Some unrelated electoral news nuggets to keep things ticking over:
• The Australian Electoral Commission has announced the deregistration of two right-wing minor parties, the more newsworthy of which was Cory Bernardi’s decision to decommission Australian Conservatives. This party owed its party registration to Bernardi’s position in the Senate, rather than its having 500 members, so the matter was entirely in his hands. In a sense, this also means an end to Family First, which won Senate seats at the 2004, 2013 and 2016 elections and had a presence in the South Australian upper house from 2002 to 2017, when it merged with Bernardi’s newly formed outfit. However, Family First appeared to lose energy as evangelical Christians increasingly preferred to direct their organisational efforts towards the Liberal Party, and was dominated in its later years by deep-pocketed former Senator Bob Day. Even further afield, the Rise Up Australia party, associated with controversial pastor Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries, has voluntarily deregistered.
• JWS Research has released the latest results in its occasional series on issue salience, recording only one particularly noteworthy movement over the past three surveys: defence, security and terrorism, which only 20% now rate in the top five issues most warranting the attention of the federal government, down from 23% in February and 29% in November. “Performance index” measures for the government across the various issue areas have recorded little change post-election, except that “vision, leadership and quality of government” is up from 35% to 42% (which is still the fifth lowest out of 20 designated issue areas). The survey was conducted from June 26-30 from a sample of 1000.
• In the New York Times’ Upshot blog, Nate Cohn casts a skeptical eye over the record of online polling in the United States. It notes a Pew Research finding that YouGov’s “synthetic sampling” method achieves the best results out of the online pollsters, by which it “selects individuals from its panel of respondents, one by one, to match the demographic profile of individual Americans”. Another survey that performed relatively well, VoteCast, did so by concurrently conducting a huge sample phone poll, results of which were used to calibrate the online component.
lizzie @ #689 Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 – 4:35 pm
I can see the logic in that. However, I’m more fatalistic. Not that I can afford PHI anyway, but I sort of think that if I get into the Public Hospital system for any ops I need and I have to wait a little longer than I would otherwise, que sera sera. 🙂
It is much more efficient for the federal government to spend directly on creating jobs for people whose abilities are currently not being used to the full.
Tax cuts are an inefficient form of stimulus and are generally not advisable, particular when tax rates are already low, as they are in Australia.
IVF is more of a miracle than natural conception. It’s a form of immaculate conception.
There’s nothing more cynical than offering prayers for something you are not in a position to or don’t want to make happen.
Bucephalus says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 3:34 pm
Mexicanbeemer says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 3:28 pm
I never said any of the issues you and others raise aren’t concerns but, ceteris paribus, there is a positive multiplier effect from lower taxes of more investment which leads to more jobs which leads to higher wages which leads to more consumption.
Impressive someone still believes in trickle down economics.
https://me.me/i/dont-laugh-you-still-believe-in-trickle-down-economics-indeed-cartoon-19558804
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/452138-political-scientist-trump-losses-in-2020-if-progressives-vote
Not good news for Biden Buttiegig or other perceived establishment candidates
Diogenes @ #703 Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 – 4:56 pm
The cynical among us are giving you the side eye for that contribution. 😆
The trickle down fan was just the sort of chap JK Galbraith had in mind when he said..
The Word, according to St Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception
Like most protestants you are confusing the immaculate conception with virgin birth
The trouble with saying over and over that welfare spending can’t go up unless tax receipts go up is 1. It is not true. 2. It makes the government heavily biased against social spending.
Right now there is so much unused capacity in the economy that the federal government could increase its fiscal deficit to $50 billion or $60 billion per year without causing an inflation problem. That is according to macroeconomist Steven Hail of the University of Adelaide.
The Australia Institute should be advocating a much larger fiscal deficit. They should not be reinforcing the myth that the government’s capacity to increase spending depends on an increase in tax receipts.
The relevant issue is how much unused capacity is in the economy. If there is no unused capacity, and the government wants to increase its total spending, then yes, to do it without causing accelerating inflation the government would need to increase taxation to delete some of the private sector’s spending power.
But if there is unused capacity, there is no need to raise taxes.
The blind belief that government use of money is always inefficient compared to private use. It astounds me this view is still so tightly held.
It is widely believed that companies grow in size in search of economies of scale – to become more efficient and competitive – to lower prices and deliver better services. Rarely is this true. Companies grow to lower risk, buy out competition, to be better able to squeeze out competition, to be better able to afford lobbying, schmoozing and other noncompetitive efforts, to increase their wealth and the wealth of their execs and shareholders. They grow big so they dont have to do the hard yards to skim the cream.
If you think big companies spend their time altruistically trying to use money more efficiently for the benefit of mankind; I have some fairy dust to sell you.
Glad you know your theology Itza
The pope has been infallible on only 2 occassions. One was declaring the conception of Mary to be Immaculate, what was the other?
Given that DNA is showing that 10% of people were not conceived by their farther; immaculate conceptions are pretty common, making IVF mundane.
ID
Now I recall that. It’s a very weird doctrine. So I should have said the doctrine of the Incarnation.
Also a fond farewell to Rip Torn who played the producer in The Larry Sanders show.
fred, pay attention.
Immaculate conception is what the words say – conceived clean (sinless) – and it applies to she called Mary, Mother of God. God had to arrange this especially, so Jesus, God’s son, could be born of a clean woman, not to mention still intact.
People believe this.
frednk
That paternity issue is causing huge problems with those DNA profiles like ancestry dot com.
The Archangel did it.
So who was Jesus’ father? God or Joseph?
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/wall-street-democrats-2020-candidates.html
Steve777 says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 3:34 pm
I’d like to live in Singapore but Mrs B won’t move the kids from their schools so we holiday there.
ItzaDream says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:29 pm
fred, pay attention.
Immaculate conception is what the words say – conceived clean (sinless) – and it applies to she called Mary, Mother of God. God had to arrange this especially, so Jesus, God’s son, could be born of a clean woman, not to mention still intact.
People believe this.
And why may I not believe? If the farther is not the farther, the farther is the farther.
Or to put in another way, I understand perfectly.
SK
Years back there was a series of docos looking at a number of iconic US brands’ history from their beginnings. It was a real eye opener to realise there was a pattern in the various industries not of vigorous competition between competitors but huge efforts to eliminate any competition and create quasi monopolies. Growth through buying competition not from having better products.
Diogenes says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:31 pm
frednk
That paternity issue is causing huge problems with those DNA profiles like ancestry dot com.
I was reading about it the other day. Either this god guy is seriously out of control, or … better not to go there … lets stick with gods out of control.
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei unigénitum,
et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sǽcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
per quem ómnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis,
et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est;
Also for those wondering about the Democratic fight.
This is the Establishment Democrats
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way
This is one batshit crazy female. Other than that, I don’t know anything about her.
Oakeshott Country says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:38 pm
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei unigénitum,
et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sǽcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
per quem ómnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis,
et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est;
Even Mary doesn’t get a look in; IVF it is then.
Simon² Katich® says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 3:59 pm
I managed to pass my University Economics units with that so if you want to go and argue with them be my guest.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bus-stop-plants-green-roof-bees-holland-utrecht-a8997581.html
I’m off to Belvoir for a good cry.
You started it Dio.
Bucephalus says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Simon² Katich® says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 3:59 pm
I managed to pass my University Economics units with that so if you want to go and argue with them be my guest.
For batshit crazy lecturers, economics and fine art department. Actually after you leave science and engineering it is pretty much downhill.
Oakeshott Country says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:22 pm
“Like most protestants you are confusing the immaculate conception with virgin birth”
You’ll have to explain to this Atheist how you can have one without the other?
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis,
et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est;
For us men and for our salvation
He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, (the faithful genuflect at the mention of this mystery)
and was made man.
It was the Holy Ghost who did it
lizzie @ #710 Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 – 5:20 pm
NSW has finally decided to cull all the deer we have here.
They are not native fauna so I won’t be losing any sleep over it.
lizzie says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:44 pm
I note that there is no mention of the cost of any of it.
Bucephalus @ #737 Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 – 5:55 pm
You want to estimate the cost of ecological collapse without honeybees, by way of comparison?
Itza sums up the difference very well.
The immaculate conception deals with the Conception of Mary, who had to be the pure vessel for the birth of Christ and therefore was free of original sin (this raises the question of whether Mary died, a nasty side-effect of original sin, and if so what happened to her body a major contention between Catholicism and Orthodoxy for the last 1000 years)
The possibly schizophrenic Pius IX infallibly declared this a doctrine of the church
The virgin birth deals with the birth of Jesus
frednk
My son is doing a dual degree, Business Studies and Engineering. He thinks it’s very cute that the Business Studies students actually study for exams.
Honestly, some people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Ian Dunlop nails the denialists of Australian business.
Did the holly ghost do it; in which case we now know Jusus was 1/2 mary and 1/2 holy Ghost. Or did the ghost plant the fertilized egg, in which case Jusus is 100% holy ghost.
Fred
It’s like that Canadian fertility doctor who used his own sperm on about 100 women. Incidentally he got caught because of those ancestry tests. We could market an ancestry test which gives you the % of God in your DNA.
C@tmomma says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:57 pm
A few bus stop roofs isn’t going to stop that if it is going to happen.
In defense of universities economics units, you don’t get scored on whether you are right or wrong but on whether you understand the theory. A HD in economics just means you fully understand the theories and answered the questions in the required format.
zoomster says:
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 5:57 pm
frednk
My son is doing a dual degree, Business Studies and Engineering. He thinks it’s very cute that the Business Studies students actually study for exams.
If my MBA experience is anything to go by I assume he is wondering what do they learn the actually requires study.
frednk
Exactly so.
Bucephalus @ #745 Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 – 6:00 pm
Just as they say that, ‘all politics is local’, you can apply the same thinking to ecological preservation, every little bit helps.