One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts’ testimony in the High Court yesterday might have been a crippling blow to the 77 people who voted for him but let’s look on the bright side. We haven’t had a senator so amusing since Mal Colston and truth be known, Malcolm Roberts is far more trustworthy around a packet of Tim Tams.
While the senator left the High Court yesterday looking cheerfully optimistic, there was general agreement from most observers that perhaps things had not gone quite as well as expected. This was rudely confirmed when the overflow room, established to accommodate the large number of visiting journalists who couldn’t fit into the gallery of the Brisbane court, spontaneously burst into uncontrollable laughter on numerous occasions.
The case, as far as we can tell, revolves around Malcolm Roberts firing off missives into the ether seeking to determine his citizenship status prior to nominating as a candidate for the Senate. The emails bear the subject heading, “Am I still a British citizen?” which stands at odds with the senator’s belief he has always been an Australian despite arriving in Australia in 1962 as an eight-year-old.
Full column here.
Oh dear Jack, two groups in two days ignoring your sage advice on open letters. First the DPRK and now the Australian Book Review. Not sure which is more smug.
Actually I’ve just remembered that the last season of Rake that I watched ended with him being elected to the senate without even trying.
The next season should be a hoot. So much material to work with!
Fabulous show Boadicea bring it on! Cheers
This ssm marriage matter is really pushing the envelope.
Your “ssm” followed by “marriage” in relation to an envelope appears to be a slight overreach. However, given that a parabola is considered to be the locus point that moves so as to be equidistant from a fixed point and a straight line (emphasis on “straight” of course), the locus in this context is the ultimate intersection of conservative curves. If you get me drift.
Still on the weed I see honey.
Uh no!
Geez Carl. Bit profound?
Here’s a suggestion for the SSM yes and no campaigns.
Here in Portugal, they have regional (local) elections coming up this Saturday. Everywhere we go, candidates have vehicles festooned with their promotion, including two very large megaphones regardless of the size of vehicle. These blast out the songs of choice, plus a very annoying voiceover usually provided by the driver. The noise level would make Bassman green with envy, especially when three competing camps are in the same street.
Perhaps the SSM campaigners could adopt a similar strategy. Judging from the reaction of locals here, it is a sure way to get the opposite vote to what is intended.
Looks like PM Turnbull doesn’t have Gas after all, Mr Insider. Buy Shares in Energizer Holdings is my tip fellow Aussies. “Gas crisis ‘three times bigger’ than thought, Malcolm Turnbull says”.
http://tinyurl.com/ybg968xt
Victoria, NSW and the NT need to open up their resources and the problem is solved. Less share of the GST carve up might get them thinking a different way. The anti-gas mob will never vote for the Coalition anyway.
man seriously. the anti-gas mob aka “lock the gate” are coalition supporters. Ian Macfarlane ( former LNP minister) called it out last night. O’Farrell and Baillieu put in place the moratoriums. They were running coalition governments at the time and were put under pressure by their own supporters. Got anything else to whinge about because you continuously get made to look ridiculous. I have been supporting more gas exploration for years and you have now come on board. Now your only source of information the Australian are pushing you suddenly think it is a good idea?
Drew Hutton is a coalition voter?
http://www.theenergycollective.com/ed-dodge/2193161/methane-hydrates-are-promising-energy-resource
I’m not a chemist and can’t answer any technical questions about this stuff, but the necessity for the methane to be released from the hydrate structure by CO2, the effluent gas from combustion of the methane pumped back into the rock formation, is attractive. Apparently this hydrate also forms outside rock formations as house sized ‘bergs’ sitting in vast fields on the seafloor. This resource could free many countries from ME oil dependence, (Japan has vast fields of this hydrate but no other hydrocarbons) a political game changer. The size of the resource could well supply mankind for a couple of centuries until low/no energy nanotechnology can supply our needs. That is, if we survive another 2 centuries. My guess is population pressure will wipe out most or all of humanity before the end of this century.
Any chemists on the blog? Hydrate? Any oilmen? Fizzy rocks?
As methane forms from the decomposition of organic matter (billions of tonnes of algae per annum) this would be considered a renewable resource. Slow but renewable.
It might also save us from another Great Methane Fart, a gaseous expulsion under the Arctic Ocean during the pre-Cambrian epoch that is believed to have wiped out 95% of life on the planet. I have mates who can clear a large room, but this event is beyond imagining.
Permian epoch not Pre Cambrian.
I’m a chemist, but I’ve never heard of hydrate rocks – a literal translation would be water rocks.
BTW, methane is odourless.
TO
I was vaguely aware that something is added to methane (natural gas) to make it detectable. My mates require no additives!
I only heard of this stuff recently, when an undersea doco outfit showed film of a field of methane bergs. I only found the linked article after seeing the doco. There’s more items about it around the net. Japan is doing a lot of research and exploration, but unfortunately their sites are in Japanese. I wanted to find out how it forms and at what depth. It must require huge pressure to squeeze a gas down to a solid. One clip showed drill tailings impregnated with hydrate ‘fizzing’ after being brought to the surface.
TO,
Mrs Razor would disagree 😷
Shares in Yamaha–maker of generators.
Turnbull never had any gas in the tank Henry, it was all hot air.
Now consider Abbott, on a diet of brown onions avec skin, and how much gas my boy has? And if that runs out he has peddle power.
Yeah, Milton, he sure knows how to peddle nonsense.
gotta laugh
http://ministers.treasury.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2008/107.htm&pageID=003&min=ceb&Year=&DocType=
Two faced Turnbull on Newspolls. He doesn’t even have the bare faced cheek to concede why it was he toppled Abbott in the first place as this linked clip progresses. Be off with you Malcolm you came, we saw, and we were not impressed. Caught out in your own “blather”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BgrwCj-EMQ
No 20 consecutive negative Newspoll has rolled around Mr Insider to smack PM Turnbull right in the kisser as it were. He is now just 10 away from the record 30 scored by ex ousted PM Abbott. The voters have completely turned away from Turnbull and his rag tag government a long time ago. A “Barry Crocker” Malcolm , don’t forget you came to power on the negative Newpsolls Abbott got big buddy!
http://tinyurl.com/yb82bol2
Alternative für Deutschland at 14%? Well done Merkel. The CDU and the SPD both down to near record lows. It will be months before there’s a government.
Just when we’d thought that things had gone quiet on the Donald Trump front, he puts his foot in again by denigrating peaceful protests by NFL players and asking owners to fire these players. Good on NFL management for supporting their players’ rights to peaceful protests. Also kudos to Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors for taking a stand against Trump’s equivocation in relation to the Charlottesville incident.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a POTUS divide the US as much as Trump has.
It seems that John Kelly still has a lot of work to do.
As one of 360,000 shareholders of the Green Bay Packers, I don’t want my employees making political statements while representing the corporation.
As an employer, that’s a fair enough comment. I daresay that other owners of GBP may not share your view, though, and would support peaceful actions that highlight some of the inequalities in the US in a forum that will be noticed.
Don’t you think it risible that a draft dodger like Trump calls out the NFL players for not being patriotic enough? While I’m at it, what do you think of a POTUS who equates the actions of anti-racist protesters with those of the inbred killer, at Charlottesville?
Remember, Trump’s one of your “employees”, too, and he’s doing all this while representing the USA.
Unless they’re getting paid for it:
http://m.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/defense-military-tributes-professional-sports_us_5639a04ce4b0411d306eda5e
And they’re doing OK too. Sitting 10th with 2W(h) and 1L(a) from 3. Should be 3 and 1 after they roll the Bears at Lambeau on Thursday. I don’t think Chicago have the goods. I follow the Bills, also 2 & 1 from 3 but 4th on the ladder on %age. We’ve got the unbeaten Falcons at home on Sunday. I’m quietly hopeful.