In relative terms, Bill Shorten, Labor leader since September 2013, has lived a charmed existence. Until he took the job, Labor leaders had a life expectancy in the big seat up the front that was measured in months, not years.
Reports of cracks emerging between Shorten and his frontbencher Anthony Albanese emanate from a speech Albo made to the Transport Workers Union in Western Australia in which he claimed a victory over the government’s budget. The Turnbull government, Albanese said, had shifted towards Labor policy and platform and this should be celebrated.
Meanwhile, his leader was running around telling anyone who cared to listen that the budget was not a Labor budget at all.
Given leadership spills or even the hint of them are a drug of addiction to many in the media, the clear contradictions caused a stir.
Appearing on the Nine Network’s Today program, Albo’s segment counterpart, Liberal Christopher Pyne, delighted in turning molehills into mountains. But Albo was having none of it and turned to a politician’s quick and easy answer when confronted with a difficult question.
Full column here.
Man of Peace POTUS Trump meets With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Insider, and was warmly received indeed. He has now arrived at the Vatican for an audience with the Pope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hfqj2BWAI
SOUTHS:-hmm going further South…GROAN!
I haven’t read the full findings but after the legal and media lynch mob had their say it would appear NSW Coroner Michael Barnes has formed a fairly reasonable view regarding the Lindt cafe. I know someone who sat through much of the inquest and they could not believe the difference in what was reported by the MSM and what was actually happening.
What we do without terrorism BASSMAN? No excuses to wage war and pillage the resources of other nations, or control commodities to reap astronomical engineered windfall profits. What else are we going to use to distract the people from the realities of climate change? How else are we going to justify the steady dismantling of individual rights?
Look bloke your hearts in the right place, lets just incinerate innocent children, women and old people by the million. Yep blow em to bits or maim them horribly for life, watch them die with a daily score chart of agonising deaths from radiation sickness or burns.
Fantastic, in to time at all we will all be inoculated against mass killings, even revel in them. “New Record For Most Deaths With a Single Bomb.”
Great idea on the surface of it bloke, and it might work, if you killed enough people , but what about our friends who pay the enlistment bonuses , buy the munitions and pay the wages of terrorist organisations? Do you want to kill our best clients too. Kill the golden goose?
Think it through man.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/how-terrorism-useful-our-governments-112174807
https://whowhatwhy.org/2016/03/21/cuba-operation-northwoods-forgotten-insanity/
Good points JB. I wonder how many corporate and political psychopaths out there have a long range plan for the points you bring up regarding plundering on the one hand and reducing us all to sheep on the other. Barcodes on foreheads all round.
And what most people are unaware of Mack, is it’ really about money right through the whole sick paradigm.
ISIL terrorists receive a ten thousand US dollar bonus on recruitment, and their families are paid as well. And then they get paid to fight. Courtesy of the Saudis and their cohorts. That’s more money than 99% of recruits are ever likely to save in their lives.
Call me a cynic but most men will adjust their spiritual beliefs to enhance their material prospects if the money is right. And enthusiastically encourage any suggestible person to violence as a matter of duty.
I still want to know where the 3 trillion dollars went missing from the Pentagon accounts.
Give ’em heaps.
Razor I hope you mind me tacking my response under your post (a good one I must say) but I am not speaking to BASSMAN just at the moment.
Give ’em heaps.
I’m off him myself at the moment JB. His scorched earth policy as an answer to Terrorism left me a bit cold…….
Manchester:-a terrible terrible attack. But there will be more of it. Lots more. Many years ago on this blog I said this and was severely caned. I am going to say it again and expect the same flogging. The Americans ended the war with Japan with first a warning and then Hiroshima/Nagasaki. The same needs to be done again. Terrorism/ISIS/Taliban will never give up until their own people turn on them and even then they may not give up. How to do this? A world warning must be given that every time a western target is executed a mosque full of Muslims will be taken out with a missile. The warning may be enough.
This is what I would hope. Take out an empty mosque first. Warn them. At the worst, like Hiroshima only one missile may need to be used. At the best none. One would hope that then the whole Muslim race would rise against the terrorists in the name of their children. It is heartless. It is cruel but we cannot let this go on forever. It seems peace does not work for these cowards. This may not be the answer but how can you fight an invisible enemy that plays an unfair game of war? There is the human cost and the monetary cost….trillions of dollars to date and as many Generals have stated… we are still at square one.
Bassie,
To the extent that what we are doing at present clearly does not work (and is ludicrously expensive), it is time to try something different.
Not so sure about the solution proposed – but I have heard a lot worse eg let’s pick a country to invade; let’s pretend it’s not about what they say it is; let’s offer appeasement because once they have what they ask for surely they will leave us in peace…..
Would that similar logic prevailed – if not Bassman’s suggested solution – to other economic blackholes such as education, indigenous affairs etc.
cheers
So …. Bassy you say we solve the dilemma of “terrorism” with “terrorism”. Your suggestion would be fanciful if it wasn’t so facile. Sure makes POTUS Trump’s initial statement about curbing immigration from predominantly Muslim countries look like a melted marshmallow, eh.
Do you understand the motive behind these people? Do you think they care if a Mosque is bombed? They believe all the people in the Mosque are going to go to paradise anyway. The difference is this is not about countries it is about religion, or a perverse interpretation of a particular religion. WW2 was about opportunistic strategic land grabs not religion. Your comparison is so wrong I am astounded you once were a principal of a school. I have heaps more to say on your post but I’m not going to bother. For someone who is probably a good bloke you astound me sometimes Bassy.
It’s not a matter of ‘do they care if a mosque is bombed. They *want* the mosque bombed because it fits with their end of days scenario. The are mad, because they think an all-powerful entity actually wants this to happen. F*ckwittery on a massive scale.
hear, hear.
Stop selling them food. They won’t renounce the terrorists, they don’t fear death. Islam wants a war with the West. If we hit one mosque they’ll come right back. It doesn’t matter to them that they might be on the losing end of the equation. Dying a martyr is the important thing. So, starve them. Stop selling them food. The social chaos would destroy them, and hungry people would be less likely to fight and more eager to deal. You want food? Renounce your hateful religion. Or don’t deal with them at all; just watch while they all starve to death. Some might survive, but they’d be eager for a treaty.
JtI – thanks for the email you sent me, I’ve replied. I’ll contact HK jack tonight.
HK jack, thanks kindly for your offer, I deeply appreciate it. An email will bob up in your junk box with wissendorf in the address line.
mosque???when I spelz it looks like Saudi Arabia
There have been a couple of decidedly odd comments in the Opinion pages in the last two days. Does Janet really think fairness is a false god? Now, I’m not saying the word is not subject to misuse, but surely it is no more a false god than justice, freedom or truth. They are not false gods, they are entirely desirable.
And Jennifer Oriel yesterday drawing comparisons between Donald Trump and Tony Abbott is a gross discourtesy to the latter. I don’t think Tony Abbott was a good Prime Minister and I think he is now diminishing his stature by urging things he could not or would not do himself. But I do think he is a decent human being. I am an agnostic and if I were a Christian it would not be of the Catholic Conservative type, but I am sure his beliefs are genuine. You could have fooled me if the thrice married, grab ’em by the pussy, if she wasn’t my daughter I’d be dating her Donald Trump holds any genuine Christian belief at all. Tony Abbott is undoubtedly a supporter of Western culture as, I hope, in my own small way I am too. But to use the words Donald Trump and culture in the same sentence is placing a heavy burden on the English language. Jennifer also suggests that they are both Conservatives and that is certainly true of Tony Abbott. But Donald Trump has many views that are anathema to many Conservatives. I could go on, for example about the fact that there is an intellectual basis to Tony Abbott’s positions and none at all to Donald Trump’s. Or that Tony Abbott has a worthy history of volunteering. I am not usually a Tony Abbott supporter, but give the man a break and don’t insult him by comparing him to Donald Trump. He deserves better than that.
Well said NFY. He was certainly not our greatest PM but he doesn’t deserve to be compared to Trump. The problem is the intelligentsia of the left just love to hate.
Jennifer Oriel is a member of neither the Left nor the intelligentsia, and her comparison was most likely an expression of admiration for both men
exactly right
Good comment re Abbott and Trump.
My brother has an elderly blue heeler that will try and hump anything, craps everywhere, growls a lot and nips at people for seemingly no reason. But it’s only when you tell him that he’s like Donald Trump that he turns nasty.
Brilliant Perentie! Gave me an afternoon chuckle whilst stuck in a hotel room in Brisbane.
That was really good Perentie.
Very good comment
As a thrice married chappie myself, Mr Insider, I have studied this very short clip of FLOTUS Trump “seemingly” flicking away POTUS Trumps proffered hand on the tarmac in Israel today. This was originally brought to my attention by the very vigilante Mr Baptiste, who was licking his lips in anticipation of an imminent marriage break up between Melania and Donald. All I can say is this is a storm in a teacup and compared to sweet Mrs Blofeld Mark 1, who tipped a bowl of Soup on my head in a classy restaurant, I would say the Trumps marriage is in very good shape!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRPx0CIzAKM
I suppose the status of widow constitutes a marriage break up Enery. Right now Melania is negotiating a revision of the pre nups and last testament and will. Before topping the toupeed tosser.
“Hokay Donal it is like this, you want nice and lovey dovey it going cost you a lot of money. Now is my turn to grabbing you by the pussy you lecherous old chauvinist pig.”
Correct Enery! I am indeed salivating at the possibilities for unfolding events.
Proper respect for Mrs Blofeld Mark 1 for restraint. If she is not on the list for canonization at the end of what one hopes is a long and happy life then there is no justice in the world.
A bowl of pee and ham soup no doubt, HB.
How much are we spending on the NBN?
http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/real-world-test-of-5g-network-showed-speeds-60-times-faster-than-those-offered-by-the-nbn/news-story/7b4dbba37afa17c032fd7d94a3e04ffa
And how much would be spend on our bills over a decade paying for the service?
Get real.
That would be our choice and not a government diktat.
It is your choice. Go for it.
Have U noticed the cost of these mobile plans…they are horrendous! Just had a quick look at the Telstra page $24 a month for one gig. Christ I use more than this to read my papers in a day! There will never be wi fi internet until the price drops one hun dred fold. Show me a mobile plan that allows 300gig a month for $59 which includes all mobile calls in Oz, all STD calls and local calls. In fact, show me one that gets ANYWHERE near this! And remember with wi fi the more on it the slower it Hyundai Getz.
https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband/plans
wissendorf says:
MAY 22, 2017 AT 8:10 PM
If you liked that just wait until you see these cats cook Bald! Yes I am a fan of all music vogues…classical, rock, especially jazz and funk. Love Blue Grass…especially Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Ricki Scaggs all MONSTER players!
Gasp! That kid was INCREDIBLE on the link U sent as are so many kids on the Tube today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQVt-GvP3HA
A quick note on the administration of your site, Jack: it is notably zippy in its response time when loading compared to most other sites I visit that are loaded down with active content like videos and pop-up advertising. Even The Oz, which seems to have fixed one of its recent loading problems, is a bit of a lumbering beast because of long-running scripts and what-not.
So if you ever go down the path of commercial content (and I’m sure it must have been contemplated) please don’t let the thing get too bogged down. Cheers!
OK, so Twiggy got in before The Don.
The most ambitious goal is making cancer a non-lethal disease, with $75 million in seed funding provided for the creation of the Eliminate Cancer Initiative.
From http://www.afr.com/news/andrew-forrest-gives-400m-to-charity-20170522-gwa3pe#ixzz4hs2qJBjb
But not before The Zuck, who wants to eliminate *all* disease.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/22/sorry-mark-zuckerberg-your-plan-to-put-an-end-to-disease-is-a-si/
I’m with the writer of that piece, who quibbles
One doesn’t like to sound ungrateful. It’s lovely that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, want to save the human race. But still, their promise to find ways to “cure, prevent or manage all disease” by the end of the century does raise a few niggling doubts.
The return of the Gilded Age, HU. Rip off consumers, engage in questionable business practices, make a fortune. Give some of it back before you die. Like the Rockefellers, the Dukes and the Carnegies.
Well said Mr Insider!
Or Bernie Madoff. Just watched the HBO movie last night. Sheesh.