No change on voting intention from Essential Research this week, at all – Labor leads 54-46, from primary votes of Coalition 37%, Labor 38%, Greens 10% and One Nation 6%. Nonetheless, there is a net positive response for the budget, which records 41% approval and 33% disapproval, and for each of eight individual measures, ranging from 82-7 in favour of a levy on vacant properties owned by foreign investors to 49-39 for the Medicare levy increase. However, 56% felt the increase should be higher for high income earners, as per Labor policy, with 27% favouring a flat increase (though no allowance was made for those who didn’t think it should happen at all). For all the “Labor lite” talk, the Liberal Party’s reputation dies hard, with the budget rated best for “people who are well off” and “Australian business”, and worst for “you personally” and, suggesting at least some insight as to what the budget specifically contained, university students. On the question of preferred Treasurer, Scott Morrison (26%) and Chris Bowen (22%) ran a distant third behind “don’t know”.
shiftaling
Friday, May 19, 2017 at 10:35 pm
“I would say that I do not like or agree at all with the idea of statutory time limitations on prosecution especially in the case of allegations of serious and violent crimes against a person”
I agree, why should you be rewarded for evading authorities
The Statue of Limitations: https://youtu.be/XrKb2TTy2ik
If Sweden hadn’t dropped the charges I’m sure Assange would have handed himself over anyway, as he promised to do now that Manning has been released /sarcasm.
Of course, there’s still the question of Assange’s status in the UK? I’m not sure if he faces any consequences for skipping bail, or the status of his visa.
Geoffrey Robertson on Lateline indicated Assange would certainly be arrested for skipping bail if the UK police get their hands on him, but that would probably result in something like 3 months in prison.
But it’s still all about the USA seeking to extradite and arrest Assange, and Robertson suggested that Assange will still be trying to negotiate getting to an airport without being arrested and heading to Ecuador.
I’d be more than happy to see him disappear into obscurity in Ecuador.
I don’t know how people can be bothered feeling personal angst about Assange.
Looks like Mueller is bringing his team along to rake over Trump.
“The two men whom he brings with him bring different qualities.
Aaron Zebley was Mueller’s chief of staff at the FBI. He also worked as the senior counselor in the National Security Division and knows his way around the Justice Department. Zebley earned his law degree in 1996 from the University of Virginia School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary.
James Quarles has spent the last several years at a private firm focusing on complex litigation matters and management, but it’s how his career started that might prove critical. Like Ben-Veniste, Quarles worked on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, for which he served as an assistant special prosecutor.
“There is nothing comparable to the kind of pressure and obligation that this kind of job puts on your shoulders,” said Ben-Veniste. “Having been there before, gives him the confidence to know how to do it and how to do it right.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/robert-mueller-gets-to-work/index.html?sr=twpol051917robert-mueller-gets-to-work0154PMVODtopLink&linkId=37786406
No worries Sir Git of Smeg, that’s why I was speaking in generalities!
If anyone was actually still waiting for the Firefox version* of the C+ plugin, Mozilla has finally approved it:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pb-comments-plugin/
* Firefox version is one iteration behind the Chrome version, and won’t automatically escape emoticons when quoting.
The Guardian is now reporting that a large number of contractors to major Government agencies (and some large public companies) have not been paid when their payments were processed through Plutus.
If this is correct the fraud could involve many millions more than the $165m reported to be lost by the ATO.
Senator Doug Cameron is reported to have advised the ATO and ASIC of this as long as a couple of weeks ago, and publicly reported it on face book.
Makes one wonder what the Government knew of this and when, and why it was not reported earlier. Surely the contractors reported the missing pays to their employers, who would have referred it immediately to the Auditors office and the heads of Departments, who, for the amounts involved, would have passed the information on to the Prime Ministers Office?
Turnbull’s Churchillian bluster yesterday about his Government taking the whole thing very seriously and his frothing fire and brimstone on the alleged perpetrators, sounds pretty hollow and arse covering to me.
A friend of mine just hasd a stage 3 lung cancer diagnosed. The radition oncologist basically said, ‘Don’y bother’.
She is 64 and smoked for 50 years.
And they shoot people for carrying a stash of drugs but allow tobacco drug pusher executives first class seats on the plane. Fckn murderers.
New thread.
Criminal Russia Investigation Reaches The West Wing As Trump Teeters On The Brink Of Collapse
The news that the criminal investigation of the Russia scandal has reached a senior Trump adviser in the West Wing of the White House is the latest crippling blow for an administration on the verge of collapse
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/05/19/inestigation-russia-white-house.html
William doesn’t even need to change the title of this segment. Looking a bit chronic for Malcolm.