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Last updated on May 17th, 2017 at 02:07 pm
A world of leftoid conflict. (Art by Dave.)
- Great observations, Tim.
Factionalism is not, of course, unique to the left, but leftist government seems genuinely to thrive only when there is a “strong-man” (or woman) involved. Since leftist nostrums are based largely on a deep-seated misunderstanding of human nature, leftist government will more often than not require the heavy hand of the state to enforce its policies. That is one reason why identity politics represents a dangerous distraction: an assessment of the candidates’ character takes a back-seat to a merely emotional preference for melanin or estrogen (pick your team) leaving us, in the end, with the distinct possibility of being saddled with either Big Brother or Big Sister – a distinction without a difference.
Even in conservative-friendly WA, where Carpenter may soon call an early election, conservatives are unlikely to get even the slightest sniff – ahem – of victory.
Ahem indeed. I actually had a tear in my eye I was laughing so hard at that one.
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 05 09 at 11:16 PM • permalink
It isn’t a dilemma if you follow King’s dream and place character above colour (and gender), allowing one to judge Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as mere candidates instead of as Super Woman and Hero Black Guy. You’d vote for neither of them.
Just so. Yet McCain, who has a long, distinguished senatorial career, isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes (even though he enrages many of the conservative base [including me]), and is a genuine war hero, gets denigrated by the lefties at every turn.
Must be that white skin and those male reproductive organs.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 09 at 11:32 PM • permalink
- BTW, I’m anticipating that Bryla will be swooping in with his usual, clueless, leftiespeak, singing hosannas about The Messiah™, believing that Hillary thinks only of victory for the “progressives”, and crapping on McCain.
So I’d like offer further proof that he really doesn’t understand Americans.
Yup, the Dhimmicrats are acting just like cute little kitties play with each other!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 09 at 11:43 PM • permalink
- 3 – So this is how it feels to be the butt of the joke.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 05 09 at 11:45 PM • permalink
- Oh, yeah, paco, a clear copying of the old Soviet Union. Putin is rubbing his hands in glee, I’ll bet.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 09 at 11:51 PM • permalink
- I quite like the finishing touch of making both obama and Hillary the donkeys ass end, rather fitting.
Bit of a worry when your 2 best candidates are a pathalogical liar and a race based greivance monger.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 05 10 at 12:03 AM • permalink
- Hillree’s gonna be SO pissed when she realises that certificate from Presidency Assured COrp ain’t good fer nuthin’ but buttwipe…Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 05 10 at 12:03 AM • permalink
- #8 RJ: Exactly. On top of militant Islam, the next president will likely have to deal with a resurgence of Russian nationalism, fueled by enormous reserves of gas, oil and precious metals, and bent on undoing such democratic progress as the country has managed to make in the last 20 years (the whole system shot through, incidentally, with what we, in my business, refer to as “reputational issues” – i.e., money laundering, drug running, gangster capitalism, etc.). And there’s China, and Iran and North Korea. Obama? Clinton? Get real, people!
- Not to go O/T, paco, but ol’ Putin has other problems, like a death rate greater than the birth rate. So the future isn’t entirely bleak.
Unless Obama or Hillary get into the Oval Office. Then it’s katie-bar-the-door!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:09 AM • permalink
Must be that white skin and those male reproductive organs.
And, silly me!, how could I forget the other reason for denigrating McCain?
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:12 AM • permalink
- #15: And just what do they have against beer?
(BTW, RJ, this beer – to be sold exclusively in Russia – includes testosterone suppressant, to nudge along that little population problem you mentioned).
- 15 – Seems it’s even worse than that, TRJS.
Quoting beefytee:
It’s not that she’s a beer heiress…it’s just that the beer she’s heir to is absolute shite.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 05 10 at 12:18 AM • permalink
to sort out their differences and amalgamate into one big fringe leftist group
Hehehe. Comedy gold.
Posted by Abu Chowdah on 2008 05 10 at 12:28 AM • permalink
- Re #16, heh heh heh!!! Who sez capitalism never wins?Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:31 AM • permalink
- Once again time to quote:
“The man who is not a socialist at twenty has no heart, but if he is still a socialist at forty he has no head.”
– Aristide BriandAnd, Leon Trotsky got a ice pick in his head.
#1 #2 Hillbilly and O-man will never receive proper scrutiny, while Rice’s ever word and action like Bush’s is examined.
#3 What ALP indiscretions do we not hear about?
#4 #5 McCain is not my preferred but only going on MSM reports, of course. While the various blogs have their favorites too.Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 05 10 at 12:32 AM • permalink
- Ruh Roh – Dave’s cartoon has Barry in purple, with a rainbow tail! After Rezko, Wright, and Micheledamouth, is this a hint that the next bombshell will be Barry coming out of the closet???
For some reason a t-shirt with Barry’s mug along with Falwell’s, with the caption “my buddy Jerry was right about the purple one, but hey, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Or the other. Or…” pops to mind.
Ew.
Posted by Wind Rider on 2008 05 10 at 12:33 AM • permalink
- Apparently, Obama thinks there are 57 states in the Union. Now, my first inclination is to say, “Hell, it’s a grueling campaign, he had a brain fart, big deal.” Except that Dan Quayle spelled “potato” wrong and couldn’t live it down, because he was just so gosh-darned stupid, while Bill Clinton never got grief for “drive-by pregnancies” because he was just so gosh-darn smart. You know every McCain gaffe will be chalked up to incipient Alzheimers.
Whatever.
Maybe Obama said 57 because he thinks 50 states isn’t enough and we need to play ketchup. Maybe he was hanging around John Kerry’s wife too long. Maybe I should stop making stupid jokes Aussies won’t understand on an Aussie blog.
- ”…Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson, whose Uncle Tommish qualities are slightly diminished by him being Australian, never having lived in a cabin and never having been being sold into 19th century American slavery.
It’s never too late Tim!
“To paraphrase Barack Obama: Can we destroy Zimbabwe? Yes we can!”
Are you sure you’re not paraphrasing Bob the Builder? Or is Obama getting his spiffy rhetorical tricks from children’s television?
Posted by carpefraise on 2008 05 10 at 12:40 AM • permalink
- #14 TRJ,
it’s true about the birth rate in Russia. However, the outlook is most bleak for the smallest russians.
- That’s sad and pathetic, Pogria. Putin is leading Russia into Hell, and using the children to set off land mines in the way.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:56 AM • permalink
- Tim, you’ve put into words what I’ve often thought. Except I wouldn’t have been able to encapsulate it as brilliantly as you have.
Particularly as regards Condoleeza Rice who is a remarkable, multi-talented person who just happens to be black and female. I’ve never once been able to understand why those of the leftist persuasion – some of whom are friends – have no regard for her and dismiss her achievements, simply because she’s opted for a side of politics which doesn’t happen to be theirs.
This is an American woman who deals with some of the most misogynistic and racist world leaders and attitudes and, as far as I can see, hasn’t yet put a foot wrong. Her appointment is to the credit of George W. Bush.
To my mind, John McCain and Condoleeza Rice would be an unbeatable combination in the upcoming US elections.
It does bother me that the Left, so full of hypocrisy and cant, makes no allowance for others’ opinions or views but denigrates them simply because they march to a different beat, at times on only one or two issues.
- McCain… he’s the one holding the microphone upside down, right? Good thing he’s still got all his bearings and such strong support from Republicans like Newt Gingrich.
It’s sweet to see TRJS and Tim hold so tightly onto their myths about “lefty” disunity, when even blind freddy can see the end game to both the Democratic nomination and the general election.
I’ll be keen to see what TRJS does after the inauguration next year. Stay in support of Flag and country? Emigrate (Germany sounds “nice”)? Or go the Timothy McVeigh option (Reintarnation)?
It could be entirely a local factor, but in Cairns it’s the conservative side of politics that’s hopelessly split, arguing with each other (and back-stabbing) over everything including the kitchen cabinet.
It pisses me off because it leaves a very medicre Labor Party looking good, and looking like staying in office for a term measured in generations. For Shame righties.
- OT – Radio National this morning were doing a mildly snide piece on Jenna Bush’s wedding (no link). Of course they alluded to her citation for underage drinking (at an age when she would, in Australia, have been a perfectly legal drinker), and they couldn’t help adding “But Jenna, like her father, has sobered up..”
- Here’s the other George W Bush story of the day.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 05 10 at 02:52 AM • permalink
- #21, Stackja, well there is comrade Alan’s small indiscretion. But lets not worry about that eh? After all he is only the premier*.
* Premier in name at least, for the bloke calling the shots please see Mr McGinty.
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 05 10 at 03:25 AM • permalink
- #30, Bryla, The shame, the SHAME!!!!Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 05 10 at 03:27 AM • permalink
- #35 – haw haw haw, I love how the staff weren’t able to recognise who was who in the parliamentary zoo. I’m sure some of these clowns will be more offended at the fact that the mug punters have no idea who they are, than at the thought of being named as a fat, ugly stripper.Posted by mr creosote on 2008 05 10 at 03:42 AM • permalink
- #1
Spot on, well said, especially the comment regarding Rice. Funny that it took a Republican to appoint her.
The Australian story is the same:
Australian political milestones:
First woman elected an MP: Edith Cowan, 1921, WA Parliament (Nationalist Party, an ancestor of the conservative Liberals)First federal woman MP: Enid Lyons, 1943, United Australia Party, the immediate predecessor of the Libs.
First woman in a cabinet: Florence Cardell-Oliver, 1947, WA Parliament, Liberal
First woman federal cabinet member: Enid Lyons, 1949, Liberal
First woman to administer a government department: Annabelle Rankin, 1966, federal Liberal
First Aborigine elected to federal parliament: Neville Bonner, 1971, Liberal.
- #30 Some more reading for you bryla on Timothy McVeigh.
- 38 – Meanwhile the ALP, dicking around with Emily’s List, gives us the likes of Joan Kirner, Droolya Lizzard, and Mary Delahunty.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 05 10 at 04:32 AM • permalink
- Russia and China are resisting intervention in Burma on grounds of sovereignty. That should be a defence only if the government has had the sovereignty passed to them by the people via elections. Otherwise it is stolen or usurped.
It will be interesting, however, to see how many maintain their usual stance of condemning any action by the US as “illegal”, while usually accepting that facts on the ground trump everything else.
Even Kev said “break the door down”. Diplo-speak? Not.
- #39 My God, TRJS has been to the ME at the same time as thousands of Al Kyda operatives. What if he was making shadowy contacts with Hussein’s agents behind the convenient pretext of a soldier’s identity.
Alert the FBI immediately. Where was he on 9-11? What cities has he visted recently? Is he planning to nuke the Democratic convention, or worse, ordering a latte from Starbucks?
It’s a conspiracy I tell you!
Tim Blair: A filthy rip-off of clean-cut Kiwis
Kiwis believed joining the Kyoto Protocol – as Australia did earlier this year – would lead to carbon earnings of $500 million.Andrew Bolt: Give Garnaut a steel helmet, too.
To which I add give him a tin foil hat too.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 05 10 at 05:06 AM • permalink
- Bryla
“..when even blind freddy can see the end game to both the Democratic nomination and the general election..”
Well dont be modest Bryladamaus, enlighten us poor plebs with your wisdom and insight into both.
Now its down to 2 50/50 contests that gives you an almost cetain chance of being right at least once in your life.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 05 10 at 05:09 AM • permalink
- #45 The left’s amnesia has created most of the world’s problems today.Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 05 10 at 05:58 AM • permalink
- Alright, who the hell told Bryla about the VRWC?
Rove is gonna have some legs broken over this.
I vote that we preemptively pin the blame on Wron. He might get off with only a toe or two…
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 05 10 at 06:06 AM • permalink
- #’s 38, 46 & 47, I think we here in WOZ made the mistake of electing the countries first female premier. (the mistake was the female, not a female)
But ‘I dont recall’…
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 05 10 at 06:17 AM • permalink
- Bryla consults with blind Freddy
To see if the future is lefty.
What bryla don’t know
Could fill a fat ho
‘Bout US elections or FA.Posted by dean martin on 2008 05 10 at 07:05 AM • permalink
- Neville Bonner was actually half Scottish (or was it irish?) His father was a sailor that jumped ship.Posted by mr creosote on 2008 05 10 at 07:36 AM • permalink
McCain… he’s the one holding the microphone upside down, right?
Thanks for proving my point in #23, Bry.
Good thing he’s still got … such strong support from Republicans like Newt Gingrich.
We can only hope.
I’ll be keen to see what TRJS does after the inauguration next year. Stay in support of Flag and country? Emigrate (Germany sounds “nice”)?
Only Lefties run away when they don’t get their way, Bry. Oh wait, they don’t – they just make empty childish threats, despite having their left-wing paradise right next door. Besides, where can Righties go? This is the most libertarian/conservative nation on Earth. We have to make our stand here.
Or go the Timothy McVeigh option
Sorry, Bry, but it’s the Left that has the market cornered on domestic terrorism. McVeigh was the exception that proved the rule.
Of course, if Jeff was to blow up some buildings, Obama might give him a cabinet post. He seems to have a soft spot for bombers.
- #54 – yeah, I’d say Neville had about double the content of most of todays activists.Posted by mr creosote on 2008 05 10 at 09:42 AM • permalink
McCain… he’s the one holding the microphone upside down, right? Good thing he’s still got all his bearings and such strong support from Republicans like Newt Gingrich.
To paraphrase Dave in #55, thanks for proving my point in #8, Bryla. You seldom disappoint.
It’s sweet to see TRJS and Tim hold so tightly onto their myths about “lefty” disunity, when even blind freddy can see the end game to both the Democratic nomination and the general election.
Uh huh. Well, I guess “blindy freddy” ought to hire you as a campaign consultant. You can’t do any worse than some of The Messiah™’s consultants.
I’ll be keen to see what TRJS does after the inauguration next year. Stay in support of Flag and country? Emigrate (Germany sounds “nice”)? Or go the Timothy McVeigh option (Reintarnation)?
Dave beat me to this one. Nope, I’ve no intention of running. I survived the idiocy of Jimmah Cahtuh and the narcissism of Billy Jeff; I’ll survive the idiocy of Obama, or the tantrums of Billary. The country is a different matter….and that’s why I won’t leave. Unlike a lot of lefties who threatened to leave if Bush won (but never did, alas), America is my country. There are none better. If I leave, I abandon my dream.
Nope, Bryla, I won’t cut and run. If naught else, that’s the normal strategy for lefties.
BTW….I cheered when they stuck the needle in McVeigh. The bastard deserved it.
It could be entirely a local factor, but in Cairns it’s the conservative side of politics that’s hopelessly split, arguing with each other (and back-stabbing) over everything including the kitchen cabinet.
It’s not a local factor. If you actually bothered to comprehend what you read, you would see a similar situation here in the US.
It pisses me off because it leaves a very medicre Labor Party looking good, and looking like staying in office for a term measured in generations. For Shame righties.
Ayup. Same here. The Republicans ain’t doing much better than the Donks right now, but that difference is golden. One example of that difference is that the GOP doesn’t open their mouths merely to change feet. Like, oh, Pelosi, Reid, Clinton (both of ‘em), Obama, et al.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 10:21 AM • permalink
- She’s indeed attractive, Dave. But I think it would be more fun to make love to a bear trap.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 11:08 AM • permalink
- Oho! Hillary is losing ground!
Will she concede, melt down, or continue to fight, fight, fight!?
Only time will tell. There are still a couple more primaries for the Donks, plus the undying dispute over Florida and Michigan.
(Grabs popcorn from microwave, pops open a bottle of beer, sits back to enjoy the show.)
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 11:15 AM • permalink
- #60 Dave: She is fairly pretty, but she’s got that fatal attraction, mad gleam in her eyes that’s a bit creepy. If she weren’t in Congress, I bet we’d be seeing her as a suspect on “Cold Cases” (you know the scenario: husband with big life insurance policy he didn’t know he had dies in suspicious fire).
Bryla – In a stable democracy such as we enjoy, people generally accept the outcome of the election, gripe about it if their candidate doesn’t win, and hope for better luck next time. No need to leave the country (where would we go?), no need to take direct action (McVeigh and other terrorists, of right and left, are exceptions). Besides, given the built-in inertia of executive bureaucracy, the fractiousness of Congress, and the sometimes glacial pace of the judiciary, it’s usually difficult for any one man (or woman) serving as president to screw things up too badly – not impossible, mind you, but in the U.S., since mass movements that are ideologically hot-wired don’t seem to be sustainable, or effective, over long periods of time, the conjunction in one person of dreaming and ruling tends to lead, not to tyranny as Michael Oakeshott once said, but to the occasional political “food fight” or some other gaudy demonstration of pique; and then common sense generally reasserts itself. Not always, of course – as a Catholic in the larval stage, you must have been steeped in the fallen nature of man, by now – but with fairly reliable predictability.
Besides, given the built-in inertia of executive bureaucracy, the fractiousness of Congress, and the sometimes glacial pace of the judiciary, it’s usually difficult for any one man (or woman) serving as president to screw things up too badly – not impossible, mind you, but in the U.S., since mass movements that are ideologically hot-wired don’t seem to be sustainable, or effective, over long periods of time, the conjunction in one person of dreaming and ruling tends to lead, not to tyranny as Michael Oakeshott once said, but to the occasional political “food fight” or some other gaudy demonstration of pique; and then common sense generally reasserts itself.
Agreed, paco. That’s pretty much my view of the matter as well.
The major reason that I’m concerned about Obama winning the White House is because he’s clueless* about our foreign enemies, as you noted earlier.
Clinton is only slightly better in that she won’t hesitate to fight, but only if her self-interests are threatened, not because the security of the nation is in peril. I can live with that, but being President means putting your self-interests aside for the good of the country. So it’s no better than a 50-50 chance she’ll do the right thing.
McCain has done the right thing before. Not always, mind you (his stance on illegal immigration, and sucking up to La Raza, are examples of that). But at least he is trying to put his self-interests aside. Obama and Hillary won’t even try.
So if we can survive our foreign enemies, I’m not too worried about idiots in the White House.
====================
*: That’s being kind. Given the moral support he’s getting from various unfriendly types (e.g., Hamas, Chavez, and FARC), one has to consider the possibility that Obama is not clueless, but simply disingenuous because he sympathizes with them. Which is not a good thing for the country, not to mention the world (unless you’re a die hard socialist, longing for the good old days of the Soviet Union).Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:05 PM • permalink
TRJS, the Democrat fight is a thing of beauty.
As paco notes, just like a food fight!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 12:12 PM • permalink
- What makes the Dem fracas oh so sweet is that they put the Superdelegate process in place to avoid another McGovern debacle, but now they are so hogtied by their own identity politics that they lack the testicular fortitude to take the nomination away from the black man to give it to the old white broad who may actually have a better chance in the general election.
And for you lefties, Obama is unelectable not because he is black, but because he is a condescending elitist, the farthest-to-the-left Senator, whose lifelong mentor is a racist, America-hating wacko, whose friends are unrepentant domestic terrorists, and whose privileged wife goes through life seeing herself as a perennial victim.
- #64 paco,
Besides, given the built-in inertia of executive bureaucracy, the fractiousness of Congress, and the sometimes glacial pace of the judiciary, it’s usually difficult for any one man (or woman) serving as president to screw things up too badly
True, that. Carter gave it the “old college try” and there’s talk of bringing back his old Fed henchman Paul Volcker, and Shrillary’s attempt to create a Canadian-style national health care system in Billy Jeff’s first term led to a massive Democrat defeat in the 1994 midterm elections…
The system is mostly self-correcting.
#65 T_R_JS
Given the moral support he’s getting from various unfriendly types (e.g., Hamas, Chavez, and FARC), one has to consider the possibility that Obama is not clueless, but simply disingenuous because he sympathizes with them.
The thing most worrisome.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 05 10 at 12:51 PM • permalink
#66 TRJS, the Democrat fight is a thing of beauty.
As paco notes, just like a food fight!
It reminds me of some of the great fights from the Golden Age of comedy, like a Three Stooges fight with eye pokes and goofy sound effects, or that Laurel and Hardy routine where they wind up totally destroying a house. I picture the house as the Democrat Party.
- Re #69, I thought of the cafeteria scene from Animal House, Ernie, but I couldn’t a clip of it anywhere, unfortunately.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 01:14 PM • permalink
The thing most worrisome.
Aye, Spiny. Aye.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 01:14 PM • permalink
- #69 Ernie – Here you go: American politics in action.
- In the spirit of paco’s link, here’s a preview of the Obama administration.
- With all this talk about the O-Man being “Black”, I would like to know his credentials. He is almost certainly less than 50% African by blood, leaving culturally black as his claim to blackness.
But how did he come by his “heritage”, or cultural blackness? Not in Hawaii, not at the most exclusive private school there, and certainly not from his white mother or her family. By having his African father abandon the family when he was very young?
He didn’t get “black” growing up in Indonesia or from his Muslim step-father. Did he suddenly become “black” at his Ivy League university at age 20?
Did he get there when he married a radical leftist African-American? How is this “black” when compared to Colin Powel or Condoleeza Rice or Thos. Sowell or Clarence Thomas?
Maybe some expert could advise.
Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2008 05 10 at 02:17 PM • permalink
- #74: If Obama wins, let’s hope our enemies operate at this level of competence.
- #4—Can’t be the male reproductive organs, Jeff, or no Democrat could vote for Hillary.Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 05 10 at 04:04 PM • permalink
- Bryla, Bryla, Bryla… When one leading Democratic candidate doesn’t even know how many states there are in his own country, let alone what FDR did diplomatically, and the other takes money from an Arab child-slaver while prattling about it taking a village to raise a child, McCain looks better every day…Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 05 10 at 04:09 PM • permalink
- Great column Tim. Apropos the racist theme, there’s a great interchange in one of the ‘Yes Prime Minister’ episodes – “The Bishop’s Gambit”
Hacker and Bernard are discussing the suitability of a particular candidate for a vacant bishopric and the conversation goes something like this:
Bernard. There’s a problem, he (the candidate) is against the discrimination and oppression of racial minorities by African leaders.
Hacker. Well, that’s alright so are we (the British government).
Bernard. Yes, but he believes that applies to Black African leaders.
Hacker. Oh, so he’s a racist!
Priceless. Even more so since the show was a BBC production.
- richard, nice try, but McCain will never look better to our leftie comrade, thanks to Bryla’s congenital deformity.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 04:42 PM • permalink
- Unfortunately al-’Bama has a bit of a problem. If he’s elected he has to contend with the war on terror ‘and’ he has to contend with the fact that any muslim who comes to the United States has a duty to kill him because he was born a muslim and converted to Christianity. The same goes for the Wrong Rev. Wright. (Snake oil salesman to the Messiah™ and best friend of Calypso Louie.)
- #75 Thanks Harry, I have been puzzling over Obama’s percentage since the topic was raised in relation to Neville Bonner at #53.
Using skin pigmentation as a measure of a candidate’s suitability for a job makes a nonsense of the whole concept of races in the human species.
I suspect that, if Obama’s skin was a couple of shades lighter, he would have no hope of declaring himself as a black candidate in the USA, whatever his genetic heritage.
Notice that it is the Lefties who keep racism alive. They seem to be blinded to the fact that race is no longer an issue for people who have had their awareness raised.
- #83 T_R_JS
Experimental medical research, PACO Medical Laboratories in particular, has made great strides in the treatment of crainial-rectal impaction, so there’s hope for him yet.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 05 10 at 05:33 PM • permalink
- *please remove superfluous “i” from above post*
:^þ
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 05 10 at 05:39 PM • permalink
- To help prove the point made in #85, here is an enlightened Obama.
- Oh, my! Perhaps Bryla was right all along…….Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 05:49 PM • permalink
- Oh, wait….I tried emoting thinking like a leftie, and got distracted by the virgins riding the unicorns.
My bad. The link in #89 really says that Hillary will continue to fight, fight, fight!!!!!
Yay, Hillary!
‘Scuse me while I go to the store for more beer……
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 10 at 05:52 PM • permalink
- #85 – skeeter, if my memory is correct, one of Neville’s siblings was as white as me, and the other had skin that was fully 100% outback.
Given how crafty the old bastard was, I figure he reckons he was white enough to fit in, but black enough to look like the first Aborginal in parliament.
#64 – paco, that’s why we have the separation of powers. The founding fathers of the US were canny enough to never entrust a lot of power in any one branch of the government, and we copied that idea at our constitutional conventions. Each acts as a handbrake on the other in case the utter loons get in.
Posted by mr creosote on 2008 05 10 at 06:45 PM • permalink
- # 49
#’s 38, 46 & 47, I think we here in WOZ made the mistake of electing the countries first female premier. (the mistake was the female, not a female)
Western Australian didn’t elect the first woman premier. She was appointed by her party after her predecessor was forced to stand down.
The blokes in WA Labor knew the party was heading for certain defeat in the next election. None of them wanted to be the losing premier and handed what was a poison chalice to Carmen Lawrence. It killed two birds with one stone by allowing Labor to claim a victory for feminism while protecting the political careers of the blokes. The same thing happened in Victoria. None of Labor men wanted their careers tainted with an election loss, so they threw the ball to Joan Kirner, who stupidly picked it up.
On these precedents, it is likely Queensland Labor was planning for an election loss in 2009 when it appointed Anna Bligh as premier.
- Off Topic.
Pop Quiz: which circular-tattooed porn star appears on the front page of today’s (Sydney) Sun-Herald { no picture online, just the article}.
- And in more important news, Oz to source (unofficial) El Camino and a piccy of the infamous ‘truck nutz’
- #110: Bryan, I doubt that we’ll ever see eye to eye on politics, but I take a keen interest in your spiritual development. How is the catechism coming along? (Lord! It must be late; I almost typed “cataclysm”).
Listen, you seem strangely certain that Obama will win – as certain as I am that he will lose. How about a friendly wager? If Obama wins, I’ll send you a rosary – or, even better, a classic Catholic text, by Aquinas or Newman or Chesterton, someone like that. If Obama loses, you can send me…oh, I dunno, something typically Australian, maybe a jar of vegemite. NO! NO, WAIT! Gawd! Not vegemite; I’ve seen the stuff and it looks like graphite mixed with Vaseline. Well, something else typically Australian, perhaps a bush hat or a can of platypus fritters. Whatever. Are you game?
- 3115 if Obama gets to be candidate, he would have to have a good chance of winning. Despite his lack of credibility. Despite his lack of substance. Despite his unfortunate associations.
He will portray himself as the new america, full of youthful exuberance etc. etc.
And isn’t america a youthful country? And isn’t america particularly vulnerable to soaring, but ultimately empty rhetoric?Mind you, I would love to see Rice as the VP candidate – lefty identity politics would enter meltdown. Alternatively, Leiberman could be fun too.
- #109 Pacou
I recall a line in the bloody funny book “Semi-Tough.” A couple of Jets players are discussing the sexuality of a Giants player. One of ‘em says (more or less but the punch clause is exect) …..”NAAH, couldn’t happen. God wouldn’t make anyone an interior lineman, black, and a fag!
BTW saw Joe Namath play, once, in San Diego I think. Marvellous!!
- On the Madness of Modern Liberalism [linky]
Modern liberalism rejects, to one degree or another, the competence and sovereignty of the common man and subordinates him to the will of governments run by liberal elites.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 05 11 at 12:25 AM • permalink
#64, #65, my goodness, I agree.
EXCELLENT!!! Bryla, I’m glad that you’ve finally seen the light about how clueless Obama is, especially on foreign policy.
And I’ll go with paco on that bet. If McCain loses, I’ll throw in a copy of Field Manual 23-35, “Pistols and Revolvers”, dated September 1971.
It’s obsolete, and I’ve hung on to it for purely sentimental reasons, it having been signed by none other than General William C. Westmoreland, then Army Chief of Staff.
And I want a six pack of Victoria Bitter if McCain wins.
Howzaboutit? Deal?
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 11 at 12:44 AM • permalink
- #115
How about a friendly wager?
Not good form, according to your colleague:
Re #9, egg_, there used to be a Mother Earth™ nutjob that once posted here, by name of Ender. He is an ardent environmental worshipper who could not be dissuaded from his beliefs that Humanity Is Killing The Earth.
One of his favorite tactics was to nag us to bet on climate change, and “put our money where our mouth is”, as he put it, to prove (to him!) our “belief” in the lack of impact from climate change.
Similar to what you are doing in #9. Not exactly, but close enough.
So, if I may offer some advice: If you are being sarcastic, please use the “/sarcasm” tag, just so we all know. “/Humor” would work just as well.
If you are not being sarcastic, prepare to get the same treatment Ender got. Because I consider using betting on climate change as proof of “belief” to be a sign of major brain damage. Ender, you see, sensitized me to the subject. My apologies if I misconstrued you.
Thank you.
FYI such is a part of Commonwealth/Oz culture, a subtle nuance not picked up by your kin …
- #98 kae. Thanks for the link to the ACF paper. I’ve downloaded and saved for later reference. You’re right of course. It is b/s. However it is more of the same tripe that is being peddled as part of the programme to run with an Emissions Trading Scheme Scam. The ACF paper and others that I’ve seen starts from the fanatical position that AGW is real and we need to cut carbon etc., etc., and mirrors the recommendations and conclusions in this paper from UK think tank IPPR. It’s worth reading the paper and particularly the recommendations on pages 8 and 9 and the propaganda methods advocated to promote their cause! (Literally whatever it takes!)
The irony of all this is that the ACF paper like Garnaut’s and Stern’s are the views of economists who do not have a clue about technology or an understanding of the laws of Physics. They all seem to work on the idea that efficiency improvements will result from price increases. Whilst that may be true to a small extent, all the models have wild claims about the level of efficiency gains that will be achieved. They are all wrong. A good part of my professional life has been in this area for the past twenty years working with (energy) and other efficiency improvements across a wide range of businesses. Sure there are always areas for improvements and sometimes improvements can be made but often just retaining the improvement proves a difficult task. In fact this point was made nearly three years ago at a conference that I attended in Canberra by the key note speaker (Aimme McKane from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). It was refreshing to hear her say the same thing and add that energy efficiency improvements are technically complex and require expert knowledge and high level skills for identification and implementation. I suspect these facts either escaped the many bureaucrats present or simply were ignored by them. Here’s one quote from a paper by McKane: “The International Energy Agency estimates that optimization of motor driven systems could reduce global electricity demand by 7% through the application of commercially available technologies and using well-tested engineering practices. Yet many industrial firms remain either unaware of or unable to achieve these energy savings.” So that’s a maximum 7% reduction – a far cry from the numbers that are being claimed possible to justify ‘our’ ETS.
Energy efficiency is touted as one of the areas where big savings will be made! Yeah – b/s. And another thing: the likes of Stern, Garnaut, ACF and others (as economists) don’t even discuss the price elasticity of energy supply because it doesn’t fit their cause celebre. It is quite inelastic! oh dear, can’t report that now can we?
Depending on how the ETS is implemented, the reality will be:
It is a tax system disguised as something to save the environment.
It could see taxpayers dollars flowing overseas to countries such as Russia. (My earlier comment)
It will hurt the less well off in society
It will directly cause unemployment
The carbon price signals in the ETS will have little to no effect on the actual production of carbon (i.e. CO2 emissions)
Over time it has the potential to destroy our economy.Not bad for a Labor government but it is to be expected. We still have the budget on Tuesday and then we’ll see what distortions they are introducing. Argh – enough for today – back to writing reports.
- Heh, egg, hoisted on my petard! Ah, the power of the INTERNET……
But I’ll swallow my foot here, and stand on my wager, since no money is involved, and it’s more for fun than trying to prove who’s right.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 05 11 at 01:12 AM • permalink
- #124: Rather, kae. Obama will definitely get thumbs up or down. Not the same thing as betting on climate change at all; a wager on that subject would be a sort of contingent asset (or liability, as the case may be) that would have to be bequeathed to one’s grandchildren. And Egg, in re your statement – to wit, “FYI such is a part of Commonwealth/Oz culture, a subtle nuance not picked up by your kin .” – I’m afraid the nuance is subtle, indeed, for I have failed utterly to grasp what the “such” in that sentence represents.
- I think, Paco, that egg means that Aussies say “Wanna make a bet?” a lot as an expression of incredulity.
If someone says to bet on something they think it’s a sure thing.If they didn’t the’d be a bit silly to toss their money away.
Smart Aussies wouldn’t bet on climate change… they’d wanna be around to collect (and gloat, of course).
Spot on, well said, especially the comment regarding Rice. Funny that it took a Republican to appoint her. Perhaps it’s her merit and refusal to be treated as a token that pisses the left off so much. Contrast this with Mrs. Obama’s hate for a system that has given her a free ride.