It’s been a big couple of days for state opinion polls: a shock Newspoll from South Australia three weeks out from the election, a YouGov poll showing Labor still in front in Queensland, and a Resolve Strategic finding that Labor is back in the game in New South Wales. As well as all that, I can offer the following summary of miscellaneous developments to hang a new open thread off:
• The Age/Herald has related that the small sample of 170 Western Australian respondents from the recent Resolve Strategic poll had 64% supporting Mark McGowan’s decision to scrap the originally proposed date of February 5 for reopening the state’s border, with only 32% opposed. This compares with 39% and 47% respectively from the national sample of 1604.
• The Liberal National Party candidate for the Labor-held marginal seat of Lilley in Brisbane, Ryan Shaw, has announced his withdrawal. Shaw is an army veteran who served in East Timor and Afghanistan, and said he had made the decision to focus on his mental health.
• Lara Alexander will become one of the three Liberal members for Bass in the Tasmanian state parliament after winning the recount to succeed Sarah Courtney. This involved counting the ballots that elected Courtney at the election last May, which found Alexander prevailing over rival Liberal candidate Simon Wood by 5671 votes (52.9%) to 5051 (47.1%).
• The Poll Bludger, individually and collectively, was greatly saddened to hear of the death of Zoe Wilson, a.k.a. Lizzie, an unfailingly civil contributor to the forum of long standing, as was related yesterday in comments by Zoomster.
There is nothing that a.v has posted that is in the slightest way anti-semitic. The accusation is gross and uncalled for. That you have managed to incite some personal abuse by viciously personally abusing someone is no defence of your behaviour at all.
You should stop digging and you should apologize.
But I know you won’t. This is my last post on the topic.
Has lizzie passed away?
That is sad to hear, I was hoping for better news.
Griff,
Putin financially supports the training and growth of the Russian Neo Nazi movement. I’ve seen a documentary about them. Their views coincide without Putin being overtly anti semitic himself. There’s a reason why Russian Jews got out of Russia and went to Israel and Australia, among other countries, while they could.
On Friday evening, Anonymous claimed they managed to breach the database belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Anonymous posted the database online and made it accessible to anyone. “Hackers all around the world: target Russia in the name of #Anonymous let them know we do not forgive, we do not forget. Anonymous owns fascists, always,” the group tweeted.
https://cybernews.com/news/anonymous-leaks-database-of-the-russian-ministry-of-defence/
Australian sporting legend John Landy has died surrounded by his family aged 91.
Landy, the second man to break the four minute mile in athletics, a passionate environmentalist and the Governor of Victoria from 2001 to 2006, passed away at his home in Castlemaine on Thursday with his wife Lynne, son Matthew and daughter Alison by his side.
He had long battled Parkinson’s disease.
Matthew Landy confirmed his father’s peaceful passing.
“Dad passed away peacefully on Thursday surrounded by what he loved most, his family and the Australian bush,” Matthew told the Herald Sun.
Boerwar
Give your head a wobble you idiot
C@t didn’t accuse the venison character of being anti-semitic at all
PS It’s a bit rich of you to make that complaint anyway – you’ve thrown the anti-semitism charge at more people on here than anyone else. You do it all the time
Twat
Wow this place is getting a tad nasty.
Pull back all, need some Lizzie balance.
Sorry, Boerwar, but support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by av, based upon a pretext of ‘Denazification’ of Ukraine bothered me greatly. Without equivalent condemnation of the same sort of people in Russia who it can easily be said form the Praetorian Guard of Vladimir Putin. If it doesn’t bother you, that’s fine. Just don’t think you have a valid point because I pointed that out and got abused for it and you don’t agree with me. We all know you think you’ve got a bigger brain than yabba and that that determines that your word about things are sacrosanct. 🙄
This will also be my last comment on the matter.
Ukrainian Top Gun:
https://youtu.be/EDPrMdXAPx0
Too important to leave on the previous thread:
Vale lizzie. She was one of a handful who welcomed me to “the lounge” when I first stumbled across this place 10 years ago. I found myself looking for her posts each morning and her short critiques of daily events. Most of us are hard to distinguish from the herd. Not so lizzie. I miss her already.
And vale Zoe. My condolences to all who knew her.
Also from the previous thread:
The word “resilience” has me taking a quick detour into language usage. The way “efficiency” is bandied about as being a good thing, eliminating waste as it does, glosses over the resilience that it replaces. Put another way, if we have multiple ways of getting a result and we use them all, then that’s inefficient, but it’s also resilient.
The head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has suggested that the International Space Station (ISS) could fall out of orbit and crash into the United States or Europe as a result of sanctions on Russia. The comments came following US president Joe Biden’s announcement of new sanctions that “will degrade their [Russia’s] aerospace industry, including their space programme”. “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the International Space Station (ISS) from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe?” Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Roscosmos, said in response on Twitter. He pointed out that the station’s orbit and location in space are controlled by Russian-made engines.
Andrew_Earlwood @ #NaN Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 9:57 am
No wonder Putin is talking peace talks with Zelinsky already! That guy is a-mazing! Sort of gives the lie to Putin’s propaganda that he controlled all the airfields in Ukraine if that Ukrainian fighter pilot could refuel and attack again so often.
C@tmomma @ Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 9:44 am
Anti-semitism is worse elsewhere in Europe. While it may be your opinion, based on the evidence you have (from a documentary?), a well-conducted survey of Russian Jews reports otherwise.
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Religion/Submissions/WJC-Annex4.pdf
I find this type of evidence credible.
Rex Patrick
@Senator_Patrick
· 2h
Chinese naval vessels are operating off our coast right now. Emperor @ScottMorrisonMP’s response is to order 8 long range subs with a first delivery date in 2040. His subs will only be useful for our defence if they come fitted with a time machine.
India’s position is one to watch. From The Guardian live blog:
The UN security council voted on a resolution deploring Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Eleven member states voted for the resolution, three abstained (China, India, and UAE) and one voted against (Russia). As Russia holds a veto the resolution was not upheld.
But the US and its allies will see it as a victory to have Russia voting alone, and China abstaining. They were able to bring China on board by softening the resolution slightly, changing the word ‘condemning’ to ‘deploring’ for example and removing a reference to the Russian president. It is a loss however not to persuade India or UAE off the fence.
Sorry for not linking to this thread at the end of the last one. And for the tenor of this one so far, to whatever extent it might be thought my fault.
Holdenhillbilly
“Chinese naval vessels are operating off our coast right now. ”
You are forgetting about our supply of Sovereign Press Releases. Morrison will deploy one shortly.
Since I’m visiting today, I have a bone to pick with Stan Grant and others.
After Russia invaded Ukraine I read the headline, “Will this define Biden’s Presidency?”, as if that was relevant to anyone. And yesterday I read, “Why the west doesn’t understand Putin”, which is just as irrelevant. Plenty understand that man quite well enough. (Look up Madeleine Albright’s writings on him.) There are pundits, like Grant, who are more in love with proclamations of “history” and their place in it than they are with the people who have to endure it. They were given sufficient intellectual capacity and then sufficient opportunity to pursue big thoughts and return with big ideas, only to fail us with their offers. It’s not surprising I suppose that they use their clever skills to seek approval and recognition. Who doesn’t? But when they are seduced (and reduced) by the enormity of events as well, well, they’re merely wankers, better (and safely) ignored until after.
(I read Grant’s little piece, and was underwhelmed by his retreat into religious and cultural ramblings, which as an argument had me thinking that maybe not playing tennis is the wrong tennis to play.)
Griff
India is still reliant on Russia for technical assistance with its own nuclear sub program, which it wants to counter the rise of the Chinese navy. They want western (French?) help, but UK and USA have refused.
AE
I have thought further about the RAN shipbuilding program. If it is possible to shift quickly back to AWD production to replace the intended but delayed Hunter Frigate construction, then I agree it would not be a bad idea.
For PBers who have been elsewhere and haven’t been following the comments, zoomster posted this yesterday afternoon:
Thanks Socrates.
I am relieved.
Griff @ #64 Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 10:06 am
Okay, so looking at the evidence in Table 1 (did you?), on the question of, ‘How serious is the issue of… in Russia’ when I look at the issue of Antisemitism and add together ‘Very serious + Rather serious’, 16 + 39, gives 55. I would not consider this insubstantial. Also I would note that the interviews in Russia were not anonymous, as the interviewers went and did the survey face to face. How that would have skewed the results in Putin’s Russia, one can only guess.
Thanks Confessions. I came late to the news.
Have a good day all. Lets not all descend to Morrison’s level.
We really should be making more stuff here. We also need to diversify away from China, both imports and exports. We are very vulnerable to trade and supply chain disruptions. We got lucky in the pandemic, as it turned out disruptions weren’t too bad, the trucks and ships mostly kept moving. But an actual war or any other event that seriously disrupted world trade? We’d be totally stuffed.
Fess
Thank you for posting zoomster’s tribute to lizzie/zoe on this thread for those of us who missed it.
This could get dirtier than it already is:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10552743/Furious-Putin-prepares-use-father-bombs-brave-Ukrainians-hold-advance.html
William
While you’re here, could you please place a note about lizzie’s passing at the top of the blog?
The best thing that the Russians can do right now to help themselves, the Ukranians and the rest of the world, is to take out Putin.
The thing that gives me the irrits about Stan Grant’s pieces are they frequently seem to feature a moderately obscure quote which has something, but not a lot, to do with the topic. There’s nothing wrong with quoting someone who can bring new perspectives on issues, but with Grant it just seems like he starts at the tangentially related quote and then writes a piece basically using the quote as a narrowly focused, somewhat inappropriate, lens to view the topic. Seemingly hammering or squeezing the topic to fit the quote.
It has a superficial scholarliness, which I would guess is the point, but frequently leaves me feeling like the main topic hasn’t really been illuminated in any meaningful way.
Having said that I did think his piece on the “identitification/atomization” of the liberal West and how that contrasts with/is seen by someone like Putin, did have some interesting things to say.
Am I correct in thinking her name was Zoe Wilson?
And thank you too, zoomster.
victoria:
The day is so much greyer than it already was here in Sydney 🙁
I was hoping for the best in that she’d pull through, but alas it was not to be.
Zoomster
Thank you so much for informing us all regarding Zoe/Lizzie.
Heartfelt Condolences to you for the loss of a beautiful friend.
Mavis @ #79 Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 10:32 am
A thermobaric bomb dropped by the US on Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.
And the Taliban ended up winning the war. 😐
“Biden makes history with Supreme Court pick
Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes first black woman nominated for US Supreme Court”
Her thank you for the nomination speech kicked off with thanks to God followed by America the greatest nation in the world and then her family’s law enforcement credentials.
Fess
It was not to be. When I noticed that she had not posted for a few days, a feeling of dread came over me. I had hoped my senses were betraying me. But alas no.
William Bowe @ #83 Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 10:36 am
Yes it was.
Jackol, I can agree with that. Grant is superficially interesting, but tangential.
ScottyTheStatesman is continuing his gaffes…
‘Morrison denounces China for offering Russia trade lifeline’
Reporter “India hasn’t said boo. They’re remaining neutral. There will be no sanctions”
Morrison “countries have different levels of engagement with Russia .. I’m respectful of that”
https://twitter.com/squizzstk/status/1497345939161649154?s=21
To paraphrase the ABC’s finance reporter: Huge relief for the markets because the sanctions aren’t as tough as they had feared.
Russian stock market up 20%. Dow up about 2%. ASX futures up 2%.
lizzie was so perceptive (this from my DM conversations with her on Twitter):
You do attract a lot of negative comments, but I still love you for your enthusiasm.
I’ll have to stop this or I’ll start crying again. 🙁
Thank you William for point it out. Here is this morning’s bumper edition.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Peter Hartcher says that as the free world shrinks, Australia dithers on a critical project, namely resilience. He points out Australia’s vulnerabilities to trade disruption. Hartcher concluded by saying that if Morrison is “serious, sobered by the threats from Russia and China, he’ll drop the hysterical red-baiting of Labor and work responsibly on joint solutions. Enough complacency. We live in an age of consequences.”.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/as-the-free-world-shrinks-australia-dithers-on-a-critical-project-resilience-20220224-p59zj9.html
Australia’s Asian community has grown significantly, and its votes will count. Playing the China card against Labor may not reward the PM if Chinese Australian voters see it as a slight against their own loyalty, opines George Megalogenis in this interesting contribution.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/morrison-may-feel-the-sting-in-the-tail-of-china-security-scare-20220224-p59zj8.html
From a China frenzy to casual transphobia, the PM is on the hunt for disaffected but highly motivated voters, says Katherine Murphy.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/26/from-a-china-frenzy-to-casual-transphobia-pm-is-on-the-hunt-for-disaffected-but-highly-motivated-voters
Paul Bongiorno declares that Emperor Morrison has no clothes. He says the current situation recalls Peter Costello’s observation after the Howard government’s loss in 2007. He said no matter what Howard and the government announced or threw at Labor, it just didn’t work. Whatever else might be said about scare campaigns, the politicians running them need some credibility to cut through.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/02/26/emperor-morrison-has-no-clothes/164579400013406
John Hewson writes about the battle for the centre. He looks at the role of the media and points out that Sky News in particular has become simply a 24-hour advertisement for the Liberal Party. It has resorted to subliminal messaging, running a ticker across the bottom of the screen proclaiming ‘Each Way Albo’…
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/02/26/battle-the-centre/164579400013405
Laura Tingle writes that Putin’s strike on Ukraine is testing the US and NATO – and a shocking reminder that tough talk doesn’t always work.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-26/putins-strike-ukraine-testing-usa-nato-tough-talk-doesnt-always/100859772
The West has three options in response to the Ukraine invasion. Not one of them is good, explains Andrew McLeod.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/europe-news/2022/02/25/russia-ukraine-west-options/
This is a war half a world away from Australia yet our stake in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion is immense because it is an assault on national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of a country of 44 million people – proof that brute power and military invasion remain the ultimate resort in global politics, writes Paul Kelly.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/russia-aims-to-reverse-march-of-history-with-ukraine-invasion/news-story/539ee4daa1c1dba9d5f08ec4b340c486
Russia analyst, Bobo Lo, gives us six reasons why sanctions won’t bring Putin to heel.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/bring-it-on-six-reasons-why-sanctions-won-t-bring-putin-to-heel-20220224-p59zj7.html
The Ukraine tragedy shows clearly that the West’s basic principles of democracy and self-determination are the right ones, declares the editorial in the SMH.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/the-decline-of-the-west-and-the-war-in-ukraine-20220225-p59zts.html
We’re appalled by Putin now, but be clear: the west gave him the green light, argues Jonathan Freedland.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/25/putin-west-gave-him-green-light-russia-ukraine
In a matter of hours, the world order has turned drastically less favourable for the Western democracies, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/new-world-order-russia-has-just-turned-itself-into-a-commodity-superpower-20220225-p59zkb.html
Michelle Grattan tells us why Morrison will keep talking tough on the Ukraine conflict.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/minor-player-with-a-loud-voice-why-morrison-will-keep-talking-tough-on-ukraine-conflict-20220225-p59zkf.html
As the Supreme Court is called on to settle preselection fights ahead of the election, Scott Morrison is attempting to hold together the Liberal Party, writes Karen Middleton.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/26/morrison-moves-firm-leadership/164579400013401
According to Josh Butler, the Greens are targeting Queensland as its new battleground in its balance of power bid.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/26/greens-target-queensland-as-new-battleground-in-balance-of-power-bid
Peter van Onselen believes that the baby boomer aged-care crisis is looming as a vote changer. He hopes that hope both major parties will make aged care the priority it deserves to be.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/baby-boomer-agedcare-crisis-looms-as-vote-changer/news-story/b7c9a4324563b4f0969cb12d0706412c
If Australia does end up getting nuclear submarines through AUKUS, these powerful boats will have a most unlikely hero: Anthony Albanese. The Labor leader has come a long way, says Greg Sheridan.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/the-albanese-doctrine-dont-play-politics-with-security/news-story/f41d0a45e49f8a77c30eb2f0d257ee14
“Is Scott Morrison’s khaki election already over, or just ramping up?”, asks Harley Dennett.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7634882/is-scott-morrisons-khaki-election-already-over-or-just-ramping-up/?cs=24204
Vladimir Putin is no ranting Hitler nor monstrous Stalin, he is howling at the loss of the former Russian Empire and will do everything in his power to regain it, opines Tony Wright
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/putin-the-cruel-a-reborn-tsar-hell-bent-on-restoring-empire-20220225-p59zk9.html
Australia’s anger at China has reached boiling point, with the government effectively accusing Beijing of aiding and abetting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a view to mounting an incursion into Taiwan.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australia-accuses-china-of-enabling-russian-aggression-20220225-p59zlq
Scott Morrison and his ministers have strongly attacked China over its failure to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or to use its influence to press President Putin to pull back, reports Michelle Grattan.
https://theconversation.com/morrison-turns-blowtorch-on-china-for-being-soft-on-russia-177929
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is putting the spotlight on an obscure part of the banking system that could act as a major financial weapon, says Clancy Yeates who explains what SWIFT is, and why the West fears cutting Russia off from the world’s banks.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/what-is-swift-and-why-does-the-west-fear-cutting-russia-off-from-the-world-s-banks-20220225-p59znv.html
Ukrainian soldiers who died defending an island in the Black Sea from an air and sea bombardment reportedly told an officer on board a Russian navy warship to “go fuck yourself” when asked to surrender.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/25/ukraine-soldiers-told-russians-to-go-fuck-yourself-before-black-sea-island-death
The Dirty 33: meet the Russian cronies sanctioned by Australia.
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/the-dirty-33-meet-the-russian-cronies-sanctioned-by-australia-20220225-p59zmj
Is international law powerless against Russian aggression in Ukraine? No, but it’s complicated, explain these law academics for The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/is-international-law-powerless-against-russian-aggression-in-ukraine-no-but-its-complicated-177905
As the world watches in horror the Russian assault on Ukraine, it seems crass to discuss what it means for a little election in faraway Australia. But local political operators in the big parties and the small will be doing nothing else this weekend, writes Mark Sawyer.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/ukraine-attack-changes-everything-including-australian-election/
According to The Australian, Steven Marshall is in real danger of becoming a one-term premier as South Australian voters flock behind his opponent ahead of the March 19 state election. In a rare and alarming result for a serving premier, Labor leader Peter Malinauskas is trouncing Mr Marshall as preferred premier, leading him by a hefty 46 to 39 per cent margin. Mr Marshall also has a much higher dissatisfaction rating than his opponent at 47 per cent compared to 31 per cent for Mr Malinauskas. And the TPP is running at 53/47 in Labor’s favour.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/south-australian-election-steven-marshall-in-danger-of-oneanddone/news-story/217f3665b1b67b62362d366a43fcb5ce
The SMH tells us about the rough week Perrottet has just had.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/railroaded-and-enraged-premier-rides-out-rough-week-20220224-p59zdt.html
Riccardo Bosi has been telling the anti-lockdown movement a bunch of hysterical, bloodthirsty bullshit for a while now, writes Tom Tanuki who says political vultures like Hanson are manipulating far-right protesters.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/political-vultures-like-hanson-manipulating-alt-right-protesters-,16092
“Did Scott Morrison and Marise Payne drag Australia into a Chinese Communist Party power struggle that has seen senior security officials jailed, turning Beijing’s wrath from diplomatic chill to active trade sanctions and worse?”, asks Hamish McDonald.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/26/australias-role-ccp-power-struggle/164579400013404
Supreme Court’s preselection ruling is a major blow to Scott Morrison and his NSW party-room allies, explains The New Daily.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2022/02/25/scott-morrison-allies-high-court/
Ross Gittins begins this contribution calling for increased competition within Australia with, “Business has many tired ideas for reforming the economy and improving productivity, most of which boil down to: cut my tax and give me more power to keep my wage bill low. But a veteran econocrat has proposed a new and frightening reform: make our businesses compete harder for our custom, thus making it harder for them to raise their prices.”
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/here-s-a-novel-idea-australia-needs-more-competition-not-less-20220224-p59zi9.html
Dana Daniel writes that former Aged Care Royal Commissioner Lynelle Briggs says the report she co-authored warned the federal government about an impending staffing crisis in the sector and backed the case for a pay rise, as new polling shows most voters support military assistance in homes struggling to fill shifts. Briggs says military support is not the solution.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pay-rises-not-military-support-the-solution-former-aged-care-commissioner-20220222-p59yqc.html
Rick Morton reveals that secret documents show Dominic Perrottet’s office gave millions to a private project in the seat of a National Party defector, against advice and without the relevant department’s involvement.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/26/exclusive-millions-siphoned-against-treasury-advice/164579400013400
“Has the Sydney trains fiasco derailed David Elliott’s career for good?”, asks Michael McGowan. He says some of Elliott’s colleagues now agree with the opposition that he should go.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/26/has-the-sydney-trains-fiasco-derailed-david-elliotts-career-for-good
A federal push to change the rules around class action lawsuits will make it more difficult for people to get justice from the courts, explains Kieran Pender.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2022/02/26/access-justice-threatened-new-rules-class-actions/164579400013403
Alaxandra Smith reports that a vast majority of voters in NSW want masks to continue to be worn in shops and indoor public venues, but they do not want to be compelled to do so.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/more-comfortable-with-masks-voters-want-some-covid-restrictions-to-stay-20220225-p59zs4.html
Cameron Atfield tells us that Services Australia awarded a multimillion-dollar property contract to a close friend and associate of Morrison government cabinet member Stuart Robert at a time he was the minister responsible for the agency. ICAC NOW! This Stuart Robert guy is a shocker!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-government-awarded-multimillion-dollar-contract-to-minister-s-close-friend-20220204-p59tya.html
And a fund established to help farmers fight nationally significant court cases will pay for some of the legal costs of a company part-owned by Angus Taylor to challenge a finding that it destroyed critically endangered grasslands.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/26/farmers-fund-to-cover-some-of-angus-taylor-companys-costs-to-challenge-finding-land-cleared-illegally
A federal watchdog has ended an investigation of a major union that counts senior Labor figure Bill Shorten among its former heads after finding there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute its officials, reports Angus Thompson. Shorten has accused the government of using the cover of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to “quietly just drop everything because ‘of the absence of sufficient evidence’.”
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/federal-watchdog-drops-long-running-investigation-into-awu-donations-20220225-p59zpn.html
As the prison system faced the extraordinary risks associated with Covid-19, one state, NSW, gave its commissioner the power to release low-risk prisoners. He hasn’t used it once, writes Wendy Bacon.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/26/nsw-fails-parole-low-risk-prisoners-despite-covid-19-provision
Nobody expected Daniel Andrews to dump his government’s latest $800 million Robin Hood policy after a few days. Insiders say he was left with little choice, writes Paul Sakkal.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/gone-in-five-days-how-to-overturn-a-tax-and-infuriate-the-premier-20220224-p59zdu.html
Mike Cannon-Brookes’ audacious bid to takeover AGL signals the next, more aggressive, chapter in the evolution of activist investing, writes Charlotte Grieve.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/green-is-good-how-the-agl-bid-could-set-off-a-wave-of-climate-themed-takeovers-20220223-p59z07.html
Saul Griffith prosecutes the case for buying AGL.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/02/26/the-case-buying-agl/164579400013402
In good environmental news, a previously endangered species is making a miraculous comeback with populations of West coast and East coast humpback whales likely rebounding to near pre-whaling levels.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/humpback-whales-removed-from-threatened-species-list-20220225-p59zss.html
Ben Doherty reports on yesterday’s proceedings in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/25/ben-roberts-smith-trial-newspapers-lawyers-deny-deal-with-witness-to-steer-clear-of-evidence-about-alleged-killing
Outgoing ACCC chair Rod Sims says the government must consider using its powers under the media bargaining code to force Facebook to negotiate with SBS and The Conversation.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/forcing-facebook-to-negotiate-with-publishers-must-be-an-option-accc-20220224-p59ze7.html
It is a race against time to keep the Probuild platform in one piece, as stalled projects and the company’s own 750-strong staff become targets for opportunistic rivals, explains the AFR.
https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/race-to-resurrect-collapsed-builder-probuild-20220225-p59zny
From long COVID to Alzheimer’s, all manner of health woes are increasingly thought to have one thing in common: inflammation. But there’s an ongoing mystery: why does it go rogue in some people and not others? Great medical minds are on the case, writes Greg Callaghan in this feature article.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-silent-killer-why-medical-research-is-fired-up-about-inflammation-20211126-p59cdw.html
Piers Morgan’s global talk show is weeks away from launching but the British commentator was already handing out voting advice when he jetted in for Sky News Australia’s 25th anniversary party at the Sydney Opera House, writes Amanda Meade in her weekly media roundup.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/25/piers-morgan-parties-with-sky-news-australia-mates-after-massive-murdoch-payday
Smiling on his way to the bank, Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey has warned prices on furniture and consumer electronics are rising by as much as 30 per cent across the board, as inflationary pressures ramp up at the country’s major retailers.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/harvey-norman-profits-fall-for-first-time-since-start-of-pandemic-20220225-p59zl8.html
Robert Reich proclaims that only the right has become more extreme over the last 50 years.
https://johnmenadue.com/robert-reich-only-the-right-has-become-more-extreme-over-the-last-50-years/
Anna Patty tells us how an Australian expat may help topple a British Prime Minister.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/how-an-australian-expat-may-help-topple-a-british-prime-minister-20220205-p59u0f.html
More Republicans have a negative view of Joe Biden than of Vladimir Putin and more Democrats have a negative view of Donald Trump than of the Russian leader, according to a new poll. America is stuffed!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/25/republicans-biden-putin-trump-fox-news-poll
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
David Rowe
Dionne Gain
Andrew Dyson
Matt Davidson
John Shakespeare
Matt Golding
Alan Moir
Simon Letch
Jim Pavlidis
Jon Kudelka
Glen Le Lievre
Richard Giliberto
Spooner
From the US
Rewi @ #93 Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 10:46 am
The stock marketeers better be careful. The West are turning the screws slowly on Putin while they get organised. The thoroughly negative effects on Russia, Putin et al may not happen overnight, but they will happen.
Thanks very much for that, William.
Is Piers Morgan visiting Australia? Couldn’t his visa have been refused on character grounds?
Or is SkyPropaganda simply relaying his shit-show onto the screens of the already-outraged?
C@tmomma @ Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 10:25 am
Oh Dear. Why yes I did read the survey. Further, this is what I do academically, so I can see when someone attempts to cherry pick results. Poorly, might I add.
First, read the interpretation of Table 1.
“The issue of antisemitism is felt to be less acute than other social issues, such as corruption, unemployment, racism and influx of migrants. It is considered to be ‘very acute’ by 16% of respondents in Russia, although more than a half of the respondents (55%) are, to a greater or lesser extent, as concerned about this issue as they are about the existence of racism in Russia”
But let us not stop there. Why don’t we take a look at Table 2. Where antisemitism is of less concern in Russia than it is for an the average of 8 countries in the EU. Then, let’s look at Table 3, where it is clear that there is growth in concern with respect to antisemitism in the EU countries, but not Russia. Their interpretation:
“In the European countries, concern about antisemitism is clearly more pronounced (Table 2). Besides, as evident from the data on other countries[3] (primarily, for Hungary, Poland and France, where the experience of dealing with antisemitism and its assessments are especially high), this is related to a growth of nationalist sentiment, the strengthening of the rightist populists in politics, and the strengthening of totalitarianism, especially in Poland and Hungary. In these countries, antisemitism is part of the overall negative context of wide-scale xenophobic response of the population to the influx of Muslim refugees. In France, where the share of Arab population is already high, this is combined with the threat of Arab antisemitism growth. This is clearly indicated by a very high level of the European population’s concern about the growth of antisemitism in their countries in the last five years. In European countries, 76% report the growth of antisemitism (including 44% reporting considerable growth), while in Russia, this figure reaches 17% (5% reporting considerable growth). Most Jews in Russia believe that the level of antisemitism has not changed or has diminished in the recent years (Table 3).”
You are not doing yourself any favours C@tmomma. I hope you go on to read the rest of the survey. It is nuanced. There is concern. But there is less than there is for racism overall, and less antisemitism that other countries in Europe. Please note I am not attempting to say that the Russian Government is wonderful. I would contend that there is significant discrimination towards muslim peoples. There is also a strong degree of discrimination against people that identify as lgbtqia+. Plenty of evidence of discrimination against these two marginalised groups, including legislation.
(from the previous thread)
BK @ #2565 Saturday, February 26th, 2022 – 9:09 am
Parsing that, I think you mean you can use a shorter hose if you keep a tank nearby, but you still have to keep an eye on the water deliveries. You need those “separately allocated safeties”, and you need to know they are available. And that’s how parallel beats serial when aiming for resilience.