Open threadening

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Last updated on July 2nd, 2017 at 09:15 am

Take it from here, folks.

Admin Announcement: okay, people, the sick little creature that signed up using “Gazza” something and as the fake “Real JeffS” has been banned and all of his comments have been deleted. I’ve turned off registration, which was opened as a favor to people who wanted to leave Tim messages of encouragement, not as an invitation to the anencephalic web-footed cretins who infest the internet to leave their diarrhea all over the place. “Gazza Logie” (email: garry.logan8@gmail.com or garry.logan9@gmail.com, feel free to contact him with messages of support) can return to his favorite furry porn* sites. (Update: I also removed the fake “Thin Man Returns” ID—email thinmanreturns@gmail.com.)

*Not Safe For Work—or anything else, actually.

Posted by Tim B. on 01/19/2008 at 11:37 AM
    1. Time to party. You can warm up by slapping party clown, Corey. I slapped him 295 metres but that’s easily beaten, surely…

      Posted by JAFA on 2008 01 19 at 01:56 PM • permalink

 

    1. Update, 326 metres. Warning: it’s addictive.

      Posted by JAFA on 2008 01 19 at 02:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. I played it the other day JAFA, and got the little moron 373 metres.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 01 19 at 02:01 PM • permalink

 

    1. #3. A new champion.

      Posted by JAFA on 2008 01 19 at 02:04 PM • permalink

 

    1. Minions!  To work!  Those chili fries don’t just make themselves, you know.

      Posted by Achillea on 2008 01 19 at 02:07 PM • permalink

 

    1. I hope Mr. Tim’s lady love, or someone of his personal contingent, has the keys to our kingdom handy.

      Don’t make us wait for the All Clear.

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 02:10 PM • permalink

 

    1. tim’s trusted secretary, trixi, is here, grimmy.  what do you need keys for?

      Posted by missred on 2008 01 19 at 02:11 PM • permalink

 

    1. tossing the keys in your direction, grimmy.  i am not going to witness this!

      Posted by missred on 2008 01 19 at 02:27 PM • permalink

 

    1. I brought the

      special Japanese cartoons—

      which way’s the DVD?

      Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 19 at 02:29 PM • permalink

 

    1. It’s over there

      Posted by Achillea on 2008 01 19 at 02:45 PM • permalink

 

    1. #9 (pssst, right behind those scrolls from Elephantis…the ones that are hard to unroll)

      Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 19 at 02:46 PM • permalink

 

    1. #9 McEnroe, do you mean special Japanese cartoons like Den Beste’s anime?  Matey that’s some racy stuff!

      And easy on those bolds.  Blair said to not mess with them.

      Posted by reese on 2008 01 19 at 02:48 PM • permalink

 

    1. missred:

      Keys back to you, ma’am. I was meaning that someone with the proper juice needs to post when the cutting is done and give us the All Clear so we can Stand Down.

      Many of us will be in Stand To! condition until further notice.

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 03:09 PM • permalink

 

    1. I brought chips, dip, beer, and shrimp.  Does Tim still have that extra refrigerator out back, next to the barbie?

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 01 19 at 03:12 PM • permalink

 

    1. So, what’s going to happen to Corey? Maybe, if he does a stint in juvenile hall, it’ll butch him up a bit. Lord knows he needs it.

      Posted by Redd on 2008 01 19 at 03:31 PM • permalink

 

    1. #14: Well, heh, not anymore. I, uh, took the liberty of hooking it up to the Paroxysmal Accelerated Cold Oscillator, and it sort of exploded.

      Hey! Who wants to help me pick the beer bottle shards out of these frozen pork chops?

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 03:34 PM • permalink

 

    1. #15 Redd: Plus a ton of Clearosil. Or similar.

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 03:43 PM • permalink

 

    1. #14RebeccaH, I’ve got my spare fridge on a trailer just outside. It was cluttering up my garage anyway.

      I was going to bring the chips and dips (my specialty) but you got in first.

      Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2008 01 19 at 03:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. #16 Paaaco! I told you, time and again, not to do that!

      kae? kae! where’s kae when you need her?

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 03:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. #17 SandiM:  Eww. Forgot about that. One thing that definitely has to go is his pretty pink Barbie bed linen.

      Posted by Redd on 2008 01 19 at 04:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. Some really useful info from a reuter’s correspondent for the Ottawa Citizen online and talking about the US election, mentioned someone called I quote “Hillary Clinton, a New York senator and wife of former President Bill Clinton”. I didn’t know that, having spent the last few years holidaying on the dark side of Mercury!!

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 19 at 04:30 PM • permalink

 

    1. #21, Rod C, they had to list her credentials for the job.
      Best bumper sticker: “Monica’s ex-boyfriend’s wife for President”

      Posted by Latino on 2008 01 19 at 04:52 PM • permalink

 

    1. Open Threadening.

      Tim, you have me in stitches! Or as my old nanny used to say, ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ (or something like that). Anyway, Timbo, you seem to have this operation gig all stitched up. [/gags]

      This time tomorrow mate, it’ll nearly all be behind you. Then it’ll be time for the Panadol for a few days.

      Don’t worry, be happy, get well soon and hurry back.

      Posted by Bonmot on 2008 01 19 at 04:53 PM • permalink

 

    1. I’m a normally non-commenting lurker, a regular reader, an admirer and a fellow hack. Can I just wish you the Best of British for what follows. Get well soon.

      Posted by williamc on 2008 01 19 at 04:56 PM • permalink

 

    1. oooh an open thread.
      <licks lips>
      Damn this is gonna stuff up my speciality – writing off topic.
      A few rrandoms in no particular order of importance:1: Teenagers are a pain in the arse.
      2: Winning on Keno is not as easy as it looks
      3: I have never been so fat – 96kg and am determined to drop a few but I have to find a way around it and drink the same amount of beer.
      4: My toenails have the quinella. Long and grimy.
      5: My wife is going away on a work conference for 4 days in an hour .Chaos (including very bad food), looms.

      Posted by Wacko on 2008 01 19 at 05:24 PM • permalink

 

    1. #19
      Hey, SandiM. Wozzup? (You do know I have a real thing about broken glass? Not a good thing?)

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 05:32 PM • permalink

 

    1. Wacko:

      Food and diet -diet, what a nasty word. Die with a cross on the end of it- suggestion.

      Dump a cup of dry oats in a microwavable bowl. Salt and pepper. Dump a single serving sized can of some meat product on top of it. Sprinkle with holy Wostershirshiresauce. Add water to just covering oats.

      Micro for 3 mins. Stir. Micro for another min.

      Taste and texture take some getting used to but it’s a gut filler and low cal. Also, the prep and cooking requires so little effort and uses so few moving parts, that self contamination is kept to a min.

      I call it California Haggis. Mostly just to piss off my neighbor who’s all into his Scots heritage.

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 05:33 PM • permalink

 

    1. Corey slapping? Is this the new mole surfing?

      On another subject, I forwarded this link to a friend in California, and her response in part was:

      I honestly cannot understand half of the things he’s saying!  I know it’s English…but sometimes it sounds like a different language to me!

      Fifty years and more now of that Yankee cultural imperialism, and we can still confuse them with a simple advertisement. We’re not doing too badly.

      Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 19 at 05:35 PM • permalink

 

    1. Sent Corey 335 metres. And it felt good.

      Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 19 at 05:39 PM • permalink

 

    1. The Australian Macquarie Dictionary lists the new term ‘climate sceptic’ and gives its opposite as ‘climate realist’. Hhhmm.
      We need Tim back soon.

      Posted by Barrie on 2008 01 19 at 05:39 PM • permalink

 

    1. Taa Grimmy. Noted .

      If I decide not to feed the kids (due to it being a bit too hard ) do you think they will believe me if I say I have gone Green and this is my stand against consumerism and carbon footprints ?
      Thsi carbon footprint crap may yet have its uses….Hmmm.

      Posted by Wacko on 2008 01 19 at 05:40 PM • permalink

 

    1. In the spirit of Open Threadening, and as a departure from cricket discussions, here is some commentary on the recent Giants-Cowboys game.

      Posted by ErnieG on 2008 01 19 at 05:40 PM • permalink

 

    1. #25.

      He said “looms”, heh heh.

      an open thread and he says “looms” heh heh heh.
      God, I’m desperate. Faucet replacement to commence as soon as I log out, so that is my excuse.

      Posted by Adriane on 2008 01 19 at 05:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. I think the problem with Corey is he wasn’t slapped earlier in the piece. A little positive obedience and discipline reinforcement would have done wonders.

      Seeing an interview with him, he’s a self-centred little prat, isn’t he? His family and the world owes him.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 05:42 PM • permalink

 

    1. The world owes him a shipload of slappings, and I’m posting that link all over to give the world its opportunity.

      Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 19 at 05:45 PM • permalink

 

    1. Wacko:

      Re: the kidlings. Don’t they have grand parents? I always thought that the purpose of grand parents…or close family friends if the g.p. are too far away, physically or due to spiritual relocation, were where kidlings were supposed to be deposited at such times?

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 05:48 PM • permalink

 

    1. Aaaaaallrightythen!
      “Palestinians see Israel’s continued settlement building as proof of its bad faith in negotiations for a viable Palestinian state, writes Ed O’Loughlin.” Sydney Moonbat Herald
      Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza went well, didn’t it? The Pallys flunked that test quite comprehensively. Did Ed notice?
      And on National Security:
      “The Government will consider putting more resources into building relationships with vulnerable local communities rather than solely pumping more funds into intelligence agencies.”
      Oh, joy.
      But wait, there’s more:
      “This would echo the British approach, which emphasises grassroots social policy such as building community networks, tackling alienation among young people, and encouraging moderate Muslim preachers.The consensus in the intelligence world suggests the greater threat to Australia is from home-grown terrorists rather than foreigners. Arms of government that have never previously had front-line involvement in developing national security policy, such as Treasury and AusAID, have been asked to come up with proposals to be considered by cabinet, most likely next month.

      The Government will significantly broaden the definition of national security to include non-conventional threats such as climate change, natural disasters and the economy.”
      Good luck with that.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 19 at 05:50 PM • permalink

 

    1. blogstrop:

      Don’t tell anyone. It’s super secret. But, we are developing an anti-global warming bomb.

      It’s part of our new Eco Threat Reduction Weapon Set.

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 05:57 PM • permalink

 

    1. #26 kae: No, it’s not about you picking up glass shards, or anything. Just that we need someone to take charge, keep things in order. Or at least see that the place is cleaned up after.

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 06:02 PM • permalink

 

    1. #39
      Ahh, so I get someone else to clean up.That works for me.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 06:07 PM • permalink

 

    1. #39: Oh! And put me down as a volunteer to help in the cleanup. If I’m able (after the Sumarian mead and all), of course.

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 06:10 PM • permalink

 

    1. #41
      SandiM it shouldn’t be too bad, I think we’ve managed to train most of the yobbos to be a little more neat n’ tidy in their revelry. I don’t think any utes have been incinerated at recent gatherings.It’s just when Paco and Wron and a few others start playing experimenting with their toys very expensive and important equipment…

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 06:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. Hey, lookit!  The door to the storage room is open, and it’s chock full o’ Sumerian meade!  Yum!!

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 19 at 06:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. Hmm. Then again. Maybe not.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 06:18 PM • permalink

 

    1. #42 kae:

      It’s just when Paco and Wron and a few others start playing experimenting with their toys very expensive and important equipment…

      Uhmmm… that is a concern. but since you’re in charge I’m sure they’ll mind your typically subtle warning (sorta).

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 06:22 PM • permalink

 

    1. The other day I came up with what I think is a new expression. But, I haven’t come up with a really good definition. Any ideas?

      Define: Leftoid Arthritis

      As in….“she has a bad case of leftoid arthritis”.

      Posted by rinardman on 2008 01 19 at 06:22 PM • permalink

 

    1. Grimmy @ #36
      Geography is an issue re grandparents and my friends are…. well…like me really …
      So not much use.Aaah it’ll be ….what’s the wanky term for something that is a pain in the arse ? Thats it .
      It will be a challenge
      < Puts her suitcase in the boot of the car and notes that she supposedly needs enough clothing for 4 days ,yet it weighs more like there is enough in there for 4 months >
      < As wife pulls out of driveway he goes straight to the fridge and a beer at the surprisingly thirsty hour of 9:22 am >

      Posted by Wacko on 2008 01 19 at 06:23 PM • permalink

 

    1. < As wife pulls out of driveway he goes straight to the fridge and a beer at the surprisingly thirsty hour of 9:22 am >

      What’s wrong with ya, Wacko?
      Sounds like you’ve got it all under control there.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 06:35 PM • permalink

 

    1. rinardman:

      Leftoid Arthritis: Rhetorically rigid dysfunction?

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 06:40 PM • permalink

 

    1. #31 Wacko,
      Your situation is what pizza delivery and take out Chinese food were invented for.

      Posted by Michael Lonie on 2008 01 19 at 06:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. taa Michael #50.
      message received and understood.

      Posted by Wacko on 2008 01 19 at 06:50 PM • permalink

 

    1. #46
      Well, it seems that among the symptoms of arthritis is a sensitivity to changing weather (which would explain their moanings about Gorebal Warmongering. Also arthritis reduces flexibility, which seems pretty well to define leftists. It causes pain (and aren’t they always suffering) and pain, if acute enough, inteferes with rational thought.I suippose it can also cause the that bizarre tilty head thing too.

      Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 19 at 06:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. Acting PM Rudd’s me-tooism is now stretching to the office of the governor-general. Like Hawke, who appointed the man he deposed as Labor leader, it is now reported that Rudd wants Kim Beazley to be the next GG. It will be another broken promise – Rudd said no jobs for the boys under him.

      More interesting is that the real PM, Julia Gillard, wants a woman in the role. Expect she wants to follow the lead of the late Tasmanian premier Jim Bacon in finding the worst possible vice-regal appointee to discredit the office in the name of republicanism. Bacon appointed the Richard Butler, one-time weapons inspector and full-time anus. Wonder what happened to him?

      So who would be on Julia’s list. Cheryl Kernot and Mary Delahunty have Labor party credentials and embarrassing standards of behaviour. Lowija O’Donohue, who has the added qualification of being an Aborigine,  hates 95% of the people in the country. Ideal. Margo Kingston maybe?

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 01 19 at 06:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. 53.
      Id be betting on O’Donohue myself, maybe even a Carmen Lawrence (shudder) or another from the shreiking moonbat left retirees before the last election.

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 19 at 06:57 PM • permalink

 

    1. If Julia could find a way of taking the job itself she would be a little bit closer to making “The Peoples Democratic Republic” – it is a matter of making the GG’s position work.

      Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 19 at 06:59 PM • permalink

 

    1. Re #55: Obviously while still PM.

      Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 19 at 07:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. #52 I suippose it can also cause the that bizarre tilty head thing too.

      I’m thinking that might be considered one of the symptoms of leftoid artritis(LA).

      Posted by rinardman on 2008 01 19 at 07:03 PM • permalink

 

    1. #37 blogstrop:

      “This would echo the British approach, which emphasises grassroots social policy such as building community networks, tackling alienation among young people, and encouraging moderate Muslim preachers.

      And be just as successful (not), no doubt. Just like the way we followed the British NHS model with equal success. Bah!

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 07:05 PM • permalink

 

    1. Joan Kirner is a distinct possibility…….  beazleys partner or whatever might need to change name. What about flannery or kirby J…the latter would make a very small minority a mjor influence group of real Australians oh so happy and gay

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 19 at 07:05 PM • permalink

 

    1. #55 The GGs position worked fine in ‘75, and the High Court later decided everything was kosher, constitution-wise

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 19 at 07:08 PM • permalink

 

    1. #46 Define: Leftoid Arthritis

      I call them boneheads.

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 01 19 at 07:09 PM • permalink

 

    1. # 53 Contrail: Carmen Lawrence, of “I don’t recall” fame? Ugh!

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 19 at 07:10 PM • permalink

 

    1. #41: And put me down as a volunteer to help in the cleanup

      Guess you weren’t here for the clean-up after the last party at Tim’s. Hey, better you than me!

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 07:18 PM • permalink

 

    1. #21 Rod Chicago. Hey! that’s my local rag youse talking of. It’s famous for dumbing down.

      A few years ago, for each “story”, below the headline, it had a child’s guide; something along the lines of “the story so far” before it actually ran the report; and then in short words.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 19 at 07:29 PM • permalink

 

    1. Yep, SandiM the “I don’t recall” Carmen Lawrence.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 07:36 PM • permalink

 

    1. #32 ErnieG, that’s one for the memory baks. Hilaruous.

      Note how transgendered multicultural the Wimpy is.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 19 at 07:39 PM • permalink

 

    1. baks?
      hilaruous?I give up.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 19 at 07:40 PM • permalink

 

    1. I’ll volunteer for the clean up crew too. But, only if I get it in writing that I get to man the flamethrower, this time.

      Last time I got stuck on the shovel detail.

      Posted by Grimmy on 2008 01 19 at 07:46 PM • permalink

 

    1. I know how you feel. I was seized by the giggles after watching it.

      Posted by ErnieG on 2008 01 19 at 07:47 PM • permalink

 

    1. #53, Contrail,

      Up here in Canada, we have developed the tradition of selecting the GG from the CBC, which is a worse version of your ABC and, I dare add, the BBC. Has anyone done a study of the percentage of ABC employees who are homsexual, bisexual, transgenderd, lesbian, wierd? I think it has been done for the CBC. I’ll look it up; but the ratio is above antiobnal norms.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 19 at 07:49 PM • permalink

 

    1. Totally on-thread: a couple of AGW references here.

      Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2008 01 19 at 08:03 PM • permalink

 

    1. For any furriners who dont know check this wiki on how a raving moonbat performs as a governer.

      Dick Butler Section 3 covers his time in office as governer of Tasmania.

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 19 at 08:05 PM • permalink

 

    1. antiobnal : adjective, against or opposed to obnals. Thus it is an outgrowing toe-nail or, more generally in looser vernacular, an outgrowth or offshhoot.

      Usage: Hillary is the antiobnal of Bill

      etym: obnaliscarum sinister, lat. quid. for 2nd, left foot, digit.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 19 at 08:06 PM • permalink

 

    1. #72
      Link’s not right, try a wiki searh for Richard Butler and then click on the “Richard Butler Diplomat” entry.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 08:18 PM • permalink

 

    1. Mexico complains about . . . illegal Mexican workers.

      Meanwhile, Osama’s son rides to the rescue.

      And here’s the secret to the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 08:33 PM • permalink

 

    1. It’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Butler_(diplomat)

      Posted by John A on 2008 01 19 at 08:43 PM • permalink

 

    1. Thanks for the wiki corrections, not sure what happened then?

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 19 at 09:23 PM • permalink

 

    1. lol spiders. ugh

      Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2008 01 19 at 09:25 PM • permalink

 

    1. Been a while since we had any military LOL’s (hint hint)

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 19 at 09:39 PM • permalink

 

    1. “I do care so very, very, very much”. Yes, more weirdness from loopy cult member, Tom Cruise. Biggest laugh of the week for me was clip number 4 at that link. Check out the gold, garish Scientology gong Tom is wearing at this, the award ceremony – “Medals courtesy of Huggy Bear, Ltd”, notes one Gawker commenter. LOL. And the Top Gun salute to an enormous Stalin-esque picture of the insane criminal L. Ron Hubbard at the end is priceless.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 19 at 09:47 PM • permalink

 

    1. Speaking of which try this page, the last picture at the bottom.
      I like.
      http://icanhascheezburger.com/page/7/Iceberg bear.

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 19 at 09:48 PM • permalink

 

    1. I want to be Governor-General.  It’s a cool job.  My Centrelink advisor agrees I’m up to it, and has enrolled me in small-talk and etiquete school to boost my CV.

      e.g. “What ho Corey old pal!  Been to any good parties lately?”  While using correct fork to hoe into the smoked Salmon.

      Posted by Bryla on 2008 01 19 at 09:50 PM • permalink

 

    1. Ronald Reagan’s son Michael is not impressed by Environmental Terrorists.
      “We need a surge here at home to deal with these terrorists. With the Capitol Hill Democrats, they are the American people’s deadliest enemies.”

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 19 at 09:52 PM • permalink

 

    1. Rudd rules out Beazley as next GG.

      No KFC banquets at Yarralumla, alas.

      IMO, Rudd will appoint a woman, any woman – a cheap gesture of token reformism. Rudd’s wife, Tubby Tess, will also be pushing for this.

      FWIW, my personal preference.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 19 at 09:59 PM • permalink

 

    1. Email I got this week part 1:

      The Squirrel and The Grasshopper
      REST OF THE WORLD VERSION

      The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

      The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

      Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

      THE END
      THE AUSTRALIAN VERSION

      The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

      The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

      Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

      A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

      The ABC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

      The Australian press informs people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty.

      The Government, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Housing Commission of Australia demonstrate in front of the squirrel’s house.

      The ABC, interrupting a cultural festival special from St Kilda with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing “We Shall Overcome”.

      Bill Shorten rants in an interview with Laurie Oakes that the squirrel got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his “fair share” and increases the charge for squirrels to enter Australian city centres.

      In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The squirrel’s taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders,
      for the work he was doing on his home, and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work.

      The grasshopper is provided with a Housing Commission house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrel’s food is seized and re-distributed to the more needy members of society – in this case the grasshopper.

      Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home.

      The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Australia as they had to share their country of origin with mice.

      On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Australians’  apparent love of dogs.

      The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody.

      Initial moves to make then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice.

      The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from people’s credit cards.

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 19 at 10:06 PM • permalink

 

    1. part 2

      A 60 Minutes special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel’s food, though spring is still months away, while the Housing Commission house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn’t bothered to maintain it. He is shown to be taking drugs.

      Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshopper’s drug “Illness”.

      The cats seek recompense in the Australian courts for their treatment since arrival in Australia.

      The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him.

      Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

      A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost $10 million and state the obvious, is set up.

      Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers.

      Legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased.

      The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Australia’s multicultural diversity and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

      The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose.

      The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison.

      They call for the resignation of a minister.

      The cats are paid $1 million each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in Australia.

      The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increased to pay for law and order, and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

      THE END

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 19 at 10:07 PM • permalink

 

    1. Gee, surfie, you sure that’s not a story that’s based on fact?

      (well done!)

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 10:10 PM • permalink

 

    1. #86 one amendment from me…

      The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose

      and hsi body isn’t found in his commission house for several weeks.

      The government and society is blamed for his unfortunate life, his lonely death and his not being found for months.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 10:12 PM • permalink

 

    1. Surfie,

      That, is absolutely Masterful!

      Lucky for us we’re human, and live in Australia where things like that could never happen.

      bwahahhahahaha

      Bloody Brilliant Mate.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 19 at 10:25 PM • permalink

 

    1. Re: Corey Delaney

      This is the kind of shit the media runs when there is just no news to report, and it amazes me how many people get suckered into following it. There is utterly nothing remarkable about this 16 year old that would justify the media’s continued facination with him. Teenage is synonymous with the word rebellion, for heaven sake. All this attention is in fact what many teenagers crave, and if anyone thinks it was any different “in their day”, they are way out of touch with their youth.

      If the media stuck their cameras in the face of any number of countless 16 year olds across the country, they would find the same smug self-importance. What really sticks in my craw is how the media is turning him into a mini-celebrity rather than quietly leaving the matter to police. The epitome of this idiocy came during an interview with A Current Affair, when Corey was asked to remove his coloured glasses. He refused on the grounds that he liked them, and they were famous. To which the reported replied in an incredulous tone, “why are they famous?” Why indeed…

      Posted by Dan J. on 2008 01 19 at 10:28 PM • permalink

 

    1. #79 –

      Not strictly speaking an lolmilitary, but this made me laugh.

      Posted by Achillea on 2008 01 19 at 10:30 PM • permalink

 

    1. #90
      Dan J
      I know plenty of adults who never went through the Corey ‘rebellious/obnoxious stage’. He could have done with a good slap upside the head to bring him into line many years ago. He most definitely does not deserve the celebrity he’s been given.Then again, what celebrity does?

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 19 at 10:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. Great one, surfmaster.

      But now, paging all Mozart fans.

      (That was on a double disc set I picked up last week: 6 symphonies, Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Bohm (reputedly the best Mozart interpreter – judge for yourself). Ten bucks at JB Hi-Fi. Next they’ll be giving the stuff away).

      As for Beethoven, I’ve been soundly Kleibered. (Only 1 disc, $15 bucks, but that’s Borders for you).

      Posted by Dminor on 2008 01 19 at 10:51 PM • permalink

 

    1. #80: Good stuff, C.L. Thanks for clearing up that business about the medal; I thought he had taken the Olympic gold in the 100-yard insanity dash. Any clips out there with scenes from the post-award dinner? I’d like to see some video of Cruise spooning mashed potatoes onto his head.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 11:02 PM • permalink

 

    1. While using correct fork to hoe into the smoked Salmon.

      Smoked salmon is a finger food, best washed down with beer or Sumerian mead.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 19 at 11:02 PM • permalink

 

    1. Re #84, C.L., if KRudd is looking at a woman, any woman, as GG, let’s keep the Labor Party’s grassroot support in mind, wot?

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 19 at 11:09 PM • permalink

 

    1. FWIW – my pick for the new GG.

      Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 19 at 11:09 PM • permalink

 

    1. This guy wants to do some gigs in Australia

       

      “The Michigan gun shop owner, who sells pistols and AK-47 assault rifles by day…”

      Kool!

      Posted by Gotlieb on 2008 01 19 at 11:10 PM • permalink

 

    1. I slapped the little bugger silly, but still only managed 216m.  I wonder how I’d go with the left? Being a natural left-hander, perhaps I could improve – any excused to belt the little creep a bit more.
      A jolly good foot up the bum wouldn’t go amiss either.

      Posted by jorjac on 2008 01 19 at 11:14 PM • permalink

 

    1. #85 & #86: Thanks for updating that fable, Surfmaster; well played.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 11:15 PM • permalink

 

    1. It is a mark of the sad state of American media that I have to go all the way to Australia to learn about this attempt to castrate Virginia motor vehicles.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 11:26 PM • permalink

 

    1. Kae, Dan J: While I agree that this is a media beat-up and that slaps to the side of the head were, and still are, required, the problem with ‘leaving it to the police’ is that we are talking about the corrupt and inept Victorian state police here.

      The idea of a police force arresting and hanging some very serious grown-up sounding charges on this common or garden teenage dill is disturbing.  This is the force that is knee-deep in gangland slayings, voice taps of senior brass, etc, etc.  From the outside it appears that the half of the force that isn’t re-enacting Roger-the-Dodger is a pussy, feminised ‘community service’ operation. (See Bolt’s many posts on Nixon’s ‘reforms’).

      And now we see what looks like a bullying fit-up for the six o’clock news from Melbourne’s finest. Nah. Something’s not right in the state of Victoria.

      Posted by Big Jim on 2008 01 19 at 11:34 PM • permalink

 

    1. #85 & #86

      Onya, Surfmaster. I loved your tale of the conservative and the leftie.

      OT – An update on slap happy me v Corey. I have now reached a 296m (r/h )wallop of this spoilt little prick – yeh!

      Posted by jorjac on 2008 01 19 at 11:37 PM • permalink

 

    1. 487 metres down the street!

      If it wasn’t for all the media attention, I wouldn’t be wasting my time. But I’m in good company approx 483,000 others have had a go.

      I say to my kids (16 and 18yrs) “You want to make choices, ok, but deal with the consequences.” Makes them stop and think … occasionally.

      Posted by Kairen on 2008 01 19 at 11:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. “He [State Delegate Spruill] said he won’t hesitate to bring a set of $24.95 trailer testicles with him for a legislative show-and-tell.”

      But why spend more? For only $19.95, Delegate Spruill, you can buy a pair of rubber testicles from Prodigious Artificial Cajones Online! Modeled on the fossil balls of the prehistoric Indricotherium – the largest land mammal ever to have existed – these realistic ‘nads can turn your cheesy Chrysler minivan into a head-turning street stud! Don’t delay, order TODAY!

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 11:43 PM • permalink

 

    1. #46

      “She has a case of Leftoid Arthritis.”

      Do you mean that she’s got a whole lot a bad joints?

      Ha,ha.

      Posted by jorjac on 2008 01 19 at 11:47 PM • permalink

 

    1. Would everybody please stay on topic?!

      The funds from the pledge week allowed Tim to furnish Andrea with a Taser system that delivers the shock to your keyboard.

      You have been warned.

      Posted by Penguin on 2008 01 19 at 11:53 PM • permalink

 

    1. #107 Penguin: Then she’s got a great reason for tryin’ it out on the previous thread, ‘cause somebody left the strike tag on.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 19 at 11:56 PM • permalink

 

    1. #83 Blogstrop. He’s my kind of guy. I’m not surprised he’s from the loins of the late great RR.

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 01 19 at 11:59 PM • permalink

 

    1. Paco, I wouldn’t mind hearing your (quick) take on the Republican candidates if you’ve the time…

      Posted by Penguin on 2008 01 20 at 12:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. #85 Surfmaster. Top work mate.

      Posted by Penguin on 2008 01 20 at 12:07 AM • permalink

 

    1. Why is it that the top four or so of the tennis girls can whack the crap out of the ball and still control it but the rest seem to pitty pat and powder puff the ball around.

      You could have a cup of tea waiting for Dellacqua’s serve to arrive.

      Posted by mehaul on 2008 01 20 at 12:11 AM • permalink

 

    1. Bearing in mind krudd’s recent pronunciamento, if true, the field has narrowed.  Look for O’donoghue, Kirby J, Flanners, maybe Marie Bashir. Or as a rank  outsider, what about that real Aussie sheek catmeat ukelele.

      Dame Leonie Kramer has plenty of class, but she’s on our side

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 12:20 AM • permalink

 

    1. #63 PACO -yukk! EEcch!  Arent these oxygen thieves always rabbiting on about how only THEY care for Mother Gaia!!!

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 12:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. #110 Penguin…Seconded, and ask him on whom are his $$$$$s

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 12:27 AM • permalink

 

    1. #108
      Paco, I think it’s more than three strikes so someone’s going to be out!

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 12:27 AM • permalink

 

    1. #96 Jeff, if we’re gonna go exotic, here’s an even better choice:

      Proof Kylie is Miss Perfect.

      FIRST her bum was said to be flawless, then her smile was deemed to be the most naturally attractive – now a Polish study has branded her pegs proportionally perfect.

      In case there was still any doubt, Kylie Minogue is the perfect woman.

      #94 Paco, no such clips are available, sadly. But the manner in which Tom and David Miscavige eyed and pawed one another conceivably portended a memorable and loving evening for the two <strike>copulating titans</strike> operating thetans.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 12:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. #110: My quick take on the Republican candidates? Well, I don’t think anybody’s in danger of confusin’ ‘em with the founding fathers, that’s for sure. My personal preferences are Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani; however, Fred waited too long to get in the game, and his organization is reportedly pretty amateurish. I disagree with Giuliani on some of the social issues, but I think he’d do well in certain predominantly Democratic states, and frankly, I like his New-York-“You-Tawkin’-To-Me?”-kick-ass attitude; unfortunately, his strategy of holding out for the later primaries may backfire if another Republican gets way out in front. McCain isn’t trustworthy on some of the key issues (immigration, for example), and he’s never struck me as being overly bright – although he’s obviously a patriot. Huckabee’s a tax-and-spender in sheep’s clothing, and Ron Paul is a joke – a bad one that shouldn’t be told in mixed company. Romney strikes me as being a little on the slippery side, but my guess is that he will probably take the prize. At this point, I wouldn’t completely discount the possibility of a brokered convention.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 20 at 12:43 AM • permalink

 

    1. #113 Flannery as Governor-General.

      Good Lord.

      He’d have collapsible lifeboats strapped to the stately roof of Yarralumla just in case globular enwarmening required him to to pull a Harry Bride. Actually, he’d probably insist on <i>dozens</a> of boats – several might be required by polar bears floating by growling “got nowhere else to go”.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 12:49 AM • permalink

 

    1. #32 Ernie G., that is priceless. I was crying. Sending the link to all football fans I know.

      Posted by Latino on 2008 01 20 at 12:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. Proof Kylie is Miss Perfect.

      Wowsers!  She has my vote for anything, any time, any place.  Make Kylie the GG, and Australian emigration will quadruple, at the very least.

      Hmmmmmmm…..maybe we can ask her over for a mug of mead, just so we can evaluate her for the position of GG.

      I’m sure KRudd is busy, and I, for one, would be delighted to serve her drinks during the, ummmmmm, interviews, yeah, that’s the word!

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 12:57 AM • permalink


    1. Oopsie!!!!

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 12:59 AM • permalink

 

    1. A public service announcement.

      If you were as bored as I was last night, you may have tuned in to the ABC and watched the final programme of renowned celebrity buttock-smoocher, Michael Parkinson. Michael Caine, a likeable fellow who was demonstrating his love of trivia, claimed that the word ‘marmalade’ etymologically derives from a Scottish corruption of the French words for “ill Mary” (Queen of Scots). There is no truth to this.

      Carry on.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 01:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. “He [State Delegate Spruill] said he won’t hesitate to bring a set of $24.95 trailer testicles with him for a legislative show-and-tell.”

      Spruill has to bring fake nuts for show-and-tell because he’s a ball-less wonder.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 01:06 AM • permalink

 

    1. #59 What about … kirby J (for GG)

      A job like that would make Michael Kirby feel like a boy again, preferably one about 15.

      Posted by Contrail on 2008 01 20 at 01:17 AM • permalink

 

    1. #123 C.L. one of the wonders of the internet is that it has increased the ease with which bullshit can be found out and quashed. snopes.com is a good example. I’ve also found brilliant demolitions of the theory that the moon landings were a hoax.
      On the other hand, the internet has meant that bullshit can travel the world at lightning speed and spread like plague.
      What you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts.
      …and vice versa.

      Posted by daddy dave on 2008 01 20 at 01:18 AM • permalink

 

    1. I’ll show you the perfect woman.

      Posted by Latino on 2008 01 20 at 01:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. #188 Paco.

      Thanks. Seems to me that Fred has little public profile here in Aus. My guess would be that most Aussies would only be able to name Giuliani as a Republican candidate. I hadn’t even noticed Romney until the Republican forum/debate was aired here recently. He spoke well but it’s nigh on impossible for me to judge his honesty.

      Both Fred and Rudi seem the closest you can get to being “cut the bullshit” types.

      Posted by Penguin on 2008 01 20 at 01:48 AM • permalink

 

    1. #118 Paco… please do your analysis with a different questiom -who amongst the GOP hopefuls could beat H. Clinton in the big one?

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 01:49 AM • permalink

 

    1. #125 Contrail..you gotta agree it makes for an interesting take on the First Lady, if we assume Mrs GG is in fact such a person.  Any thoughts on a title?

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 01:53 AM • permalink

 

    1. Does anybody know how the Canadian thought police star chambers are going….the Western Standard and Mark Steyn?

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 01:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. O/T Or maybe not?

      I don’t know who had this brilliant marketing idea.

      I’ve only just noticed!

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 02:06 AM • permalink

 

    1. Can’t bee O/T een an open thread, can eet?  Reemember -only ONE sheet per sheet.

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 02:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. #118, paco, I’m not convinced that Mitt will take the nomination with ease, if at all, and   not just because he’s slippery.  Electability is key, but he ain’t endearing himself to the conservative flock, that’s for sure.  Besides, he used to be the governor of Taxachussetts.

      McCain and Rudy, meh, opposite sides of the same coin, methinks, and each have about the same chance.  Both flip flop (shades of Kerry!) on issues, and tend to lean in directions that I find disturbing.  They have their strengths, but it’s not clear to me which is the better candidate.

      Fred would be good, but I agree that he well and truly dorked up his campaign plan….which speaks ill of his executive ability, alas.

      The Huckster is only good for selling snake oil, and I think that’s starting to sink in with the electorate.  He’s practically a clone of Jimmah Cahtah, except he’s (nominally) a Republican.

      Ron Paul?  Ye gods, the man is an outright lunatic; I suspect he and Lynden LaRouche exchange crayon drawings through secret intermediaries.

      Me, I think that a brokered convention is nearly a certainty, unless Super Tuesday shows a decisive win for one of the top three (Mitt, McCain, Rudy).  So I’m placing no bets right now.

      And, in all honesty, I can only look at the current crop of Republican presidential wannabes and ask myself, “Which of these clowns will cause the least amount of damage while in office?”

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. Achillea #5

      This is the first long-haul party at Tims in a while, OK? Wron has just arrived in the Tardis with a new shipment of Sumerian mead, we are connecting the local brewery to the taps (hint: stay out of the shower), the VRWC’s Japanese minions are flensing Minke whales into steaks as fast as they can, Howard the Enceladan has several mammoths on the spit and Senior Minionettes Kae and Pogria are organising the cutlery: which includes chainsaws.

      MarkL
      Minionmeister to the VRWC

      Posted by MarkL on 2008 01 20 at 02:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. #127 Granted, Latino, Ms Loren is a curvaceous goddess but not truly pretty methinks. Had to laugh at one of the pics at your link. Jane Mansfield knew how to get people’s attention – even Sophia Loren’s!

      Sunday Steyn:

      Have you been in an airport recently and maybe seen a gaggle of America’s heroes returning from Iraq? And you’ve probably thought, “Ah, what a marvelous sight. Remind me to straighten up the old ‘Support Our Troops’ fridge magnet, which seems to have slipped down below the reminder to reschedule my acupuncturist. Maybe I should go over and thank them for their service.”

      No, no, no, under no account approach them. Instead, try to avoid making eye contact and back away slowly toward the sign for the parking garage. You’re in the presence of mentally damaged violent killers who could snap at any moment.

      You hadn’t heard that? Well, it’s in the New York Times…

      Continued…

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 02:12 AM • permalink

 

    1. #134 Jeff, what’s the scoop on McCain? I thought he was a Good Guy but he’s getting trashed in a lot of conservative quarters. What’s behind that? Some of the nuances of the campaign are a smidgen confusing to outsiders.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 02:14 AM • permalink

 

    1. Ingsoc comes one step closer. (Words – literally – fail me.)

      Posted by Burbank on 2008 01 20 at 02:15 AM • permalink

 

    1. Who is watching the store?

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:28 AM • permalink

 

    1. Rod, if I may, I’ll offer my two bits worth on who might win against The Glacier™.  paco will offer his opinion, and I’m sure it’ll be better than mine, but all that Sumerian mead has made me talkative…..

      Hillary’s greatest asset is her biggest danger: The Clinton Machine™.  This put, and then kept Bill in office for 8 years, and then slammed Hillary into a Senate seat for a state she had less than 6 months residency in.  It’s a very powerful network, with lots of funding and favors in all sorts of dark corners.

      However, it’s a machine that people are well and truly tired of, because it is a juggernaut.  Further, that machine exists because of one person, William Jefferson Clinton, who has one of the biggest egos on this planet…..except that he isn’t running for president, his wife is.  Sometimes, though, you couldn’t tell from his speeches.  Some of this is cropping up in the news from time to time.

      Further, Hillary’s role in that machine has always been nebulous.  It’s clear that she pulled a lot of strings while Billy Jeff played with interns in the Oval Office, but it’s not certain just which strings.  This is made even more nebulous by her campaign claiming her experience as the First Lady applies to her being President, when the First Lady has no legal standing within the Constitution.  It’s a social position.  At best, Hillary was an adviser, not an executive, because giving her any executive authority might have been construed as a conflict of interest, given that she would have been working for her husband, the President.  Such professions relationships with close family members are officially discouraged.

      Finally, Hillary is a woman.  Yes, I state the obvious, but some people are wowed by the thought of the First! Woman! President!  God knows why; women can screw things up just as surely as men.

      And, no, I have no problem with a female president.  It’s just that I don’t look at sex or race as a qualification for elected office.  But some people* do, and Hillary has a large following for exactly that reason.

      So Hillary is a tough nut to crack.  Of the top 3 Republican contenders (Mitt, McCain, Rudy), I’d rank them in terms of beating Hillary in the elections as:  (1) McCain, (2) Mitt, and (3) Rudy.  I think McCain and Mitt are nearly equal in electability, depending on just who votes for whom from the undecided voters.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:30 AM • permalink

 

    1. At BOM
      A CYCLONE WARNING IS IN FORCE FOR NORFOLK ISLAND.
      SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY TO RISE TO STORM FORCE, WINDS SHOULD EASE BELOW GALE AROUND MID-MORNING MONDAY.

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. Re #137, C.L., McCain has several issues.

      First, he’s against any sort of immigration controls.  He proposed immigration reform that no one liked, and it tanked badly.  In many conservative circles, immigration reform (at least in terms of border security) is a major issue, and McCain shot himself in the foot.

      Then there was his silly McCain-Feingold Amendment, which actually places restriction on free speech in the name of “campaign finance reform”.  For example, that law was nearly applied to bloggers who took any sort of political stance, inviting Federal prosecution if they didn’t toe the line.

      Finally, McCain is against tax cuts, a definite no-no for any serious Republican official.

      However, he is a staunch supporter of the global war on terrorism.  And McCain has other redeeming features.  So when that first Tuesday in November rolls around, many people will likely hold their nose and vote McCain if Hillary is the Dhimmicrat candidate.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:37 AM • permalink

 

    1. The_Real_JeffS
      (1) McCain, (2) Mitt, and (3) Rudy.
      Which one prez which one deputy?
      Like HC which one her deputy. Black and/or white?

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:39 AM • permalink

 

    1. Burbank we must learn to love Big Brother. Winston did. O’Brien was very convincing.

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:43 AM • permalink

 

    1. C.L. Jane Mansfield kept abreast of such techniques.

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:46 AM • permalink

 

    1. T_R_J Thanks Like many here, I am a US politics junkie.  Watching from Oz, it seems to me the economy has hardly featured yet, but surely with nearly a year to go, and a lot of economic doomspeak, it must start to loom as THE issue.

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 02:48 AM • permalink

 

    1. stackja1945, I doubt that any of the Republican presidential contenders would accept the VP slot.

      The Veep tends to work in the background, if at all; the Veep has only a few official duties, the key one being ready to step in if the President is killed or incapacitated.  The Veep is doubtless kept in the loop of all major issues, and may be consulted on policy (Cheney certainly is a policy wonk), but he/she ain’t in charge.

      As all of those three are “Type A” personalities, I can’t see them getting along in a run for the White House.

      But if they did put aside their personalities?  Hmmmmmm…..Mitt (Prez) and Rudy (Veep), I think is most likely.  McCain (Prez) and Rudy (Veep), possibly.  But I can’t see McCain or Mitt working for Rudy, in part because I suspect Rudy already has a Veep on the table, and in part because working in a team he didn’t assemble isn’t his style.

      paco?  Your thoughts?

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:49 AM • permalink

 

    1. #140 T_R_J Don’t be modest -Paco mostly talks a great line of bullshit, with an occasional pearl of wisdom.

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 02:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. re #146, Rod, the economy is less of an issue than you might think.  The housing market is the biggest problem…..and ALL of the candidates (Republican and Democrat) are very close to inciting a revolt with their “solution” to the so-called sub-prime loan “crisis”.

      In fact, the Dhimmicrat contenders are beating each other with non-economy issues, such as race, gender, experience, personal history, etc.  There’s an effort to outbid each other, in the tired old formula of “a chicken in every pot, and two cars in every garage”, but it seems half-hearted.

      But if the sub-prime “crisis” comes to a head (i.e., idiots who made bad financial decisions have to move from $600K homes into $200K homes, or maybe declare bankruptcy), yeah, it’ll surge to the front.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:55 AM • permalink

 

    1. Oh, come now, Rod!  Please give paco the credit he’s due: he places 3-4 pearls of wisdom in every steamer that he drops, not just occasionally.  ;-P

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 02:57 AM • permalink

 

    1. Ha ha ha.  Check out this photo in the stupid moaning herald.

      The caption reads: “To the rescue … Crown Princess Mary learns resuscitation techniques.”

      If that’s how the Danes “resuscitate” their enemies, she has married into the right family.

      Posted by mr creosote on 2008 01 20 at 02:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. The_Real_JeffS some Veep got promoted. So “You Never Can Tell” to quote Chuck Berry.

      Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 20 at 02:59 AM • permalink

 

    1. #147 I suspect the Republican nominee, esp if Rudy or JSMcC, will pick a well credentialled big R Republican, to smooth things off with the GOP right. Probably not a Senator from Idaho.

      Assuming the Hildabeast wraps up the Dem nomination, the last person she will pick would be Obama. Edwards perhaps, but I think she might lean to a more conservative blue dog type, midwest or California (if there is such a creature) In any event he will be white, male and not too bright

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 03:00 AM • permalink

 

    1. While Tim’s away, I’m letting out the bold tags

      Posted by Young and Free on 2008 01 20 at 03:02 AM • permalink


  • Not Edwards, I think, ROd; there’s too much animosity between those two growlers, nearly as bad as between Hillary! and Lord Goreacle™.

    There was some semi-amusing speculation that Bill Clinton might run as Veep with her, but that ain’t gonna happen.  Not only due to his ego problems, but there’s a Constitutional conflict if Miz Prez dies in office, as Billy Jeff is excluded from sitting in the Oval Office again, for life.

    But I’m with you on the Republicans Veep nominee.  In part, that’s why Cheney was the Veep candidate of choice.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 03:06 AM • permalink


 

    1. Oh, yeah, Y&F?  Well, I see your bold tags, and raise you italics….because they lean to the right.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 03:08 AM • permalink


  • #141
    Good thing I’m cleaning out my gutters now, just in case… it’s either that or mow them…Could someone please remind me not to let as long a period of time go by before I clean them again?

    Thanks

    Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 03:08 AM • permalink

 

  • #149 T_R_J
    I know I’m just a simple old sailor, but if the sub-prime issue ain’t economics, then I’m a..a..a..an ex AirForce person!  There, I said it!!Seriously it’s having an effect down here -most consecutive market down days for 17 or 18 years.  Just maybe though, some of that bleeding is caused by the slow realisation that we have, two months ago, elected a freak show to run the land.

    Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 03:09 AM • permalink

 

  • #151
    Creosote, hmm. Maybe that’s a faux pas? Surely it’s not, er, appropriate for a crown princess to be using a military weapon and have the picture published?They must have got anatomical Annie mixed up with Mary?

    Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 03:12 AM • permalink

 

  • Oh, it’s economics all right, Rod, because people will have money problems, and if they can’t spend money, the economy will tank.  But it’s simply not the front issue in the campaign, as far as I can tell.  At least not yet.

    The cause the sub-prime “crisis” is not economic though…..it’s idiocy and greed, never a good combination.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 03:12 AM • permalink

 

  • #trj

    NOW YOU’VE REALLY GONE AND DONE IT!

    ITALICS ESCAPE>>>>> ITALICS ESCAPE>>>>>>

    WARNING, WARNING, DANGER REAL JEFFS, DANGER

    Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 03:13 AM • permalink


 

    1. Hmmmmmmm……maybe I shouldn’t risk Andrea’s wrath, huh, kae?

      All right, then….italics off.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 03:14 AM • permalink

 

    1. (I dunno whether it stuff up other’s view of the page if it’s got raging italics etc on it… gosh it’s hard to ty[e ith gardrning glovews on!)

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 03:15 AM • permalink

 

    1. Another Islamic mass-murder plot uncovered in Spain.
      So it’s all about Iraq ‘eh???

      Posted by Brian on 2008 01 20 at 03:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. # 158 Rod C-What this “we” paleface?  You moron, it was not We the people, it was They the People.  Think before typing!!!!

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 03:41 AM • permalink

 

    1. #160 T-R-J
      People have for decades sought a simple, easily understood definition of economics……..“idiocy and greed” just about do itThrow in fear and you’ve hit in the gold

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 03:45 AM • permalink

 

    1. Idiocy, greed, fear = economics.

      Yup.  Pure gold!

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 20 at 03:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. Cue seething in 3.2.1….

      I dont know anything much about this blokes party so he might be a nut, but anyonre who gets labeled a right wing extremist in the gaurdian cant be all that bad?

      And if you want Orwell try and get your head around this little quango at the UN.
      Set up buy José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (surrender monkey) and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (Islamist)

      Heres there members list.
      here.

      Members
      View more information on the High Level Group Members including Video below

      CO-CHAIRS
      Prof. Federico Mayor (Spain) UN proffesional flunkey.
      Prof. Mehmet Aydin (Turkey) Theologist and member of Turkeys pro Islamist party.

      MIDDLE EAST
      H.E. Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mohammad Khatami (Iran) Ex-president of iran and Mullah
      H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned (Qatar) A Quatari “consort” to the King.

      NORTH AFRICA
      Dr. Mohamed Charfi (Tunisia)  Dr. Ismail Serageldin (Egypt)
      Mr. André Azoulay (Morocco)

      WEST AFRICA
      Mr. Moustapha Niasse (Senegal)  Looks like a proffesional UN bagman, fom his bio.Mr. Niasse also ran a private consultancy company for nearly a decade, from which he gained extensive experience in the fields of petroleum, finance, insurance, air transportation, shipping and related services.
      SOUTHERN AFRICA
      Archbishop Desmond Tutu (South Africa)  No comment neccesary

      WEST EUROPE
      Mr. Hubert Védrine (France)  Proffesional french pollie
      Ms. Karen Armstrong (United Kingdom) Ex-nun and ”  she is a regular columnist for the Guardian” some of her crap, First, it is important to make it clear that none of the so-called “world religions” condones or encourages killing. My recent studies show that at their inception, they were all rooted in a disciplined rejection of violence. All promote the ideals of compassion, justice and respect for the sacred rights of the individual. This is no less true of Islam than of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism or Daoism.” Bollocks

      EAST EUROPE
      Prof. Vitaly Naumkin (Russian Federation)  Visiting proffessor at Berkley Uni, but appears to have a good grasp on things, These are the same ideas as the communists used: social justice, equality, wealth distributed among everybody. “You’ll participate in all these things through the Islamic mechanisms, and it will be fair. The state will be fair to everybody.” It’s not mere coincidence that a lot of former followers of socialist ideas (or Arab nationalist ideas, because Arab nationalism was also discredited) became fundamentalists. They just turned to support the Islamicists, they became adherents of the radical Islamic movements.

      NORTH AMERICA
      Prof. John Esposito (United States)
      Rabbi Arthur Schneier (United States)

      LATIN AMERICA
      Mr. Enrique Iglesias (Uruguay)
      Prof. Candido Mendes (Brazil)

      SOUTH ASIA
      Dr. Nafis Sadik (Pakistan)
      Ms. Shobana Bhartia (India)

      SOUTHEAST ASIA
      Mr. Ali Alatas (Indonesia)  “Mate” of e timor and Australia?

      EAST ASIA
      Prof. Pan Guang (China)
      Im feeling a bit slack but its a pretty mixed bag of pollies mullahs and proffessors.

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 20 at 03:54 AM • permalink

 

    1. #168

      And if you want Orwell try and get your head around this little quango at the UN.

      …its a pretty mixed bag of pollies mullahs and proffessors.

      Mixed bag.
      MIXED BAG.

      RAOTFLMAO

      Mixed bag, indeed.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 03:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. I hadnt looked at it that way, maybe a mixed SATIN BAG?

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 20 at 04:02 AM • permalink

 

    1. #142 Thanks, Jeff. Very instructive.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 04:36 AM • permalink

 

    1. the bold tags are back out . . .

      Posted by Young and Free on 2008 01 20 at 04:46 AM • permalink


    1. #164 They’re being foiled all the time.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 01 20 at 04:50 AM • permalink

 

    1. One pissy little laptop has benn solen out of the back of a car in England,No big deal really………Except it had all the banking,passport,address,ect details of over 600,000 members,people that have applied and those that have failed of the U.K armed forces.

      The U.K is a fucking joke.

      Posted by sparrow on 2008 01 20 at 04:53 AM • permalink

 

    1. T_R_J-On Slick Willie running as VP.. I think he could because he would not be ELECTED as President.  That is my reading of the letter of the US Constitution.  The Spirit, or the intention of the 22nd Amendment, are another matter.

      Politically, surely it would be unthinkable…still, access to all that totty…..

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 04:53 AM • permalink

 

    1. #174..Presumably a Forces officer or MOD bureacrat…. Watch the next Honours List

      Posted by Rod C on 2008 01 20 at 04:55 AM • permalink

 

    1. #63 paco: Just remembered I’ll be OS that day.

      Posted by SandiM on 2008 01 20 at 04:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. SandiM
      OSOther Side?

      tee hee

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 04:59 AM • permalink

 

    1. #37 Blogstrop

      Palestinians see Israel’s continued settlement building as proof of its bad faith in negotiations for a viable Palestinian state, writes Ed O’Loughlin

      The Palestinians build plenty of illegal constructions, settlements and developments. However, when they are demolished (as mine would be if I illegally built one in Sydney) they complain about Israeli brutality leaving Palestinians homeless.

      Posted by Dan Lewis on 2008 01 20 at 05:25 AM • permalink

 

    1. So… Uh… While we are joking about cancer.

      Posted by Dan Lewis on 2008 01 20 at 05:34 AM • permalink

 

    1. The Stranger

      A few years after I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our
      small Clover, South Carolina town. From the beginning, Dad was
      fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live
      with our family.  The stranger was quickly accepted and was around
      from then on..

      As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind,
      he had a special niche.  My parents were complementary instructors:
      Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.  But the
      stranger… he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for
      hours on end with adventures, mysteries, and comedies.  If I wanted to
      know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the
      answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able
      to predict the future!
      He took my family to the first major league ball game.  He made me
      laugh, and he made me cry.  The stranger never stopped talking, but
      Dad didn’t seem to mind.

      Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing
      each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the
      kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the
      stranger to leave.)

      Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the
      stranger never felt obligated to honour them.
      Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home….. not from
      us, our friends or any visitors.  Our longtime visitor, however,
      got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad
      squirm and my mother blush.

      My dad didn’t permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger
      encouraged us to try it on a regular basis.
      He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes
      distinguished.  He talked freely (much too freely) about sex.
      His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and
      generally embarrassing.

      I now know that my early concepts about relationships were
      influenced strongly by the stranger.  Time after time, he opposed
      the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked…
      And NEVER asked to leave.

      More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in
      with our family.  He has blended right in and is not nearly as
      fascinating as he was at first.  If you could walk into my
      parents’ den today, you would still find him sitting over
      in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk
      and watch him draw his pictures.
      His name?

      We just call him “TV.”

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 20 at 06:08 AM • permalink

 

    1. If you happen to be new to this blog the thing to keep in mind is that an open thread happens to stay on topic for a bit longer than a thread with a topic. It makes sense when you’ve been around for a year or two, had a bucket of Sumerian mead, and watched a jitterbugging tazzie scat-dance. (I have no idea what scat-dancing is.)

      Posted by mythusmage on 2008 01 20 at 06:08 AM • permalink

 

    1. Oops sorry – another email i got today!!!!

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 20 at 06:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. #179 – Dan, the whole of the west bank can be construed as an illegal settlement by Transjordan (now Jordan) which was supposed to be just east of the Jordan river, as the Israel/Transjordan map 1946 of the British Mandate (see link) shows.
      The whole discussion of a two state solution is ludicrous for two reasons. One: the remnants in Gaza and the West Bank are incapable of running a state, and Two: more importantly, the Palestinian state of Transjordan/Jordan is exactly that, and was laways intended as such. It is mostly Palestinians. This talk about Gaza and the West Bank is total, smelly, red herring.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 06:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. Excuse my ignorance but how does one actually make Sumerian Mead?
      Nothing turns up here.

      Posted by Hank Reardon on 2008 01 20 at 06:17 AM • permalink

 

    1. #37. The Palestinian Arabs are sort of a collective of Coreys – no behaviour, wreck something they’ve been entrusted with, and attract a lot of loony tunes violence and street-messers around.

      And proud of it. They all need the groovy glasses though.

      (Incidentally, the whole Corey thing should have over ages ago, but the game is amusing).

      Posted by carpefraise on 2008 01 20 at 06:20 AM • permalink

 

    1. #185 Hi Hank!

      We don’t make it.

      Wronwright et al, acquire it. Yeah, that’s it, they acquire it.

      Usually in the tardis.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 06:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. Hi Kae!!!!

      Posted by surfmaster on 2008 01 20 at 06:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. been over…PIMFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

      Posted by carpefraise on 2008 01 20 at 06:25 AM • permalink

 

    1. #187 Kae

      Ahh. You just had to say “Wronwright” the rest I could have told you.

      Posted by Hank Reardon on 2008 01 20 at 06:29 AM • permalink

 

    1. More from Melanie Phillips.
      What happens when a relentless disinformation and history-rewriting campaign meets and recruits a bunch of human rights oriented, multi-culti, politically correct, anti-war Aunt Mary’s who want to tell Israel how to run the show?
      Pretty much everything in the last 30 years.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 06:29 AM • permalink

 

    1. So is everyone up to no good now Tim is away????

      Oh the pillow thing works

      Posted by Killaette on 2008 01 20 at 06:32 AM • permalink

 

    1. I keep thinking about poor Tim.  Nothing to eat but clear liquids.  Probably spent most of the day on the dunny.  Might have to try and sleep on it tonight if his experience with the dreaded “Drano” is anything like mine was.

      And then, due to the nature of the procedure, he’s not likely to be first on the list.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Ack!

      I wonder if he’ll wake up with those anti-DVT pump things wrapped around his legs, some person wanting to know how his pain is on a score of 0 to 10 and somebody else fiddling with the control of his inconveniently sited drip and trying to find out if it won’t go because it’s positional or whether the thing has tissued.  Poke, poke; fiddle, fiddle.  So much noise, discomfort and strangeness.

      Well, it’s better than having that thing still in there.

      Posted by Janice on 2008 01 20 at 06:36 AM • permalink

 

    1. #185 Hank Reardon,

      I don’t know how to make Sumerian Mead, but this is how I make Aussie Mead. It helps if you have a friend who’s a Beekeeper and gives you buckets of honey.
      Word of warning though, it has a kick like the proverbial mule!

      Recipe for Mead
      1.5kg honey,
      4 litres water,
      1 cup of cold tea,
      25g citric acid,
      2 teaspoons nutrient
      1 packet wine yeast

      Boil the honey, water and tea together in a large stainless steel or enamel pot, skimming the scum off the top until there is no more forming. Pour into a bucket, cover with plastic film and when cool add the citric acid, nutrient and the yeast. Stir twice daily for seven days or until it is fermenting well, and provided that it is not frothing violently, pour it into a five litre jar and fit a fermentation lock. When the fermentation has ceased (no more bubbles are rising) siphon the Mead into a clean jar and refit the fermentation lock. After two or three months the Mead can be bottled. From 5 litres you should get about 6½ bottles.
      Taste your Mead at bottling time. It will probably taste pretty good! Mead will continue to mellow and improve for a couple of years, kept in a cool, dark place. But I doubt very much it will ever last that long!

      If you can let it lie for six months, you will end up with a truly smooth and beautiful potion!

      If you have a home brew kit, ie; a ten – eleven litre plastic cask, double the recipe and make it in there. That’s a brilliant way of decanting as the sediment stays in the bottom of the brewing cask.

      Hope this has been a help to you.
      Happy brewing!!!

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 06:37 AM • permalink

 

    1. #193 Hey Janice

      I couldnt have said it better myself.  I couldnt wait to get out of the hospital.  The only sleep I got while I was in there was while i was under.

      The nurses come and poke you every hour check your wound check how much pain medication you have administered to yourself and even though they can see very clearly you havent used it they still ask how is the pain.

      Then its night time and they still come in every hour and ask why arnt you asleep.  Its like they cant hear the lady in the next room pressing her call button every 5 minutes, then it takes them 10 to get in and see her.

      The Iv in your arm that that change over to a pump in the afternoon so that they didnt have to check it as much during the night isnt stuck down properly and it gets caught on your sheets constantly and the bag at the end of your bed hat collects your pee falls off the hook and pulls. then your the one pressing the call button and waiting 10 minutes for a nurse to come in.

      Then in the morning you ask for a bowl of water so you can brush your teeth and you get told you dont need to brush your teeth.

      Seriously hospital sucks but when you get out and get home and the heeling really starts you thank god and all the medical staff that they did their jobs well and that you have survived and you are on the road to recovery.

      Posted by Killaette on 2008 01 20 at 06:50 AM • permalink

 

    1. I’m pissed off with the rampant abuse/over use of the term racist. It has become shorthand for anyone who is disapproving of any group, perhaps national or minority but hardly ever an actual race.
      Jonah Goldberg was so over it with fascism that he wrote a book detailing the connection between it and … no, not the conservatives … the liberal/progressives!
      Quite a long and interesting review at VDH by Bruce Thornton.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 06:51 AM • permalink

 

    1. I have been in hospital several times. The nurses were (hardworking, terrestrial) angels and, fortunately, I survived.
      <Look MM, no dashes!>

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 06:55 AM • permalink

 

    1. #196

      1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
      2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

      3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

      found here

      But because you dont like someone who is a different race than you you are considered racist.  Apparently these days you just arnt allowed to not like someone unless they are the same race as you – then its ok …

      Posted by Killaette on 2008 01 20 at 07:00 AM • permalink

 

    1. #184 Blogstrop

      Call me.

      Posted by Dan Lewis on 2008 01 20 at 07:03 AM • permalink

 

    1. An excellent blog called EU Referendum has been keeping tabs on the sub-linotypal goings-on which will see the UK go the way of all EUnuchs and hand over power and sovereignty to a bunch of incureable sinecure-able creeps. A lot of things happen without the UK newspapers reporting them, he says. Watch out for the fallout from the so-called (I have learned this device from the left) Lisbon Treaty.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 07:16 AM • permalink

 

    1. Call you what, Dan?

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 07:18 AM • permalink

 

    1. #193 Hello, Janice.

      🙂

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 07:21 AM • permalink

 

    1. I’m off to get some beauty sleep, so as to keep up the day job. Will check in tomorrow.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2008 01 20 at 07:22 AM • permalink

 

    1. Just heard a bar band do a great cover of this. Oh and Fred is the man we all want, though we may have to settle for Romney. I believe this is what Paco(tm) was saying. Feel free to kick my ass if I’m wrong, oh Perennialy Admirable Commenter Occtrodinaire.

      Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 20 at 07:26 AM • permalink

 

    1. #197 Blogstrop,

      absolutely agree!. Nurses are the hardest working, most under paid angels in this country.

      Am fed up to the eyeballs with people bagging nurses.

      Nurses don’t ask for much except a bit of fucking respect, which should be theirs automatically.

      A smile, or a kind word from a patient makes all the difference in their otherwise bloody and usually disgusting day.

      They have to put up with creeps, whingers, junkies, drunks, hypochondriacs and violence we can’t even begin to imagine.

      To then come here, and complain that the nurses who look after you were, in any way “deficient” according to some proscribed ideas of yours, is to spit in the face of the very people who make sure that your arse is wiped, your medication is on time and your doctor knows who the fucking hell you are, is one of the lowest things a “patient” can do.

      Reminds me of someone else here who bagged nurses a few months ago.

      The two of you are the only ones to bag nurses on this blog. Perhaps there’s something in that.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 07:30 AM • permalink

 

    1. #197
      I’m with blogstrop.
      I’ve been in hospital several times, and a few times in emergency, and I’ve always found the nurses to be wonderful.
      It is annoying to be woken up, but that is only to check that you don’t have an infection and usually if you’ve had surgery you’re way too zonked out to notice too much anyway.
      Give me nurses any day, I love them!

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 07:31 AM • permalink

 

    1. For me, Ironic Hypocrisy and Masterful Response of the week awards go to a) the leftist idiots at La Sapienza in Rome who protested the pope’s alleged opposition to freedom of inquiry by, er, thuggishly banning him from speaking at their university; and b) Benedict XVI for pulling out of the engagement, thus highlighting the stupidity of his detractors and ensuring every news agency in the world both reported the kerfuffle and requested a transcript of the address he never gave.

      Keep studying dear La Sapienza bambinos and you too might be so shrewd when you’re 80-something.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 07:33 AM • permalink

 

    1. #205. And then there are those nurses who make Nurse Ratched look like a total nancy and force you to get better just to get the hell away.

      I had 5 days in hospital with Magilla, and I can tell you there was one midwife who had me running scared.

      She was a total harridan.

      Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2008 01 20 at 07:39 AM • permalink

 

    1. Don’t know what is meant by “bagging” nurses but they get forehead scraping worship and respect from yours truly.

      Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 20 at 07:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. I’ve never had a bad nurse.

      Ever.

      Had a pretty crook dentist when I was a kid. He hit me. He hurt me I flinched and he hit me.

      Never had a bad nurse. If I have I’ve been too zonked to notice.

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 07:44 AM • permalink

 

    1. #194 Pogria
      That sounds absolutely divine.
      Is there something you are aren’t telling us though? As I read through your careful instructions I couldn’t help but think that you are some sort doyen on this subject.

      Posted by Hank Reardon on 2008 01 20 at 07:46 AM • permalink

 

    1. #209 dean martin,

      The first meaning.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 07:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. #211
      Hank, Pog’s a plonk-spert. Foodie and pretty good with it. Trust me.If she offers to cook for you, say yes!!!

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 07:48 AM • permalink

 

    1. We all respect nurses but it’s fair to say the advent of the university-educated “professionals” did absolutely nothing for the great vocation’s ethos. Consequently, some nurses today are communicatively inept, stethoscope-wielding snobs who exude all the humaneness of a forensic tax accountant.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 07:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. Got it Pog, thank you. (Okay I’m reading through a JimBeam haze at the moment.)

      Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 20 at 07:53 AM • permalink

 

    1. Dean, that definition of bagging, it’s correct, but Aussies don’t say “bagging on”. We’d say “Quit bagging the French.”

      No, we wouldn’t. Well, not the French anyway.

      I’d best be careful. One of my academic friends is OS at the moment and she emailed me with some info I asked for and included in her email that she missed my laughter. “The French have no sense of humour.”

      She’s French!!

      Posted by kae on 2008 01 20 at 07:53 AM • permalink

 

    1. #215 dean,

      FFS!!! Jim Beam!  Couldn’t you at least type through a Jack haze?

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 07:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. #202, Hi C.L.,

      Pleased to see you posting.  Have some spare time, do you? 🙂

      Posted by Janice on 2008 01 20 at 07:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. #211 Hank,

      the recipe is not mine, I’ve just tweaked it a bit. Although it does taste great.
      But yes, I do love my Dionysian excesses.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 08:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. Hi Janice, how’s the wee cute one?

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 08:03 AM • permalink

 

    1. #218 Aye, Janice. It’s been a very non-net several months for me. Imagine my surprise when I found, via the intertubes, that the world is still filled with much risible and compulsively comment-inspiring craziness!

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 08:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. Ive just had a new oppisite shift start out where I work whos an ex IC nurse.
      Grumpy for a start, the bloke who she was taking over from and her stopped talking after a day and a half, the got to the stage of shouting at each other from day 4 of the week.
      I came back from break and had a big wingy letter waiting for me on how the unit wasnt clean enough for her, I then walked in the unit.
      It wasnt clean, it was sterile. I opened the cupboard and without a word of a lie I heard this music start (43 seconds in). Everything stacked in neat rows, the pots lined up like little soldiers, with the lids all at jaunty angles etc.The boss has allready recieved an ultimatum the kitchen has to go to a seperate room (its a semi bedsit) among other things.
      I however have a secret weapon if she pisses me off to much. I will summon the flies to drive her out bwhahahaha!! I cook a leg of lamb for dinner and the bloody flies will swarm into the joint, that should see her off.
      She appears to be borderline weirdo so she will probably give the boss the shits before I have to resort to that.

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 20 at 08:14 AM • permalink

 

    1. #214 C.L.

      You make a good point, although I still believe anyone who has to clean our shit and wipe our arse deserves to be treated with respect.

      You get a lot further in life, and in hospital if you treat the nurses kindly.

      I was in hospital four years ago with a fractured skull that put me into a coma for three days. Unfortunately for the nurses who had to look after me, I was not a quiet coma patient. The skull fracture caused me to be violent when anyone touched me.

      When I finally came round and was told how I reacted to everyone around me while I was unconscious, I apologised profusely to all the nurses that had had the misfortune to look after me. The look on their faces was enough to make me buy flowers for them after I had been discharged.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 08:15 AM • permalink

 

    1. Why did the Chaser team manage to get as far as they did with their stunt at APEC?

      Because the day before, some jumped up little self-important prole from the Premier’s office had taken the same route and been stopped and thoroughly inspected and searched at every check point.  He was so annoyed, he complained long and loud about the stringent procedures.

      You can guess how the Police felt about that, and what happened the following day….

      Posted by mr creosote on 2008 01 20 at 08:22 AM • permalink

 

    1. When I try that Pog,strange things happen.

      Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 20 at 08:26 AM • permalink

 

    1. #220, Pogs,

      Here’s a picture of him caught out making himself comfortable.  He’s turned into such a smoodger!  He’s the kind of little fellow who will snuggle up into your neck and make funny noises.  Tell him it’s time for walkies and he sort of howls in a woo-hoo kind of way.  What a character!

      And in case you’re interested here are a couple of green tree frogs in a compromising position. Toby found them after the last big storm.  I wondered what he was wondering about otherwise I doubt I’d have noticed them.  They eventually hopped off, still in position, and disappeared among the general greenery.

      Posted by Janice on 2008 01 20 at 08:45 AM • permalink

 

    1. #225 dean,

      I understand.

      hehehehe wuss! 😉

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 08:50 AM • permalink

 

    1. #223

      You get a lot further in life, and in hospital if you treat the nurses kindly.

      Ah, but – respectfully, Pogria – that’s kind of what I mean. The ethos of nursing used to be principally about their service – to all and sundry. If patients, as you say, “get a lot further” depending on how they “treat the nurses”, we have a problem. As I say, “some” nurses – some – have been professionalised into a kind of pseudo-doctor mentality of snobbishness and the results (for “some”) are casualness, over-familiarity, or – as you acknowledge – performance based on how they’re treated.

      It goes without saying that patients in hospitals – unless prevented from doing so by medical circumstances – are obliged to behave themselves. Oftentimes, however, given the general unpopularity of illness and hospitalisation, many patients will be trying. But that’s part of what nurses signed on for, voluntarily. God bless most of them for the job they do. But, respectfully, I see no reason to extend a carte blanche lionisation to the entire genus, uncritically. Indeed, I’ve seen many instances with my own eyes of the inappropriateness of doing so.

      To summarise the conundrum another way: the nursing vocation is ill-served by two mistaken tendencies: financial meanness (along with public disrespect) of the kind I’ve always deplored; and, equally, the fetishisation of its practitioners as impeccable Florence Nightingales.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 08:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. #226 Oh Janice!!,

      OMG!, he is absolutely adorable! *sigh*

      It must be so damn hard stopping yourself from giving in to his every request.
      I’m assuming from the look of the little angel, that he is too sweet to make “demands”. 😉

      The frogs are a riot. Did Toby put his paws over his eyes when he caught them in flagrante? hehehe

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 08:54 AM • permalink

 

    1. Did Toby put his paws over his eyes when he caught them in flagrante?

      Naaah.  Just sniffed a few times and looked a bit befuddled.  He’s still trying to figure out stuff about the world.  For instance, he hasn’t learned yet that he’s supposed to go berko when you say, “Cat”.

      Posted by Janice on 2008 01 20 at 09:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. #228 C.L.

      I understand and agree with probably everything you say. My objection is to the unkindness meted out to nurses whom are simply doing their job.

      There are those in every profession who obviously shouldn’t be there. It is a great disservice to the majority who treat nursing as a vocation to denigrate them because of a few who chose the wrong career path.

      Florence Nightingale was a hag and a bigot.

      Our nurses aren’t.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 09:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. Wasnt it nice of the frog on the bottom to give the other one a lift when it hurt its leg?
      That was it wasnt it?

      Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 01 20 at 09:05 AM • permalink

 

    1. #230 Oh Janice!!,

      you don’t make him chase cats, do you?

      My dogs and cats are the best of friends.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 09:07 AM • permalink

 

    1. # 104 What about 495 metres?

      The best slap I could manage sent Corey 385 m but then the waiflike webmistress stepped up the the plate and after a warmup hit 495! I think there is an element of luck, hitting the idiot when his head is in a particular position.

      Posted by Rafe on 2008 01 20 at 09:09 AM • permalink

 

    1. #233, Pogs,

      Only if there’s a strange one that comes into our yard, dropping fleas and ticks.

      Posted by Janice on 2008 01 20 at 09:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. #129: Paco… please do your analysis with a different question -who amongst the GOP hopefuls could beat H. Clinton in the big one?

      I think Real Jeff covered it pretty well at #140. Although I believe Rudy would have at least as good a chance as Romney or McCain against Hillary. Don’t know whether that qualifies as a “great line of bull shit” or a “pearl of wisdom”, Rod C. I am emphatically not a politics junkie, primarily because I find the process, and the participants, to be increasingly disappointing.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 20 at 09:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. #236 Well, Paco, I was kind of interested in Fred for a while. I still am but his campaign seems to be running down – he’s not cutting through. But who knows what might happen in the months ahead? I think, though, that the McCain story – legend, even – is the only thing the Republicans have that can narratively out-flank the ‘first woman/first black’ nonsense. My suspicion, indeed, is that McCain is the GOP’s only real hope to cut through what will be a China-like wall of pro-Democrat dirty tricks and bias erected by the mainstream media.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 09:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. #235 Janice,

      phew! that’s a relief.

      Anyway, goodnight from me, it’s late and I have an early start. Give Toby an extra pat from me please Janice. See you later.

      Posted by Pogria on 2008 01 20 at 09:26 AM • permalink

 

    1. Here’s some recent scoop on Bill Clinton’s latest series of temper tantrums.

      #237: I don’t know, C.L. There is a large core of people in the U.S. who will not support Hillary under any circumstances, and she probably has more negatives working against her than any single candidate of either party, so I don’t think she’d be invincible, by any means. John McCain’s experience in Vietnam is about all he’s got going for him, and there are a lot of places in the U.S. where, unfortunately, that won’t necessarily work in his favor. McCain was for a long time more or less on the outs with many Republicans because of his cozy relationship with Ted Kennedy on immigration, and before that because of his support of McCain-Feingold, which was a serious attempt to abridge free speech in the U.S. On top of that, he has a sometimes ungovernable temper that has led to some pretty idiotic public (and private) outbursts. To put it mildly, he’s not the best choice, in my opinion. But, naturally, I’d still support him over Hillary.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 20 at 09:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. #239 OK, I seem to have been misreading the McCain oeuvre.

      Posted by C.L. on 2008 01 20 at 09:41 AM • permalink

 

    1. So Paco, does it look like the Democratic nomination is in Hillary’s talons, or is it more up for debate than I’ve heard?

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 01 20 at 09:50 AM • permalink

 

    1. #241 Ash: She’s been making some mistakes, not the least of which is relying so heavily on Bill on the campaign trail. He’s a bit of a loose cannon, and his temper tantrums tend to give the impression of desperation. Voters may wind up asking themselves, “do we really want this crew in the White House, again”? I believe that the election of either Hillary or Obama would be a disaster (Edwards chances are fading fast, but he’d be a disaster, too). If one of these Democrats wins, I won’t be leaving the U.S., but I have to admit that if it happens, then my country has become a place I no longer know.

      Posted by paco on 2008 01 20 at 10:06 AM • permalink

 

    1. Speaking of presidential hopefuls, here’s a quick fisking of #82 Bryla:

      I want to be Governor-General.

      Life is all about me, Bryan Law, because I can save the world; but nobody cares.

      It’s a cool job.

      Don’t think of me as desperate or anything, but right now any job at all would give me some self-esteem and a sense of purpose.

      My Centrelink advisor agrees I’m up to it, and has enrolled me in small-talk and etiquete school to boost my CV.

      It’s obvious that I’m educated but unfortunately, I have no experience in anything vaguely related to employability. It’s time to look more closely at my limited skills set.

      e.g. “What ho Corey old pal!  Been to any good parties lately?” While using correct fork to hoe into the smoked Salmon.

      I’m just like Corey… but I’m not stuck on stupid… screw intelligence!

      So what if I’m getting older now. I can relate with people half my age ‘cause I’m still dealing with my own self-identity issues.

      Can’t you hear me???

      I’m not stuck on stupid, I said!

      Posted by splice on 2008 01 20 at 10:11 AM • permalink

 

    1. #242 Paco, I think she’d be far better off distancing herself from Bill, not getting closer. Of course, that’s just because Bill’s a creepy sleaze, nothing to do with running for President.

      I’m not sure that having a man who was such a controversial President for all the wrong reasons campaigning for her is such a smart move either.

      I know what you mean about Hillary and Edwards (that guy spends more on one hair cut than I spend on my hair in a year) being elected. Obama, I don’t know all that much about. I keep hearing how he’s a breath of fresh air, but I’m more inclined to go with another description I’ve heard, which is “Jimmy Carter Reincarnated”.

      Posted by Ash_ on 2008 01 20 at 10:20 AM • permalink

 

    1. #228 But that’s part of what nurses signed on for, voluntarily.

      No, not at all. The vast majority of patients are cooperative and grateful for the care they receive. The small minority that are not, seem to have problems with people in general.

      Posted by Redd on 2008 01 20 at 10:23 AM • permalink

 

    1. I reckon if Hillybama gits to be President, then me an’ Bessie-Jane can done quit skool. That’s reason enough to git in the truck and drive on into town, ain’t it Pa?

      Posted by splice on 2008 01 20 at 10:48 AM • permalink

 

    1. Don’t worry, Tim.

      You’ll die 90 years old, shot by a jealous husband.

      Posted by cyclosarin on 2008 01 20 at 11:04 AM • permalink

 

    1. #131 Rod Chicago, the HRCs have gone into huddle down mode I think. There’s very little mention int eh media, except fro the national post.

      You’ve seen Ezra Levant’s presentation. One awaits the report now I guess; the Alberta HRC has been studying for 9 months already.

      As for the multiple HRC (provincial and federal) investigations into Macleans magazine, still no presentations yet.

      Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 01 20 at 11:20 AM • permalink

 

    1. PIMF ha ha… Hillybama. That’s just silly!

      Hillbillorama, I mean.

      Posted by splice on 2008 01 20 at 11:23 AM • permalink

 

  1. Hellabama?

    Posted by splice on 2008 01 20 at 11:25 AM • permalink