, brutally murdered by a CIA trained sting ray.
Yet another innocent Australian victim of the Americans.
That’s twice you made me reach for the kleenex. You, Paco, and a few others here really need to start blogging.
Posted by rightwingprof on 2008 01 24 at 03:35 PM • permalinkRebecca
Page 3; notice there is never a Page 3.Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2008 01 24 at 04:40 PM • permalink#95 People I work with have produced similar, if not more scathing analysis (unpublished, of course!).
I have been awaiting the Garnaut report on the economic impact of climate change with great interest. Ross Garnaut is the type of economist where purity of analysis is parmaount. Look at the way he carries on about bilateral trade deals - they are bad, and if we don’t have success with multilateral trade (eg Doha) then we just keep trying!
Now that he is approaching the end of his career, dos he sell out? I await with baited breath :)#96 Exactly! Where the Hell is Kevin Rudd? Heard a nice story from a Canberra friend, about Rudd during his time as shadow Foreign Affairs: whenever there was a flap on, and journalists were doorstopping the MPs on their way into Parliament, Rudd would enter via the carpark, go up to his office, get a briefing from his staff, go back out in his car, park outside and then saunter casually up to the front door, coat over his shoulder and registering mild surprise at the presence of…journalists. I’m told his own staff were so pissed off by this that they threatened to blow the whistle on him.
And Mental - you are one of the Harlem Globetrotters of blog commentary, and don’t forget it!
Awwwwww, maaaaaaan…
Kucinich just dropped out of the Dem race…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 24 at 05:55 PM • permalinkHeard thismorning that Kerry Stokes may be going to rescue The Bulletin.
My newsagent has kept a copy of the last issue. I told him it went down the chute because it turned left.
He was incredulous. He thought it was still right…. d’oh! I guess he doesn’t have time to read the mags he sells.Are there any right leaning (as opposed to left tilting) publications left in Aus? Please let me know. (Quadrant.)
Mental Floss:
“This too shall pass”
Believe it.
One of the best thoughts I have read for people struggling mentally is a lack of confidence in themselves in handling life’s “little” issues. I have no doubt in you, as others have expressed. Find what started this rot and smash it like a pinata, then take charge!
Please do not hesitate to get proper help - you are not alone and there are some great people out there who can help. And if we can, pls ask!
The Labor party script must be penned by soapie writers. There are these weird little tales of Kevni’s private life - who can forget the “honey, I’ve booked a table for a romantic dinner to mark our wedding anniversary” in the middle of a press conference last year. Or more recently, the story of Kevni’s sideburns. Then there are those strange little lines that involve words such as “mate” and “Iced Vo Vo” and “cuppas” (cup of tea for foreign readers), words that roll off Rudd’s tongue as naturally as Urdu.
Gillard, too, has starred in a few scenes from the soapie and now it is Nicola Roxon’s turn.
#128 Yes, it’s funny how Kevni occasionally gets those quaint little English idioms wrong. He was quoted the other day saying “Governments that are out of touch with people frankly aren’t worth a pinch of salt.” Anyone who cooks will tell you that a ‘pinch of salt’ is actually quite a crucial commodity, and makes all the difference. I wonder what he meant to say?
What’s this?
Lightly grilled Joolya for breakfast?
That Cannane bloke is never going to get a full time gig if he keeps making Joolya retreat to press release bullet points.
(From about 20:40 “Can I just interrupt there…” Didn’t someone tell him he’s only supposed to gush over Labor policy?)#130
OMG, I’ve found Kerry Stokes’ “Saving the Bulletin” theme music!#132 Don’t be fooled, Loco - as you say, she was ‘lightly grilled’. Sure he made some token swipes, but every counterswipe by Joolia was tamely let through to the keeper. I’ll wait until I hear Fran Kelly giving Invisible Man Rudd or Joolia the kind of relentless grilling she used to give Howard and Costello and Downer. When Radio National start leading their bulletins with Opposition press releases, as they did throughout the Howard years, then I’ll know balance has been achieved.
Here’s a game of Japanese Cetacean research:
http://harpooned.org/Apparently it’s supposed to make some sort of eco-friendly point but it’s a lot of fun anyway. The only drawback is that it costs money to harpoon the protesting greenies.
enjoy.
As bad as the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates is, I’m really hoping this guy never gets into the act.
NOON FRIDAY UPDATE
A quick word with Tim.
He is in great spirits, a bit groggy still which is par for the course after a major op, feeling better every day, all on track to be out soon, maybe next Friday.
When he gets out he faces a few months to get back into fighting trim but expects to be back at work well before that.
After this setback to pre-season training, don’t expect to see him on the paddock until late in the second round. Collingwood will probably be gone by the anyway!
Thanks, Rafe, that’s excellent news!
Hmm. Still a bit groggy, eh? Not completely aware of what’s going on? Hmm.
Nurse Goodbody: Alright, Mr. Blair, it’s time for your sponge bath. Here, sit up dear, and let’s undo your gown so I can get your back. Wha..? What’s this on your back? Why, it’s an enormous tattoo! “Eat at Casa Paco’s - Why Put Off ‘til Tamale What You Can Do Today?”
#19 Paco, you overlooked:
Bombi
Pork Chop by Sharia Lewis
Dhimmi Duck
Gordon of Cartoon
Lawrence of Arabia
Indiana Jihad and the Christian Skull
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 09:33 PM • permalinkI’m on a roll. My TV is out, so I am listening to the Sens on radio and nothing better to do than digest and drink and talk. Hey, it’s like a dinner party:
Stagecoach (A documentary video of Pallistinian journalism)
How the West was Lost
The god, the bad and the ummah.
Exterminator
A bride too few (romantic comedy WARNING chick flick).
Battle of Britain, part II
The Godhusband
LolitaAisha - one of the less well-known Kubrik movies.Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 09:49 PM • permalinkMental Floss
Just remember that there are many without your intellectual gifts who have faced worse - and won. That’s an objective fact, and that means you can win through too.
As for apologies, you’re human. Forgiving yourself for not being perfect is hard, but it can be done. Everyone else forgave you long ago, not that there was ever a great deal to forgive.
We just look forward to your erudite posts when you’re feeling better, and hopefully being allowed to help you when you’re not. As friends. You have more than you know.
Hugs, Zoe
One could go on…
The thin red line of khafir blood
Mohammad (a talkie, no pictures)
Babes in arms - 1939 (A touching movie of male bonding between jihadis, set amongst the romantic vistas of Afghanistan)
Bin Laden hides agains.
True shit - the story of the downfall of western civilization
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 09:58 PM • permalinkEntropy #121, I’m interested to see what Garnaut comes up with too. That said, he is very much a Labor man, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if he echoes Stern.
Rafe, thanks for passing on the good news.
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2008 01 24 at 10:01 PM • permalinkHey, wasn’t somebody around here looking for Kevin Rudd?
#148 Well, no Paco, I try to avoid those sort of people.
You have created, although you didn’t realise it at the time, the PACO International “Where’s Ruddles” Competition.
As Ruddles is in hiding (note he didn’t exactly publicise this trip of his that the photo alludes to), it is the duty of every right-thinking person to hunt him out, publicise him, catch him with his pants down.
Seriously, if anyone has the time to set up a “Where’s Ruddles” web page/blog, I’d be happy to contribute some spondulics. The best way to weaken this wanker is through derision.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 10:11 PM • permalink#151 lingus4, are you cunning or what? Now, personally, I had never heard of him until he died. Apparently he was from Perth; not sure whether he was a native or not, though.
I like the idea of his “masseuse” finding him dead, and naked. Mind you, when I have a masseuse come to my place, I am normally naked, so there is nothing unusual here.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 10:20 PM • permalink#150: I did? How about that!
Here he is in Afghanistan, hooked up to a simultaneous translater. I wonder if the person translating for him was a practical joker?
President of Afghanistan (as translated by joker): “And…we want to thank…Austin Powers…International Man of Mystery…for visiting our country…It was kind of him…to take time off…from chasing…evil geniuses…long enough to drop in…and say, ‘Hey’...Of course…I’ve had to lock the door to my harem…ha, ha…”
lingus4 - I’m easily offended, such as:
1. when muslims try to force their views on me
2. when PC officialdoms try to force their views on me
3. when lefties want to remove personal reward and substitute selective benefits
4. when people are more upset over a “stars” death than that of a soldier fighting for their freedomsstill, rip heath and sorry to his family, especially his 2 year old daughter.
ps was amusing joke*
sad he had 6 prescription meds - treatment by the bottle is half the story - I wonder if his medical people tried to help in other ways too.
#156 I knew it! He’s an alien. Look at that antenna sticking out the top of his head.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 24 at 10:57 PM • permalinkRafe—Tell Blair he better not bogart the Vicodin when he gets back…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 24 at 11:03 PM • permalinkUh-oh. Naughty environment minister Peter Garrett is talking about climate change. Kevni told him not to do that.
#164
James Taranto today has an hilarious case of Palestinian grievance theatre meets leftie-enviro symbolism:
“This report from the Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh is just funny”:
On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.
In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.
In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.
But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.
“Only some journalists noticed that? Doesn’t the sun shine for all?”
Caption to pic: “Hello, I’m Peter Garrett. Do you mind if I talk to you about climate change”.
If you’re in the need for some light entertainment, the Delightful Dissident Frogman has put together a compilation of French stereotypes.
The story that follows on Libel Tourism is also a cack up!.
1.618, I had to remove the url you left in comments as it broke the page formatting. Please use the “Link” button above the comment box if you wish to make a link. Follow the directions, press “OK,” etc.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2008 01 25 at 12:41 AM • permalink#168 C.L.
From the ABC site:
The Productivity Commission review suggests that…Stern exaggerated the cost of global warming in his 2006 analysis…
Productivity Commission hits out at ‘pessimistic’ Stern Review.
Stern Review ‘exaggerated’ costs of climate change.
All of this was known prior to the Bali junket.
I can feel a back-flip coming on.
The AGW gulls are probably still trying to work out how they can retreat and still appear to be advancing. Is there a Monty Python skit that covers this situation?I have a new found appreciation for Peter Garrett after seeing “I am Legend” this afternoon. Mr Garrett plays numerous roles in this movie with a great deal of conviction.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 01 25 at 03:03 AM • permalink#176 Thanks peter m. No doubt you mean this empty hospital.
However, I fear that Mr Rudd’s lot lack the refinement displayed by the Yes Minister mob and may not be able to pull it off.
(I mean pull off a secret back-flip…you know what I mean, I’m sure.)$8bn fraud ‘genius’ hiding: solicitor
Paris | January 25, 2008A JUNIOR banking trader, dubbed by police as a “genius of fraud”, is in hiding with only his solicitor knowing his whereabouts.
Blamed for racking up an $8 billion loss in bad bets on stocks at France’s Societe Generale, the trader circumvented the bank’s risk controls through in-depth knowledge of its computer systems, but was caught when he tried to cover up his losses. link
Hmmmmm - didn’t anyone notice when the first $1 billion went missing? No one at all????C.L. (#168) - looks like Krudd is catching ‘Garrett’s Syndrome’. In announcing Lee Kernaghan as Aussie of the Year a few minutes ago, Krudd noted Tim Flannery’s great work ‘in support of climate change’. Poor Kevin, so much to fuck up and so little time!
Posted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 2008 01 25 at 04:28 AM • permalinkThe ABC will only
attackharrassupbraidchidedisciplinetry to embarrass the government for not being left enough.
When the chips are down they will support by faint condemnation.
As a counterpoint, the SMH today in an Amazing Scenes editorial said that the NSW Labor government was a “failure at every level”.Said before that Labor is trying to turn the Gillard-Rudd government into a soapie, like Home and Away. Think I have worked out why. Labor thinks that people will become so absorbed in banalities such as Roxon’s wedding and Rudd’s haircuts that come the election, Australians will say: “I’m voting for Labor. I want to see if Julia’s missing mother turns up to give her that life-saving bone marrow transplant.”
Just don’t go at it too hard Killaette, don’t want to wreck the surgeon’s good work.
I bet you’re bored. What you need to do, is find a cannon to shoot some kitties out of.
Congratulations to George Cardinal Pell for winning the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul’s inaugural Mysterium Fidei Grand Prix. In his acceptance speech he again denounced the “neo-pagan” mentality of the “anti-human environmental movement”:
...such “extreme” proposals as taxing new parents to compensate for the “carbon footprint” of their offspring “are often expressions of modern society’s deep confusion about the place and value of the human person in the world.”
“They should set off warning bells for us. If we have learnt anything from the atrocities of the last century, it is that wide scale attacks upon human life and dignity both stem from and sustain reductive understandings of the human person.”
#204 - it’s looking a lot like “Lost”, where they try to figure everything out but weird stuff keeps happening, like the stockmarket (scary!) and Stern being outed (embarrassing, but only if you’re capable of embarrassment), and ABC comperes asking you questions which may as well be “And why aren’t you achieving a higher abortion rate?” or “When will there be a majority of gays on the High Court?”
Re The Bulletin - online comment at The Australian website paying due compliments to Timbo:
“It’s a shame to see the passing of a great Australian institution like The Bulletin. I didn’t renew my subscription a few years back owing to the increasing left wing bias evident in virtually all of its political and social commentary. The last straw for me was Tim Blair’s departure - it was worth buying The Bulletin for Tim’s take on life alone.
Life was always going to be tough for the Bulletin once the Howard Government was defeated - with Labor in power in every State and Territory as well, there was simply no Government left for The Bulletin to criticise. The ABC is suffering badly from the same malaise.”
Many of the other comments likewise say the magazine’s lefty bias was the reason for its demise.
Life was always going to be tough for the Bulletin once the Howard Government was defeated - with Labor in power in every State and Territory as well, there was simply no Government left for The Bulletin to criticise. The ABC is suffering badly from the same malaise.”
The very party that gave them life is now starving them of oxygen? It is a bit like parasites killing the host isnt it?
Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 25 at 08:10 AM • permalink#240 Ubique
I’m still reading the comments (slow nite).
I agree, it just became so left it was really annoying and just plain boring to read. I used to read most of it, but in the last year I’ve been lucky to find one article in each issue which held my interest or informed me enough to read it to the end. Fortunately I subscribed at a good rate, so it was only $2 I was wasting.I was just looking at this week’s issue today. Haneef. Bleat, bleat, bleat. Who gives a rat’s arse. I might have a closer look, but why bother? He has no grudge against Australia, but at the time of his incarceration and the subsequent court cases he was saying that there was a Government conspiracy because he’s a muslim. Again, the muslim victim card is being played.
And he’s not averse to getting some money from the Australian Taxpayers for, whatever.
The hospital is willing to welcome him back with open arms.I’m pretty sure if they were that concerned about Australian security I trust the government’s decision to toss him out, etc.
Members:
Login | Register
| Member List
#250
Would that be the bin-icle?