In years to come our children might ask, “What did you do in the Macklemore War, Dad?” My response will be, “Like a lot of people, I fought and died just a little bit inside.”
The noise around the same sex marriage voluntary postal survey has turned this country into a dismal, joyless place, where proponents and opponents quibble over meaningless symbolism like seagulls over a chip.
I confess I didn’t have the slightest idea who Macklemore was until earlier this week. I would be perfectly happy to bathe in that ignorance today. I might even have watched him perform in the NRL Grand Final pre-match, wondered out loud who he was before going to the fridge and grabbing another beer before the kick off.
By the time the match ended and the premiership trophy was held aloft by the victorious captain, Macklemore’s performance would have been a distant memory, rather like my knowledge of the 2004 coup d’etat in Equatorial Guinea in that it was a long time ago and didn’t really make a whole lot of difference to my life.
Full column here.
@ JtI
Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of her peace prize. Well done.
Stripped only of her Freedom of Oxford award at this stage which was given to her after she won the Nobel Prize.
Hey Milt you could have given this bloke a few tips. Rumour has it you have to battle the python from time to time!
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/australian-paceman-james-pattinson-ruled-out-of-ashes-with-back-injury-20171004-gyu9bv.html
NOOOOO. wanted to see the 4 big guys firing. Hopefully Pattinson can turn himself into an all rounder. His batting is already pretty decent. Might have to come back as more of a seam/swing merchant.
yeah sux
behrendorff infer t20’s….
Dwight
‘joyless and clueless’
Applies to NFL too. Danny Trevathan outed for a paltry 2 weeks for the hit on Adams and then reduced to 1 week on appeal. This is the NFL “getting tough”. Oh boy. Packers looking good against Dallas this week. Should be too strong for the Cowboys even down in TX. Bills should sweep the Bengals aside at Paul Brown.
Interesting option if the technology stacks up and keeps people employed. Win win.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/explorer-plans-coaltogas-plant-in-nt/news-story/77f1ddba4890fe11de94f9b49efa7d6f
Wont happen the same guy tried to take santos down this path when he was there a couple of years ago. It just does not stack up against the more cost effective reliable renewable energy. I would suggest not investing in this.
A balanced and reasonably argued comment. Well done. There is hope.
That’s where Sydney’s gas came from over 100 years ago. The genesis of AGL.
Anastasia has destroyed any credibility she may have once had by grovelling to a dirty coal fraud, doing the ultimate in dodgy deals, destroying the GBR & giving Queensland’s agriculture the finger by giving away their water supply for 60 years.
Guatum gets it for free.
How is that even possible?
All for a maybe 1400 jobs one day & to win a couple of seats in the North. She sold out her loyal voter base so is absolutely, deservingly gone at the next state election.
Bella 2800 direct jobs and untold thousand of indirects. Indigenous kids with a trade! Breaking the cycle! By Christ she’s doing a great job and I will be voting for her!
You’re like a born sucker with the Adani scam mate.
If, and that’s a very big if, this disaster gets up Adani will sell the water rights, pocket the billion taxpayer $$ & piss off.
We’ll never get a cent back. 😨
And the jobs for aboriginal kids?
Agree with everything you say Bella. It amazes me how people everywhere including on this blog have this right versus left, labor versus conservative vitriol going on. They are all hopeless is the big picture, but there are some politicians, a minority I might add, who have convictions. Sadly it is not evident from decisions which come the party room by majority vote. Sad cafe. Anastasia and cronies should hang their heads. Not for wanting to start a new business venture which may benefit some, but for who they choose to get into bed with.
Here’s something to cheer you up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Sovhjz7g8&list=RDF0Sovhjz7g8
Wonderful cover….thanks so much…loved it.🎶
Great band Bella, I’ve been a fan for a while.
Apparently Churchill said of Russia, “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. To me, the same could be said of the U.S.A. So much good has come out of the place, the jazz and blues music being my favourite, then there are tragedies like the very recent Las Vegas shootings just for example and whispers heard that not all is good in the good ‘ole U.S.of A.
Not usually into conspiracies but there are a few kicking around about recent democrats in the States, including Billary & some putting ex-Pres Obama in a very poor light including his record breaking number of prosecutions against whistle-blowers and journalists who dare to question / expose the system. I thought he was one of the good guys.
Great band Bella, I’ve been a fan for a while.
Apparently Churchill said of Russia, “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. To me, the same could be said of the U.S.A. So much good has come out of the place, the jazz and blues music being my favourite, then there are tragedies like the very recent Las Vegas shootings just for example and whispers heard that not all is good in the good ‘ole U.S.of A.
Not usually into conspiracies but there are a few kicking around about recent democrats in the States, including Billary & some putting ex-Pres Obama in a very poor light including his record breaking number of prosecutions against whistle-blowers and journalists who dare to question / expose the system. I thought he was one of the good guys.
Are you then casting your vote with Tim Nicholls LNP Bella? Cheers
I’d rather walk on broken glass……..so NO.
I loves a punt, particularly with the sniff of a big payout. I was initially happy that Lottoland opened up the US lotteries, and many other big prize games, to Aussies. I, like many others, thought I was actually buying a ticket in the lottery. After reading the fine print, and reading the highly restrictive terms of participation, I’m sure this outfit’s products are not more than the old ‘numbers rackets’ run by gangsters back in the 1930’s.
The top value ‘headline’ payouts will never eventuate if someone actually wins. Although Lottoland do not pay tax, they deduct tax at the same rate as the US Government, about 1/3. Then they deduct another chunk, an amount decided by them, if you want cash. Their (and their Insurers) preferred payout is piecemeal over 30 years. If a lottery has multiple winners, Lottoland reduce the prize to a proportion equal to the payout to the winners in the actual lottery, even though they aren’t in the same prize pool. So if the US lottery has 4 winners, you will get 1/5 of the headline prize, minus a raft of deductions decided by Lottoland..
Lottoland is registered in Gibralter, so if they ever got stung for a big payout, they can close up shop and disappear without paying you a zot, and there’s nought you can do about it. Lottoland is a rort. They haven’t been around long, but I’m sure they can’t produce anyone who has won a decent prize with them.
More than that – the ‘traditional’ Lottos in Australia plough most of the losings into government revenue, to which they are addicted. It’s all gone with Lottoland. Stinks.
I think the last figure I saw was that of the more than $15 billion wagered in Oz, $9 billion goes to state governments. Who has the gambling addiction in Australia?
Strong point Trivalve and one I hadn’t considered. In Queensland the Casket channelled endless funds into consolidated revenue and mostly it was spent on hospitals. Prior to Medicare Queensland had free hospitals, long before other States considered them.
NSW set up a special lottery to fund the building of the Mating Tortoises, that ugly white monstrosity at Circular Quay where people allegedly sing opera.
There was a tragic aside to that lottery too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Thorne_kidnapping
Yes, I remember the Graham Thorne case well. I’m about the same age. It was pretty spooky.
On an optimistic note re ssm. Despite the tortuous nature of this postal survey (a plebiscite had at times been the only method proffered by both sides), consider the positive sense of embracement for the many individuals personally involved, and the nation as a whole, if the yes vote receives an emphatic endorsement. Yes, the no voters may feel somewhat disenfranchised (oh the shoe is on the other foot), but the democratic process would alert them that the world has moved on.
Of course this is not guaranteed to happen, though I hope it does, but I doubt the sense of euphoria this result would provide could be matched by a simple, sterile act of parliament.
Milton, you were right about the Bob Dylan / Tom Petty concert, it was 1986. One of the better concerts, brilliant I thought. They had to put up a $50,000 surety to not exceed x amount of decibels but they happily exceeded that and lost the surety. We had to hide Stevie Nick’s microphone behind the stage left curtains because she only had a tourist visa and got into trouble in Sydney. Stage right camera got great footage of Bob, Tom and Stevie for Gillian Armstrong’s movie. Ah, halcyon days, used to do a bit of roadie work for a mate’s company when the oilfield was quiet so should realised it 86 or 87.
Methinks your man Tones Abbott is preparing another “thrust” at the PMship dear Milton and when and if this SSM gets put to the Parliament expect the “coup” on Malcolm to be unleashed. Yes, Dr No wants another Go! Cheers
Don’t know if it would be as euphoric as you say Milton, but it certainly would have been a cheaper sterile act.
Cheers
From what I gather it is unlikely that he US would put an end to gun ownership. Fair enough this is their business. All I can suggest for the sake of damage control would be to reduce the number of guns a person could own – say 2, one handgun, one rifle or 2 of each. The horror that was committed in Las Vegas was not simply the result of a weapon but a bloody arsenal. If the murderer purchased all the weapons and ammunition legally and with his correct personal details then surely some system should be in place that stimulates a red flag – saying Hello, what’s going on here. Does the right to bear arms extend beyond simply being able to defend oneself rather than the capacity to cause serious offence. Is an arms cache and rapid fire weaponry necessary, and or the grounds for the 2nd amendment? And whilst separate matters, if the US can abolish slavery and decriminalise marijuana, it’s plausible to think the US can make some ground on gun control. Obviously it would need bi-partisan support, but I believe the many grieving are from either side of politics.
Another thing which I question is what would/could have happened if this blokes girlfriend had alerted the authorities of her suspicions regarding her boyfriends accumulation of weaponry? I suspect an interview, at best, and little more. All the psychology etc in the world would not have been sufficient to remove the arsenal or remove the killer of the streets.
Just on that “red flag” stimulation, why must we have a ‘watch list’ in this country? If these people have been or might be a threat to Australia, a far better solution would be to a) strip them of this country’s citizenship if necessary & b) send the entire lot on a few chartered Qantas flights to the ME where they just may come to understand why their actions were so bloody unacceptable here.
It would certainly serve as a deterrent to other like-minded citizens & that also includes their devout Islam preachers.
But Bella Labor and the Greens would go nuts if we did this!
Bella – i’m sorry Bella, I’ve just read your post from yesterday that states, in a better way, some of that which I posted today. V good argument:
Bella says:
October 4, 2017 at 9:35 pm
“Does anyone ever imagine the basic & primitive firearms that were available way, way back when the Founding Fathers set up the 2nd Amendments “right to bear arms”?
Given what passes for ‘personal protection’ guns available in 21st Century US, I actually think those same men would now say they made a terribly outdated mistake.
Gun deaths and tragic gun massacres in America are proof of that.”
Well said, you Greenie, whale lover!
By that logic the First Amendment doesn’t cover TV and radio. The Fourth doesn’t cover your car.
Many Americans have the equivalent of a small Arsenal in their possession, if a classroom of dead six year olds won’t make them change nothing will.
Imagine if the shooter had been of middle eastern origin.
Too true, Tracy. The “Texas Tower Sniper”, Charles Whitman 50 years back was merely a precursor to what happened in Las Vegas and will happen again. A senseless, needless destruction of lives. In the meantime NY has had zero tolerance, there is a war on drugs and smokers rights to light up are seriously curtailed. This perversity no doubt extends to making it a crime for a female (if I can use that word) to sunbathe topless on a beach.
Lone wolf when Christian Caucasian, terrorist when muslim.
This will amaze you, but there is no central computerised register anywhere in the USA of gun serial numbers. All the serial numbers, millions of them, are stored on paper records. Searching for 1 gun could take days. Searching for an arsenal could become a career. From purchase to registration could take months. Attempts to change the system have been rebuffed.
And for all that it was a parking ticket that nabbed “Son of Sam”, whose Charter Arms 44 Bulldog (?) was purchased for him by an ex-army acquaintance.
David Frum’s response to bearded goons in camo with prison tats salivating over bump stocks.
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/915693980347592704
“Trained, uniformed, subject to military discipline & laws of war, under command of superior officers answerable to civilian authority.”