The latest ReachTEL poll for Sky News is the Coalition’s worst result from that pollster this term, showing Labor with a two-party lead of 54-46, out from 52-48 at the previous poll on January 25. On the primary vote, the Coalition is down a point to 33%, Labor is up one to 37%, the Greens are up one to 11% and One Nation are down one to 7%. Malcolm Turnbull’s lead on the forced response preferred prime minister question is 53-47, down from 54-46. The poll was conducted on Thursday, the evening before Barnaby Joyce’s resignation: it found 57% thought he should indeed resign, against 32% who thought he should remain. A question on who should be Nationals leader had Joyce on 23%, Bridget McKenzie on 15%, Michael McCormack on 11%, Darren Chester on 6% and “don’t know” a formidable 40%.
UPDATE: As noted in comments, the Coalition have done well to make it to 54-46 on ReachTEL’s respondent-allocated two-party preferred result. If 2016 election preference flows are applied, the result is around 55.5-44.5.
Rossmcg
HBO has a TV series called ‘Rome’ primarily about Octavian. It’s contains a string of fiction that tells the story of two Roman Legioners and another that sticks to the facts of things that went on and the historical characters involved.
It got good reviews but was released around the same time as Game of Thrones. I don’t know if it was ever broadcast here.
There’s two series and you’d find the in the very cheap bins at somewhere like J&Bs.
Good viewing but like GoT dies off in the second series.
The idea of god has had a rather dubious past, is causing a lot of bother for a lot of people, and will probably hang around like a bad smell in the future.
daretotread. @ #1444 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:26 pm
I appreciate your explanation, but I am bewildered that you thought Question and I were nasty to you.
Fifieild putting up the wall about defence planning for ASC. Now talking Frigates.
I didn’t catch the question
CTaR1
So, it declined in the second series and fell short of a third series?
Dan Gulberry @ #1447 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 11:33 am
Dan
The whole virgin Mary and Christ story is a retelling of Mithras and of course Isis and Adonis. The dying god who is reborn is an ancient Mediterranean fertility cult (actually all of Europe). Read some Frazer.
Now at lunch break
Not sure Fifield answered the question
Sorry DTT, no intention to be nasty.
As we have often discussed in the past, some things you say baffle me (particularly about Trump).
CTaR1
I imagine that it is going to be insurance lawyers at 20 paces over in the ANU. As noted previously in this august blog, the ANU has made some bad decisions in relation to clogging the Sullivan’s Creek flood plain with bits of built environment. Add two major construction sites right on the banks of the creek and…
I imagine that there will be a bit of contumely in Lendlease HQ about how come 11 excavators were allowed to be drowned…
daretotread. @ #1450 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:36 pm
Hmmmm, well things like putting Christians into the arena with lions doesn’t sound too friendly. No do other practices like lighting up an arena with burning Christians.
dtt
As in the Roman Provence or the Russian one?
😀
Bw – Yep.
CTar1 @ #1451 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 9:36 am
It was a joint venture between HBO and the BBC and was discontinued due to the high production costs. It was released a few years before GOT and was shown on SBS at the time.
(I have both series on dvd).
Dan
I find the whole religion/mythology thing fascinating. From what I can piece together it seems as if the mediterranean region had a religion that was very Hindu (Dravidian) in concept. Onto this was imposed firstly an Indo European religion – fertility, tree worship and horse worship along with dying gods (grain gods mostly) which of course was also influenced by the earlier pagan religion. When superimposed onto the Dravidian culture of India it became what we no know as Hinduism. These religions being largely fertility cults gave great power to FEMALE deities as mother fertility goddesses although thunder gods also got a look in. Think Zeus and Aphrodite. Isis and Horus, Thor and Freya
Then especially in the desert areas the Semitic herders imposed their essentially sky god religions which typical of herders rather than farmers were much more male dominated. Thus we had Zoroastrianism. Judaism, and finally Islam. The more modern New Testament of Jesus (ie Christianity rather than Judaism) was much more a Mediterranean fertility cult than the sky god of Judaism.
CTar1
“HBO has a TV series called ‘Rome’ primarily about Octavian.”
‘Rome’ (the TV series) has more boobs that you can poke a stick at (especially those belonging to Atia).
As you say, it focuses on two legionnaires, whose lives intersect with those of Roman grandees like Caesar, Pompey, Octavian/Augustus, Antony, and Cleopatra. Not bad viewing. I thought some pivotal historical moments were well handled, such as the crossing of the Rubicon. Definitely sputters in season 2.
McCormack was voted in yesterday morning and by yesterday afternoon the leadershit has already started.
“Rome” was a great series, really had a good go at trying to convey what life might have been like in ancient Rome.
For really readable narrative histories of Rome in that era, “SPQR” by Mary Beard and “Rubicon” by Tom Holland are fantastic.
kakaru
Why would anyone want to point a stick at Atia’s?
On the nudity front (pun intended) that TV series had an equal opportunity approach
Q
“That might explain why they lost their mojo after they became Christian”
I’m glad you mention this, because this is a subject of continued historical debate. There is a view that Christianity helped strengthen and unify the Roman empire, particularly during the late Eastern Roman (= Byzantine) period.
In between making universes, He’s taken to tweeting:
https://twitter.com/TheTweetOfGod
Question @ #1458 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 11:39 am
Question
I fully understand how controversial my view on Trump is.
However first you must understand it is NOT that I like Trump, rather that I disliked (no feared not disliked) Hillary Clinton. For evidence just look at what her VP pick is now doing re on going warfare.
Hillary Clinton is a child of the cold war PLUS the experience of unfettered US dominance that characterized the 8 years of Bill Clinton’s presidency. These two strands to her thinking led her to be violently anti Russian but also to have an overblown confidence in the capacity of the USA to exert its will. her closeness to the Pentagon, combined with her known history of supporting US imperialist military adventures made her a dangerous choice for President. The personal animosity between her and Putin did not help.
The main difference between myself and conventional “lefties” is that I fear nuclear war and do not believe that anyone in power in the USA has the capacity or common sense to avoid it. Hillary would have had next to zero chance of stopping it and advocated policies (no fly zones) that made it much more likely.
Trump’s rhetoric was less confrontational. In the upshot however Trump has proved weak and powerless, so in reality the outcome has been pretty much the same anyway. I still cling to a vague hope that Trump will at least avoid a nuclear conflict with Russia. I am even less hopeful about China.
McCormack … investment rental not declared …
‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’
😆
daretotread. @ #1464 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 9:52 am
An interesting insight dtt.
Come on Bludgers. Lay off Trump and his statement that he would have gone in to confront the the shooter. He has proven his courage to millions of people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKFIHRpe7I
So, is Joyce planning to spend the next few years following in the footsteps of Rudd and Abbott?
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-27/barnaby-joyce-doesnt-rule-out-political-comeback/9488064
I suppose he does have more of a chance of regaining the Nat leadership than Abbott does of becoming PM again.
What a delicious clusterfuck this whole affair has turned into.
Just been catching up on Trump’s latest comments. FMD, the man is delusional.
DG – In the fiction string a lot of ‘Rome’ fun to watch. I somehow ended up with 1 blueray and 1 DVD.
The Member (snigger) for New England with his mates:
Photo by Mike Bowers for Guardian Australia.
https://twitter.com/mpbowers/status/968293318894403584
Too good for the peasantry but for magnificent moi………
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had his department intervene to connect his Point Piper home to the NBN on the 100Mbps speed that he says most Australians don’t need. https://t.co/mRKwpuAv6N
— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) February 26, 2018
I think we may all have an exteemely bowderised view of Roman religion. (as portrayed by Romans I might add).
We all know that at least in public the Romans adopted the Greek gods, giving them Roman names etc. That is what I recall being taught. Jupiter, Diana, Apollo etc.
However I was surprised to learn that Pompei had an extremely porno fertility cult going on with images that seem a bit like the Hindu temple at Kujaroa and where something pretty much like the Hindu Lingus was all the go. I do not know a great deal about it but read somewhere that a character such as Piaps was all the rage – he seemed to be a garden gnome with a very, very long pone (new images of the rakes and shovels should now spring to mind).
GRRM who is a mythology buff may have drawn Tyrion from this image – a dwarf with er um an active one.
kakaru
It hit the mark often on explaining what happened and why it was important.
Question:
(bemused) She also has me wondering how Latvia gets classified differently to the other Baltic States, Lithuania and Estonia?
Any clues?
____________
With DTT it’s often better to just go with the vibe, but to be honest I don’t know much about the Baltic states.
_______________
Why bother trying to interpret anything DTT says? Scroll on by.
dtt
‘although ancient domination by Scandinavia could perhaps give it entree to a Scandinavian zone.’
WHAT ancient domination by Scandinavia?
Lithuania was totally independent into around the 1400s. There were attempts by the Germans at settlement, but these were only around the fringes. Lithuania became part of Poland (although they would never phrase it like that; they saw it as a partnership).
In the late 1800s, it became part of Russia, became independent again at the end of World War I, then got gobbled up by the Soviet Union.
If we’re using history as a guide, one might expect Lithuania to be pro-Russia (it’s fiercely not, of course).
I agree with you that Lithuania is more likely to look to Europe in any shifting of allegiances.
(It’s the Scandinavian bit that got me).
DTT – Interesting approach, but I think you’re so dead wrong, that you’re into zombie territory.
Clinton’s approach to the military was problematic to me. I supported her because she’s smart, understands how politics actually works, not the least been an advocate and been WAY to the left on a number of fronts and in both 08 and 16, had issues (immigration, healthcare and guns) where she was miles to the left of both Obama and Sanders (something usually forgotten). But the idea that a closeness to Putin, or a less confrontational approach, is helpful, is troubling. Clinton’s approach to Putin was no different to Obama’s or any other mainstream Democrat, this has less to do with Clinton’s age or her being a child of the cold-war, but actually understanding what Putin’s long-game is. A fractured Europe, an undoing in liberal social progress in the West and the creation of a new sphere of influence that surrounds them.
If you think a nuclear confrontation is likely, let alone justification to support Trump, doesn’t demonstrate an understanding of what these countries (China and Russia) actually want. Neither could sustain such an eventuality and know that their focus on regional influence (economic and strategic) would be totally upended by such a thing.
Clinton’s no-fly zone approach to Syria wasn’t the right one, but what’s Trump’s actual policy? Trump is the one who VOLUNTARILY decided to start a flame war with an unstable nuclear power. Say what you want about HRC, if you think she would have done something so aggressively stupid, that also suggests that your dislike of Clinton is blinding your views.
CTar1 @ #1482 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 10:15 am
It was also pretty good on showing what life was like for the lower classes as well.
poroti says:
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 11:39 am
Latvia has a v large ethnic Russian population so that may be the reason.
____________________
So does Estonia. A very good friend of mine was born there and lives there, and thinks of himself as Russian. He says that is son-in-law is Estonian.
Bw
The digging for the ‘Tram’ probably played some part?
The should get Penny Sackett back to take on the insurance companies!
don @ #1483 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:15 pm
What a narrow minded, ignorant, nasty, arrogant, misogynistic person you are.
If you know something about the Baltic states then contribute it. If not stop being a bloody minded pratt. Discussion about the Baltic states had nothing whatever to previous comments I may have posted.
In reality Don I think you are a bear of little brain and unable to read anything longer than a paragraph, and take out your sense of shame on others by being a nasty bastard.
Oh well it takes all kinds.
Yep, in ‘Rome’ the genitalia were so prominent they could have been given their own billing.
I preferred ‘I, Claudius’. John Hurt’s Caligula was mesmerising. His character was such fun to watch that I wished he had reigned longer (a sentiment likely not shared by his relatives and senators).
I did enjoy watching ‘Rome’ but it is filled with all sorts of historical inaccuracies.
People curious about day to day life in ancient Rome could do worse than sample the series of detective novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco, a fictional “informer” active in the days of Vespasian, with a number of stories also set in other parts of the Empire, like Britain and Spain. Generally light reading, but also humorous and seems to ring true.
don @ #1487 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:20 pm
Yes Donny boy
Estonia and Latvia have very large RUSSIAN populations and also are Lutheran or Orthodox NOT Catholic. By contrast Lithuania does NOT. Hence my reason for distinguishing between the states.
Can you understand this you arrogant person.
When Sweden had a Baltic empire (17th century) it occupied parts of what are now Lithuania. This followed an earlier war with Poland. After Charles’ army was defeated at Poltava it was all lost.
kakuru @ #1490 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:23 pm
One problem I have with all the Roman history is that it focuses so much on the early repubican period and we get very little stuff on the later Empire stuff, even though tjis was the period of expansion.
What is bizarre (to my way of thinking) is that the Roam empire endured and seemed to prosper, despite the fact that the leadership was not existent, with emperors being assassinated more frequently than Australian PMs and all sorts of junior soldiers seizing control for a month or so.
So we know lots about the Caesars but nothing much about the later guys. i did read Gore Vidal’s Justinian which was interesting.
I have a very good Russian Estonian friend. She was out of Estonia when the Estonian language test required to gain citizenship was conducted, and doesn’t speak Estonian in any case.
So she found herself stateless working in Israel. She’s not Jewish. What to do?
A very kind work colleague married her. He was not the marrying kind, if you know what I mean, but did have joint US and Israeli citizenship.
She then had to stay in Israel for the requisite number of years (which wasn’t an issue because her employer thought she was tops).
I met her when she moved to the UK after her “divorce”. She ended up married to another Israeli, has a couple of kids and a top career at Cambridge. Never been back to Tallinn.
The take away for me is that Baltic history is complicated!
Socrates @ #1494 Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 – 12:29 pm
Of course the other possibly relevant thing is the extent to which the same Swedish empire influences Russia – all those tall blondes! more overlap and cultural connections thn we really inderstand I guess.
I did think as I was watching “Rome” that I was glad I wasn’t watching it prior to some kind of history exam. In terms of dramatising the daily lives etc I thought it has a lot to offer.
I, Claudius was brilliant
I did think as I was watching “Rome” that I was glad I wasn’t watching it prior to some kind of history exam. In terms of dramatising the daily lives etc I thought it has a lot to offer.
I, Claudius was brilliant
dtt
And was considered just far enough out of town (Rome) you could go there for a naughty week away and it wasn’t mentioned in ‘polite society’!