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Last updated on August 3rd, 2017 at 11:05 am
(UPDATE—only 30 minutes to go until Margo quits Webdiary. Please prepare to observe a minute’s silence)
It’s all over for Margo Kingston’s Webdiary:
G’day. Webdiary will close at midnight tonight. Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped me try to make it work. Unfortunately I couldn’t get funding in time to stop me going broke, and certain events have proved to me that my skin is not thick enough to survive in this game.
When I decided to go independent I thought long and hard if I could accept failure in what was always a high risk venture. I decided I could, and I will.
Webdiary’s closure marks the end of my career in journalism. It’s time to move on.
Scott Wickstein asks us in comments to recall our favourite Margolian moments. Here’s one of mine, previously unlinked.
UPDATE. Webdiarist Terry Embling urges Margoist forces to rise up:
The only way we’re gonna get rid of these motherf…ers is by revolution (violent, I expect) as they do not respect the so-called ‘democracy’ that they profess to represent. The ‘average’ voter is either too stupid or too greedy to understand the perils we face; not from terrorism, but from a world controlled by the unelected and totally amoral military industrial complex that Dwight Eisenhower so presciently warned of.
Embling points out that leftoid blogger Rob Corr has also quit.
UPDATE II. A condensed history of Independent Webdiary, 22/8/2005 – 7/12/2005.
UPDATE III. Margo fan John Faros: “Your site was perhaps the only site where truth could be openly debated.”
UPDATE IV. Love is dying.
UPDATE V. Damian Penny: “Score another one for the fundamentalist Zionist lobby!”
UPDATE VI. Harry Heidelberg: “I don’t understand what went wrong with the creation of the new site. They said it would take six weeks and it has blown out into six months. In fact when Webdiary was launched on the Typepad site I created, it was said the new site would be ready in four weeks …”
UPDATE VII. Damian Lataan: “There essentially is now no independent voice left specifically for everyday Australians to vent their feelings … Australia desperately needs a voice to counter the coming fascism.”
UPDATE VIII. David Curry: “I can’t think of anybody else in Australia who has fought so hard for democracy.”
UPDATE IX. Yobbo: “Tim Blair, John HoWARd, and Evil Zionists really ARE controlling the world!”
UPDATE X. Brother Hamish to the rescue:
I’ve spent the last few hours on the phone to various people and it is clear that at the very least Webdiary is going to continue as a site run by amateurs – amateurs that is with a lot of experience and momentum and love of this community. For my part, I don’t want what Margo has done to die, and I think all of us who feel we owe her something might also think that the best tribute right now is to continue proudly in our community … Keep posting comments, columnists submit your articles. We’ll find a way to do this.
That’s the spirit!
UPDATE XI. The Age’s Michelle Grattan: “Very sorry to see the closure of Margo’s site. She has been an important independent voice and one of the pioneers in promoting political commentary and reporting on the net.”
UPDATE XII. Mark Steyn: “MARGO QUITS! Tim Blair loses his best material.”
UPDATE XIII. Antony Loewenstein: “Over the years, she has proven time and time again that the mainstream media is no longer capable of reporting fairly.” (Dave S. replies: “This is the truest and funniest thing I have ever read.”)
UPDATE XIV. Northern Rivers Echo editor Simon Thomsen: “Webdiary didn’t fail.”
UPDATE XV. Brother Hamish: “At this stage the ambition is to maintain Webdiary at its current quality.”
UPDATE XVI. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Julia Baird: “Your writing has been unique, passionate, thoughtful and original. I know how dedicated you are to Webdiary, what this community has meant to you, and how hard you worked to make sure it was ethical, open and inclusive. You have been a pioneer.”
UPDATE XVII. The Age’s Gay Alcorn: “Margo, you are the gutsiest journalist I know.”
UPDATE XVIII. Silent Running has a question for Webdiarists: “Can you blame John Howard for the end of Webdiary? I know you’ll find a way somehow …”
UPDATE XIX. The cash keeps rolling in: $100, promises of a cheque, $50, monthly payments, another $50, another cheque …
UPDATE XX. Craig Rowley: “Webdiary would be the envy of many a small business in start-up mode.”
UPDATE XXI. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Spike column:
Some on the right made her a target, and they were quickly dancing on Webdiary’s grave before the dirt was filled in at midnight. The first post after Kingston’s announcement came from “John Smith”, who wrote: “Maybe it was those joooos who control the media who did it? Glad you are going. [Nasty word] off.” But the majority of posts were strongly supportive, although someone purporting to be John Howard had probably the best last words: “I win.”
- How can Rosebud sleep while her sled’s still burning?Posted by chinesearithmetic on 2005 12 06 at 06:04 PM • permalink
- I remember once that Marilyn Shepherd claimed she was terminally ill until the Tampa gave her a reason to rise off her deathbed and go fighting injustice. Given that Webdiary was apparently her only means of making her voice heard – and she would do so, several times a day, I’m not exactly sure what else she does – I hope that Webdiary’s closure does not cause the poor old lady to kick the bucket.Posted by dsmith_michigan on 2005 12 06 at 06:14 PM • permalink
- Crikey, look at all the bolderation on that page! No wonder she went broke.Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 06 at 06:15 PM • permalink
- Is it coincidence that this shutdown came mere hours after Webdiary’s failure to win the Smartyhost Award for Best Blog? And who was responsible for that debacle?Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 06 at 06:20 PM • permalink
- Does this mean that Margo can still keep her housemaid?Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 06 at 06:29 PM • permalink
- So, in the distant future, when school kiddies the world over click on that little picture to get their daily approved news, it won’t be Margo?????
I couldn’t have put it any better than one of Margo’s particularly bold commenters:
Margo, you didn’t “fail”. WD falling now rather than at an earlier time means it falls at a time when the previous efforts can clearly be demonstrated and justified. This significantly includes in the context of the very fact and necessity of its existence and circumstances and context of its downfall relative to and illuminative of, the New McCarthyism.
TFK
- Truth be told, I’m going to miss poor Margo.
I blame Iowahawk. (curls fingers in wiggly motion)
Posted by wronwright on 2005 12 06 at 06:36 PM • permalink
- We’re all going to miss her.
Lataan and Loewenstein just aren’t as good.
Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 06 at 06:43 PM • permalink
- History of Webdiary as I remember it:
Quit day job
Announce that you’re changing the history of journalism
Announce need to hire 47 people to help you run your blog
Put up first post
Announce need for break after rigorous posting schedule
Go fundraising among venture capitalists
Hint that fundraising isn’t going very well
Have bitter feud with unpaid ex-employee
Put up second post
Announce two-week hiatus due to punishingly brutal posting schedule
Have bitter feud with another unpaid ex-employee
Put up third post
Shut down due to astounding demands of inhumanly driven 24/7 posting regimen
- Hey! Why doesn’t Margo hit Al Franken and/or Air America for a loan?Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 12 06 at 07:07 PM • permalink
- Sorry to disappoint, but my comment (which simply asked whether comments were no longer censored) was censored.Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 06 at 07:13 PM • permalink
- In response to Brad Sprigg’s comment “that there really isn’t enough left-wing voices in Australia”, Margo has just replied “The irony isd that I’m not left wing, I’m a small l liberal. A dying breed.”Posted by dsmith_michigan on 2005 12 06 at 07:18 PM • permalink
- “UPDATE. Webdiarist Terry Embling urges Margoist forces to rise up:
The only way we’re gonna get rid of these motherf…ers is by revolution (violent, I expect)”Has that sedition legislation passed yet? just wondering….
Posted by Harry Buttle on 2005 12 06 at 07:22 PM • permalink
- Daphne O’Brien on Margo’s blog:
“Oh Margo. I’m devastated. The anti-terror laws have passed, the sedition laws are in, and you’ve gone”Margo’s house-cleaner (in the next few hours):
“Actually, Miss Margo, this is great. The anti-terror laws have passed, the sedition laws are in, and that sad blog of yours is closing down… An opportunity to grow up.”
- terry embling, nitwit academic at ANU. Bring on the violence, Mortarboard Guy.
http://ecocomm.anu.edu.au/people/info.asp?Surname=Embling&Firstname=Terry
- ‘Revolution’ in a country where even BB guns and air rifles are banned? Maybe Embling can storm Parliament with a very sharp pointy pencil.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 06 at 07:29 PM • permalink
- Favourite moment? Today, Daphne O’Brien asking Margo if she had ever asked for funding, because of course IF she had many of them would have been glad to help.
Dear Margo, I am so shocked and saddened. Yours was the voice of the people, fighting for our freedom. Did you ever ask for funding? I do believe many of us would have helped out.
- Whats the bet this is some kind of scam for her to get a redundancy payout from fairfax.
you gotta admit they never would have noticed she left and was probably on top of the list of people to sack
Posted by knuckleheadwatch on 2005 12 06 at 07:36 PM • permalink
- I enjoyed this from Tim’s link:
Democracy is no longer a dirty word. Australians have started to care about their democratic institutions again. A host of new independents have been elected to Parliament, both State and Federal, including Margo Kingston who gave her maiden speech to the People’s House on March 2, 2011.
Webdiary is now a huge independent media conglomerate. Webdiary Inc. purchased Crikey in 2009 and took over the running of the Sydney Morning Herald in 2010. Webdiary is now working on expansion into all capital city markets and is seriously considering offering a second electronic newspaper in Brisbane (so sorely needed).
Lol, Howard 1 : Moonbats 0
- Bugger now I have to think again instead of reding her posters and automaticly thinking the oppisite.
Damn you Mr Karl, and whoever it was who advised her to put her money into lake shares!!Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2005 12 06 at 07:39 PM • permalink
- Excellent! Are they going to hold a webdiary closing down sale? Maybe we should snap up some Margo memorabilia like those great t-shirts, discarded bold italics, unused hoverbikes…. the list goes on and on.
I reckon it will be worth something in a few years time – say about as much as “the dude” cardboard cut-outs from One-tel.
- Forgive me, given I don’t have a blog and know sweet diddly squat about what it entails in terms of costs, effort etc.
But isnt it mostly something of a bit of a hobby? I would have thought most bloggers had a day job to pay the bills (or were retired or had other sources of income) and did this for fun.
The problem for poor old Margo is she took herself too seriously – thought she could change the world (and maybe even get rich!)rather than have some fun.
I assume she is a single lady (is she?) so surely she can get a part-time job (spelling teacher maybe), live simply and keep the thing going. Too much of a quitter in my view.
Posted by Flying Giraffe on 2005 12 06 at 08:02 PM • permalink
The only way we’re gonna get rid of these motherf…ers is by revolution (violent, I expect) as they do not respect the so-called ‘democracy’ that they profess to represent. The ‘average’ voter is either too stupid or too greedy to understand the perils we face
Well, looks like somebody’s ready to set up the re-education camps.
I wonder why these people can’t win elections? You’d think that despising voters would be a winning strategy.
- #38 Phranger: he’s not even an academic, he seems to be a clerk. Uni administration doesn’t attract high quality admin staff: poor career paths and low pay compared with other sectors.
Bet he blogs in the ANU’s time!!
Posted by Consuela Potez on 2005 12 06 at 08:05 PM • permalink
- Cheer up folks! There’s always a chance Phat Phil will give Margo back her spot on Late Night Live.
Have to say though that Bob Ellis was better, with his five-minute rants some years ago. ‘Labyrinthine’ doesn’t do the man justice.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2005 12 06 at 08:06 PM • permalink
- As a Typepad subscriber myself, I pay just under $90US for the top-level subsciption service. Her site was probably on the same plan. I wonder if she’ll ask for a government bail-out package to pension off the embolderers. The price of all comments here at Tim’s has now risen by .025c to cover this unexpected media emergency. If we don’t have an independent media, where would we be?
Apparently, according to Magrok, Australia.
(you’ll have to excuse the constant italics and boldering. i’m getting them in before the liquidators)
- Tim, did you notice Margo packed it in on December 7th? A day that will live in infamy, indeed.
She’ll be selling burqas on E-bay tomorrow. It’s a shame the Zionists ran her off the internet…
Posted by Mystery Meat on 2005 12 06 at 08:08 PM • permalink
- Speaking of Webdiary, I was trying to explain how Howard Derangement Syndrome had made observing the left-wing side of the blogosphere a lot of fun to a friend of mine on Monday.
As if on cue, a bunch of old, fat hippies wearing “Greens for refugees” t-shirts sat at the next table and started talking about the need to overthrow the government. It was perfect.
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2005 12 06 at 08:14 PM • permalink
- I love this.
If the voters are “too stupid or too greedy to understand the perils we face”, then isn’t democracy exactly what we need to avoid? After all, in a democracy, those stupid, greedy, uncomprehending voters are the ones who make the decisions. In that case, isn’t the best possible government one by unelected people who do not respect democracy?
Terry, your problem isn’t that your opponents are undemocratic. It’s that you are.
But go, have your revolution. With both the masses (that is, the average voters) and the military-industrial complex on my side, I expect we’ll have y’all cluster-bombed into a fine pink mist by suppertime.
Posted by Warmongering Lunatic on 2005 12 06 at 08:28 PM • permalink
- So, now that Margo and Webdiary is out of business, maybe she’ll take up a hobby? Blogging, perhaps.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 12 06 at 08:38 PM • permalink
- Wow. It’s almost like the public has some kind of built-in filter for utter bullshit or something.
“You won’t have Margo Kingston to kick around anymore…” Of course, three months and she’s on ABC…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 06 at 08:42 PM • permalink
- Big brave Tony Kevin, he who is scared of helicopters, has a dig.
‘The nasty rightwing blogsites epitomized by Tim Blair will go on pleasing their claques of fascists-in-training – their supporters have deep pockets – and they will crow over Webdiary’s departure as a claimed ideological victory.
My website going, for similar reasons of bearing witness to truths about our state’s border protection abuses that must not be forgotten.’
I’m not a fascist-in-training, you pencil-necked moron. I’m fully qualified, highly experienced and eminently capable of shoving your own head up your ass. Of course, I would have to remove it first…
- Check it out, apparently we’re fascists-in-training here! When do I get my syllabus? Is the exam open-book? Do you give marks for attendance?Posted by Crispytoast on 2005 12 06 at 08:47 PM • permalink
- Damn you, CB!Posted by Crispytoast on 2005 12 06 at 08:48 PM • permalink
- As someone with a finance background I confidently predicted Margo’s demise when she announced details of her new business.
I take great delight in now saying “I told you so!”
I was out by about four weeks but she still managed to show how incredibly inept moonbats are when forced to operate in the real world.
I do hope all those poor employees get all their entitlements and that Margo doesn’t do the bloated capitalist thing and just sink the company. If she does put the company into liquidation the creditors meeting should be broadcast.
And I love that clown who claims the voters are too stupid and greedy to have a democracy so that it why we need a revolution to regain our democracy.
Pure Orwellian brilliance.
- I thought I was having a bad day. Much too hectic at work. A rush-hour snowstorm. A stone cracking my windshield on the way in. No time for lunch.
Then I read the blogs.
The LA times getting ‘much’ smaller. Margo gone. The Vermont Screamer in meltdown.
Not such a bad day after all.
Personally, I blame it all on Bush.
- Just read Comrade Kevin’s input and, as someone who has just crowed over Webdiary’s departure as a claimed ideological victory, I resent being designated only a Fascist-in-Training (FIT).
Surely my qualifications and experience to date, not to mention years in the corporate world, should gain me some credits?
Advanced FIT at the very least.
- Sounds like she’s been muzzled by her Labor mates. “Leftoid cranks are Howard’s best friends, Margo, so shut up and we’ll win in ‘07.”
It’s just a guess, mind, but do you reckon she’ll pop up as a Labor staffer?
Posted by Tony.T.Teacher on 2005 12 06 at 09:04 PM • permalink
- Kae, the SMH says Monica Attard will be the new host of Media Botch.Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 06 at 09:06 PM • permalink
- Didn’t Margo sound afraid for her life just a couple of weeks ago because of the new anti-terrorism laws? Is it just the slightest bit possible that she has actually bought into her delusion, and therefore quit? That would be ironic on so many levels.
And you people…sheesh, it’s been only 3 hours since Tim posted and you’re up to 80+ comments before I get to the party.
- It would be graceless to suggest Tim turn on OSM/Pajamas Media/Occupant, especially so soon after drinking their free hootch, but there must be somebody in Australia worthy of his scathing attention. Let’s start a list of possible stalkee-replacement sites for Tim!Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 06 at 09:09 PM • permalink
- Now this is nuts:
N ow it looks like they’ll have democracy in Iraq…
U nder who’s leadership will the torch be carried…
T hat I despair of the mongol hordes (in the form of those horrid neo-cons)…
S o I guess we’ll have the put the purple ink back in the cupboard…Margo: I hope people do that.
Posted by: Sienna Bootman | 07/12/2005 10:45:49 AM
- Webdiary’s closure marks the end of my career in journalism.
Margo was a journalist?
Posted by blandwagon on 2005 12 06 at 09:34 PM • permalink
- Okay, pixy, sure thing… ummmm…
Got it! Go stifle your own dissent, smelly hippy!
Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2005 12 06 at 09:43 PM • permalink
- I think that Tony Kevin is a worthy candidate for mocking. Just look at one post alone!
You were too proud to beg
publicly (Elton John is going to write a song called sandals in the bin)The bastards seem to be winning in so many ways, and co-opting or intimidating so many people
I never met any of them in real life, and they do not have CVs or Google traces beyond Webdiary. (And he’s the one worried about Government checks and privacy!!!)
We will rely more now on Crikey’s continued integrity
If I face jail under the sedition law for telling the truth about Australia’s misgovernance on my website, so be it. I hope former Webdiary readers will monitor my site regularly. It will not let up the struggle for truth and justice as long as my health allows me to think and write on public issues. (Its Marilyn in drag!)
PMSL. Need I go on?
- i wonder if this sudden announcement had anything to do with yesterdays news of Copyright infringment? Perhaps someone recieved an email from the NYT demanding money?Posted by JSthecorrect on 2005 12 06 at 10:00 PM • permalink
- Too all the hum-buggers that don’t believe in Christmas, what would you call this but a Christmas present come early?Posted by David Crawford on 2005 12 06 at 10:06 PM • permalink
- #94 – I think Timbo may have had a starring role – he really should have kept the font & formatting cabinet locked – all those tags running wild and wanton; it was bound to end in tears before bed time.
But Harry.H is almost pleading to be allowed to take some small, or preferably large, part of the spoils, once blame has been vigorously apportioned. Power & influence of T.B blog versus power & influence H.H blog?
Let me think about that slowly.
- My favourite moment… every Marilyn posting. Still waiting for her to comment on this one.
By the way, what are we all going to do now?
I think Nic (#93) is onto something. If anyone deserves ‘the treatment’ it’s got to be Tony Kevin.Posted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 2005 12 06 at 10:23 PM • permalink
- ‘Very powerful people’ were behind Webdairy’s demise writes
psychcaseblogger Damian Lataan.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 06 at 10:26 PM • permalink
- Re #106. Is that Lataan for real?Posted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 2005 12 06 at 10:28 PM • permalink
- Fascists in training?
I’ll have them know I got the merit badge in Fascism.
Posted by Harry Buttle on 2005 12 06 at 10:29 PM • permalink
- Allow me to point out to all those crowing about the demise of Webdiary that there are no posts, none, made by Tim Blair that generate as many comments and creative displays of fun and humor as those that fall within this one simple category:
guess what Margo Kingston said today?
When she goes, so does some of the appeal to Tim Blair’s blog.
Posted by wronwright on 2005 12 06 at 10:32 PM • permalink
- re update VII: So what’s stopping Lataan from allowing comments on his blog and becoming the home of that independent voice he so desires?
I guess it wouldn’t be left-wing activism if he didn’t expect to free-ride on somebody else’s efforts.
That’s really the only positive thing one can say about Margo: Unlike most of the fawning sycophants that populate Webdiary, she actually put her money where her mouth is. She did so in the most spectacularly inept fashion, but at least she did it.
- Don’t know what others might be using, but I’ve always sworn by Teleport Pro for my site spidering needs.
- #112 – PW
She only ‘put her money where her mouth is’ when the shit hit the fan at Fairfax.
If they hadn’t punted her she’d still be sitting there sucking on the teat.
Likewise her claim that “her skin was not thick enough to survive in this game”. (Pretty good coming from her)
It was plenty thick enough while she was doing it on someone else’s time.
- This is great. Read comments and laugh. Press ‘refresh’. Another 5 comments; more laughs. Press refresh..and so on. What a great way to kill the day…and it’s only 14:15 AEST.Posted by walterplinge on 2005 12 06 at 11:17 PM • permalink
- No need to bemoan the demise of Miss Kingston. Phillip Adams is still alive, as of yesterday. His spelling’s better and has no need for bold but he’s still good for skewering.
From yesterdays offering in The Oz—
…It shows that no one is safe in these paranoid times…
Hicks told Yee of his interrogation, where they’d tried everything to force a confession. This included the offer of a prostitute, which Hicks regarded as an insult to his Muslim faith [not the prostitute again! At least Adams avoided the menstrual blood libel]. Hicks spends his time studying Islamic law…
…He saw prisoners so traumatised that they’d regressed to childhood. Problems were so widespread that 17 psychiatric nurses and doctors had to be called in.
Posted by walterplinge on 2005 12 06 at 11:28 PM • permalink
- Damned near impossible to pick the stand-out comments on Margo’s final day, but these two are pretty good:
[“Margo, I take my hat off to you. I can’t think of anybody else in Australia who has fought so hard for democracy.”]
Neither can I, well except for all those soldiers and police officers and so on who actually fought so hard for democracy over the years… but exclude them and its just you.. and all the voters who have participated actively in our democracy, no matter how many people tell them how they are too stupid and greedy to be trusted to do so. but exclude them and the cops and the diggers and its pretty much just you.
Posted by: Harry Buttle | 07/12/2005 11:26:31 AM
And this –
I win.
Posted by: John Howard | 07/12/2005 11:31:22 AM
Can’t get that little ditty out of my head; the one from The Wizard of Oz, after the house falls on … someone.
- Larrikin — Goose-stepping drill. Sing after me:
“Australia was having trouble, what a sad sad story!
Needed a new leader to restore her former glory!
Where oh where was he?
Where could that man be?
We looked around
And then we found
The Man for you and me!And now it’s—
Springtime for Howard, not Webdiary!
Tim Blair is happy and gay!
We’re posting in a better place!
Look out, Phil Adams!
We’re in your face!Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 06 at 11:48 PM • permalink
- Still bold? Let’s see.Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 06 at 11:49 PM • permalink
- So Webdiary isn’t shutting down after all?
Just goes to show—you can’t believe anything Margo says.
Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 12 07 at 12:04 AM • permalink
- Margo printed my posting:
Sad to see you go I certainly am;
Our days will be less joyful without your insight;
Do not think this is the end of something, it is the beginning;
Only time will tell what will become of our democracy;
For the future is unknown to all;
Fight for what is right;
Be true to yourself, always;
Invest in yourself and those around you;
Tough may the battle be, the fight must go on;
Carry the truth in your heart;
Have a good look around you on the journey of life;🙂
- #112 PW
So what’s stopping Lataan from allowing comments on his blog and becoming the home of that independent voice he so desires?
Lataan used to allow commenting, but almost nobody bothered. If you check his archives, you will see the occassional thread will have a bunch of casino ads in the comments, but that’s about it. It’s difficult to find any actual real people.
He’s just a loon in an echo chamber.
- I feel so utterly lost; it’s like when Bob Hope died. Hers was the face that launched a thousand quips. The only blogger to type with her feet (with her shoes on). A bug-eyed beacon of hope to the lather-lipped losers of the Left. A walking dictionary of pidgin marxism. Who will now sustain the courage of Senator Bartlweet? It is more than flesh can bear . . .
- The most depressing thing about Margo pulling the pin is watching the lefties confuse Margo’s shrill barracking with sound reporting.Posted by Tony.T.Teacher on 2005 12 07 at 01:14 AM • permalink
- Blast it. I missed all the fun.
Where do we get our “Fascist in Training” T-shirts?
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2005 12 07 at 01:16 AM • permalink
- Maybe Flavius Antonius can have Margo over once in a while as a “special guest antisemite” with separate billing in the opening credits.Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 07 at 01:27 AM • permalink
- Wow. Lasted nearly four months. Geez. That’s high risk all right. Damn. That Margo, even though we don’t read her in the backward, militarily industrious U.S., and frankly, when she started up her courageous and extremely difficult and courageous and brave Webdiary all on her own with her friends and spellcheckers and all, well, we still didn’t read her. But somehow, after the day is done (or is that, “When the day is done?”), most of us still don’t give a waltzing rat’s ass. Ugliest moonbitch I ever saw. Looks like an Easter Island monolith. Have I already said that?
- #151. The word ‘ugly’ is pretty, umm ‘ugly’. I prefer the term ‘aesthetically impaired’.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 01:33 AM • permalink
- #149 Dave S.
There’s a lot more truth in that statement than Antony ever intended.
:^D
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2005 12 07 at 01:35 AM • permalink
- Whoops! Didn’t work…does this close the tag then?Posted by Quentin George on 2005 12 07 at 01:39 AM • permalink
- Dayamn, Tim. Not only has the closure of WD deprived you of new material, but this blog entry seems to have sucked up all your previous posts from the main page as well.
All that’s needed now is for this post to gather upwards of 1000 comments and cause Andrea’s server to melt its way to the planet’s core, and the devastation will be total.
Posted by Tatterdemalian on 2005 12 07 at 02:11 AM • permalink
- Deo
I like your take on Margo’s appearance. It’s a deal more nuanced than mine. However, I won’t give up without a fight. I love the word ugly. It speaks exactly to what it describes.
Perhaps a quick review of its origins will bring you ‘round to my way of seeing things:
ORIGIN: Middle English: from
Old Norse uggligr ‘to be
dreaded,’ from ugga ‘to
dread.’Now come on, Deo, uggligr? You don’t love ancient Norse? Who doesn’t love Old Norse?
What are you, French?
- So saying that she and her opinions are dreadfully ugly would be redundant?Posted by Spiny Norman on 2005 12 07 at 02:28 AM • permalink
- Midnight can’t come soon enough for me.
This getting quite sickening!!!
Posted by Hank Reardon on 2005 12 07 at 02:34 AM • permalink
- Whatever will the bloghead do for copy now?Posted by Miranda Divide on 2005 12 07 at 02:36 AM • permalink
- Hamish writes –
“At this stage the ambition is to maintain Webdiary at its current quality.”
Good to see they’re still setting their standards firmly on sub-optimal; you don’t want to be too ambitious about these things.
”…at this stage…”
And at a later stage? Let me see now: the “professional” WD lasted all of four months; the new “am” WD will last…?
- #164. A series of ‘Margoid’s Greatest Journalistic Bloopers’ posts probably…
Sweet!!Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 02:46 AM • permalink
- Abu Qa’Qa: I’m a Yank and would never have heard her name if not for you.
Plus one on that.
And I was just developing a tooth for her.
So… are we getting bold for free now? Like getting kicked up from coach to first class because coach is full?
I’m gonna hit the “islam” button…
Posted by zeppenwolf on 2005 12 07 at 02:47 AM • permalink
- Hey timbo, what about the sievx site – http://sievx.com/
You should find cheap shots there… “Who is responsible for the deaths of 353 asylum-seekers?” they ask. What a laugh. John Howard of course! Ha, ha, ha. Like the death of 146 children, 142 women, 65 men should be any worry. Must be a tyo, surely. Do those numbers add up?
Posted by Miranda Divide on 2005 12 07 at 02:49 AM • permalink
- Mark Steyn is being too pessimistic . . . we still have Robert Fisk, Ward Churchill, John Pilger, Richard neville, Bob Ellis, Mungo McCallum, Maureen Dowd . . . need I go on?Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2005 12 07 at 02:51 AM • permalink
- Er, sheesh, I meant “typo”… ha ha.Posted by Miranda Divide on 2005 12 07 at 02:51 AM • permalink
- #169.John Howard kilt all dem people? wow! Badass Joho!Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 02:54 AM • permalink
- Dont forget that hoWARd also killed Van Tuong Nguyen, so that makes 354 people killed by the Butcher Of Bennelong!Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 03:02 AM • permalink
- Would you call this thin-skinned?
Or this
Or even this?
Watch that thin skin – if you prick it, you don’t know what might squirt out.
Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2005 12 07 at 03:05 AM • permalink
- goo myrandi devidee spAke twruTH!~!Posted by Quentin George on 2005 12 07 at 03:06 AM • permalink
- SIEV-X? Wasn’t that the leaky tub full of queue-jumping psuedo-reffos that sank in Indonesian waters 50 km off their coast? So unimportant it got an “X” rather than a number? Hmmm, I’d be blaming the people smugglers and the greed of the queue-jumpers myself.
Anyway, I’m sure Marylyn Fucktard or whatever her name is will pop up on some other moonbat site, now that Magro has gone tits up. Oh! Glory Days!
- #143: That’s -sniff- beautiful, man.
#152: Deferred Beauty. Or perhaps Visually Challenging.
#169: Not only Howard, but Corporate America, Capitalism, Free Trade and My Pet Goat! They all killed em!!
The final blowback to the implosion of Margox is a world glut of bold tags, which has already overwhelmed this thread.
- I wonder what will become of Harry’s typepad, and his insanely important opening statement? Is that all just gone?
I think that Harry should be allowed to keep both these items, upon which he worked for one entire weekend (and did the bestest, bestest he could, weawy, Mommy, he did), and let him use them in future bold and courageous Webventures. Whoa! Webventures! (copyright ekw, 2005) Harry, quick, a typepad, a typepad, my kingdom for a typepad and an Opening Statement. You have two entire weekends to do this for me. And you mustest pwomise to do your wewy bestest, Hawwy, OK?
- #181. lol! Are you confusing ‘Harry’ with ‘Wayno Sanderson’? At least Harry didnt shaft Margo for 50k.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 03:22 AM • permalink
- #184: Of course Howard will induce her to illegally emigrate then set the military-industrial compex onto her leaky boat and leave her and her children floating like dead chickens in the brine. Make no mistake, Howard will kill her. (Why couldn’t Howard have a name that we could turn into BLOOD? Only two character matches! Two!!)
- Deo, I thought it was Harry who went on and on about the typepad and the great and historic Opening Statement he created in one whole weekend. He actually said, he did the very best he could do. He was distraught. Very put out. Was it Wayne-o? Heck. Screws up my whole post, which I worked on for a whole evening. Almost missed Blind Date, for goodness’ sake.
- #184. Dont worry – George Newhouse will be on the case for Margo’s deported maid.
BTW- Did anyone else know that the Aussie Immigration department deputy secretary was a bloke called ‘Abul Rizvi’?
Check the link above.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 03:40 AM • permalink
- Deo – so, Margo, who has played at the big end of MSM and politics for a couple of decades, or whatever, and is pushing 50, is so niave and gullible and unworldly that you conclude she was “shafted” out of $50K? (Not all her own money, indeed maybe none of it: they never did fill in the blanks on their financing).
She went in search of business solutions; she came up with one, of which she was very excited, nay, thrilled. Shafted? If so, by her own hand. (Sorry ‘bout any really icky potential imagery; absolutely unintended.)
- #186 ekw. It may have been ‘Harry’.I’d have to go back through the ‘Webdairy’ archives I’ve been collating to confirm either way though. brb.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 03:47 AM • permalink
- #191 Good point Ck. It was her decision – I just feel a leeetle bit sorry that ppl may have taken advantage of her.Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 12 07 at 03:59 AM • permalink
- I recommend we pour all the cheap FOR SALE font, italics, underline, and bold in the font jars and keep them for the future. No wanton use, if you please.
thank you,
The Font Cabinet Custodian and Usage Monitor
P.S. Whoever has an unauthorized key to the font cabinet, please hand it over. We’re all on the honor system here. Please don’t abuse my trust.
Posted by wronwright on 2005 12 07 at 04:08 AM • permalink
- How about this quote on WebDiary from Tim Dunlop?
Of course, there was plenty of legitimate criticism of WebDairy over the years and certainly mistakes were made. But so what? We all make mistakes.
Indeed we do, Tim. Indeed we do.
- Well, while people are bailing out I may as well, too.
Reading and commenting on blogs is one of my many forms of procrastination. I don’t think I add much value to the medium given the talents displayed by others.
While I will read blogs in the future, I am officially signing off from commenting on blogs.
I hope you retain your boresight.
Paratus and Percute Percute Velociter
Good Bye
- And by the way …
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All the bold tags are mine, ALL MINE!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
- To all you fascists-in-training I will have you know that Lataan has recently labelled me a fascist cast in a much stauncher mould of discompassion and blind ignorance than (I guess) your average run-of-the-mill fascist.
I guess this means that if any of you need some after-fascist-school tutoring I might be able to help out.
Posted by Villeurbanne on 2005 12 07 at 04:40 AM • permalink
- I wonder at what government-funded ‘cultural’ or ‘communications’ studies university faculity she will emerge in the new year as Associate Professor of New Media?Posted by Geoffrey MG on 2005 12 07 at 05:18 AM • permalink
- They must really be broke – the censorship machine has had the plug pulled.
Seems you can post pretty much whatever you want.Posted by Rachel Corrie’s Flatmate on 2005 12 07 at 05:47 AM • permalink
- Sorry, HC44, but that’s a Senryu.
“Senryu tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryu are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are serious.”
Posted by Matt Moore on 2005 12 07 at 06:00 AM • permalink
- margoing… margoing… margone!Posted by benson swears a lot on 2005 12 07 at 06:00 AM • permalink
- Hi Margo, as of December 1 there is a ‘subscription’ of $20 per month coming your way. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!!
Margo: Thank YOU, Sally. I can guarantee we’ll make it into 2006, at least. Thank you to all volunteers for making it happen. And thank you to all the donors so far – you’re keeping me financially afloat in the short term while Webdiary’s money team works on longer term solutions…
Posted by: ‘Sally’ | 28/11/2005 2:58:37 PM
- Margo. I’m glad to see Webdiary going well. I open up Webdiary every morning when I get to work and appreciate seeing your picture and articles.
Margo, to put a bit of an exciting spin on this, how much would I have to contribute to be able to take you out to dinner? Call it a “Decent Proposal” if you will.
Margo: Hi Melvin, and thanks for the positive feedback. Re dinner, I’ve never had such an offer. I’d need to consult my MD about the ethics of that.
Posted by: Melvin Thomas | 14/11/2005 4:29:55 PM
- captain – indeed. First they can’t run a blog; then they can’t even stop running a blog with a modicum of dignity and competence.
Come midnight, it will just be the same old shit, but run by Hamish instead of Margo, who has always had penchant for long holidays. What’s different, really? It’s even the same shallow dip into the same gene pool for gawd’s sake!
This thread is a bit of a premature ejeculation, it would seem.
- #174 Deo, for John HoWARd’s new moniker, the Butcher of Bennelong, you are now my current hero.
ROFLMAO!
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 12 07 at 06:49 AM • permalink
- HC44 – And it was a good Senryu, too.Posted by Matt Moore on 2005 12 07 at 07:21 AM • permalink
- As expected, Marilyn’s contribution to the Margok farewell love-in is a classic – calling Saddam’s bodyguard Oday Al Tikriti a ‘lovely man’.Posted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 2005 12 07 at 07:24 AM • permalink
- For God’s sake, woman!Posted by Quentin George on 2005 12 07 at 07:55 AM • permalink
- Sorry to rain on everybodys parade, but what if were misunderestimating the sloth like cunning of this lady?
What if shes relying on the lefty “compassion= money” reflex and will miraculously post allong the lines of “Your gEnrosty uberwhellmed mes and i wiLl keep going now”
Could life be so cruel?Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2005 12 07 at 08:31 AM • permalink
- (UPDATE—only 30 minutes to go until Margo quits Webdiary. Please prepare to observe a minute’s silence)
In 20 years time, I bet people will ask “so where were you when margot quit webdiary?”
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2005 12 07 at 08:46 AM • permalink
Happy New Year!!!!Just staying to make sure Margo signs off!
D – D – D Another one bites the dust!
Posted by Hank Reardon on 2005 12 07 at 08:59 AM • permalink
- Hamish:
‘I’m now unemployed of course,’
Of course
Posted by IcallMasICM on 2005 12 07 at 09:28 AM • permalink
- Maybe WD has a new funding model in line with the ‘Closing Down Carpet Sale’ model where that the same company can trade on misleading advertising on a regular basis without any cynical attraction to it.
Scenario1: Her supporters have been trained in ‘committee-forming’, probably with this sort of scenario in mind. It has been a hard battle with many failures but just maybe they have learnt fron past and they do something.
Scenario2: Webdairy dies at midnight. Opps past the deadlineJust wishful thinking because I will miss Marilyn. I think she should be invited here for a guest comment every so often – whenever she feels the urge.
- Yes, failure is success! Up is down! Black is white! Crosby is Stills, and Nash is Young!Posted by Matt Moore on 2005 12 07 at 10:02 AM • permalink
Who will be the new queen (or king) of “malapropaganda”?
Lowenstein is quite good. I found his complete faith in a cartoonist without actually understanding what the cartoonist was saying was superb. You try to pin someone down with that sort of stuff and he openly stated it without even a blink. I think he is a good alternative.
- We’ll find a way to do this.
They keep talking like they’re inventing time travel. The way to do this is the same way every other PhpBB board does it, the way a zillion blogs do it—the software is out there, it’s often free or close to, hosting is not that expensive, Christ you’d think these people were trying to start their own democratic, anti-HoWARd space program from the way they talk about it.
…you’re keeping me financially afloat in the short term while Webdiary’s money team works on longer term solutions…
Sheesh. Margo does know how to milk the marks, doesn’t she? Maybe Webdiary will reincarnate?
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 12 07 at 10:49 AM • permalink
- And Robert Bosler finds that perfect turn of phrase that has made him such a literary superstar:
Margo, for what you have done, and the way you have done it, as a citizen from the street, you have earned my trust.
- Softly — Margo did NOT achieve honorable failure by the Left’s standards. It’s not an Honorable Failure (L) unless you leave large piles of anonymous brown Third World corspses behind you to mark your passing…Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 12 07 at 11:53 AM • permalink
- And a couple of posts below (err, above, in WD parlance), one Phil Kendall demonstrates the keen grasp of human nature that has made Webdiary such a stunning success:
I’ve been thinking a lot about morals & ethics recently; one of my conclusions is that altruism is a trait selected *for* by evolution.
- Who the hell is Margo Kingston? Is she like the Maureen Dowd of Oz?Posted by beautifulatrocities on 2005 12 07 at 12:44 PM • permalink
- beautifulatrocities,
Yes. But she is not as literate. If you can believe that. On the other hand, she’s even more fun to bash about, pinata-like. But both share the same, ohmygosh, look what I am doing, it’s amazing, it’s tragically difficult in this nazi atmosphere, but dammit, I’m doing it, kind of thing.
Or am I thinking of Naomi Wolf?
Actually, I take that back. The person most like Margo is Mother Sheehan. Yes. That’s it. Think Sheehan with an impossible to understand accent.
- I can’t imagine thatPosted by beautifulatrocities on 2005 12 07 at 01:20 PM • permalink
