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A most apt photo op and the fun at Chez Hall
There are times when a photo has a rather different message to the one intended by its publisher take this image published on Julia Gillard’s twitter account:
To my mind this picture is a strong reminder that it is unlikely that there will be another Labor PM before these school children are old enough to vote its also worth noting that Gillard has once again changed her Twitter avatar, finally I can’t help thinking that being seen with chooks is politically silly because it brings this creative animation to mind.
I know its not much but I have been trying to commit a neatness around here and doing a few little jobs like replacing the TV antenna which has been most fruitful as we now get all of the free to air channels which means that I will be able to watch so much more crap should I choose to do so, hmm I think I will pass on most of that. None the less my son is delighted to be able to watch ABC 3. Of course I can’t do much at a time but I approach it like eating an elephant, one bite at a time!
Another thing that has been taking up some of my time is tinkering with my car I have recently fixed a transmission leak caused by loose bolts on the Oil pan , I have also ordered a lovely set of stainless steel headers, which are not as you might expect custom made they are in fact intended for a FWD Sentra which uses the same family of engine as the Pulsar that I got my donor motor from. The will work because I already have my exhaust running under the engine to exit on the driver’s side so I expect to be able to get away with just modifying the intermediate pipe that currently connects to the stock cast iron manifold should only take an hour so to change these over, They promise a 10% increase in performance but I will be happy if they just sound nice. I was going to wait until my brother had paid me for a ride on mower I am selling him but Once I saw the Aussie dollar in decline against the Green-back I felt compelled to buy sooner rather than later. You guessed it I’m buying from the USA and its amazing how cheap the headers are, a measly $105 USD plus $125USD for shipping, The cheapest Aussie made system is $240 plus shipping($35) and that is for mild steel with a crappy painted finish. Is it any wonder that Australian manufacturing can’t compete?
Cheers Comrades
The fine art of being credible
As I predicted several times in this blog Tony Abbott has decided to Keep Labor’s “compensation” package when the hated Carbon Tax is deservedly thrown out after September 14:
click for source
This is utterly brilliant politics that very neatly cuts Labor off from the otherwise guaranteed scare campaign about the coalition and it renders Gillard and Co impotent in their attacks. While I’m sure that those true believers who are fighting their utter despair with disbelief and denial will crash very hard on September 14 ordinary Labor voters like those on Pensions and benefits can breathe a sigh of relief that they won’t be the ones feeling the pain for Labor’s maladministration of the nation over the last six years. However those in cushy jobs in the Climate change edifice will be quaking in their boots right now as they will be madly searching for new positions, now before the post September rush.
Over all I think that what Abbott offers here is entirely sensible both politically and economically and he has managed to press all of the right buttons more importantly what he says is credible, something Wayne Swan is utterly incapable of being.
Cheers Comrades
Julia , its time to “toughen up princess” because no one is buying your bullshit tears
Am I the only one who thinks that Gillard’s tears are more than a little contrived here? Heaven in a hand basket what a woeful example of an excess of emotion! I can’t help but think that her tears are not for the disabled and their carers but for herself and the rabble that she leads.
Cheers Comrades
Planes and Trains
This post is nothing special, Labor’s budget certainly has nothing to inspire me, their smoke was rather thin and their mirrors were far from shiny but I expected nothing less than that to be honest. Like a lot of voters I have long ago learned that Nothing said by Swan is to be believed. In any event I think its reasonable to expect that an incoming Abbott government will be having a “mini budget” at the earliest possible opportunity after September 14 so the hogwash presented last night will be pretty well flushed away in the blink of an eye.
In this budget they are planning to spend 25 billion on roads and rail infrastructure but that item in the budget is rather illusory because it is all predicated upon the states kicking in an equal amount of funding and we all know that they are all rather strapped for cash at present. This is undoubtedly intended to give Gillard some projects to claim are on their way but also allow them not to happen because the states won’t come to the party. Its just like that railway line announced for western Sydney during the 2010 campaign they will come to nothing.
Its all incredibly yawn inducing if you ask me the soporific began with the deliberate premature release of the majority of the the new measures over the last few weeks and it has been followed by the farcical delivery of the budget by the treasurer. Now we will have to endure further farce as Swan and Gillard beg for applause for their performance when all we want to see is that long hook coming out from the wings to drag them off the national stage …
Its a train wreck and sadly precisely as we expect from Labor..
Cheers Comrades
Oh and the vid is for my bro on his way to a holiday across the ditch this morning…
Bill Shorten, the toxic tumbler of Labor leadership and happy pills
I used to rank Bill Shorten as a political talent until his rather infamous affirmation of Gillard’s position even though he had no idea what that position was. Its the sort of thing you would expect from the writers of “Yes Prime Minister” and he has quite rightfully been pilloried for that expression of (literally )blind loyalty. It is certainly not an example him being quick on his feet in a tight spot although it is evidence of a certain amount internal honesty. Now with the utter decimation of the Labor party in very stark prospect there are those who rate him as a potential leader :
My conversion to the Shorten cause occurred when I was invited to listen to a group of aspiring politicians who had just returned from a study tour of Israel. I was open-mouthed that he had grasped the complexities of the conflict so quickly. It was incredible for a newcomer to the subject. A year later I dined with him in Canberra when he was the new member for Maribyrnong. He rose quickly to become Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. At age 45 he is perfect to lead Labor in its fightback. He has the intelligence, ideas, passion, charisma and drive to inspire Australians to once again put their faith in Labor.
Looking at Shorten’s more recent media appearances we don’t see a man with leadership potential what we see is a man on the verge of utter despair. he certainly isn’t a happy camper:
On Lateline May 9 2013
He may well be what Labor will needs as a leader after the rout but I really don’t think that he is silly enough to displace Gillard in the big chair before the election. He may be depressed(who could blame him for that?) but I don’t think that he is utterly bonkers or at all politically suicidal. Gillard and Swan will still be at the wheel when the Labor ship runs aground in September and they can go down with ship while the survivors will most likely fit into just one life boat (with space to spare) Shorten may or may not be one of them if he is then he might get the toxic tumbler of the federal leadership. Chances are though that his current depression will not be buoyed by winning that significant office in a vote from his fellow survivors. It will be a very long haul back into contention but who else is there to rebuild the Labor party? If he holds his seat Rudd may certainly want the job but I very much doubt that he would be the choice of the other survivors who will certainly remember his previous leadership and doubt that he has changed enough to justify another go. So it may be Shorten who has to put on a brave face as leader of the opposition after September but I just can’t see him being able to shake his obvious depression to be at all effective in that role no matter how many happy pills he might take.
Cheers Comrades
Breakfast of champions
Albo asks for my help
Regular readers will recall that I am on the hotline from our government members and they are always seeking my support for the important changes that they wish to make for the betterment of our country:
Dear Iain,
Labor people have always been champions for local community services.
Roads and footpaths. Parks and gardens. Sports clubs and community centres. Childcare. Help for seniors. Festivals and events. Community gardens.
For more than 40 years, federal governments have given funding to local councils to ensure our communities have these vital services.
Despite this, our most important document – the Australian Constitution – doesn’t recognise this.
That’s why I’ve just made an important announcement with the Prime Minister that on September 14 we are planning to hold a referendum on recognition of local government in our Constitution.
We need to add a few words so that federal governments can keep supporting vital services. It’s a small but important change.
If you support your local community services, can you share this with your friends?
This isn’t about politics. This change to our Constitution has the support of all the major parties – at this stage, even Tony Abbott.
Our challenge is to make sure our local communities know if they want to say “yes” to local services, they need to say “yes” to changing the Constitution.
Help us spread the word about this important opportunity.
Cheers,
Anthony
Of course there have been two previous (failed) attempts to make this sort of change to the constitution and both have been soundly defeated. I totally understand why Albo is seeking an endorsement from yours truly, he must realise that without my support that this referendum question has about as much hope as his beloved Julia has of winning another term in the lodge. That said I wonder just how necessary such a change to our constitution is. After all our cities and towns have got along quite well without it up until now so is the status quo broken enough to require this change?
Cheers Comrades
The illusory promise of bacon
Another day and another Labor promise collapses into the ever widening maw of economic reality:
click for source
Perhaps we need to add a very simple perception filter for anything that Labor promises when they are standing at the pork barrel, namely unless the bacon is being handed out immediately don’t buy any eggs to go with it because you will never taste its salty goodness if you wait for the promise to be realised…
That said I was expecting something like this and I predict that the “school kids bonus” will be the next to go, in fact as I predicted earlier the next budget will in fact cut many of the expenditure items that are on the coalition hit list quite simply because of the softening up that we have been seeing in the last few weeks of pre budget commitments. To be honest I would not be surprised to see even things like the the Green energy fund cut or severely curtailed along with the compensation paid to benefit recipients.
This is a government that knows it is dead, formed by a party that likewise appreciates its lack of a viable future, lead by an ego maniac who is a perfect example of ambition far exceeding ability and the nation will asset itself with her removal in September, but until then we will have to put up with the farcical spectacle of a Zombie government run by the decaying corpse of the once great Australian Labor Party. The only question is can we stand the stench of its decay in the mean time?
Cheers Comrades
Making them pay
I think I must have been about 17 and still living at home when it happened. We had opened our home to a young man who was what the bleeding hearts would call “troubled” he was about my age, utterly illiterate and eventually we had to ask him to leave for stealing from us, but not in a nice way and we were rather surprised to find him coming in the back door the next night. I was even more surprised to see my father shouting at him to “Get out of my house NOW!” even though this young thug was fit, strong and armed with a large knife, Thug boy retreated the way that he had come in and at that moment I was amazed at the bravery of my father because he has faced down thug boy empty handed and succeeded in keeping his family safe.
As adults we know that if we do the wrong thing that being brought before the beak will have real consequences to our lives but just imagine if we faced nothing of consequence even if we were to, say, rob an elderly couple at knife point do you think that we would have anything but contempt for the police and the courts? Well that is the situation for juvenile offenders here in Queensland, heck even if a Juvenile offender breaches the conditions of their correction orders there are no consequences, it is not even an offence under the current legal system to ignore the directions of the courts. Thankfully there are moves afoot to reform the way that young scrotes offenders are “punished” by the courts and most importantly to get rid of the ridiculous idea that locking up young offenders should be a “last resort” as the act currently requires. Of course this change won’t mean that first offenders will automatically do the monopoly “Go to jail, do not pass go , do not collect $200″ thing but in the age of the internet we can no longer pretend that clued up young crims don’t know the score and don’t know that even if they are caught that they will essentially get off Scott free. that breaching corrections orders is not even a chargeable offence.
Thankfully the Newman government is currently working on reforming the Juvenile justice system to fix these shortcomings in the system as a community we need the law to have meaningful sanctions for those who break it no matter how young they may be because its clear to the wider community that the status-quo is just not working. The intentions of the compassionate and naive to give young offenders the chance to be redeemed is noble but when such chances are endless the sanctions of the courts become utterly impotent. As a society we need the courts to be effective and its very clear that the juvenile justice system here is utterly broken and I really hope that the current review fixes it and if it means that the current generation of young thugs actually do some real porridge then that will be a very good outcome.
Now if they could just bring back hanging then we could really make a dent in the numbers of criminals in our midst 
Cheers Comrades
