The content on this webpage contains paid/affiliate links. When you click on any of our affiliate link, we/I may get a small compensation at no cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure for more info -----------------------
Last updated on July 2nd, 2017 at 09:08 am
A reminder of 1980s commie optimism from David Thompson.
- I liked the section where Pillger was announced as senior editor, then buggered off for 6 months to make a film about Bondi beach. Only leaving a written list of “suggestions” for staff to employ.
Then later on he whinges about how it was dull, but that he “had no regrets”.They needed 800,000 to break even, by the end they were hovering around 200,000, this while M.Thatcher was busy remaking the landscape. For a lefty paper to have failed around then must have really required some effort.
The fact that a number of them now inhabit the BBC is a natural thing though.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 29 at 04:18 AM • permalink
That ain’t nuttin’. Here in the USfreakingA we got a whole lefty Congress can’t get nuttin’ done!
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 29 at 04:46 AM • permalink
Its amazing, nothing has changed, still drifters and dreamers. Not a drop of common sense in any of them.
Sadly, they just couldn’t see the obvious conclusion: they sacrificed the pensions of working class folk to indulge in a fantasy that could have only been rescued by adopting a capitalist model. Rather than admit ideological defeat they sacrificed their investors. Typical.
Gee. Talk about being hoist by your own petard.
“Engle’s documentary teases out how staggering incompetence was a direct result of ideological pretension. This is perhaps best illustrated by the scene in which, with the paper’s first edition about to go to press, most of the staff is out of the office on a deafness awareness day.”
I think the best illustration was that the start-up lefties decided, on ideological grounds, that only their chosen ideologically (or victimologically) pure “founders” could sack the editor and the “founders”, no doubt being true believers in the idea that anyone who has a job should be able to keep it for as long as they like, refused to sack the editor even though he wasn’t doing what they thought he should be doing.
Stupid, witless people.
And not only did they sacrifice their investors (see #9) they did it in the hope of electoral gain. Bastards!
And they want to run economies!
Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 29 at 05:34 AM • permalink
It was typical of the Left that they fought this ideological battle with other people’s money, people who never got a say. Bet each and every trade union boss and super fund manager continued to draw their pay even as their members’ investment drained away.
The Left would have more credibility if they were willing to risk their own money on their hare-brained schemes.
Imagine that, commies failing at business. Good thing they have the Beeb and other taxpayer-funded sinecure-providing outfits to fall back on.
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2008 01 29 at 05:40 AM • permalink
How does the real left wing dialectic go?
We have a problem.
I have the solution.
You have to pay.Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 29 at 06:11 AM • permalink
That ain’t nuttin’. Here in the USfreakingA we got a whole lefty Congress can’t get nuttin’ done!
Could Richard, Paco, TRJ or another of our learned American friends please explain how receiving the “Kennedy mantle” – evoking a whole clan of lefties who haven’t run any kind of business since old Joe kicked off his mortal deck shoes in Hyannisport 40 years ago – how, as I ask, receiving the “Kennedy mantle” makes Obama a more electable president? JFK lied about the “missile gap”, screwed up the Bay of Pigs, escalated the bejesus out of Vietnam, greenlighted the assassination of the Diems, ran a veritable Murder Inc with the mafia in the Caribbean, didn’t understand economics and despised businessmen, couldn’t have cared less about civil rights until dragged into it, got humiliated by Kruschev in Vienna, gave up American nukes in order to placate the Supreme Soviet after the Cuban Missile Crisis, was indubitably a drug addict and a serial abuser of women. And the man who bestows The Kennedy Mantle is Edward Moore Kennedy, most famous for not letting the small matter of a suffocating girl’s water-clogged lungs get in the way of his own personal narrative.
I don’t get it. What in the blinking blue blazes is going on over there?
Love Pilger’s line towards the end of that documentary, when challenged that he had been ‘undermining’ the paper (by first manipulating the shambolic democratic structure of the paper to ensure that the editing and design process was fucked up, and then storming off in a huff and attacking the whole enterprise in the press):
“Oh, it had to be undermined.”
He really is a superb ideologue: he understands that one way to get out of answering a challenging question about one’s own moral duplicity is to admit to everything, too make it look like a virtue. Any further attempts to challenge him on this point would be met with pedantry and argument.
Even better is how he later says about the paper – whose end he helped to engineer – that it “saddens” him.
Hilarious stuff!
They want a ‘society’, they don’t want an ‘economy’.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can’t have the former without the latter.
PoYou are so right. During the last election, it amazed me how many people said the economy isn’t what’s important, it’s the (take your pick) environment, human rights, education, welfare etc.
What people didn’t get, is that the economy is central to all of those things. Take any country with polluted drinking water, rampant human-rights abuse, widespread illiteracy or massive poverty and you can be assured they’ve got a lousy economy.
Or if you’re in a hurry, simply look at the whole Arab world.
Sure capitalist nations have problems, but it’s better than all the other systems.
#22 and #24 . . . getting an endoresement from Teddy Kennedy is a kiss of death in flyover country, that bit between New York and Hollywood that we call the USA. That’s why Bill Clinton always kept him at arm’s length.
Teddy’s endorsement doesn’t get Obama any more votes than he would have gotten anyway, and if anything, brings out the latent GOP vote from folks who don’t like having a president with Teddy Kennedy’s hand up his arse. Folks who’d rather go shooting with Dick Cheney than driving with Teddy Kennedy.
http://www.bigthink.com/policy-politics/iraq/236
Posted by Young and Free on 2008 01 29 at 06:42 AM • permalink
“If Mary Jo Kopechne were alive today, she would be praising Ted Kennedy for his stance on health care for seniors…”
-Boston Globe reporter commenting on Ted Kennedy’s incredible humanitarian record
Posted by Young and Free on 2008 01 29 at 06:45 AM • permalink
“If Mary Jo Kopechne were alive today, she would be praising Ted Kennedy for his stance on health care for seniors…”
Either that or breathing through a straw from the bottom of a lake.
Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 29 at 06:54 AM • permalink
- The BBC just ran an interview with some jerk (who they believed unreservedly) commenting on the candidates and what they were thought of by overseas bloggers. His conclusions: overseas bloggers like McCain and dislike Rudy – in fact the more conservative the candidate the less he would be liked by the o/s blogger.
What a crock!
Funny, I perviewed and all and still stuffed the italics,????
Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 29 at 06:58 AM • permalink
- Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 29 at 07:01 AM • permalink
If Mary Jo Kopechne were alive today… she’d be as wrinkled as pruneface (and not from age)
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 01 29 at 07:19 AM • permalink
- #10. Janice. ‘Anybody who has a job should keep it.’ That is exactly what happens in Local State and Federal Governments, along with their taxpayer funded bureaucrats. Hell, you could work in the Victorian Premiers Department, ogle porn all day, scan for bargains on eBay and any countless other things we don’t know about. All on the taxpayer’s time. If caught, what do you get. Well, you get ‘COUNSELLING’ and more than likely told you are naughty and please do not to do it again. (sarcasm now off).
I wonder how some of these useless ‘snouters’ would go in a private performance driven company environment.
- 41. Even better, the old “last hired first off” of the old union days. Ensuring a hard core of bitter old unproductive farts was all you had left if you did have to lay off anyone.
Plus it had the added benefit of making sure there was more “churn” of younger employees therefore jacking up the youth unemployment, which the unionists could take out full page adds blaming Conservative governments for.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 29 at 07:55 AM • permalink
Last night, I had such a brilliant, pithy comment ready for the #1 spot on this thread … and the bloody program failed to take it.
Can we start over?
Posted by Rittenhouse on 2008 01 29 at 08:24 AM • permalink
Alan Hayling (co founder and the lunatic nominally in charge of the News On Sunday asylum, and whose CV includes Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine) went on to become head of the BBC documentaries department (2004-06)- I wonder if there’s an element of payback in this Beeb doco?
‘He left the BBC after just two years in his post – a period he describes as “very frustrating”, during which his department was “emasculated” by internal reforms’ – the Guardian
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 01 29 at 08:30 AM • permalink
#22 C.L. It’s largely a Massachusetts thing, which has always eluded my understanding. Ted is undoubtedly one of the most repugnant individuals to ever hold office in this country, and yet he is virtually guaranteed lifetime employment as a U.S. Senator – from Massachusetts, that is. I’m not entirely sure he would be electable in any other state. His endorsement may make a difference for Obama in Massachusetts, and may actually help him in some of the other “blue” states, since it provides cover for those liberals who might otherwise have been fearful of breaking openly with the Clinton machine, or who may simply have thought that Clinton was unbeatable and that a vote for Obama was wasted. And if Kennedy uses his influence to turn on the money tap for Obama, then things could get interesting, indeed.
Young and Free at #27 is right, though, about flyover country: the Kennedy endorsement probably won’t get Obama any more votes than he would have gotten, anyway, out there in the liberals’ “Ultima Thule” of middle America – unless, as I’ve pointed out, the endorsement is perceived by Democrats, who either already like Obama, or are simply concerned about Clinton’s prospects in the general election, as a sign that there really is a viable alternative to Hillary.
It’s the MSM making a big deal of the Kennedy family endorsement, not the American public. Fortunately the Kennedys only get one vote apiece, just like the rest of us. Well, as far as we know.
As for Massachusetts voters, they are not to be explained or understood. Besides continuing to elect Teddy the Thick, they’ve done the same for Kerry, which may have had alot to do with him thinking the rest of the country could be fooled as well in 2006.
- Its something Ive never understood. Is the Kennedy name enough to get you out of leaving a young girl to die, with no reprecussions?
Or is it the photos of senior Democrat politicans in sexul congress with goats or something?
We have a lot of time servers and dead wood in Australia (Al Grassby is one of the worst, check the bottom of the wiki for the nasty) but few whod be game enough to ride on the coattails of 2 dead rellies for life.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 29 at 09:53 AM • permalink
Whoops missed the Grassby wiki.
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 29 at 09:54 AM • permalink
And they want to run economies!
I don’t think so.
They think economies run themselves.”On the contrary. Economies don’t do too badly if you leave them mostly alone; the leftist however intervenes frequently and at length.
#26 “You are so right. During the last election, it amazed me how many people said the economy isn’t what’s important, it’s the (take your pick) environment, human rights, education, welfare etc.”
The economy isn’t important because everyone’s well-off. A bit of poverty will clarify their thinking nicely- I just wish I didn’t have to share in their self-inflicted misery or listen to their shocked, betrayed bleating when the obvious happens.
Regarding the Kennedy Clan…..paco, Retread, Y&F, and the others, are correct in their points, but they’ve overlooked one very important.
The Kennedy’s are filthy rich.
Add in their wealth, which generates influence, and they become makers and shakers, of a sort. They’ve bought their “status”.
Certainly they are viewed as “celebrities”, which means news worthy, although mostly on a paparazzi level. Witness the Kennedy scion who crashed his private plane several years ago. Such crashes are common, but that generated an incredible level of news coverage.
Most decent people view the Kennedy’s as a collection of decadent trailer trash living off of the legacy of John and Robert Kennedy….which was a skimpy meal in the first place.
I think that Jabba The Hutt’s endorsement of Obama as more of a whack against the Clinton Machine than it is an endorsement for Obama. Ted Kennedy sees Hillary as a loser, and throwing her overboard so that he can continue to have a hand in American politics.
Which fits in exactly with his personality, given that he left Mary Jo to drown in his car all those decades ago.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 29 at 10:34 AM • permalink
And when I jump over to Captain’s Quarters, I find that Captain Ed has written an excellent post about other problems with the “coveted” Kennedy Kiss of Death “endorsement”.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 29 at 10:38 AM • permalink
OT, but is anyone else as pee’d off as I am about all of the MSM reporting only that Steven Smith told Condy about our troop withdrawal from Irag while studiously ignoring his total incompetence?
THE G’Day USA week in New York has come and gone for another year but don’t expect Foreign Minister Stephen Smith to be invited back anytime soon.
Smith left many trade officials and expat business leaders fuming when he talked down Australia at a high-powered investment lunch on Friday at the Waldorf Astoria.
It wasn’t a deliberate low-blow of course. More a case of a new kid on the block failing to understand that everyone is supposed to bat for the same team when it comes to promoting Australia overseas, and that partisan politics should stay at home.
Smith was clearly oblivious to these rules when, in giving a welcome to everyone present, he started railing against the economic legacy of the former Howard government, telling the 200-plus crowd the new Kevin Rudd Government had inherited an Australia with inflation troubles, a skills shortage and inadequate infrastructure.
G’day Blairites. Norm said you’re scratching your heads re Kennedy, Massachusetts. It’s a mystery, but here’s something on that under the good news re Kerry.
Hope all’s good, Tim, you gut-lessened wonder!
Posted by crittenden on 2008 01 29 at 11:17 AM • permalink
Oops. wrong link, try here.here
Posted by crittenden on 2008 01 29 at 11:25 AM • permalink
Good point about the Kennedy money, but Kennedys don’t use their own money when they can use other peoples money, either taxes or campaign contributions.
From Obama’s point of view the best reason to get Teddy’s endorsement, other than to deny it to Hillary, is to tap into the fund raising ability of Kennedy and his co-horts. Obama probably values that more than the prospect of any votes Teddy can produce.
#55: What, Jeff S, no mention of how ol’ Joe Kennedy got his wealth? Well, he got his nest egg by rumrunning during Prohibition and then he shorted the stock market in Oct. 1929, and did plenty of rumormongering to push it over the edge. That’s how the Kennedy’s got their wealth. Camelot indeed.
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2008 01 29 at 11:29 AM • permalink
- Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2008 01 29 at 11:31 AM • permalink
The Kennedys are no better than the Escobars, which naturally makes them heroes of the left.
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2008 01 29 at 11:34 AM • permalink
What, Jeff S, no mention of how ol’ Joe Kennedy got his wealth?
Heh, Tommy, I thought about including Joe’s illicit booze bucks in my rant, but one can only slap people around so much, y’know?
But it’s a valid point. The Kennedy Clan got their working capital from breaking the laws way back when. It ain’t old money, but it’s money.
Retread, true enough, but their wealth is important, as working capital (i.e., intice suckers to donate to their campaigns), and as a front for “respectability”. That’s how they got their leverage within the Democratic political machine.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 29 at 11:52 AM • permalink
Much obliged to all for the Kennedy/Obama analyses. Kisses of death and fratricidal nastiness having become the order of the Democrat day, I wonder if the GOP can actually gallop from behind and pip all at the post. The sound of liberal heads collectively exploding if that eventuates would aurally surpass Krakatoa.
He’s back! He’s back! (Happy dance, along with pounding of drums and Zulu spears, much drinking of mead!).
Here’s hoping you’re back to normal fast!
Elizabeth
Imperial KeeperPosted by Elizabeth Imperial Keeper on 2008 01 29 at 12:11 PM • permalink
An opportunist with some brains, but still, an opportunist. OH, did I mention, parasite? Say on the order of today’s George Soros?
All of the article in Wiki, is interesting, pay particluar attention to:
Business career:
Early ventures:
Wall Street:
Ambassador to Britain:
Possible Anti-Semitism:
Alliance with Joe McCarthy:
Presidential ambitions for family:Well…SHIT. Just read it all.
The NYT’s Potemkin conservative on the Kennedy endorsement.
C.L.: You see what we’re up against. Even the occasional “conservative” gets caught up in the pomp and circumstance of our uncrowned royal family. But I think Brooks is probably in the minority among right-of-center political writers. The article linked by RJ is more typical.
#60 SandiM: LOL performance by Smith. Must have been maddening for Australia’s business boosters to see the Foreign Minister make his appearance (figuratively) decked out in the raiment of a clown Auguste, pedaling around furiously on his squeaky little bicycle, and picking off the nobs with blasts from his seltzer bottle.
I am so happy to see Tim back and posting again. So hoping you’re feeling much better, Tim!
Nice analyses of the Kennedys, but you’ve all forgotten one thing. The Kennedys, from the old man on down, were masters at public relations and spin. And the media loved them for it. Camelot wasn’t created by the Kennedys alone. It was partly the creation of the mass media, who loved the handsome young prince and his beautiful pillbox-hatted bride. And behind the PR, they were masters of back-room deals, solidifying the dynasty that Old Joe, with his shanty Irish inferiority complex, wanted.
There are so many of them, we’ll never be rid of Kennedys in public life, but hopefully the golden shine has tarnished beyond repair, and we’ll never again accord them the royal regard they grow up believing they’re owed.
Hey, well, I’m boycotting the UK; wait until that hits the press!
- #72 Add Pro-Nazi
Old Joe lost his Ambassadorship because of his overt pro-Nazi sympathies.He was also a stock-market manipulator–these days he would be in jail.Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2008 01 29 at 01:58 PM • permalink
As a good capitalist you can’t refuse the British subjects the benefits of PACO Enterprises’ goods and services! You can, however, refuse to spend any of your obscenely huge profits in the kingdom. But what with the boycott of France, China, etc, etc, you’re rapidly limiting yourself to squandering your money only in the USA and Australia. Er, don’t let this get out or Congress might take that tax rebate off the table.
Ted Kennedy endorses Obama, bringing the all-important fat, dissolute old sot and drunk-driving demographics.
Then Caroline Kennedy compares Obama to JFK. Does this mean he will cut taxes and continuously cheat on his wife?
Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2008 01 29 at 02:04 PM • permalink
#80: As a good capitalist you can’t refuse the British subjects the benefits of PACO Enterprises’ goods and services!
Perish the thought, old top! I meant only that they would be deprived of the incalculable moral and spiritual benefits that accrue to those who linger in the environs of my person. I’ll still take their money.
OT (Hey, it’s me, what can I say, huh?)
To let you know, as a little birdie, told me, our dear Saltydog is feeling poorly.
Hopefully she will soon return in fine fighting form. (I wouldn’t dare go up against her..Tiz humiliating to get ones ass (me male, ugh) kicked verbally and physically.
Myself and others have emailed Salty.
Hearing from friends or foes (don’t believe there are…but) is a medication or drug, that cannot be prescribed by any Doctor. If you doubt that, ask MentalFloss and Tim.
Should you think of it…Click her member name OR better yet..NOPE, can’t publish her email address…Just find her nic and send her a quick shout, through Tim’s list.
Please do understand that if Salty does not answer, it is because of her condition.
Test. (Had a complaint about the page not working.)
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2008 01 29 at 03:48 PM • permalink
OK, seems to work now. Carry on.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2008 01 29 at 03:48 PM • permalink
Woohoo! Tim’s back! I’m so happy I didn’t even bother to read his post. Guess I’ll have to go back and do that…
SO great to see you back!
Posted by Mambo Bananapatch on 2008 01 29 at 04:00 PM • permalink
#86 Andrea Harris, Administrator –
Test. (Had a complaint about the page not working.)
Andrea, no no no. I was referring to Pogria. Someone assigned her to be my page this week, but Wildfire hasn’t been brushed yet, nor has he been saddled. I’m late for my afternoon ride to the North 40 oil wells. I want action.
Posted by wronwright on 2008 01 29 at 04:23 PM • permalink
#89: There he is, your honor. Saddled and ready to go.
THE Senior Minionette to the VRWC does NOT perform the duties of a PAGE!
No longer will I look away when you cravenly use my name to escape the wrath of Mistress Andrea when caught in the midst of one of your evil “taking over the world” machinations.
I, who have always been there for you to give succour and tend your wounds when you came back injured and diseased from your mead raids. I, who add an extra TWO inches to your permanent record when assigned the duty of STAFF measuring.
No more Wronwright. You have unleashed an anger so great it must be avenged in a manner of Biblical proportions. The Ten Plagues of Egypt which The Great God Paco rained down on Pharaohs’ head when Pharaoh had the audacity to nobble Paco’s favourite chariot team, will be as NOTHING when I unleash the power of a THOUSAND VALKYRIE upon your miserable form.
The Tardis will be no safe haven for you. I have also offered a reward for your unsafe capture. A Thousand Gold Talents and a Two Week Nile Cruise on Cleopatra’s Barge to anyone who brings me the Head of Alfredo Garcia WRONWRIGHT!!!!
Is anyone else dismayed at the retort from the MSM to the accusation of Mick Keelty that the MSM has a responsibility to hold back on reporting terrorist/terrorism investigations?
The MSM retort is that the Police and Government painted Haneef as an undesirable and have ruined his reputation.
Please enlighten me as to how the general populace find out this information. Isn’t it via the MSM?
I’m sorry, I can’t find any links to the story currently being reported.
Searching for something on the Keelty story I found this. Which I think could be a load of codswallop, reading this extract:The media in Australia has commented fairly and is very critical of the umpires and some senior members of the Australian team. We have excellent relations with Australia, and both Governments should watch the situation closely to ensure that things do not go out of control. The charge of racism against Harbhajan Singh is an insult to India. We have seen how charges of terrorism were fabricated against Dr Mohammed Haneef in the recent past. Clearly, a racist mindset exists in certain Australian quarters, but we should also reflect positively on the legal system in Australia, which investigated the case and ruled in favour of Dr Haneef and restored his visa.
The only place things could get “out of control” is in India.
Before the assembled press horde, *Patriot superstar Tom Brady, a.k.a. the best quarterback ever, urged people to be more responsible. But he wasn’t just talking about sports stars.
He urged everyone to go see Al Gore’s tedious opus, “An Inconvenient Truth,” because **”it really is the truth.” He then bragged about/confessed to driving a hybrid.
***As a Patriot fan, I find this several times more disturbing than SpyGate.
*I dispute that. If it wasn’t for that cunning, no personality and cheating coach, Belishit or however it is spelled, gathering a talented group of offensive line brutes…Brady would be on his ass most of the time. Quick release or not.
**On second thought, it just could be that Brady, has taken several hard blows in the head area.
***Well good for you Goldfarb. That and 5 bucks or more, will get you a crappy coffee at Starbucks. Now who is the fool, Goldfarb?
He then bragged about/confessed to driving a hybrid.
Someone should go look into his garage. Also, check the cars/trucks he rents. Like most people in Hollywood, he owns a hybrid and drives something else. In fact, Streisand and Brolin would drive their hybrid to their private hangar and then fly in their private jet cross-country. Hilarious.
“If Mary Jo Kopechne were alive today, she would be praising Ted Kennedy for his stance on health care for seniors … –Boston Globe reporter commenting on Ted Kennedy’s incredible humanitarian record
You’re joking, right?
The Kennedy clan do not have a good history with women – I well remember when a college-aged member of the clan – I think from the Shriver branch – was detained for the rape of a girl in her early teens but was never brought to trial when she was pressured into withdrawing charges.
William Kennedy Smith was charged with rape around the same time as boxer Mike Tyson and was acquitted, though many still think he was guilty. Tyson, who many thought had simply been a dumb schmuck, was assigned lousy legal representation and had the book and a prison term flung at him. He converted to Islam during his imprisonment and never quite got back on the rails again. Always felt a bit sorry for the bloke. At least until he bit that ear off.
Now that Obama has been compared to JFK, who in today’s celebrity world will play the part of Marilyn Monroe?
And, I think, a couple of vital issues yet to be explored by the commentariat
1. Will he automatically pick up the Irish vote or is an apostrophe needed?
2. Much comment has been directed towards Obama’s attitude (if any) towards the military. However, I have seen no analysis whatsoever on the issue of his name -Barack-and how this might effect US Defence policies if elected.
Item 2…..clearly a need for Pyschological Analysis Concerning Obama
- Here’s a small piece by Melanie Phillips.
The rest of the interview is pretty interesting also.“The best line in Martin Amis’s otherwise defensive and uncomfortable interview with the Independent today is this:The reason that America is the only First World country with a non-declining birth rate is because of all those things we hate about it, you know – [it’s] patriarchal, church-going. I’m going to take this up because I think it’s such an enormous question – has feminism cost us Europe?
Way to go, Martin.”
And way to go Melanie!
Great endorsement I reckon.
Hey, kids! Eat your vegetables, and you, too, can grow up to be a whacked-out commie douche bag!
Also from the excellent Gateway Pundit, this respectful look at Kennedy’s endorsement.
Missed attempt_something that was quick.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 09:11 PM • permalink
Who has read The Spike (1980)? The MSM said it was fiction.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 09:18 PM • permalink
Yet capitalist American audiences make her rich by paying good money to sit through her movies.
I don’t. But I’m sure she has plenty of residuals coming. Unfortunately.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 29 at 09:28 PM • permalink
Re #109, I’m sure that we’ll see all of his admirers in the USA using that as an excuse to snort cocaine.
Also, re: #110……BUAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 29 at 09:30 PM • permalink
- Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 09:36 PM • permalink
Couldnt resist tweaking the ABCs’ nose over the reporting in that story, just fired this off to the news department.
“…There appears to be an unnecessary tone of editorialising in this item on the news page.
“..Post-election protests have degenerated into cycles of killing between tribes who have never reconciled divisions over land, wealth and power left by British colonial rule, stoked by politicians at election time over 44 years of independence..”
Why is it necessary to blame colonial rule for the current chaos? 44 years is quite some time ago, and until recently the country was considered largely a success story in Africa.
The current chaos springs from the politics of indigenous Africans, not the divestment of colonial rule.
Its this infantalizing of Africans which is disgracefully racist I cant stomach. The ABC can do better…”Hit their “racist ABC” button so it should get a response of some sort.
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 29 at 09:42 PM • permalink
ABC that is Alway Biased Comment is it not?
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:03 PM • permalink
120 – hilarious! Hit them for having a go at colonialisation on racist grounds against their own independence – marvellous!
A bit like the Indian cricket board saying we are now a powerhouse so watch out world, at the same time saying no indian could ever be racist.
they really do need to think before they speak
122 are you casteing aspersions on Indians?
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:11 PM • permalink
“Me too” again: The Revolution Begins: Rudd announces national curriculum. Unions said no to Libs last year.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:25 PM • permalink
Come November, McCain and Hillary of Beans?
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:31 PM • permalink
“Last month in one of his first acts as Treasurer and in a show of open government, Wayne Swan invited public submissions before the May 13 budget.
“By January 18, the cut-off date, the Government had received more than 5000 suggestions on how to spend money. These included 4750 requests from individuals and 300 from lobby groups and other organisations. Another 200 arrived after the deadline.
“… the most [the former Coalition government] received in recent years was 196 before the 2006-07 document.
“Mr Swan’s in-tray contains 30 times the 172 submissions Peter Costello received before last year’s budget. ‘This shows that when it comes to constructive ideas about making our economy more modern and more productive, the Rudd Government is listening’, Mr Swan said.”
No, Wayne. It shows that individuals, lobby groups and other organisations recognise a sucker when they see it.
126 ann j, now we know where the votes came from.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:36 PM • permalink
#126 “NO, Wayne. It shows that individuals, lobby groups and other organisations recognise a sucker when they see it
is that it or could it also be that no one has any faith in his ability to spend our money wisely.
Maybe a little of column A and a little of column B. He was my local member for forever and he never replied to one of my letters so I can’t see him reading all of those submissions let alone replying.
129, he is Labor so he is a know-it-all.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:47 PM • permalink
If you down in the drains today be ready for a big surprise.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 10:54 PM • permalink
With the election done and dusted, ACTU president Sharan Burrow drops the mask and wheels out the anti-capitalist rhetoric and issues edicts, demands and threats. Who’s meeting in Canberra this week; who’s running the country?
Ditch WorkChoices by Easter: ACTU.
Union leaders are meeting in Canberra today to set the agenda for the year ahead.
They are promising to keep pressure on the Coalition to support the Federal Government’s industrial relations changes.
Ms Burrow says the first part of the legislation should be passed as soon as possible…
Ms Burrow has also lashed out at the banks for lifting interest rates, saying workers are experiencing a decline in real wages relative to massive profit growth in the corporate sector.
She says the private sector is increasingly rejecting collective bargaining and wages growth, and this year the unions will focus on ensuring a fair minimum wage, among other things.
Ms Burrow says the corporate model from the United States is creeping into Australian society.
“We are all set to suffer the global economic fallout from the US, a large nation where working families can’t earn enough to pay their bills,” she said.
“We have seen the beginning but not the end here with the greed of the banks offsetting their profit risk and raising interest rates just a few weeks ago.”
They inherited a country in great shape and, as sure as night follows day, they will —- it up.
132 CL, we are surprised? No! Again we now know where the votes came from.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 11:05 PM • permalink
This story kinda reminds me of the more recent Air America.
A search of Michelle Malkin’s site will reveal the sorry history opf failure to attract an audience.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 29 at 11:10 PM • permalink
#7 Dang, Cashew, beaten to it again.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 29 at 11:11 PM • permalink
20 years ago my family purchased a house for $34,000 at that time the family income was $34,000 per annum which was fairly average at the time.
Now days the familiy income is around $150,000 per annum (the high end of average working couple) and yet you cant buy a house in the same area now for anything under $700,000.
Makes you wonder really
134 Hot Air America. In Oz ABC staff joined Vega.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 11:15 PM • permalink
Hey, just an onservation. It seems that everyone has sobbered up after the inital party binge on Sumerian meade – or did we just run out.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 29 at 11:20 PM • permalink
136 our land value 20 years ago was $100,000 now $500,000. My late father paid $200 for the land in 1921. Makes you wonder really? Yes.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 11:26 PM • permalink
- Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 29 at 11:28 PM • permalink
Can see why Burrow is getting impatient. It is two months since the election is still no parliamentary sittings. The ACTU has millions of dollars invested in this government – it can claim with some authority it owns it – but all the Labor MPs are still playing around. Rudd back at the cricket, which means he has seen more cricket since becoming PM than the 50 years before. Nothing from Gillard except sitting at her desk being the acting PM, Garrett is in paralysed and Swan is simply fucking around.
C.L., if the Australian Parliament is anything like the American Congress, virtually nothing of importance will happen, even if KRudd is in power. I am beginning to believe that lefties in elected office couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse on the pay day after the fleet returned to port.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 30 at 12:06 AM • permalink
#99 ann j: At least one of the Kennedy clan didn’t get away with, even though it took many years to put him away.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn.—A nephew of Robert F. Kennedy was charged Wednesday with bludgeoning a girl to death with a golf club in 1975 when he was 15, providing the long-awaited break in a case that frustrated police in wealthy Greenwich and raised suspicions of a Kennedy cover-up.
Michael Skakel, 39, flew to Connecticut from his home in Florida and surrendered at Greenwich police headquarters after a warrant was issued for his arrest in the slaying of Martha Moxley. Because of Skakel’s age at the time of the crime, the case will be handled, at least initially, in juvenile court.And he’s still in gaol.
20 years
- #136 Killaette. Your example works out at 4.7 times the family income for the $700,000 house.
According to recent surveys, the median in Australia is now 6.3 times family income, so your example is on the cheap side.
There are probably many reasons for this but I believe a major factor is the way local government councils now fund infrastructure.
Traditionally, councils borrowed to pay for infrastructure and the interest on those loans was paid for out of property rates.
Nowadays, the property developer pays up front for all the new infrastructure such as parks, roads, power, phone and water to the block. In addition, the developer makes a lump-sum contribution to existing infrastructure when development approval is granted by the council.
Costs to the developer can be in the region of $150,000 per house block on top of the cost of the land.
The rates have not gone down, of course, but in my case are rising at about 8% pa, well above inflation.
But they have to get the money from somewhere to pay for the 8-10 bureaucrats who deal with each development approval application.
skeeter – land costs what the market will bear. If the council fees were $5,000, would the developer sell it for $145,000 less?
Although I do agree there fees seem out of whck with the service provided.
123 – if you mean those Indians who say because we were once racially abused we could never do it ourselves, then yes, I do mean those Indians. When you consider the caste system in India, i find this attitude contemptable.
re unions – their claws will start to grip.
re wayne – and his other clueless ministers- what a bunch of novices. This first budget will be so long, with so many future programs promised to take place – his speech will go for 2 hours.
Have you guys noticed how often they say they’ll be “trying” to do this, and “trying” to do that, and how it is their “top priority”? It is very trying!
ps Rudd swiped another Minister’s announcement by reinstating the Don – that makes it 4 or 5 now who have copped a Rudding for not reading the public sentiment like he can. I’m sure they’ll tire of this very soon.
#145 Hey Skeeter – looks like youve wondered about it a lot!
My boss always tells me its all relative but it doesnt seem to be as relative anymore. maybe back when the average house price was $180,000 but certainly not now.
But I guess its been this way in the other states for a bit longer than it has in QLD
Dominick Dunne wrote a book more than loosely based on Martha Moxley’s murder. It was called A Season in Purgatory.
He actually used a lot of the information given to him by Martha’s mother about the murder of her daughter. She had hoped that Dunne’s book may be a way of re-opening the case.
Seemed to have worked.
I have always admired Dominick Dunne and enjoyed his writing.
- peter m. If the council fees were $5000 it would be an entirely different market and the developer would be competing with other developers who could sell for $145,000 less.
In my street, two developers are sitting on their blocks waiting for the market to catch up to their costs so they can make a profit.
This just in, for those Australians who actually thought this was already their country. It’s official:
A traditional (sic) Welcome to Country will be held as part of the Parliament’s opening ceremony by members of the Ngunnawal people.
And the first item of business for Rudd will be an apology to the non-existent “stolen generation”.
- Feeling $$orry yet?? The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current generation of Australian people,” she said in a statement
But guess who will be paying for it?Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 30 at 01:38 AM • permalink
#144 Pogria: I read a book about the Martha Moxley murder several years ago but don’t recall the title or the name of the author. It was written well before Skakel’s arrest (2000) and conviction.
The Kennedy influence seems to have played a large role in stalling the case for years but, this time, they finally lost out when cousin Michael was convicted and then lost his appeal to the High Court.
I would like to see uncle Ted finally get his due, too, but it’s not likely.
#151 Sorry? We will be. A shame it isn’t possible to just bill the people who voted Labor for this.
Ye gods. Three years of aboriginal ceremonies and lefties unctuously “thanking the original owners of the land we having this event on”. Please bring on the double-dissolution. (Which judging from Smith’n’Swan’s performances so far may not be too long in coming. Does anyone else think that this government so far feels more like Whitlam than like Hawke?)
#152 On Teddy, here’s a site I followed from a Michelle Malkin thread. It would be fair to say the man running the site, Howie Carr, dislikes the Senator.
- #147 Killaette. My knowledge of these things is based on bitter and expensive experience, not wondering.
With regard to Queensland values, don’t even think about moving north (or west) for cheaper housing.In Sydney, the multiple is 8.6 and Melbourne is 7.3, but it’s even higher in some of Australia’s fastest-growing cities, including Mandurah, (9.5), Sunshine Coast (9.3) and the Gold Coast (8.6).”
A Season in Purgatory was released in 1993. A movie was also made of it.
I don’t know how true any of this is, but rumours were flying furiously that Skakel was given up by the Kennedy’s to deflect attention from a more prominent member of the family who had also been the subject of a very long investigation.
A sort of trade-off, if you will. Fall on your sword for the good of the family, there’s a good boy.
#151 – Any idea how much it would cost to hire a skywriter to pen ‘NOT’ above Canberra on Feb 13? I’d be willing to chip in a few bucks to that.
Posted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 2008 01 30 at 02:30 AM • permalink
- #154. C.L.
I would say that Ol’ Howie definitely would not share a Chivas with the Tedmeister.
I myself, really do not see the ‘magic’ of the Kennedys. Especially when you see the history attached to the family. Mind you, having two brothers murdered is a tragedy in itself. Politically though, they leave little to be desired. Mind you, that is only my reading of history, plus if I was a US voter, I would be a Republican anyway.
Re #154, no, C.L., that fella sure is unfriendly to Ted Kennedy!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 30 at 02:40 AM • permalink
A traditional (sic) Welcome to Country will be held as part of the Parliament’s opening ceremony by members of the Ngunnawal people.
#150 (sic) is well placed. 90% of what passes for traditional Aboriginal ceremonies was invented in the past 25 years by urban Aborigines and their leftie fellow travellers.
The Hindmarsh Island “secret women’s business” was proof of that. So was the incident when urban Aborigines in May 1997 turned their backs on Howard in a “traditional” display of their anger, according to the media. No tribal people, no matter how primitive, would ever turn their back on someone they were trying to insult. That’s just silly. And what do we make of welcoming and smoking ceremonies that appear to be identical across the whole nation, right down to the body painting and the dance steps. In PNG, a smaller nation with a strong tribal tradition, there are enormous variations in traditions. Ditto in the US.
It’s a sham that gullible journalists fall for over and over again. Now Rudd has joined the Australia’s most gullible list.
This one is much easier to prove and calculate, but strange how the Beattie ALP Govt couldn’t or wouldn’t be bothered to work out whose money had been witheld for about 60 years and repay it with interest due.
Don’t forget, this money was the wages of workers, not whingers.
And our intellectual betters whinge about Vesteys.
- #160
And what do we make of welcoming and smoking ceremonies that appear to be identical across the whole nation…
It’s always struck me as a bit of a franchise operation and a recent one too.
Granted, the ability to create fire is a biggy when it comes to social evolution, however I’m happy to be damned as a cultural supremist to be more impressed with the fire making abilities of my tribe.
Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but don’t be too hard on page Pogria.
You see, sir, your sturdy steed Wildfire is lame, sir. I know he’s your finest cross country horse and that he has an Australian Stock Horse pedigree dating back to the fabled colt from old Regret, mustered down from the high country by The Man From Snowy River, sir. But if I may be permitted to speak, it’s not the bridle track work that is to blame, sir.
To be honest, you do drive him rather hard as you reach highway speed on the Interstate, sir.
As they say, “it’s not ‘oppin’ over little fences what knocks ‘orses’ legs about. It’s the ‘ammer ‘ammer ‘ammer on the ‘ard ‘ard road.”
In any case, sir, it’s not your usual mount that you’ve been riding these last few weeks, sir. With Wildfire lame we’ve had to saddle up a muscular old mare with similar markings called Margo that we caught fresh from over in the left paddock, sir.
We’ve noticed that she’s been winking, though, and throwing fluid of late, sir, and probably shouldn’t be ridden amongst the other stallions of the Conspiracy.
Beggin’ your pardon again, sir.
Will they need to get carbon credits in order to emit the vile poison CO2? What if it’s a Total Fire Ban that day?
And BTW -Oz market dropped another 100 pts today, following a down day yesterday, but a couple of good days on Waal St. Might it just be that the morons are slowly waking up that they have recently elected the freak show to govern a land that wasn’t doing too badly.
Anyone know who’s selling “Sorry my arse!!” T-shirts
ps, know a bit about horses do you?
Yes, ma’am. One ends kicks, the other end bites and they’re uncomfortable in the middle 😉
I managed an unruly mob of about seven or eight of ‘em, plus another half dozen that were agisted on the property, when I lived at Jindabyne some years ago. I was working for a small ski lodge/holiday resort and I took our guests out on horse trail rides in the summer months.
O/T but for a moment I thought Traceee Hutchinson had fallen foul of the law…
Fifteeen years jail for $120m heist gang
for Margo, it would have to be AI!
#174 splice,
thought so! Although I noticed you cleaned up the winking and throwing fluid for the sensitive souls here.
We used to call it a wink and a squirt.hehehehe
I have six of the hay burners. The DPI is coming out tomorrow to swab them and make sure they’re clear of the flu. All six caught it about three months ago. Thank god they all got over it quick. I only have one under the age of twenty. They’ve all been with me a long time. We’ve all been through a lot together.
- Peter Phillips Attacks Peter & Phillip
The director of the famous Tallis Scholars “religious” choral group has attacked Peter & Phillip Jensen of the Sysney Anglican Diocese for being too dismissive and down on quality music in the church.
He likens them to Ayatollah Khomenei (deceased) for their determination to lessen the reliance on high-flown music, although they are not against music per se, just want to rationalise I guess. He also casts doubt on their propriety, for Peter appointing Phillip as Dean of Sydney.
What is going on here? I get the feeling that some conductor mate of Peter Phillips is out of a job and noses are out of joint. The Jensens are correct, conservative christians, not hillsong hit parade, nor high church polyphony. Doesn’t make you popular these days.
#176 Pogs, I’ve just been winched to ‘safety’ aboard a black helicopter. I managed to grab a rasp, a few shoeing nails and a clenching tool. They tell me we’re on our way to your place and we’ll there in about fifteen minutes.
Can you grab a brush, a halter and a hoof pick, please? Oh, and a few scoops of lucerne chaff in a bucket too, ta.
It seems we’ve been summonsed again.
- Hyperbole Flours Again
Those Israeli Monsters! Reducing Gaza from 680,000 tons of flour per day to just 90 tons.
Wait a minute …
what about the hammer????
How the ***k are you going to get the nails into the hoof?? With your teeth??
My horses aren’t used to #@$%&*#@ helicopters!!!! If you land in my paddock, I’ll set the dogs on ya!!
If you come in quietly, I promise not to drench you.
But I’m keeping the whip and hobbles close by. 😉
Whatever they’re giving you in hospital, Tim, make sure they include Progenitorivox.
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 30 at 06:34 AM • permalink
And remember, however down you may feel, you’ll never be as far down as Wayne Carey.
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 30 at 06:51 AM • permalink
- Bye Bye Rudy. We’ll miss you in days ahead.
“But it was on his signature issue, the War on Terror—or as Giuliani likes to say, the “terrorists’ war on us”—that Giuliani truly distinguished himself from the field. While John McCain bowed to the media’s consensus and promised to close Guantanamo Bay prison, Giuliani staunchly defended it against baseless charges of widespread detainee abuse.On Iraq, Giuliani unapologetically defended the invasion, correctly stressing the absurdity of fighting a war on terrorism while leaving in power one of its leading patrons in Saddam Hussein. With regard to Iran, Giuliani made the valuable point, actively denied by the Democratic contenders and sometimes even by his Republican counterparts: that the danger from Iran was not confined to its nuclear ambitions but included its sponsorship of jihadist terror across the Middle East.When it came to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the current and lamentable obsession of President Bush, the man who famously evicted Yasser Arafat from a concert in Lincoln Center perceptively observed that, if anything, “too much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.” Peace can be brokered when the Palestinians abandon terrorism, Giuliani said, not before.
For all the flaws of his campaign, Giuliani was a powerful voice for keeping America on offense against Islamic terrorism; the Republican debate will be the poorer without him.”
#194 Pogs, I’d love to be there and if there’s any kind of citizen test, well, I know how to pronounce Monaro.
But these days I’m living up on the Central Coast between Sydney and Newcastle. My next mission as the hapless “agent 13” of the VRWC will probably be reporting, via shoephone, squished inside a berley bucket with a few fish heads and some mullet bones trailed behind the transom of a fishing boat.
Call me psychotic (or a perhaps a gifted seer and sage?) but something tells me that one day I’ll be swimming at Avoca Beach and next thing ya know… POW! … suddenly wedgie-jagged and dangling on the end of a boat hook by a passing sports-fishing cruiser… with MareeS at the helm!
(wronwright stands behind chair)
Pogria. It’s an honor to serve as page for a henchman of the VRWC. Or a henchwoman, although in the case of Andrea, it could be outright dangerous. I don’t know who the Officer of the Day is, but whoever it was assigned you as my page.
(wronwright wonders if there could be a conspiracy afoot, possibly vast and undoubtedly rightwing, to assign a possibly psychotic RWDB as his horse holder)
Now please be a good minion and brush down Paintbrush. I’ll also need you to saddle him and serve as my stepping stool when I get on. Chop chop.
Posted by wronwright on 2008 01 30 at 10:39 AM • permalink
Silky Pony rides off into the sunset.
(Wearing a special hair gel to ward off those dry and bleaching rays).
The Breck Girl was an advertising slogan for a shampoo that was famous until the late 70’s.
Here’s a little background and history.
It also has a list you can link to so you can view some of the famous Breck girls.
Beware smiling pages bearing shiny apples! mwahahahaha
184 I like to Shine All Through The Night whilst I adhere to the Faith of My Father and believe How Great Thou Art.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 30 at 06:46 PM • permalink
As Tim’s banged up in a hospital, he’s probably reading three year old copies of The Bulletin and didn’t get the news 🙂