News remains thin on the ground over the summer holiday period, although we may possibly hopefully see the polling cycle crank up again as of next week. Two pieces of federal preselection news to relate:
• A report in The Australian today raises further doubts about the security of Craig Kelly’s preselection in Hughes – not for the reasons you would hope, but because he has failed to raise any campaign funding for head office since July 2019, according to leaked party documents. He is not alone in this distinction, however, with Farrer MP Sussan Ley, Robertson MP Lucy Wicks and Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh likewise having come up empty. Kelly was saved from preselection challenges by prime ministerial intervention before both the 2016 and 2019 elections, and a Liberal source cited in The Australian says “there’s no appetite in the party to save him a third time”.
• Ken O’Dowd, who has held the central Queensland seat of Flynn for the Nationals since 2010, announced on January 5 that he will retire at the next election. Queensland Country Life reports that Colin Boyce, who holds the partly corresponding seat of Callide in the state parliament, will contest the preselection. The report quotes Boyce complaining about the failure of David Crisafulli, who replaced Deb Frecklington as Liberal National Party leader after the October state election, to have promoted him to the front bench. It also suggests he may face competition in Flynn from Gladstone councillor Glenn Churchill, who was the party’s unsuccessful candidate for the seat in 2007 and challenged O’Dowd for preselection ahead of the 2019 election.
With the Western Australian election now two months away, two bits of data have emerged from a Painted Dog Research poll conducted for The West Australian in mid-December, which as always do not encompass voting intention:
• Three weeks after Zak Kirkup replaced Liza Harvey as Liberal leader in late November, the poll found him with a 19% approval and 14% disapproval rating. While this compares favourably with Harvey’s 10% and 37% from September, but is obviously remarkably mostly for the 67% uncommitted rating. The poll also found 36% saying Kirkup would be a better leader than Harvey and 11% saying otherwise, with 53% uncommitted.
• With Ben Wyatt to bow out at the election, the poll found 21% favouring Health Minister Roger Cook to succeed him as Treasurer, with Rita Saffioti on 9%, Bill Johnston on 8%, “someone else” on 13% and 49% uncommitted.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
David Crowe looks at how the conservative side of Australian politics is reassessing its adoration of Trump and his populist movement.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/trump-and-his-legacy-diminished-among-australian-conservatives-20210115-p56ufg.html
The national cabinet’s decision to slash international arrival caps has forced Emirates to axe all flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/devastation-doesn-t-begin-to-describe-it-emirates-suspends-vital-australian-routes-after-cap-cut-20210115-p56ujy.html
And Patrick Hatch explains how state border closures and the realisation vaccines won’t be a ticket to overseas travel has set back Qantas’ long recovery from COVID-19.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/grounded-qantas-stuck-on-the-tarmac-in-pandemic-recovery-journey-20210114-p56u4x.html
Deborah Snow writes that life for many Australians trapped abroad by caps on international arrivals has become a Kafkaesque nightmare.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stranded-australians-desperate-to-come-home-as-political-buck-passing-continues-20210115-p56ubm.html
The editorial in the SMH says that the Australian Open should go ahead but it will be hard to enjoy if more is not done to bring stranded Aussies home.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/vip-treatment-for-tennis-highlights-plight-of-stranded-australians-20210115-p56uh8.html
The Victorian government is preparing a February 15 “V-Day” launch for the most potent COVID vaccine, with its newly formed local public health units to play a critical role in delivering the life-saving jab.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria-to-get-powerful-pfizer-vaccine-for-vulnerable-workers-in-weeks-20210115-p56uil.html
Just how ‘normal’ 2021 will be hinges on Australia’s Covid vaccination uptake, explains Greg Dore.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/15/just-how-normal-2021-will-be-hinges-on-australias-covid-vaccination-uptake
Indulging Craig Kelly’s misinformation is a threat to Australia’s health, politically as well as literally, declares Lenore Taylor.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2021/jan/15/indulging-craig-kelly-misinformation-is-a-threat-to-australias-health-politically-as-well-as-literally
“How many lies are too many lies?”, asks Jennifer Wilson.
https://theaimn.com/how-many-lies-are-too-many-lies/
Dennis Atkins tells us what Morrison’s cowardly response to the Capitol riots reveals. It’s not a flattering assessment.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2021/01/16/atkins-scott-morrison-unmasked/
Mike Foley reports that Victoria is copping criticism from farmers and the federal government over a lack of plans to fill the shortage in farm labourers, despite its commitments to bring overseas tennis players to the Australian Open and to accommodate international students. (Is it the problem that the pandemic has exposed the shit conditions and wages that have sustained the industry for years?)
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-about-farm-workers-victoria-s-tennis-tournament-smashed-by-farmers-minister-20210115-p56ufd.html
Liam Mannix describes the great vaccination debate where protection vs immunity is the choice.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/protection-versus-immunity-the-great-vaccination-debate-20210115-p56ud7.html
According to The Australian, some Liberal MPs are falling seriously short of fundraising targets ahead of a possible federal election this year — including a number who have failed to transfer any money to the head office account in more than 18 months.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/liberal-partys-fundraising-hole-as-poll-looms/news-story/7439661e334b621fc8011290c4b10a75
Peter van Onselen says that Morrison will win a 2022 election with the pandemic hiding the plethora of failures of his government.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/scott-morrison-manages-to-sidestep-failures-on-waltz-to-election/news-story/bfea6c61cf0a3533b1ff5f5d115b053f
Jenna Price reckons the argument over free speech has now extended into the farcical, and says that the greater in one’s voice, the greater is one’s responsibility not to harm.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7086396/the-greater-your-voice-the-greater-your-responsibility-not-to-harm/?cs=14258
Daniel Hurst says that, as stand-in leader, McCormack failed to take a stand in defence of truth and trust.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/16/as-stand-in-leader-mccormack-failed-to-take-a-stand-in-defence-of-truth-and-trust
Michael McGowan explains how Australia’s anti-terror regime has failed to rein in far-right extremists. Hmmm.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/16/how-australias-anti-terror-regime-has-failed-to-rein-in-far-right-extremists
Sean Kelly examines Morrison’s tiptoeing on indigenous affairs and wonders if they interest him at all.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/scott-morrison-tiptoes-forward-on-indigenous-issues-20210115-p56ubb.html
Daniel Hurst tells us that the Morrison government is considering launching an advertising campaign to sell its changes to workplace relations laws, after signing a new $200,000 contract for market research.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/16/coalition-lays-groundwork-for-advertising-campaign-to-spruik-workplace-relations-overhaul
Shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke has warned that Australian workers may lose their penalty rates by the end of January 2022 – not via targeted cuts, but through knock-on effects previously outlined in Attorney-General Christian Porter’s industrial relations reform bills, writes William Olson.
https://theaimn.com/porters-bills-may-sink-boot-into-penalty-rates-warns-burke/
In an open letter, Greg Chappell urges the Australian captain to keep leading with courage and humour – and let the bat and ball do the talking. Fair enough, too!
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/dear-tim-i-learnt-from-my-mistakes-as-captain-and-i-have-no-doubt-you-will-too-20210115-p56uet.html
Sarah Danckert follows on from yesterday’s story saying that one of the nation’s most powerful investor groups is calling on corporate Australia to strengthen policies against misconduct following allegations of sexual harassment at wealth manager IOOF.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/significant-damage-powerful-investor-group-lashes-corporate-australia-amid-ioof-harassment-claims-20210115-p56uej.html
The Morrison government’s attitude to Chinese investment in Australia is confusing and will exacerbate the growing tensions over trade, China experts have warned.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/01/15/morrison-government-china-confusion/
The AFR’s William McInnes predicts the industries set to outperform in 2021.
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/the-industries-set-to-outperform-in-2021-20210114-p56tzy
Jennifer Duke writes that lending for new home building hit a record high in November, buoyed by historic low interest rates, the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant and an improving national economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-home-lending-hit-record-24-billion-in-november-20210115-p56uf5.html
More from Jennifer as she warns people that with superannuation choice there will be retirement consequences.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/with-superannuation-choice-there-will-be-retirement-consequences-20210112-p56tdr.html
Michael Pascoe believes we are in an ‘epic’ financial bubble, and it will inevitably pop.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/01/15/michael-pascoe-stockmarket-bubble/
The Australian’s resident angry old ideologue Gerard Henderson writes that in the wake of Trump’s January 6th efforts, the left has been selective in showing contempt and outrage.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/left-selective-in-showing-contempt-outrage/news-story/2dddf20dfd86840c71c3acdf21051252
As President Donald Trump exits the White House, Australians face a decision. We can choose to keep following America or we can choose to learn from its mistakes, says Parnell Palme McGuinness (who seems to have found her way into the Nine Media pages).
https://www.smh.com.au/national/don-t-want-an-australian-trump-now-s-the-time-to-choose-wisely-20210115-p56ubd.html
US history professor, Daniel Fleming, argues that, or the sake of American democracy, the United States Senate must find President Donald Trump guilty of “incitement of insurrection”.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7087962/the-us-senate-must-convict-donald-trump/?cs=14264&utm_source=website&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=latestnews
Anne Summers writes that Joe Biden has recruited a battle-tested team to tackle the herculean tasks of rebuilding the economy, containing the pandemic while addressing the urgent issues of climate change and racial injustice.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/biden-s-new-cabinet-embraces-age-and-diversity-20210114-p56u7f.html
Jacob Greber outlines Biden’s plan to fix a broken America.
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/biden-s-plan-to-fix-a-broken-america-20210114-p56u63
The violent attack on the US Capitol has led to interest from wealthy Americans wanting to purchase property and move to the safety of Australia.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/as-the-us-capitol-was-attacked-wealthy-americans-eyed-sydney-real-estate-20210115-p56ufs.html
Impeachment or not, Trump’s grip on rank-and-file Republicans is strong and unlikely to slip, opines Smantha Dick.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/2021/01/15/impeachment-trump-republican-party/
Matthew Knott tells us that scholars are lining up to declare that Trump’s efforts to overturn his election defeat, as well as his response to COVID-19, have cemented his place as America’s worst president.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/is-donald-trump-the-worst-us-president-ever-historians-say-so-20210115-p56u9w.html
The Conversation explains why the alt-right believes another American Revolution is coming.
https://theconversation.com/why-the-alt-right-believes-another-american-revolution-is-coming-153093
An anti-tax group funded primarily by billionaires has emerged as one of the biggest backers of the Republican lawmakers who sought to overturn the US election results, according to an analysis by the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/15/trump-republicans-election-defeat-club-for-growth
Trump climbed out of the ’80s trash can – and can do it again, writes Malcolm Knox.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-climbed-out-of-the-80s-trash-can-and-can-do-it-again-20210114-p56u6v.html
Documents lodged by federal prosecutors say the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol last week aimed to “capture and assassinate elected officials”.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/capitol-hill-mob-aimed-to-assassinate-elected-officials-prosecutors-say-20210116-p56uk5.html
The Dutch government has resigned amid an escalating scandal over child benefits in which more than 20,000 families were wrongly accused of fraud by the tax authority and has earned nomination for “Arseholes of the Week”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/15/dutch-government-resigns-over-child-benefits-scandal
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Matt Golding
Andrew Dyson
Alan Moir
Mark David
Johannes leak
Joe Benke
Dionne Gain
Richard Gilberto
Simon Letch
From the US
From the last thread:
Taylormade “Terrible look for Andrews. Allowing in the tennis players from overseas whilst thousands of Victorians are still stranded interstate.
Bushire Bill “Fuck YOU, Taylormade. If he’d banned them you’d have been whingeing even louder.”
I think it’s important to try not to look at this issue through a partisan lens. Anyway, I assume the decision to proceed with the tennis was discussed at National Cabinet, so it’s not fair to place responsibility for it entirely on the shoulders of the Victorian Government.
Focusing on the decision itself, rather than on who made it, I can only say that I find it quite incomprehensible.
While large numbers of Victorian and other Australians are currently separated from their families for an indefinite period, we are allowing 1200 tennis players and their entourages to fly straight into Melbourne from some of the most disease-ridden locations on the planet.
Just one person in Brisbane with a case of the British strain of the virus led to the shut down of the whole city for several days, and to most other states reflexively slamming their borders shut to Queensland. And I believe that, in future, people with this strain can expect to be in hotel quarantine for a month or more.
But how many of the 1200 people coming her for the tennis might potentially have been exposed to this strain? Dozens, perhaps hundreds? But, far from being placed in indefinite quarantine, the players are going to be allowed out of their hotels several times a day to practice their tennis.
It’s one thing to bring a few dozen international cricketers here, but 12oo people at once?
I fear that Australian governments have collectively lost the plot on what they are trying to achieve with coronavirus. If we can merrily let something like the Australian Open ahead, well perhaps we could temper our cruelty to the Australian families trying to get home from various places around the world.
And, while I find it very hard to agreed with Joel Fitzgibbon on anything, I think he was spot on the other day when he said that the Federal Government should take the lead on this issue through National Cabinet. I understand that it isn’t easy, and that a more active stance by the Feds will create a political shitstorm with leaders like McGowan and Andrews. But it desperately needs to happen. The Australian Open should not have been allowed to go ahead IMO, and perhaps it still could be stopped. The Andrews Government is justifiably copping criticism for the massive inconsistency of it all, but I don’t think they’re the only ones who should be held responsible.
Also from the last thread:
‘I had an intriguing thought about the American berserkers at the Capitol. So I was just wondering, how many of them were Home Schooled by their parents? America is rife with it and I would imagine it tends to produce isolated, insulated, narrow-minded, and dare I say it, easily brain-washed individuals?
You could pretty much guarantee the parents watched Fox News and the only socialisation the children got was at church and with their siblings.
How easy it would be for a demagogue to take advantage of them.’
The Liberals never really liked Donald Trump. And see that bridge over there, do you want to buy it for a knock down price? 🙄
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/trump-and-his-legacy-diminished-among-australian-conservatives-20210115-p56ufg.html
DC US attorney says they are not cutting deals with defendants
Investigators are seeing indications that law enforcement officers participated in Capitol riot
FBI urges people involved in Capitol riot to turn themselves
Investigators have opened up 275 new cases, US attorney says
Pelosi expected to send impeachment article to the Senate next week, source says
Details of the above articles, here –
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-inauguration-security-dc-capitol-news-01-15-21/index.html
meher
I’m told – by a connection of one of the organisers, so very Chinese whispers – that the Open is being regarded internationally as a test case, to see if running sporting events of this nature is possible.
They’re expecting that there will be positive cases, but that these will be contained to the tennis ‘cluster’.
Apparently there will be nine separate clusters. Each person is confined to their cluster throughout the event, even when they’re playing with people from another cluster.
Most players will spend their entire life at their hotel (each one has a tennis court, with scheduled times for practice) – a few of the elite get to go to Olympic Park for an hour a day.
I’m not sure a returning Aussie would want to be kept under those conditions – which appear far stricter than Melbournians endured during lockdown. The players sign up for it because it’s their job at stake.
If it works, then there’s a blueprint for sporting events internationally.
zoomster. I know people who have been stuck overseas for some time. I think they would be prepared to endure just about any quarantine arrangements if it would allow them to come home. Watching the Australian Open go ahead after numbers of returning Australians have been slashed makes them feel like Australia is thumbing it’s collective nose at them.
I’ll put it simply. I think it stinks.
Emirates have suspended all flights to Australia due to decreased number of passengers they can carry.
meher
Being totally not interested in sports, I don’t care if the Open goes ahead or not. I’m just passing on information because it might interest others.
meher baba @ #7 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 7:40 am
Read this article and you will reassess that opinion:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stranded-australians-desperate-to-come-home-as-political-buck-passing-continues-20210115-p56ubm.html
There’s actually one lady there who is saying that because the only state she could get a ticket to was SA and her father with Alzheimers is in another state with borders to it closed by SA, she couldn’t get home to see him anyway.
Plus, I note another broken promise by Scotty from Marketing:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison undertook in September to try to get “as many people home, if not all of them, by Christmas”.
With a fantastic comeback line by Penny Wong:
But whether it will be quick enough for those at breaking point is another issue. Penny Wong says she’s worried that at this rate “we might not even see [all] these stranded Australians home by Christmas 2021”.
Australia (the State) doesn’t treat people like people. They’re commodities, or they’re a cost, or a burden, or a resource to be mined.
Josh Hawley gets well and truly reemed in this evaluation of his character following his actions in inciting the attempted overthrow of the 2020 US Election.
https://www.rawstory.com/josh-hawley-2649950922/
zoomster. I certainly wasn’t meaning to have a go at you. Sorry if it came across that way.
I’m angry about the decision, and I’m not playing the blame game. I’m sure that the Victorian Government agreed to this under enormous pressure from many directions.
What we urgently need now is a coherent national policy. We seemed to have one, but it’s fallen apart and every state now seems to be doing its own thing
The SMH editorial, which I read after making my initial posts, makes the case for a national policy more eloquently than I did.
meher baba
Not going to happen if Scotty from Marketing has any say in it. To do it would mean he risks being seen as responsible for quarantine and so be blamed for screw ups. Putting distance between himself and responsibility/blame for stuff ups is one of his key skill sets . Worked a treat so far so why would he change ?
c@t, poroti: That’s the answer clearly. Just keep blaming Morrison for it all.
Obviously the State Labor leaders are completely blameless. Why couldn’t I see that?
Thank you, BK.
What the Morrison Government SHOULD HAVE DONE in relation to robodebt.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55674146
But Morrison won’t even admit to faults.
meher
And I didn’t mean to come across as huffy!
The written word can be clumsy at times.
meher baba
We do need one but why would the States trust the ‘Feds’ re covid-19 ? Most states can look around and see life looking pretty covid free normal. Achieved by not going in the direction the Feds wanted them to go which was more akin to what the UK and Europe headed off on . The results speak for themselves.
meher baba says:
Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 7:53 am
c@t, poroti: That’s the answer clearly. Just keep blaming Morrison for it all.
Obviously the State Labor leaders are completely blameless. Why couldn’t I see that?
As the state governments are doing their best to deal with a federal responsibility your inability to see that is astounding.
dave @ #3722 Friday, January 15th, 2021 – 4:20 pm
Thanks for the thoughts.
All fine here in the south even though this quake was only a couple of hundred kms away from us.
I heard there had been an earthquake in Indonesia yesterday at work and assumed it was in Sumatra or Java. I didn’t realise it was in Sulawesi until I saw your post.
I saw a convoy of army trucks going past the office yesterday and now wonder if they were heading up there to join the relief efforts.
Obviously the State Labor leaders are completely blameless. Why couldn’t I see that?
meher baba,
I didn’t even say that, or even infer it. Though if you want to get all defensive and deflective, go right ahead, don’t mind me.
Fyi. I have criticised state leaders before.
A PM who cared for his people would be preparing them for the next stage of covid living, which is caution until sufficient numbers have been vaccinated. Instead, Morrison (and Gladys) enjoy a mask-free life, while happily anticipating their version of covid-normal, when life will snap back to 2019.
Trump Blacklisting Jolts China’s Ambitions to Take on Boeing
The Trump administration’s addition of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, better known as Comac, to a Defense Department list of companies with alleged Chinese military ties comes just days after a breakthrough in the state-backed jet manufacturer’s effort to win customers when an Indonesian airline agreed to buy its planes.
If President-elect Joe Biden doesn’t reverse the move, American investors will be prohibited from buying securities of companies on the list, and will have to divest their holdings by November. That won’t impact Comac because it’s not publicly traded, but other companies Trump initially put on such lists — including Comac shareholder Aviation Industry Corp. of China — have since found themselves targets for more severe sanctions, including curbs on access to American technology.
That could be potentially crippling for Comac, which relies on American imports for its jet engines and other parts, according to Shukor Yusof, founder and aviation analyst at Endau Analytics.
“China doesn’t have the domestic capability to provide the necessary components so they’re very much reliant on U.S. components,” Yusof said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-15/trump-blacklisting-jolts-china-s-ambitions-to-take-on-boeing?srnd=premium-asia
boerwar @ #16 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 7:53 am
What the Morrison government will NEVER do. Show principle and responsibility for their mismanagement and malodorous actions.
For international arrivals such as tennis players for the Australian open
The federal government should be taking action, it is their responsibility
BIOSECURITY ACT 2015 – SECT 478
Health Minister may give directions during human biosecurity emergency period
(1) During a human biosecurity emergency period, the Health Minister may give any direction, to any person, that the Health Minister is satisfied is necessary:
(a) to prevent or control:
(i) the entry of the declaration listed human disease into Australian territory or a part of Australian territory;
Fast-spreading UK coronavirus variant could be dominant in U.S. by March, CDC says
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is believed to be twice as contagious as the current version of the virus circulating in the United States. So far, 76 people from 10 U.S. states have been infected with the U.K. variant.
Its rapid spread will increase the burden on health resources at a time when infections are surging, further sapping strained healthcare resources and increasing the need for better adherence to mitigation strategies, such as social-distancing and mask-wearing, the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-variant/fast-spreading-uk-coronavirus-variant-could-be-dominant-in-u-s-by-march-cdc-says-idUSKBN29K2CD
“China doesn’t have the domestic capability to provide the necessary components so they’re very much reliant on U.S. components,” Yusof said.
I said yesterday that China better be careful what it wishes for with its takeover of Hong Kong and brutal crackdown on the freedom fighters. China is more reliant on the West for its expansionist plans than they care to let on.
It is a terrible look for the Australian federal government allowing International arrivals in Australia for a tennis tournament and not helping Australians to get back to Australia
meher baba @ #13 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 4:51 am
What a strange paragraph.
This is not a new need, it has been apparent publicly since the beginning of the pandemic and even longer to those working in the area. The Government has been sitting on reports outlining this need for many years without acting.
As for the States doing their own thing, well this has been the case from the beginning and is a direct result of the Government having no plan and then recommending actions that did not appeal to the States.
I have no idea of what you perceived as an initial coherent national policy.
Morning all.
I was wondering what was happening with state polls, having done two polls in recent months about the performance of the McGowan government, and specific questions about our retiring state MP.
I am assuming that the arrangements for the Tennis have more than one goal.
As a test case for future international events.
As a stimulus for the economy.
As a mood changer for those who can’t live without sport, and for those who have become depressed because they fear that life will never become ‘normal’ again.
I notice the Libs/nats media propaganda units and libs/nats supporters ignore this about who responsibly it is
When stopping the so-called boat people or any other person from overseas coming into Australia
The Howard and other libs/nats federal Government
We decide on who is allowed into Australia
——————
So what is different now ?
Scott,
You’re not supposed to make odious comparisons like that about Conservatives. They rely on you having ‘The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’. 🙂
Thanks BK for the Dawn Patrol.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
My congratulations go to Mr. M. McCormack deputy Prime Minister.
A role model for aspiring and ambitious young folk with little ability, not much in the way of intelligence and missing somewhat in the empathy and reasoning department.
Onya Mick.
That virtuous Dutch Government resigning is a bit of a stretch. The Election was due before 17 March anyway, they will stay in office during the caretaker period and they are expected to win the Election.
So, what are the consequences for this poor policy and behaviour?
With their chatter going underground it’s going to be harder to track these kooks. You’ve gotta say, having invested so much in tracking muslim terrorism the US has dropped the ball on domestic terrorism, most of which is growing rightwing extremism. And now it’s going to be harder with it all moving off public forums like Facebook and into private chat groups.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/15/parler-telegram-chat-apps/
Liberals also killing a pigeon called joe from USA who apparently was running a race.
He escaped to Australia.
lizzie @ #33 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 8:32 am
Lizzie I agree. While at first look it seems strange to run the tournament, I did hear on the ABC radio during the week that the players are NOT taking places under the cap for returning Aussies.
Like the cricket tennis is so much part of summer here that it would not feel normal without it.
Can we understand one thing – the reason we don’t have a coherent policy on returning Australians is because the Feds have abdicated their responsibility because if it goes wrong they don’t want to be blamed.
The whole pandemic has seen them not take any responsibility other than giving out billions of $$$ (that makes them look good). First it was hotel quarantine- they didn’t have a policy at all and it was driven by the States. I look forward to the vaccine rollout – can see that becoming a shambles as well.
FMD, is it that hard not to see that.
Now on the Australian Open players, my understanding is that they all arrived on private charter air flights. I have no issue with them coming in providing their mandatory 14 day quarantine is no different to other Australians returning home.
Let’s hope we have zeros across the board today.
Zerlo @ #39 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 8:53 am
No they’re not.
The Lincoln Project is hitting the airwaves with their adverts.
https://youtu.be/10ajU3cSrVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFQHm-2cyIk&ab_channel=TheLincolnProject
‘fess,
I just learned the other day, when Rick Wilson was talking to Al Franken, that it’s Stuart Stevens who is the ad creator for The Lincoln Project.
No wonder the Republican Party ads, pre Trump used to be so good!
I guess the international cricket that is taking place at different cities in Australia is okay compared to the strict rules of quarantine in place for tennis players who can’t travel to another place.
Or could it just be that the tennis is taking place in Victoria and no where else, and that what makes it ripe for huge criticism.
I think I know the answer.
C@tmomma says:
Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 8:59 am
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/13061544
They were, even Murdoch media were chearing.
“Pigeon was saved from death row”.
And not forgetting the cricket team breached quarantine and went to a restaurant for dinner. They still managed to travel through to Sydney and now to Brisbane.
Yeah there is that
fess
‘With their chatter going underground it’s going to be harder to track these kooks..’
The other side of this is that it’s harder for them to spread their message and it’s harder for people to find them.
The evidence appears to be that many of those who fall down these rabbit holes are indoctrinated over a period of time, and did not seek it out to begin with.
If their forums are harder to find, then that won’t happen.
We’ve always had kooks.
I struggle with the concept that we should ‘strive for a sense of normality’ as the NSW Premier put it. We are in the middle of a pandemic. It is a shitshow outside our bubble here in the Antipodes.
While I can see the use of the bread and circuses approach by several (Federal and State) governments of both political persuasions, it doesn’t mean that I have to like it.
zoomster @ #48 Saturday, January 16th, 2021 – 8:08 am
Exactly. Their recruitment channel has been cut off and they will now have to do recruiting the hard way, person to person. This has its own risks of discovery