Open thread opened

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Last updated on June 24th, 2017 at 10:42 am

Back at work since Monday. Column now due. No posts planned. Launch into the open thread!

Posted by Tim B. on 04/03/2008 at 09:30 AM
    1. Drat.  An open thread, and me without my list of relevant topics.

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 04 03 at 09:38 AM • permalink

 

    1. Well I’m hard at work planning the final chapter of the thesis. Planning that is, not yet writing. Anyone who has written such a thing before is welcome to offer advice as to how to reconcile that big idea you had three years ago with the blank pieces of paper in front of you as the deadline closes in.

      Posted by Villeurbanne on 2008 04 03 at 09:43 AM • permalink

 

    1. Oh my, as we are on the INTERNET, this sounds like global threadening.

      Shall we pray to Lord Goreacle™, or PACO Enterprises?

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 04 03 at 09:43 AM • permalink

 

    1. Strong drink, Villeurbanne?

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 04 03 at 09:44 AM • permalink

 

    1. #2 – you get more done around the house and yard when a thesis/exam/report is falling due.

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 04 03 at 09:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. Do as I enviro say, not as I do. Green hypocrisy in Toronto–another Earth Hour success story.

      Posted by andycanuck on 2008 04 03 at 10:00 AM • permalink

 

    1. Enjoy the weekend off before you launch yourself back into the rat race Tim.

      The weekend will go so fast…

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 03 at 10:02 AM • permalink

 

    1. Oh geez.  Three posts a day.  And Tim needs to cut back?

      Owww.  Andrea, for the hundredth time.  Don’t hit me with that paddle.  You evil woman.

      Posted by wronwright on 2008 04 03 at 10:18 AM • permalink

 

    1. Totally off topic (is it possible to be off topic on an open thread?), but has anyone else been watching with fascination the election in Zimbabwe?

      Posted by Baron on 2008 04 03 at 10:26 AM • permalink

 

    1. #9 Baron,

      Yes the Zimbabwe election is interesting. I think it goes to show that if you are a corrupt autocrat who routinely rigs elections then make sure that at least the people who rig elections for you are satisfied.

      Posted by Ross on 2008 04 03 at 10:33 AM • permalink

 

    1. Holy Moley – Blair resorting to Open Threads, and no Lance Lawson this week. My life sucks. Of course, it sucked before, but…oh, skip it.

      Posted by SoberHT on 2008 04 03 at 11:16 AM • permalink

 

    1. A brutal, savage dogfight

      #9—It’s the classic political maxim, “If we’ve lost the brutal machete-wielding thugs, we’ve lost the nation…”

      WTF is that Sharia ad in the corner?

      Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 04 03 at 11:18 AM • permalink

 

    1. #3 Shall we pray to Lord Goreacle™, or PACO Enterprises?

      Pray to PACO Enterprises that they get your Progressive Anal Communications Obliterator shipped before Tim comes back, or you’ll have to share. He’s too cheap to buy his own. (Sorry, Tim.)

      Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 04 03 at 11:36 AM • permalink

 

    1. #2, I’ve found that sheer terror does the trick.  That usually involves procrastination, and/or review of your previous chapters.

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 04 03 at 11:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. here is the late breaking news in my area
      #3 stolen!and this happened just .2 miles from my house.  i tell you, the neighbourhood has just gone to the dogs

      Posted by missred on 2008 04 03 at 12:16 PM • permalink

 

    1. #15 They’d have to be pretty low to stoop to stealing a cardboard cutout.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 03 at 12:30 PM • permalink

 

    1. #16 did you see the photo of the suspects?  >giggle< not exactly the creme of society

      Posted by missred on 2008 04 03 at 12:35 PM • permalink

 

    1. #17 I saw it, but I’m trying to forget I ever saw it.

      How’s the Vegemite? Have you run out yet?

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 03 at 12:36 PM • permalink

 

    1. Tim’s doing a column, we get an open thread. Anybody get the feeling the next time we hear from Tim we’ll see him covering the sale of the Russian Far East to the United States live in Vladivostok?

      Posted by mythusmage on 2008 04 03 at 01:18 PM • permalink

 

    1. Meanwhile in Zimbabwe:

      Robert Mugabe is ready for a runoff in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, a government spokesman insisted today, quashing any opposition hopes that the veteran leader will concede defeat.

      And so the armless, legless knight looks up at King Arthur and says, “Alright.  We’ll call it a draw.”

      Posted by Apostic on 2008 04 03 at 01:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. Good on ya, Tim.

      Posted by Jon J on 2008 04 03 at 02:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. Everyone ordered their copies of the outstanding Outside The Wire yet?

      Posted by Achillea on 2008 04 03 at 02:20 PM • permalink

 

    1. wow, 21 comments and no one has brought out the mead yet?

      #19, still about halfway through the jar.  i did however, pick up another jar while in God’s country 😉

      Posted by missred on 2008 04 03 at 02:21 PM • permalink

 

    1. Hmmm…

      Anybody seen the Beast of Blair Manor lately?…

      Posted by mojo on 2008 04 03 at 02:23 PM • permalink

 

    1. #15 here is the late breaking news in my area
      #3 stolen!
      I know what #1 is and I know what a #2 is.I’m very afraid to click on that link and discovery what a #3 is…

      Posted by Mr. Bingley on 2008 04 03 at 02:28 PM • permalink

 

    1. A little something for the pacos of this world
      http://youtube.com/watch?v=criFYXM4srY

      Posted by Gary from Jersey on 2008 04 03 at 02:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. Man, am I in the wrong profession…

      Trust me, I could handle this job…

      Posted by mojo on 2008 04 03 at 03:03 PM • permalink

 

    1. So I’m over in NZ again working with the bloke who was ops manager at Woomera detention centre for a while. Some interesting observations…
      He reckons riots were very common. The place was run like a battalian, they had a recce section and an intelligence section, and that’s exactly how the detainees organised themselves.
      So the federal government organised a bit of a media stunt where a busload of women and children were taken into the township of Woomera (which is a fully maintained ghost town – but that’s another story) to the little zoo so that the media could see them having a nice time, and the minute they got off the bus the women got down on their hands and knees to eat the grass of the lawn, claiming they were being starved at the detention centre. Media laps it up, the staff just laughed. A propaganda war.
      When he first arrived there the bloke he was taking over from showed him around, including the scar all the way up his spine from where he’d been captured during a riot and tortured.
      Saddam’s little brother was there apparently. He was accompanied at all times by a retinue. One of these blokes approached the ops manager and said “You give me shoes or I cut my throat” and this was greeted with skepticism, but he did it.
      When the riots were on the manager used to get the airforce to buzz the place with the two Hercules aircraft that were stationed at the nearby airfield, and because most of the detainees were military trained, the riot would cease because they would all go to ground.
      Anyway. More snap shots from other than MSM sources.

      Posted by ooh honey honey on 2008 04 03 at 03:16 PM • permalink

 

    1. awww g’awn, mr. bingley. it won’t bite

      Posted by missred on 2008 04 03 at 03:34 PM • permalink

 

    1. Humans gathering in large numbers is my contribution to this open thread.

      Posted by Adriane on 2008 04 03 at 04:53 PM • permalink

 

    1. If Traceeeee hasn’t slashed her wrists yet, why not?

      Australia ‘reverting on climate change’
      April 03, 2008 03:48pm

      THE Australian delegation to climate change talks in Bangkok has turned the clock back to the Howard era by failing to back binding greenhouse targets, environment group Greenpeace says.

      Negotiators from more than 160 nations are taking part in the first round of UN-led talks since last December’s Bali meeting to advance plans for a new global greenhouse treaty.

      According to Greenpeace activists in Bangkok, Australian delegation leader Jan Adams yesterday reverted to Howard government rhetoric of supporting US-style, long-term aspirational goals rather than binding targets.

      “The Australian delegate suggested that a post-2012 commitment period shouldn’t have binding emission reduction commitments, it should be aspirational,” Greenpeace spokesman Paul Winn said from Bangkok.

      Posted by Mystery Meat on 2008 04 03 at 05:05 PM • permalink

 

    1. THE PEOPLE’S 20/20. Come to Catallaxy and put your suggestions in the 20/20 Suggestion Box.

      For example under social inclusion we have the suggestion to eliminate all public instrumentalities that are concerened to advance the interests of particular groups based on gender, race or ethnicity.

      Under productivity, we have the suggestion to restore AWAs.

      Under creatity we have the suggestion to limit arts grants to short-term contracts, with the results of the grant made public.

      Posted by Rafe on 2008 04 03 at 05:32 PM • permalink

 

    1. Water Plan, hostels for aboriginal kids, razor gang, no binding targets, salute George Bush … what’s missing?
      Criticism from the media of the sort JH used to get.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 04 03 at 05:34 PM • permalink

 

    1. You mean you’ve been off bludging since January?
      Strewth!#16
      Depends on the cutout… noone stole Kevvie from Parliament House on that Friday… but then again, it’s hard to tell the two apart – cardboard Kevvie or the other one, the one the Libs had.#20
      Robert Mugabe.

      >>>shakes head<<<

      Did you hear Desmond Tutu waxing lyrical about the good that Mugabe has done for Zim? This piece on the situation in Zimbabwe, quoting the “players”, doesn’t give the quote of Tutu where he says, paraphrased, “Mugabe should step down now so that we can remember the good he has done….”

      WTF?

      And it’s been announced that the “runoff” will happen in Zimbabwe.

      #28

      “You give me shoes or I cut my throat” and this was greeted with skepticism, but he did it.

      Not deep enough, not far enough.
      Just the kind of people we should welcome into Aus.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 03 at 05:46 PM • permalink

 

    1. I am stepping on VERY dangerous ground here, but it might be said that our Dear Leader’s thoughts on Afghanistan –in short Agent Orange on the poppies and more troops on the ground- might be worth consideration.

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 04 03 at 06:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. #7 – Ash, I think “Back at work SINCE monday” means he went back this week.  And I bet he will enjoy this weekend like no other!

      Congrats Tim on making sufficient recovery to return to work.  Another milestone.  Or is that millstone?

      Topics so far covered for those late to the thread:

      1. Concluding chapter in thesis. (try repeating the first one but with the sentence order reversed.)

      2. Earth hour.  (Funny how they spend more time talking about how great they did during ONE hour, but not if it changed how they acted during every other hour.)

      3. Paddle spanking.  (wronwright and his fantasies.  Enough said.)

      4. Mugagbe. (I did win, just let me count those votes again.  I think he finally lost because rampant inflation drove up bribery prices above his bank balance!  And Desmond Tutu is still a dickhead.)

      5. Dog cuddles.  (Hey, don’t turn this into lefty’s blog.)

      6. Sharia is great ads. (Spend those oil bucks brother!)

      7. Earnhart in cardboard worth $500.00.  Stock in GE worth less.

      8. Book vendors unite!

      9. Some random youtube clip.

      10. More spanking.  See what he did?

      11. Muslims want more grass.

      12. Group hugs.

      13. Australia does the Garnaut sums and doesn’t aspire so much anymore.

      14. 2020 gets rafed.

      15. Rudd is a complete WANKER!

      Seriously embarassing.  Bring him home before my cringes become permanent scars.

      Posted by peter m on 2008 04 03 at 06:13 PM • permalink

 

    1. Touching footage of our Dear Leader on the TV this morning. The camera caught him standing on his own in a crowded room in Bucharest, looking like a new kid in the playground, searching for a friendly face.
      Eventually his face lit up and he saluted towards someone out of shot.
      The camera followed Mr Rudd as he moved quickly across the room to fawningly greet his new friend, President George Bush.
      Seems like being Deputy Dawg to Bushitler is no longer distasteful for the ALP.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 03 at 06:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. 35 – Rod C – even broken clocks are right twice a day.  Yes we should destroy the crops.  Yes we need more committment and a overall strategy.  It’s okay to acknowledge smart policies around here.  Why did they reject his poppy push?

      Posted by peter m on 2008 04 03 at 06:16 PM • permalink

 

    1. Bugger! Scooped again by peter m.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 03 at 06:17 PM • permalink

 

    1. Tutu’s crazy:
      The former Anglican archbishop Tutu, once dubbed by Mr Mugabe as “that evil little bishop”, said the veteran Zimbabwean leader could have had a fantastic legacy had he stepped down a decade ago. “He did a fantastic job, and it’s such a great shame, because he had a wonderful legacy. If he had stepped down 10 or so years ago he would be held in very, very high regard.”

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 03 at 06:19 PM • permalink

 

    1. #2 What’s the subject, Villeurbanne?

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 04 03 at 06:19 PM • permalink

 

    1. #6 Yeah, I enjoyed that story too, Andy 🙂

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 04 03 at 06:20 PM • permalink

 

    1. In today’s national broadsheet, a newspoll shows the left leaning ex teacher Premier of Qld extending her party’s lead over the invisible and incompetent opposition led by the salvation army tea boy Worrence Spwingbord.

      You just can’t imagine any other important aspect of life that could be run so abysmally, except for Queensland Rugby.

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 04 03 at 06:24 PM • permalink

 

    1. #10 Ross, so true. Even the rats are abandoning ship.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 04 03 at 06:26 PM • permalink

 

    1. This may have been discussed, but has everyone seen “Fitna”? I saw it on u-tube. Looked pretty much spot on, to me.
      Islam is sick, and needs to die.

      Posted by rinardman on 2008 04 03 at 06:29 PM • permalink

 

    1. Have a look at this and try to spot the glaring error

      Posted by Pig Head Sucker on 2008 04 03 at 06:36 PM • permalink

 

 

    1. #36 Peter m. The Rudd salute was embarrassing. The scene leading up to that salute was simply sad. Not at Youtube yet, but just before the salute Rudd was standing alone and ignored in the middle of the room, rubbing his hands together, looking very much like an uninvited and unwanted guest.  He then spied someone he knew – Bush – and saluted. Bush must have politely acknowledged Rudd, who then rushed across the room to him. Can’t say Bush looked pleased. He was at a NATO meeting to talk to NATO leaders and he suddenly has in his face this annoying prat from Australia who only wants to talk about China.

      The news said NATO didn’t adopt Rudd’s grand plan for Afghanistan (a celebrity 2020 summit chaired by Angelina Jolie and Kein Rudd?), preferring to go with its own. So it looks like Rudd utterances about “taking a leading role in Afghanistan” was so much horse shit. And as Mystery Moat points out at #31, the claimed “leading role on climate change” isn’t impressing the other warmanistas.

      Think the rest of the world is doing what the Australian media won’t do and that is let all the gas out of Rudd.

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 04 03 at 06:50 PM • permalink

 

    1. #37 Loved it. Bushitler coming to the rescue of a lonely and frightened Rudd has made my year.

      On the topic of Rudd: Is it just me or does Rudd’s lip licking during speeches annoy the crap out of others?

      Posted by cal on 2008 04 03 at 06:52 PM • permalink

 

    1. #49 Cal. The lip licking interrupted only by the ums and ers and the bile that drips from his lips. And the way he looks at you down the lens like a funeral director.

      He comes from a life of making pleasant speeches in bureaucratic environments where everyone smiles and nothing gets done.

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 04 03 at 07:08 PM • permalink

 

    1. Yesterday, I saw a cat.

      Posted by Apple77 on 2008 04 03 at 07:23 PM • permalink

 

    1. #32 Rafe:

      Catallaxy refuses to let me comment – says I have the wrong username – so I’ll put my comments here:

      Future directions for the Australian economy.
      Repeal the Tax Act in toto and replace it with Estonia’s.

      Future security and prosperity in a rapidly changing region and world.
      Make breach of the citizenship oath a criminal offence.

      Future of Australian governance.
      Introduce US-style primaries for selection of candidates for political office.

      Population, sustainability, climate change and water.
      Water: Require States to construct a minimum level of dam capacity per head of population per unit of time.

      Graph these figures and see what the curve looks like:

      Reservoir volume (10³m³) constructed per million population
      1951-1960: 1,187,879
      1961-1970: 1,200,109
      1971-1980: 3,145,376
      1981-1990: 572,444
      1991-2000: 165,115

      Sources:

      Reservoir volumes –
      ICOLD Dam Register 02, Australian National Committee on Large Dams Incorporated

      Population –
      ABS, Australian Historical Population Statistics (3105.0.65.001).

      Towards a creative Australia.
      Privatise the ABC and SBS.

      Posted by s.r.intulom on 2008 04 03 at 07:35 PM • permalink

 

    1. #52 sri

      Keep plugging away lad, you’ll get there.

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 03 at 07:40 PM • permalink

 

    1. Question for everyone: what is it with The Australian lately? Every day they seem to have a new “Rudd to save us all” banner headline. Sure, the opinion writers give us a better picture of the spin we’re being subjected to, but the front page stories are like Rudd election ads. What’s going on?

      Posted by BB77 on 2008 04 03 at 07:47 PM • permalink

 

    1. #49, the lip licking drives me crazy too as do the cliches strung together with umms and arrs (sp?).  Not to mention his hand gesticulations.

      Posted by Kami on 2008 04 03 at 07:55 PM • permalink

 

    1. #51. What…in half?

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 04 03 at 08:06 PM • permalink

 

    1. #49 Cal, and #55 Kam,

      Krudd’s lip-licking has not gone unnoticed. I think there may be a clip or two on you tube where Chaser or some other show did a lick count. How many times he licked his lips in three minutes or something.

      I reckon he licks his lips even more these days because after he got sprung chewing on his ear wax, he realised he couldn’t risk doing that in public any more. So, to continue with his daily wax-fix, he grinds his fingers into his ears every morning, then spreads the wax over his lips like a normal person would spread lip balm. That way he can eke out the pleasure all day by way of constant lip licking. mmmmmmmmmmmm

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 03 at 08:15 PM • permalink

 

    1. 54 – I wonder if they are completely serious – is there any touch of irony in building him up like this, so when they yank the rug, it cannot be said they were always against him?  Otherwise I can’t explain it.

      Pogria, thanks for the image, NOT!  You are one sick puppy 😉

      Posted by peter m on 2008 04 03 at 08:21 PM • permalink

 

    1. “Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?”

      What is the message sent by Beijing in sentencing the human rights activist Hu Jia to three and a half years in jail? A decision of this magnitude and its timing, just as the Olympic flame has started its journey around the world, doesn’t happen by accident…

      …It is a mark of Hu’s determined character that the effect was not to silence him but to broaden his critique. The joint manifesto which he published last September with fellow activist Teng Biao is a remarkable document which ranges from the way that houses have been destroyed without proper compensation for the Olympics to the torture of Falun Gong followers in jail – and it deals with repression in Tibet too.

      …and last week:

      A Chinese dissident who dared to claim that human rights were more important than the Olympic games was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after being found guilty of subversion.

      Yang Chunlin, an unemployed former factory worker from Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province, was accused of accepting money from hostile foreign organisations, writing critical articles, and organising a petition on behalf of farmers who lost their land to developers. The petition, which was circulated last year, declared: “We don’t want the Olympics, we want human rights.” According to Yang’s family, it was signed by 7,000 to 8,000 people.

      This is going to be the best Olympics since 1936.

      IOC pleased with China censorship pledges

      Gee, that’s swell!

      Trust the IOC to make the management of Formula One look like upstanding citizens.

      And what do we get for turning a blind-eye?

      AUSTRALIA’S mining giants have been blackballed from selling iron ore into the lucrative Chinese daily spot market, in a dramatic escalation of their battle to extract more value from the world’s most powerful steel industry.

      The boycott is being orchestrated by industry arms of the Chinese Government. It may have already cost Australia as much as $300 million in export profits, Australian mining sources say.

      Call it a boycott, or merely an inability to stomach the whole thing, but I won’t be watching the games.  That slimy creep Kevan Gosper and his mates can all go fuck themselves.

      It’s time the West drew a line in the sand with China, about a great many issues, as our current approach clearly hasn’t made it’s unelected government any nicer.

      Quote of the century goes to…

      The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, says those who voted to give the Games to China should not now be surprised that “China is what it is”.

      Posted by monaro on 2008 04 03 at 08:32 PM • permalink

 

    1. more. So, to continue with his daily wax-fix, he grinds his fingers into his ears every morning, then spreads the wax over his lips like a normal person would spread lip

      #57, Pogria that’s a mental image that I didn’t need.

      Posted by Kami on 2008 04 03 at 08:37 PM • permalink

 

    1. Pogs is on a mission.

      To gross everyone out.

      It’s working.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 03 at 08:43 PM • permalink

 

    1. 57,

      That’s disgusting. I just threw up in my mouth.

      Posted by Apple77 on 2008 04 03 at 08:43 PM • permalink

 

    1. “Thank you everyone”, gushes Pogria as she bows deeply to the audience.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 03 at 08:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. Regardingthis article, I wrote to News two hours ago to tell them that the following para if fallacious:

      “Mr Rudd is seen saluting the President in acknowledgment, bringing to mind Mr Bush’s description of former prime minister John Howard as his “deputy sheriff”.”

      Bush never NEVER described Howard as his deputy sheriff.  On the contrary when the proposition was put to him by a reporter he disageed with that characterisation.

      I’ve also written to Andrew Bolt to point out the error – to his shame he has not published my comment – doesn’t want any criticism of his employer I suppose.

      Posted by Pig Head Sucker on 2008 04 03 at 08:53 PM • permalink

 

    1. While we are on the subject of earwax…

      When the earwax footage first appeared my now 3 year old, unfortunately, overheard hubby and me discussing it.  Since then whenever I clean his or his baby brother’s ears he asks “earwax for Kevin?” :).

      Posted by Kami on 2008 04 03 at 09:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. The Rudd stories are interesting.

      Remember when we were told that Asia would not deal with us, versus the current snubbing of Japan? I can only hear crickets chirping on that one.

      Rudd, the child of the left supporting a regime that has real human rights violations. Where are the papier mache heads in protest?

      Saluting the POTUS and offering advice to Billary? Where are the howls about interfering in foreign politics? Of being a lapdog?

      Posted by Nic on 2008 04 03 at 09:03 PM • permalink

 

    1. #65

      During WWII, the British people were short of everything, including lard.

      A certain Moonie Ponds housewife, now Dame and Mother of The Nation, arranged for her house to be a Fat For Britain Depot. Collected mutton fat was put in jars and shipped back to Blighty to the delight of the beseiged poms.

      Given current shortages, perhaps Earwax for Our Dear Leader should be collected at central points. Even the kiddies seem keen. An opportunity to do some real good for someone truly in need. It would make one feel good to think that every time Kev has a chew a valuable and nutritious resource has been recycled, rather than just wiped on a cotton bud or hanky.

      Perhaps schools could be involved. Each morning, instead of putting change in the mission boxes to be sent to buy a goat in the poor countries, kiddies could have a morning dig and place their contribution in a blowie proof glass jar. At the end of the month, the school that has collected the most crud might be rewarded with a new computer, a carbon credit or Garrett could come and plant a tree.

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 03 at 09:22 PM • permalink

 

    1. #36 – re Rudd. Seems to me like poor old Kev was reliving high school and uni parties where he snuck in uninvited, was duly ignored by the cool kids and then was ecstatic to find someone he knew. Must be a huge comedown from the adulation he recieved from kiddies all over the country during the election campaign. Overall a pretty good picture of what kind of loser we have as PM.

      I bet Therese still thinks he’s cool.

      Posted by AnthonyC on 2008 04 03 at 09:38 PM • permalink

 

    1. Fairly impressive that even after all he has been through, Tim has been able to maintain his column.

      Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 04 03 at 09:55 PM • permalink

 

    1. Bolt has a good post on the press gallery’s fawning over Rudd at NATO as well as that stomach-churning salute.

      Posted by Art Vandelay on 2008 04 03 at 10:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. #67. Pickles, are you trying to outpog pogs? I suppressed gagging after reading Pogs. You’re nearly there.

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 04 03 at 10:00 PM • permalink

 

 

    1. #72, I see the resemblance, except for the hand.  KRudd’s hands look very feminine.

      Posted by Kami on 2008 04 03 at 10:16 PM • permalink

 

    1. I note that Traceee’s protests about interference with her channel seemed to stop just as soon as they brought in the heavy machinery.

      Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 04 03 at 10:32 PM • permalink

 

 

    1. #74 – A protest regarding her loose fillings and chipped dentures is just around the corner.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 03 at 10:35 PM • permalink

 

    1. IT, I reackon they even both have that same inane giggle and love for leather clothing.

      Posted by Nic on 2008 04 03 at 10:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. Actually, tell me Rudd is not the image of an old lesbian.

      Posted by Nic on 2008 04 03 at 10:52 PM • permalink

 

    1. Did Nova FM make a fuss about Earth Hour?

      Because I rode past their offices at 6.30am (00:00 dark-hundred to the rest of you) and every light in their building was ablaze…. but almost every desk was empty.

      Just wondering…. I never listen to them, so I wouldn’t know what they have been backing.

      Posted by mr creosote on 2008 04 03 at 11:28 PM • permalink

 

    1. The headlines and comments by the Australian media collected by Andrew Bolt (Art’s link at #70) are somewhat ironic in that they have come out of Romania. A propaganda machine in communist Romania placed Nicolae Ceausescu in the middle of some of the great moments in history, such as the Russian revolution when he wasn’t.

      Former journalists turned propagandists Grattan and Shanahan are doing the same with Rudd. Expect they were also those claiming it was Rudd who stopped Japan’s humpback kill when we now know that Rudd had never spoken to the Japanese PM on any topic. The Rudd salute TV footage reveals the truth. He would not have been that sad figure standing alone in the middle of the room if he was a man of influence.

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 04 03 at 11:45 PM • permalink

 

    1. Part 2
      Grattan and Shanahan’s respective employers should be asking serious questions about who these two are working for – the newspapers or Rudd? If I was an editor I would be very concerned that Grattan and Shanahan would cover up a great story or alert Labor if they thought it was going to damage Rudd.

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 04 03 at 11:46 PM • permalink

 

    1. The NATO summit has been a resounding sucess for Rudd. All of the European leaders and George. W. Bush said they would love to catch up with him when they are next in Vienna.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 03 at 11:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. I’m no longer much of a magazine reader, but this looks interesting.

      Posted by paco on 2008 04 03 at 11:55 PM • permalink

 

    1. #83 – “I am a 44-year-old avid hunter and saltwater fly fisherman. I also like a great bottle of wine and 700 thread-count cotton sheets on my hunt camp bed.”

      Sounds like Country Life for bourbon drinkers.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 04 at 12:03 AM • permalink

 

    1. Golly gosh!

      ABC Drive host will be talking about

      shock horror

      is there a recession coming?

      How will people cope who don’t remember the last one in the early 90s…

      Well, I’m pretty sure that the ones gobbing off on the radio about the ‘coming recession’ (who were reminiscing about it), voted for Cerumen Rudd and his mob.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 12:31 AM • permalink

 

    1. Your one-stop online bogan resource.

      Posted by Margos Maid on 2008 04 04 at 01:15 AM • permalink

 

    1. #85 Doesn’t matter who they voted for Kae, they’ll blame Howard for the recession and then they’ll say that Rudd will fix it.

      Boy Wonder can’t do a thing wrong with the ABC.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 04 at 01:49 AM • permalink

 

    1. #86 Would you fish for mullet in the Bogan River?

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 04 04 at 01:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. #85 kae

      So the Australian Media are embracing the “R-word” are they? The US mainstream Media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) have them beat: they’re are throwing “Depression” around like a Frisbee.

      Of course, it’s an Presidential election year, so outrageous hyperbole is the name of the game…

      Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 04 04 at 01:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. #86

      Unloved

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 04 at 01:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. Snappy fella at Carmor Plains NT

      sneaky bugger

      Photos taken last week, about 50 metres from the house

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 04 at 02:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. #91 – I trust your sporting a lovely new belt and pair of boots. And I’ll bet the missus handbags a real beaut.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 04 at 02:14 AM • permalink

 

    1. And four of the biggest backscratchers ever made.

      Bit of a worry when he’s sneaking around the paddock in the middle of the night, half a mile from the creek..

      Must be global warming

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 04 at 02:22 AM • permalink

 

    1. All the games played

      Posted by Pickles on 2008 04 04 at 02:49 AM • permalink

 

    1. #91
      Re photo 2:‘Why didn’t the chicken cross the road?’Jeebus!

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 03:18 AM • permalink

 

    1. #93 – Bit scary having them around the house, but it does keep the German tourist numbers down.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 04 at 03:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. Earth Hour ok. Earth Weekend shit.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 04 at 03:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. #97, Stuff em. This is what they wanted.

      Posted by Nic on 2008 04 04 at 03:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. #87
      I think it’s called toeing the line.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 04:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. If, as in the dark ages, I was limited strictly to Australian papers and TV, I would currently be convinced that Kevin Rudd has won the war in Afghanistan single-handedly.

      Posted by Penguin on 2008 04 04 at 04:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. #59
      “Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?”Nailed it.
      Small wonder he’s friendless in his own political party, and OS, it seems.#50
      He comes from a life of making pleasant speeches in bureaucratic environments where everyone smiles and nothing gets done.

      We (former) public servants recognise the dick’s adminisphere-speak the moment we hear it … deplorable.

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 05:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. Bulgarian Idol, Mariah Carey’s “Ken Lee”, in English… , truly awful.

      Look out Charo.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 05:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. #57
      Looks like he’s about as welcome at a NATO soiree as a suppository on an hors doeuvre tray …

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 05:16 AM • permalink

 

    1. The Rudder won’t catch the crazy frog

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:00 AM • permalink

 

    1. #99 I’m certain you’re right there, but it’s definitely depressing that a media outlet would be behaving like this.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:03 AM • permalink

 

    1. #105
      Why is it depressing? (ha ha)They’re all the bloody same.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 06:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. ’specially down the swamp

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:07 AM • permalink

 

    1. #106 Kae,

      “Why is it depressing? (ha ha)”

      “They’re all the bloody same.”

      No, it’s because they can’t count to six.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 06:32 AM • permalink

 

    1. Michael Fullilove (now there’s a name to conjure with, but, like most folks with such jocularity-inducing names he’s probably heard them all before) is an admirer of the new PM. I heard him interviewed on the ABC the other day, now here he is in the SMH saying similarly profound things about Kevin and the Alliance.
      ”… there is good evidence that, with its embrace of the Bush Administration, the Howard government was loving the alliance to death.”
      You have to read the whole thing to get the complete mess of potage flavour. I laughed during the radio spot when he said what a marvellous Foreign Policy speech Rudd had given (before his departure) to a lot of similar policy wonks who loved to soak up every nuance and complexity of diplomatic manoeuvering – and then described the speech as “crunchy”. He uses the same nuanced and subtle word painting in this article.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 04 04 at 06:36 AM • permalink

 

    1. ’less he runs out of oxygene

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:40 AM • permalink

 

    1. Pickles has been on R&R.

      He took some snaps.

      THAT’S A FISH!

      OK Perview is my fiend, if it doesn’t work it’s not my fault.

      WRONWRIGHT?!?!?!?

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 06:46 AM • permalink

 

    1. No
      I can’t do it.
      But trust me, it’s brilliant!

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 06:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. or pi in the sky?

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. but watch out for them gorillaz

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 06:54 AM • permalink

 

    1. Pickled fish.

      Did it work this time?

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 06:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. photobucket sux

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 06:57 AM • permalink

 

    1. it says it in black and white

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 07:02 AM • permalink

 

    1. Pickle’s Barra From Hell.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 07:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. #118,

      That should have read, Pickles’ Barra from Hell.

      Sorry for the bad grammar. Pickles has more than six letters.
      I can’t count that far.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 07:25 AM • permalink

 

    1. #119
      Or are you juz ‘pickled’? 🙂

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 07:28 AM • permalink

 

    1. #120 egg_

      1 bottle shiraz-cab-sav
      +
      1 bottle of cab-sav-merlot

      mmm yeah, I’m “pickled”

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 07:33 AM • permalink

 

    1. Frank Devine reports: Make love, eat whale and ignore WWF Kremlin’s orders, apart from the Satanic glow emanating from a couple of houses where Japanese families were eating whale omelets by the light of blubber.

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 04 04 at 07:34 AM • permalink

 

    1. 118
      raotflmao

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:38 AM • permalink

 

    1. Stinking
      bloody big
      fish.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. #116 Kae:
      I am assuming that you are trying to link to an image in your personal album at Photobucket.
      If so, try this:
      Under the target image in your Photobucket album, click on the box to the right of the “Direct link” panel. A momentary yellow “Copied” message indicates that you have copied the link to your clipboard when you clicked on the box.
      Back here at Timblair, paste that copied link into the first box that comes up when you click the “Links” button.
      Hope that helps. If not, just tell me to piss off and mind my own business. I’ll go quietly.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 04 at 07:43 AM • permalink

 

    1. No wonder the crocs are such big mothers!

      (Sorry about the slide show, Mr Pickles…)

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:44 AM • permalink

 

    1. Problem is skeets that you can’t check it with Photobucket open because it will find your photobucket account and open the right thing.
      I made a bloody slide show and the stinking thing wouldn’t post no matter WHAT link I used.
      Now they have FOUR bloody links, arrrrggghh!

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:46 AM • permalink

 

    1. All I’m getting on #118 is the gmail sign on.
      Is it just me or is that happening for others – I don’t use gmail.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. Seems to only work for Gmail accounts.

      meh, pickles was probably telling stories anyway. 😉

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 07:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. fishy slideshow.

      last chance (following Skeeter’s destructions).

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:57 AM • permalink

 

    1. Nope, skeeter, it doesn’t work.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 07:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. #127 Kae, not sure what’s happening there.
      I have just tried it as outlined in #125 with one of your favourites.
      With Photobucket still open, I right-clicked on the red link in Preview, clicked “open in new tab” and the chosen image opened in a new tab.
      All these wonderful things come to pass in Firefox.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 04 at 08:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. It’s not a single picture, it’s a slide show.
      I’ve posted three pics up at #124 and they worked.
      I’ve emailed the links to you to see if they work for you – but make sure you’re not logged into photobucket first.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 08:07 AM • permalink

 

    1. #130
      #131
      #132,Link is still working for me.It’s a bloody good slideshow.

      I reckon Pickles could feed everyone on this blog with that fish.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 04 04 at 08:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. but we won’t get fooled again

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 08:25 AM • permalink

 

    1. Kae, looking at the element properties in your link at #130, the last part of the path is:
      “/Kae_album/?action=view%C2%A4t=46f592bd.pbw”
      This seems to be taking us to your album, not to the target slide show.
      This is different from the last part of the Direct Link you emailed to me.
      I have copied and pasted the Direct Link from your email here, and it works fine in Preview.
      Are you sure you are clicking the Direct Link button when you copy to your clipboard?
      Or maybe all these wonderful things only come to pass in Firefox?
      Anyway, I agree with Pogs. It’s a bloody good slide show and well worth the trouble.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 04 at 08:32 AM • permalink

 

    1. Turn up your radio!

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 08:33 AM • permalink

 

    1. What is Kiwi baked beans

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 08:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. Skeeter, I did what you said to do, and the link it made is at #130.
      The link takes you to the main log in page for photobucket, not to the slide show.
      Not to my page.
      My photobucket account name is kae_album, that’s why it’s there in the path, the slideshow is a photobucket slideshow.Did any of the links I emailed to you work?I’ve linked to heaps of photobucket pics before, and except for once when they added a fourth link and I kept picking the wrong one, I’ve never had problems.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 08:45 AM • permalink

 

    1. been waitin’ for this to turn up on youtube …

      Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 04 at 08:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. #139 Kae, see #136 and my reply to your email.
      The plot thickens.

      Posted by Skeeter on 2008 04 04 at 09:00 AM • permalink

 

    1. I just read this in the Age, it made my eyes pop:

      Call to switch onus on racist offences

      Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma wants the burden of proof in cases of racial discrimination to fall on the alleged offender, instead of the person making the complaint.

      Mr Calma said Australia’s laws made it difficult to prove there had been discrimination.

      In Australia, the burden of proof rests on the person making the complaint.

      “It is a difficult exercise to be able to get that evidence together and if the offending party doesn’t want to co-operate then you can’t progress it,” he said. “

      Mr Calma said if people were forced to defend themselves, it might make them think twice before offending.

      Posted by Nic on 2008 04 04 at 09:32 AM • permalink

 

    1. Kevin Rudd.
      How the world sees him.
      How he sees himself.

      Posted by lotocoti on 2008 04 04 at 09:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. #141
      If I cut and paste the links into IE or Firefox they work, if I put them up on the blog they don’t. It’s got me!

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 09:46 AM • permalink

 

    1. #142 That’s just wrong Nic. It should be the onus of the offended to show exactly what was wrong with the “discrimination”. If it’s so discriminatory, it should be fairly easy to prove.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 04 04 at 09:59 AM • permalink

 

    1. #142, Nic, in the US, that’s the way it works already, if the offender is white and the offendee is not.  Guilty until proven innocent, and sometimes not even then.

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 04 04 at 11:59 AM • permalink

 

 

    1. #9 Zimbawe just issued a 50 MILLION Zimbabwe dollar note that will enable folks to buy three loafs of bread since it is worth $1.00. And people think we have it bad in the US….

      Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 04 04 at 04:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. Correction. Bread cost 16 MILLION Zimbabwe dollars.

      Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 04 04 at 04:16 PM • permalink

 

    1. #19 Anybody get the feeling the next time we hear from Tim we’ll see him covering the sale of the Russian Far East to the United States live in Vladivostok?

      It would go well with Alaska. Hey! We’re collecting the set!

      Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 04 04 at 04:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. Comparing a four-seater economy car to two two-seaters stacked one on the other.  Nice.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HubdbUeCvKQ

      Posted by Hazy Dave on 2008 04 04 at 05:13 PM • permalink

 

    1. #151
      Hazy, that’s hilarious.No matter how they try to dress them up, they’re still the UGLIEST car.

      Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 05:29 PM • permalink

 

    1. #152, kae, the smart car is just funny looking.. this is the ugliest car

      Posted by missred on 2008 04 04 at 07:05 PM • permalink

 

  1. #153
    OK, smart is the ugliest car.That one is the ugliest 4WD/SUV/Box on wheels.Yeah, it’s UGLY too!

    Posted by kae on 2008 04 04 at 11:28 PM • permalink