The Australian reports the three-weekly Newspoll shows no change on two-party preferred, with Labor maintaining a lead of 52-48, and little change on the primary vote, with Labor down one to 33%, the Coalition steady on 36%, the Greens steady on 12%, One Nation down one to 6% and others up two to 13%. Anthony Albanese is up a point on approval to 43% and steady on disapproval at 51%, while Peter Dutton respectively steady at 37% and up one to 51%. Albanese’s lead on preferred prime minister is 47-35, out slightly from 46-35. The report provides no information on field work dates or sample size, but the last one was Wednesday to Saturday from a sample of 1245.
UPDATE: It turns out to have been Monday to Friday, with the sample again 1245. Respondents were also told of “a proposal to build several small modular nuclear reactors around Australia to produce zero-emissions energy on the sites of existing coal-fired power stations once they are retired”, of which 55% approved and 31% disapproved.
We also have from Nine Newspapers the first Resolve Strategic poll since late November/early December, which is at at odds with its competitors in recording movement to the Coalition: up three points to 37%, with Labor and the Greens each down a point, to 34% and 11% respectively, and One Nation up one to 6%. My own estimate of two-party preferred based on preference flows in 2022 is a narrowing from around 54.5-45.5 to 52-48. This pollster had hitherto been comfortably the strongest series for Labor, but these numbers bring it back to the field.
There are also peculiarities on personal ratings: Anthony Albanese records a five-point increase in approval (or to be more precise, the sum of his good plus very good results) to 41% with disapproval (poor plus very poor) down one to 47%, but his lead as preferred prime minister has narrowed from 42-28 to 39-32. Peter Dutton is up one on approval to 35% and down three to disapproval to 45%. Further findings from the poll include 52% support and 14% opposition to the revised stage three tax cuts. It was conducted Wednesday to Saturday from a sample of 1603.
Didn’t John Howard once say that he liked Bob Dylan’s music but wasn’t a fan of the lyrics?
Kirsdarke says:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 9:25 pm
@Entropy
Well, fascists in general tend to be drawn to other fascists, and the Republican fascists currently within range of gaining supreme power over the USA on the whole seem to be generally upset that Taylor Swift, who began her career in their domain in Country Music seems to have moved her career in ways they don’t approve of, so at least that’s my theory as to why so many right wingers seem to be quite salty about that.
—————————————————————————-
There’s an article on ABC Just in that helps explains why Republicans don’t like Taylor Swift.
‘For a long time, Swift shied from weighing into politics, for a host of reasons, including her age, and desire to centre her music. During that time the alt-right exploited her silence, trying to claim her as one of their own, touting her as an “Aryan Goddess”, lauding her modest dress, her whiteness, and her blondness, claiming she was a secret white supremacist.
They were wrong.
By 2018, Swift had enough. She posted on Instagram about the Tennessee mid-term elections, where a Republican called Marsha Blackburn was running for the Senate.
“Her voting record in Congress appals and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Re-authorisation of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values.”
Swift declared: “I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin colour, gender or who they love.”’
Good thing the Chinese are reduced their emissions. Apparently.
@Rainman at 10:18pm
Thanks for clearing that up. I was sure there was a reason like that that made Republicans so angry at Taylor Swift and that seems to be the case there.
Asha says:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:15 pm
Didn’t John Howard once say that he liked Bob Dylan’s music but wasn’t a fan of the lyrics?
—————————————————————
He might not have liked these lyrics.
Masters of War
1st verse:
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
Last verse:
And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I’ll follow your casket
By the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead
Entropy
Hello. Noting some comments the other day on grammar and people not from english speaking backgrounds, if you don’t mind I meant to ask where are you from in terms of country of family origin? (I think your grammar is fine BTW, I just like understanding people’s story).
Howard said he enjoyed the protest songs of Dylan and Joan Baez but that he didn’t share their views.
Strangely, he was the one who named them after being asked his favourite music. I was expecting him to go with The Seekers.
Swift declared: “I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin colour, gender or who they love.”
No wonder the Right don’t like her.
Socratessays:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:27 pm
Entropy
Hello. Noting some comments the other day on grammar and people not from english speaking backgrounds, if you don’t mind I meant to ask where are you from in terms of country of family origin? (I think your grammar is fine BTW, I just like understanding people’s story).
===========================================
Sorry Socrates, i accept you are asking a fair question. After my experience on here over ESL slurs. I decided to not confirm or deny anything about my ethnicity. If i now disclose it i feel i would be letting the bullies win on this issue. It is not like they would stop at that anyway.
Socrates @ Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 6:54 pm:
“Not sure if Macarthur is about but there is some potentially very good news for Ukraine coming out of Sweden today.
Sweden makes a jet fighter, the Saab Gripen which many defence analysts consider would be ideal for Ukraine, being designed for easy maintenance off rugged arctic airstrips and even flying off roads, easy to maintain, and designed to counter Russian air defences.
Sweden had said previously it was willing to supply them, but not before it was in NATO. sweden formally joined NATO yesterday. It seems Ukrainian pilots have already been training on the jets.”
=================
Socrates, yes, this is a very promising development for Ukraine. Constant shifting of aircraft from one out-of-the-way location to another is exactly how Ukraine has preserved its Air Force in the face of Russia’s vastly superior air and missile assets. The Swedish Gripen is a perfect fit for that strategy.
nathsays:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:33 pm
Howard said he enjoyed the protest songs of Dylan and Joan Baez but that he didn’t share their views.
Strangely, he was the one who named them after being asked his favourite music. I was expecting him to go with The Seekers.
==============================================
Once they recorded a cover version of “Massachusetts”they were dead to him.
Am i the only one who is bewildered at the Taylor Swift hype and has no idea of any of her songs/music?
France is doubling down on the prospect of sending troops to Ukraine to help eject Russian invaders there:
“France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said on Tuesday that nothing was off the table in western efforts to prevent a Russian victory in Ukraine.
Speaking a day after France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said that sending western ground troops was not excluded, Attal said that “you can’t rule anything out in a war”.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/27/russia-ukraine-war-live-france-macron-ground-troops-latest-news
Several European countries have rushed to hose down that suggestion, but I notice that the UK is not among them.
Dr Fumbles Mcstupidsays:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:55 pm
Am i the only one who is bewildered at the Taylor Swift hype and has no idea of any of her songs/music?
=================================================
No, it is probably true for most of us to some extent. Though hasn’t it always been so. The music the majority of the younger generation like has never been the music the older generation liked and v.v.
Entropy
Sorry to hear about the slurs and I understand. I hope you ignore them. Its a diverse country and I think it is better that way. My own paternal grandfather came from Finland.
Fumbles:
Go into pretty much any business that has music playing and I guarantee you it won’t be long until one of her songs comes on. You’ve probably heard all her main singles about a hundred times without even realising it.
Dr Fumbles Mcstupid says:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:55 pm
Am i the only one who is bewildered at the Taylor Swift hype and has no idea of any of her songs/music?
———————————————————————————
I also have no idea, but I’m so old and set my ways that most of the musicians I listen to are dead.
Dr Fumbles Mcstupid @ Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:55 pm:
“Am i the only one who is bewildered at the Taylor Swift hype and has no idea of any of her songs/music?”
===============
While driving on the weekend, I ventured into commercial FM music stations. Three of them – Nova, KIIS and ‘2TayFM’ – were wall-to-wall Taylor Swift every time I listened to them. Even Triple M was playing Taylor Swift songs covered by Aussie rock bands. My wife was unimpressed: “Wow, she’s dug out her journal from year 11.”
Entropy:
“I used to be with it. Then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you.”
https://youtu.be/BGrfhsxxmdE?si=PqSXAy8O-GbahoSL
Looking back again at the Resolve polling, it is clear that the majority of Australians want action on housing affordability, so long as:
– it is done through tax cuts, not tax increases (around 60% of polled)
– does not lower house prices for current owner occupiers, or rental earnings and capital gains for investors (also around 60%, being those opposed and unsure to NG and CGT changes)
The “majority” should be emphasized here, because I’m starting to see that “60%” figure popping up a lot across politics:
– proportion who voted “No” to the Voice referendum
– proportion opposing real action on housing
– proportion voting for the major parties
Seems like a pretty tough policy environment when a supermajority wants the governor do all these wonderful things but don’t want to bare any cost. I’d really like to hear the proposed “messaging” that overcomes this.
A member of the U.S. Airforce has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
“Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine for now …”
But it was hardly unequivocal:
“Asked whether he could exclude Sweden from sending troops if the request came, he conceded: “We live in very special times now, so a general exclusion of things …”
But, he added: “It is not relevant at all right now. There is no discussion like that ongoing in Sweden. We are participating by sending resources, materials and money to Ukraine and that is appreciated very much.””
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/27/russia-ukraine-war-live-france-macron-ground-troops-latest-news
Plenty of wriggle room in that ‘denial’. 😉
”Am i the only one who is bewildered at the Taylor Swift hype and has no idea of any of her songs/music?”
Probably not. I don’t know any of her songs or music. Ms Swift seems to be the sort of megastar we used to have in times past.
I’m not really a Taylor Swift fan, but I do think Shake It Off and Trouble are both genuinely really great pop songs.
https://youtu.be/nfWlot6h_JM?si=AZAP4ADKfXn4Owv3
https://youtu.be/FLhmxjrWxQc?si=0I8pGN4VKIHcjQMG
This is a hill I’m happy to die on.
Ashasays:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 11:07 pm
Entropy:
====================================================
The definition of “not cool” is anything your parents liked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xG4oFny2Pk
My children grew up listening to all my music from the seventies, and they still do. We took one of my sons to the Rolling Stones Adelaide Oval concert for his 30th birthday back in 2014, and he loved it.
A poll in Ukraine shows that Ukrainians have noticed increasing Western hesitancy over continuing to support their resistance against Russia’s illegal and genocidal invasion and occupation:
“The West continues to seriously help Ukraine to the fullest extent possible, and wants the war to end on terms acceptable to Ukraine.”:
Dec 2022 76%
Feb 2024 49%
“The West is getting tired of Ukraine and its support is weak, it wants to press for Ukraine to make concessions with Russia.”:
Dec 2022 15%
Feb 2024 44%
https://kyivindependent.com/poll-44-of-ukrainians-believe-west-tired/
1. That whole Cake album is pretty great. I like Frank Sinatra a lot, and frequently have Italian Leather Sofa as an ear worm.
2. I too enjoy the D & D. Asha, do you also, perchance, blog on the subject, including perhaps reviewing various campaigns and whatnot?
The UK’s net zero economy grew by 9% in 2023, a report has revealed, in stark contrast to the 0.1% growth seen in the economy overall. Nevertheless, the report pointed out that strong future growth from green businesses was being put at risk by government policy reversals, lack of investment and competition from the EU and US.
Thousands of new green companies were founded in 2023 and overall the sector was responsible for the production of £74bn in goods and services and 765,000 jobs, according to the report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Hotspots of net zero businesses and the well-paid jobs they provide occur across the country, rather than being concentrated in London and the south-east, the report found. It also highlighted strong net zero activity in some of the most deprived areas and in marginal constituencies that will be focal battlegrounds in the coming general election.
Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 is vital to limiting the damage from the climate crisis. Doing so would not only bring an economic boost but also cut energy costs for households and businesses and ensure energy security by ending the UK’s reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets, the report authors said.
My favourite Cake track is probably Comfort Eagle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezoOnI95BpE
Big reason being that it plays at a key moment in Bleach Abridged.
Rewi:
I don’t have a blog or anything like that, no, but having now run a considerable number of 5E’s published adventures (many numerous times), I’m quite happy to share my thoughts on them.
Macarthur says Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 10:57 pm
I’m not sure Ukraine really needs troops from other European armies, unless there’s a lot of them, or they’re very specialists. Right now the front line in Ukraine is a bit of a meat grinder, and sending infantry, unless it’s in the hundreds of thousands, is probably not going to make much difference. I don’t think most European countries would want to incur the resulting losses either. That said, specialised units (e.g. air defence) might be able to make a more significant contribution.
Where European/NATO assistance could make a difference is in the air. If Ukraine had air superiority then I think that’s a potential game changer. The rules of engagement might be interesting (would they be allowed to fire on Russian Air Force planes that have hostile intent but are in Russian airspace?).
I’m playing in a DiA campaign at the moment, as well as in another Faerun campaign which may or may not be home brew (it could be DMs Guild content, I wouldn’t know), while running my own home brew world, all with the same group of players rotating through campaigns.
Everyone except me is from the US, and we’ve been playing now for about six years I guess.
Ironic that the US public was largely comfortable for its own citizens to be killed and maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for 20 years, yet fuss over supporting Ukraine where there are no calls for manned support.
I think because the media classes never talked about the fiscal cost of the first, but do so relentlessly for the second (I’m less interested in US partisan games, but more so how the media is shaping the public reaction)
Rewi:
Nice.
The vast majority of my players are from the US too. I run published adventures more often than not (albeit usually with a lot of changes), with a couple of homebrew campaigns as well. I generally prefer homebrew and that was almost always my go-to back when I used to just DM for the fun, but that’s not very practical when you run as many games a week as I do.
Descent into Avernus is a lot of fun. The early stuff set in Baldur’s Gate is the highlight, in my opinion. The rest is still good, I just find that once the group actually reaches Avernus itself, the sheer amount of options of what to do and where to go next can make it a challenging at times to ensure the players have clear goals and aren’t just wandering the wasteland blundering into various encounters and mini-dungeons, and the campaign’s final sections are pretty lacking. (Won’t say any more as it seems you are still partway through it and I don’t want to spoil anything, except that I recommend your DM use their own judgement when it comes to running the final stages of the campaign and to rework things as they see fit.)
It’s also one of those frustrating adventures where all the maps are the really basic black and white ones rather than good quality colour maps, so if you are running it on a virtual tabletop, you have to source good quality maps of your own if you want to give the group a decent visual experience.
House speaker has created a nexus of disaster. Biden has 4 days to fix it
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/2/27/2226124/-House-speaker-has-created-a-nexus-of-disaster-Biden-has-4-days-to-fix-it?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web
“MAGA Johnson …
• Swiftly burned through any honeymoon period and found that his every statement or action was being scrutinized by House members sure that they would do a better job in the big office.
• He betrayed other congressional leaders by reneging on a budget deal after everyone thought the issues were settled.
• When months of negotiations in the Senate produced a border bill that gave Republicans everything they had been demanding, Johnson refused to even consider it on orders from Trump.
• With the clock winding down on the end of the year, Johnson wasted time on a pointless impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
• With the stability of the Western world on the line, Johnson has repeatedly dithered and stalled on providing any assistance to Ukraine while Republicans increasingly look to Putin.
• And with a government shutdown looming, Johnson sent the House out on a vacation that’s not set to end until three days before the deadline.
Johnson is not just courting disaster, he is a disaster. Either he’s astoundingly ineffectual, or he’s an arsonist set on burning down America. It’s genuinely unclear which of these things is true.
“
This is absolutely a fascinating read.
It should interest almost everyone browsing PB especially Itza, OC and other doctors.
Republicans dug their own grave on IVF. Now they’re trying to lie their way out
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/2/27/2225998/-Republicans-dug-their-own-grave-on-IVF-Now-they-re-trying-to-lie-their-way-out?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web
“If Pro-lifers/ GOPers/ Catholics genuinely believe that “life begins at fertilization,” then every IVF attempt is mass murder.
IVF is fundamentally at odds with the idea that life begins at conception. That’s not a trap that “pro-life” Republicans are going to easily escape. And the more they try to have it both ways, the more everything they’re saying is revealed as nonsense.”
“Since the Alabama ruling, Republicans have been engaged in a flurry of we-love-IVF statements. From Donald Trump to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, GOP candidates and legislators have piled on their support for a process that has resulted in at least 8 million births over the past 40 years and now results in about half a million a year. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is urging candidates to get out there and express their support for IVF.
It didn’t take Republicans long to realize that the IVF ruling was very, very bad for them.
But trying to come up with reasoning that allows them to support the IVF process is a genuine conundrum for Republicans. That’s because it runs afoul of the reasoning that has been at the core of every anti-abortion push for decades: the concept that human life begins at fertilization.”
There is a video linked to the X post to watch.
An Authoritarianism is a system where a government is arranged so that the leader has total control and commit crimes and not pay any consequences and that is what (Trump) is saying he wants for the United States”
@ruthbenghiat
w/@NicolleDWallace
https://twitter.com/DeadlineWH/status/1762243357181391119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1762243357181391119%7Ctwgr%5E05ce9068ddfe4fce74e5701c5e4ffb8a5003747e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstories%2F2024%2F2%2F27%2F2226092%2F-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Speaker-Mike-Johnson-s-dilemma
‘Haters gonna hate’, says David Crowe, defending the indefensible:
‘Hate Scott Morrison? He got more right than you probably think
‘Morrison could be unbelievably clumsy and offensive. But even the haters should acknowledge he made the right calls at some big moments.’
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-the-haters-need-to-know-about-scott-morrison-20240227-p5f852.html
To Lars From USA
‘An alleged victim of a serious sexual assault by a Conservative MP has accused the central party of being more concerned with protecting its own reputation than her welfare after it failed to formally investigate her complaint.’
Aren’t we lucky that that would never happen here … ?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/27/tories-putting-party-reputation-before-sexual-assault-claim-says-alleged-victim
New thread.
The Climate Change Arsonists, oops, Activists will be up and about in Victoria today.