In lieu of anything from Newspoll or Nielsen, this week’s very interesting Essential Research survey gets its own thread. It finds Labor at what might be an all-time low for this agency, which opened for business after the 2007 election and has traditionally provided Labor with friendly results. Labor nonetheless retains a commanding 54-46 lead, down from 55-45 last week. Kevin Rudd also has his weakest personal ratings to date, his approval down three to 52 per cent and disapproval up four to 37 per cent. Tony Abbott by contrast is up a hearty eight points to 45 per cent on approval, but down only one on disapproval to 36 per cent. The likely headline-grabber of the survey is a question on the performance of Peter Garrett who gets a resounding thumbs-down with 28 per cent approval and 56 per cent disapproval. Better news for Labor on an insightful question as to whether respondents expect a Tony Abbott government would reintroduce parts of WorkChoices: 57 per cent say likely and 23 per cent say unlikely, with large majorities across supporters of all parties.
[Well, they are doing a piss poor job of it because the media want him gone.]
GB – I reckon they hated the PM organising who was actually going to ask the questions at the press conferences and pointing at them. Howard buttered them up and Kev hasn’t.
What is so different to how Howard manipulated the media. He had something going on all the time and flooded us with deception.
Bernard needs to tell us just how Kev has done this. Come on Bernard, spill the beans.
Cuppa @ 2816
[Note the photograph they chose to accompany that headline]
I’m surprised they didn’t choose one of those Kevin smiling on Rove type images.
[my other alter ego has taken over my life at the moment]
Finns
I don’t know about this other you 🙁 I like the old Finns just fine.
my say
Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 at 2:40 pm | Permalink
‘board@your.abc.net.au’ write to them being polite which we always are”
I was my most polite , and it took an hour to get past filter moderatons , now printed
“Landeryou and your drones Israeli suporters here , show that even Israeli’s infringing of oz soveregnty and th endangering of aussies lifes (whose passports were faked), still prevents youse from making any critcs of israel , worse still youse defend Israeli’s infringing our oz Countryss and citizens rites Your indecensy knows no bottoms”
Posted by Ron | February 26, 2010, 13:21
[How can you be sure? It’s a big assumption, given the state report as to new concerns on the half-life, and the unsatisfactory testing regime in Tasmania]
Fortunately, I’m not responsible for water quality in Tassie. In the area where I am, triazine levels are not known to be exceeding guideline values.
There is a big difference between ensuring that concentrations of pesticides don’t exceed guideline values, which is what every regulator aims for, and promising ‘chemical free water’ which is green-fairy stuff.
Melbourne AM radio is still churning through insulation stories. Its not ‘gorn’ down here, GB.
Rudd must be heaving a sigh of relief over the Israel/passport revelations. They provide a rare opportunity to drag the media focus away from Rudd and Insulation
Maybe that’s why Rudd and Smith overplayed Australia’s hand yesterday. Many commentators have suggested that assuming Israel is the culprit is a bit presumptuous
[Speaking of which Dio is a Lib govt there on the cards?]
Nope. I’m going for a narrow win for Labor by a few seats. ShowsOn who knows more about it than me is tipping a hung parliament though.
I think William has been following it closely and I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts.
polyquats
[promising ‘chemical free water’ which is green-fairy stuff.]
Agreed. But I don’t really think that’s what the Greens are promising – I think he meant: ‘water free of dangerous chemicals’, as set out in the 3 planks he was talking about. The problem seems to be that the sampling for triazines is not conducted in the right places, at least according to, “Alex Schaap, the Government’s general manager of biosecurity and product integrity”
[Alison Bleaney, a Tasmanian GP and anti-pesticides campaigner, said: “It is the monitoring program you have when you don’t want to find anything.”]
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/triazine-health-tests-flawed/story-e6frg6ox-1225700370881
[Melbourne AM radio]
They would be Mr Squiggle but they are mostly talking to older audiences who already vote Lib.
[The BBC is to close down half its website, cut spending on imported American programs and close two radio stations in an admission it has become too large.]
We are doing the opposite here adding TV channels so they can kick Kev 24hr a day 😉
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/bbc-to-slash-website-in-half-20100226-p7u8.html
ron me not being a computer person can you tell me so they dont actualy get the emails and we have to spend our money riing them so they dont actualy know what goes on or dont care ????
I was my most polite , and it took an hour to get past filter moderatons , now printed
Mr Squiggle,
[Maybe that’s why Rudd and Smith overplayed Australia’s hand yesterday. Many commentators have suggested that assuming Israel is the culprit is a bit presumptuous]
Yeah, right. Have a squiz at this then and see if your view carries any water!
[Mossad ‘factory’ churned out fake Australian passports]
[A former Mossad officer has alleged the Israeli spy agency has its own “passport factory” to create or doctor passports for use in intelligence operations.]
[Victor Ostrovsky, a case officer at Mossad for several years in the 1980s, says he has no doubt Australian passports have been forged or fraudulently used for similar operations in the past.
“They need passports because you can’t go around with an Israeli passport, not even a forged one, and get away or get involved with people from the Arab world,” he said.
“They’ll shy away right away. So most of these [Mossad] operations are carried out on what’s called false flag, which means you pretend to be of another country which is less belligerent to those countries that you’re trying to recruit from.]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/26/2830764.htm
Mr Squiggle:
[Maybe that’s why Rudd and Smith overplayed Australia’s hand yesterday. Many commentators have suggested that assuming Israel is the culprit is a bit presumptuous]
“Many commentators”? I haven’t heard any serious commentator express even the slightest doubt that it was an Israeli operation from beginning to end. Whether Australia, Britain and co. can go further with the matter depends on whether or not the Dubai investigation turns up direct evidence that could be used to prosecute a case.
BBC is to close down half its website, cut spending on imported American programs and close two radio stations in an admission it has become too
perhaps we live in hope they way they are going
[Rudd must be heaving a sigh of relief over the Israel/passport revelations.]
Yes, the response to that is obvious: Expel 76 Israeli diplomats. 🙂
Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 at 1:28 pm | Permalink
Gaffhook, Good luck getting them to publish it. I submitted a couple of comments for inclusion at the bottom of the Kelly ‘piece’ today which have not been posted as yet. Though a quick glance shows there is no shortage of toxic right-wing hate-posts
My comments never made it. i wonder if she reads what people say
comments for inclusion at the bottom of the Kelly ‘piece’ today which have not been posted as yet. Though a quick glance shows there is no shortage of toxic right-wing hate-posts
But a lot could be the staffers so they are talking to the converted.
REally who cares dont go there
comments for inclusion at the bottom of the Kelly ‘piece’ today which have not been posted as yet. Though a quick glance shows there is no shortage of toxic right-wing hate-posts
But a lot could be the staffers so they are talking to the converted.
REally who cares dont go there
Mr Squiggle
“Maybe that’s why Rudd and Smith overplayed Australia’s hand yesterday.
MANY commentators have suggested that assuming Israel is the culprit is a bit presumptuous”
am sure those commentarors ar fair and balansed , a la there outragous Garrett acusations
th said israeli’s were LIVING in israeli ,
and used faked passports of LIVING UK , oz and other countrys citizens
Rudd and Smith hav corectly nailed Israel , and correct accused Israel
infringing OUR sovereigntys and endangring our oz citizens lifes do not belong to Israel
beginning to loathe the toxic right wing toilet bowl that their ABC is becoming. Breaks my heart because some time ago you wouldn’t have found a more passionate, outspoken advocate of public broadcasting than myself.
It use to be the place you could turn to hear about the down trodden and lost of our word society now its lost it soul Why who is running the place
Of course when they read this i suppose they just smile
do any of you write to crickey about any thing
do any of you write to crickey about any thing
[I think he meant: ‘water free of dangerous chemicals’,]
But that’s not what he said.
I’d have to see the details of the monitoring program before deciding if it was adequate or not.
18 of 130 chemical is not an inadequate number, as long as the chemicals are carefully chosen.
Downstream isn’t a problem either, especially for very hydrophilic chemicals like Atrazine, as long as this is taken into account. Sampling for human health purposes is best done close to water intake zones.
Media manipulation? Is he talking about Rudd going on things like Rove and not Insiders? Or maybe earlier than that, yakking it up on Sunrise and cultivating a ‘soft’ image? He did seem to completely bypass the usual avenues – but then Beazley played by the rules and got ritually carved up every time. I think we can safely say that what Rudd did worked. It also helps that he has an intelligent, disciplined and organised approach to politics.
I can hardly see how: a) MSM reporters can ever say they gave him a chance, when they were after his hide long before he became PM; or b) Why they would be interested in stopping now.
I can’t see how it can matter much to him either. There’s barely any correlation between media hysteria and poll figures, as far as I can see. I’ve believed all along, and still do, that the poll figures currently reflect most closely how well any given Liberal leader is speaking to his base. If he screws it up, the figures blow out to 60-40. If he does it adequately, he can pull it back to somewhere around 53-47. Rudd’s got over half of the country on side. Abbott’s got about two fifths. The rest of them lean to the right, but can drift away depending on what’s going on.
The media do seem to believe they’re driving things. But I do wish that every now and then they do a bit of reporting rather than cheerleading.
There are two elements for Australia in the Dubai assassination. If the killing was nation-state supported, then the ID theft was also nation-state supported. If a nation-state is identified as the pepetrator, then Australia must take action on both issues. The recalling our ambassador to that country (if we have one) and/or the expelling of their ambassador would be a minimum start, as well as condemnation by the government in strongest public terms – of both actions – not just the ID theft.
What happened fits the MO of the arrogant bastards of the Israeli state, and I do hope it was them, because it might diminish the tendency to Bob Hawke-ish mawkishness we see in our governments and commentators far too often in relation to the over-protected state of Israel.
[Media manipulation? Is he talking about Rudd going on things like Rove and not Insiders?]
I think it’s a bit deeper than that, for instance only informing the media on very short notice of media engagements far away so that none of them can possibly get there in time. Media Watch ran a story on the Rudd Government’s media management last year.
polyquats
I’m only quoting what the government’s expert said.
And there is an ongoing review on the use of the chemicals iin Tasmania in light of that alarming report – although I doubt it will ever see any outcome.
Overall I’d be going with the EU and banning the triazines. There are alternatives after all. Why kill the frogs and risk Tasmanian babies when it isn’t necessary?
BK @ # 2782
His disgraceful selling of debt to GE for these ‘Buy now – no interest for x years” purchases is a mark of the man’s scruples.
This has a name and is called “factoring”.
I doubt that there is any medium or large business that does not sell its long term accounts receivables. During a time when it is difficult to raise funds like during the GFC I would expect it to be practiced by anyone who could.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoring_%28finance%29
Keeping this in mind what is wrong with sell ones accounts receivable?
Aguirre @2874,
Agree with just about all of that.
They want to believe they’re driving things- and have become very good at ignoring contrary information. But there are still tiny voices at the back of their minds telling them that things are changing.
Those little voices can become subliminally stressful. Can make a person quite tetchy…
vera #2860
Note the last 3 words in the next paragraph!
Here is The Guardian’s take BBC ‘to axe radio stations and halve website’ in strategic review:Corporation’s focus on quality, not quantity, will mean major cuts, the Times claims Note the repetition (I’ve italicised it in the paras below):
The BBC is to close down half its website, cut spending on imported American programs and close two radio stations in an admission it has become too large.
In a strategic review to be unveiled next month, The Times said the corporation would concede it must give space to its commercial rivals which have been hard hit by an advertising downturn during the recession.
Perhaps “The Times” really does have insider information re the BBC’s plans – though one has to wonder why they’d be leaked to an antiBBC NewsCorp flagship, rather than more BBC/Government-friendly media!
Given the Murdoch father & son’s war on the BBC, not to mention the “accuracy” of The Australian’s many false claims about what the Rudd Government was about to do (especially re the 2nd StimPacks & Bank Guarantee – remember the “tax cuts in the new stimulus package” TheOz printed as a certain thing?, or policies it was about to initiate and so on, and similar reported incidents in Murdoch’s USA media, I wonder just how much credibility should be given to anything NewsCorp International publishes, in any media, about the reported actions of a government and institution it’s trying to destroy!
scorps
On that Mossad factory, I need a new passport to go to England later on in the year. I’m thinking it might be quicker if I ask Mossad to make me a new Aussie passport rather than waiting for our clunky bureaucracy.
Ron #2896
I disagree, sorry. Rudd and Smith were not correct to speak as though Israel’s involvement was a certainty before obtaining proof of that country’s involvement (let alone receive finalised reports from our agencies and our overseas friends’ agencies).
It would have done no harm for Rudd & Smith to acknowledge that obvious suspicion would fall on Israel, but an open assumption of involvment was not called for.
Don’t forget, the media’s main source of information on this death is from the Arab country involved.
Today I read that the number of people involved is now thought to be 26, and that the dead man was smothered. Some days ago, the number was only 12 and the man had been electrocuted. Information is still filtering through
The outrage over the use of fake Australian passports is being overplayed
Oops. Forgot blockquote italicises. “I’ve non italicised it” perhaps?
Given Psephos’ absence, I’ll play Devil’s Advocate on the passports thing. 👿
So far there is no direct evidence linking Mossad to the assassination. It would be highly unusual for Mossad to use 26 people in a hit as the number would make detection increasingly probable. Mossad are considered the most professional of the spy agencies and this one was so badly done that it suggests Mossad might not have done it.
We should wait for more evidence before jumping to conclusions.
polyquats
I have been looking for the Greens site for policy on water for some time this afternoon during our discussion, without success, but have now found the Tasmanian Greens site (I didn’t realise there was more than one site). Try to find a policy on the national site though – it’s impossible.
They aren’t saying water should be chemical-free – which is obviously impossible. All you can aim for is to ‘mandate high drinking water standards’. This is from the Tasmanian Greens’ water policy:
[Access: ensure that Tasmanians have access to adequate, safe and secure water supplies; mandate high drinking water standards; ensure that town water supplies are clean and safe and no longer require ‘boil water’ notices except in unforeseen circumstances and emergencies]
and the chemical policy is about contaminants, not purifiers:
[Chemicals: fund a comprehensive, ongoing audit of chemicals used in Tasmania’s catchments; increase the frequency and thoroughness of monitoring of waterways for chemical contamination and widely publish the results; enact Chemical Trespass Legislation; and ban all use of the Triazine family of chemicals]
Link for 2885
http://www.tas.greens.org.au/policy/water
Kelly.
[With the election honeymoon over, and without the job of leading the nation through the immediate and urgent challenge of the GFC, he’s lapsed into old bad habits, retreating into the bureaucratic persona of old. People are starting to ask who is this guy, what does he stand for.
Some might even be starting to wonder why they voted for him in the first place. Wasn’t he supposed to be different? ]
This has been spun incessantly for more than two years now! I suspect it was thought up by a number of Psychologists in a conservative think tank! For some reason not reflected in the polls, they think it will have traction if repeated enough and for long enough.
I think they get all orgasmic every time there is a slight blip in the PPM towards the Opposition.
There certainly has been a slow trend downwards in Rudd’s PPM levels since the election but that is to be expected anyway, what with the longest honeymoon ever recorded.
It’s not working very well though because as a number of commenters have already pointed out, most people have already made up their mind and aren’t going to fall for tripe like this!
my say
Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 at 3:04 pm | Permalink
“ron me not being a computer person can you tell me so they dont actualy get the emails and we have to spend our money riing them so they dont actualy know what goes on or dont care ???? ?
hi My Say ,
they do get all your emails
if they did not you wuld get a auto ” message” back within a min from whoever your internet co is you deel withsaying it was not ‘delivered
I send copys of my emails to othr friends , who prob correct spell but change critics words around a bits , and then they send there email off And vicky verka
You rite , they do not care what you think , but they do get annoyed you keep sayin it espec by ph Power can be corrupt , so more you pull thems into line th less chanse they will corrupt there power even worse
[Melbourne AM radio is still churning through insulation stories. Its not ‘gorn’ down here, GB.]
I’m here too. There is nothing like it was. If you mean Mitchell, well surprise, surprise. It is on its last legs.
Apologies is already posted. Here is a brief summary of the New Zealand situation in 2004 when they convicted a number of suspected Mossad operatives with passport fraud…
[On July 15, 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions against Israel and suspended high-level contacts between the two countries in July 2004 after two Israeli citizens, Uriel Zosha Kelman and Eli Cara, were convicted of passport fraud in Auckland. The New Zealand government said there was strong evidence that the two men were Mossad agents and Prime Minister Helen Clark said:
“The New Zealand government views the act carried out by the Israeli intelligence agents as not only utterly unacceptable but also a breach of New Zealand sovereignty and international law.”
New Zealand police allege that a third Israeli citizen, former Israeli diplomat Zev William Barkan, was the one who actually tried to get the passport.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Israel_%E2%80%93_New_Zealand_spy_scandal
I find the suggestion that Israel is being harshly treated over the passports issue bizarre. They have clearly broken international law. All 26 of the alleged murder squad carried the passports of foreign nationals living in Israel. The evidence points to Israel just as surely as the identity of the target does. Anyone who does not admit Israel has regularly carried out extra-judicial killings ought to see the movie “Munich”.
To put aside any national prejudices, how would the media react here if China used this method (false identity with Australian pasports) to send an assassination squad after a Falung Gong activist, or Sri Lanka after Tamil Tiger members living abroad, or even Iraq after opposition members? We would be outraged. Every right wing shock-jock would hit the roof of their broadcast booth from screaming too much. Lest anyone say those comparisons are unfair, those are all groups described by theirgovernments as terrorists, just as Israel labels Hamas as a terror group. I am not defending Hamas; the point is the lack of consistency.
down here, GB.
I’m here too. There is nothing like it was. If you mean Mitchell, well surprise, surprise. It is on its last legs.
please tell me more
[Keeping this in mind what is wrong with sell ones accounts receivable?]
Nothing at all Ratsars – it’s a business practice.
The thing I disagree with is the enticement by Harvey to ‘buy now … no interest for yonks’ to people who don’t really understand what the implications are eventually. Plus the hypocritical stance of Gerry Harvey – I’ve NEVER bought anything on hire purchase. I paid cash for everything.
Squiggley
[The outrage over the use of fake Australian passports is being overplayed]
I hope you remember that when you have two hairy arms up your clacker looking for microchips or semtex at some overseas airport, because the Israelis used your details on a fake Australian passport two years ago as part of an extrajudicial, cross border murder.
Diogenes:
[Mossad are considered the most professional of the spy agencies and this one was so badly done that it suggests Mossad might not have done it.]
I’ll run the counter-argument. It wasn’t at all badly done. It was a very smoothly run and discreet operation. After all, none of the “suspects” is in custody, it’s quite unclear what went down in his room, and the death didn’t immediately raise suspicion.
If it’d been ASIO or the CIA doing it, I imagine the whole hotel would’ve been razed to the ground and at least one agent killed in the attempt.
[I’m here too. There is nothing like it was. If you mean Mitchell, well surprise, surprise. It is on its last legs.
please tell me more]
To be honest my say I heard the promo for his program and thought nup. So I didn’t hear anything. Maybe Squiggle can tell you all about it.
[With the election honeymoon over]
Yet again…
Dio
Fair enough to play devil’s advocate but I would say two things:
– the Dubai police seem to have identified everyone who came into contact; they may not all have been involved.
– the fact it was a murder wasn’t even discovered till almost two weeks after the death, by which time the alleged perpetrators were long gone. Seems professional to me.
[To be honest my say I heard the promo for his program and thought nup. So I didn’t hear anything. Maybe Squiggle can tell you all about it.]
I don’t see why right wing radio matters one iota. The number of people listening to it who are not rusted one way or the other is minimal.
The leader of the UK Independence Party is to receive a possible 10-day suspension form the EU Parliament for stating the EU President has “the charisma of a damp rag” and that he has the appearance of a “low-grade bank clerk”.
[Who are you? I’d never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you,” Mr Farage said.
“You seem to have a loathing for the very concept of the existence of nation states,” he continued, adding: “Perhaps that’s because you come from Belgium, which is pretty much a non-country.” ]
I can only imagine the suspensions some of our members would receive if we penalised people for saying such things in the Australian Parliament :).