Weekly salon 24/12

1. The UnOz’s 2020 Person Of The Year!

Image has always been important to PM Scott Morrison, so it is no surprise to see his image head the shortlist list in the UnOz’s 2020 Person Of The Year award:

However, Scotty himself failed to make the list, which is:

  • Scotty From Marketing’s Photographer

  • …The Australian arts and creative industries have been decimated by Covid related cancellations.

    Australian Prime Minister Scotty from marketing vowed to do what he could to keep the industry going and by the looks of things he will be doing it one person at a time.

  • Dan Andrews
  • Peter V’Landys
  • Australian Coal

  • How good is Australian coal? So, good the Chinese decided that it was too good to burn and instead should be left in Australia for politicians to use as a prop in parliament.

    With the Chinese announcing they will no longer take our coal the Government has assured the industry that they will move heaven and earth to ensure the industry and it’s billionaire owners stay strong.

  • Miranda Devine
  • Miranda Devine gave Australia the greatest gift this year (no, not that Tony) by moving overseas to cover the US Election. Sadly her scribblings were still published in Australia.

    Where most people saw the Election result as a Trump loss, good old Miranda saw it as anything but a loss. If you followed her scribblings you would have seen her work through the five stages of grief well maybe just two, anger and denial.

    What will 2021 bring for Miranda? Will she stay in America (fingers crossed) or return to Australia to host a show on Sky News where her ramblings will be viewed by 10’s of people.

    Prince Andrew

    Touchy subject.

  • Pete Evans
  • What a year the celebrity chef turned minor celebrity conspiracy theorist has had. He’s raged against 5G, vaccines and whatever else his Byron Bay buddies have decided that they know more about than Scientists.

    Sure, we laughed at Pete Evans but let’s be honest he is a dangerous fool.

2. Gladys shines

Missing out was Gladys Berejiklian, a premier like no other. She rates a separate article, telling

    residents locked down in the State’s Northern Beaches that the only reason for them to leave their house is to gamble at a nearby RSL or Casino.

    “‘We need to get on top of this latest outbreak so I make no apologies for the harsh conditions that I have placed the Northern Beaches under,” said the Premier. “From midnight tonight the only reason to leave the house is to gamble.”

    “If you need exercise walk or run to your nearest RSL, food then grab some complimentary nuts whilst playing the pokies.”

When asked why the Premier was placing gambling above all else, Gladys Berejiklian said: ”I am putting the health of my citizens a close second I’ll have you know.”

”The poor gambling industry has suffered a lot this year. So, I call on NSW residents to give back to an industry that has given so much to State coffers.”

Personally, I thought her pork-barrelling achievements were award-worthy:

Berejiklian concedes $140m grant scheme was pork-barrelling, but says ‘it’s not unique to our government’

Is this the new norm?

In any case, she and PM Morrison always said we have to live with a bit of virus about, so why would anyone expect otherwise at Christmas?

2. Robodebt lives to strike again!

Centrelink, having been thoroughly discredited for the scam of collecting debts that didn’t exist, has come up with a new way of terrorising people it thinks owe it money.

Centrelink is in fact legally obliged to recover social welfare debts, so they have called tenders. As a result three ‘new Robodebt’ collectors will compete for market share.

There will be incentives and penalties:

    those that collect a greater percentage of debts will be given an increased share of the work.

    Those that fail to meet targets will be penalised by losing work.

There is no requirement to be nice to people, or consider their circumstances. However contractors:

    must have a plan to deal with the “management of escalations and threats” from customers.

    The key ones are threats of violence or self-harm “as well as events that have potential for serious adverse impact to the department’s reputation”.

    Specifically, companies must also have an action plan for when customers threaten to contact members of parliament or the media and inform the department “within 1 hour” of such a threat.

Charming!

3. Angus Taylor distinguishes himself

The AFR readers poll asked readers which cabinet ministers did the best and which did the worst in their job.

Strange way of putting a question, but Angus Taylor excelled in a negative way:

‘Don’t know enough to say” does astonishingly well, but Taylor’s best/worst ratio of 55/13 stands out.

Mind you there was healthy competition in doing badly in a second rung cluster that included Peter Dutton 47/24, Stuart Robert 45/8, Michael McCormack 43/14, Christian Porter 43/27, Michaelia Cash 41/17 and Sussan Ley 40/80.

The ones who did well, or at least impressed AFR readers, were Josh Frydenberg with a best/worst ratio of 77/14, Greg Hunt 70/14, and the departing Matthias Cormann 53/20.

Where Angus Taylor excelled was in doing the opposite of what he was meant to do, that is reduce carbon emissions, as detailed by Giles Parkinson in Extinction Rebellion has much to learn from Angus Taylor, Australia’s “worst” minister.

His latest effort is getting NSW to fast-track approvals for Morrison’s wished-for gas generator to replace Liddell, where forward planning shows it to be completely unnecessary.

4. Morrison gets a gong

No doubt due to his sterling work in containing China Scott Morrison was awarded the Legion of Honour by POTUS Donald Trump.

    President Donald Trump awarded the Legion of Merit to Mr Morrison “for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security”.

    The Legion of Merit is awarded to US soldiers and to foreign political or military figures.

    India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe were awarded the decoration in the same ceremony.

Time will tell how helpful this is in repairing relations with China.

5. The grownups are leaving the room

That’s what John Freedland said about the death of John Le Carré, who arguably changed television.

I’m not sure Doug Anthony changed Australian politics, but he certainly represented his constituency with dignity, and maintained standards of integrity not always to the fore in our public life. Her will be remembered, inter alia, for lambasting Britain for dumping us in favour of the EU, (that worked out well!) and inspiring the Doug Anthony Allstars.

May they rest in peace, in both cases lives well lived, no major projects unfinished.

75 thoughts on “Weekly salon 24/12”

  1. I spent a lot of time on the China post, but then realised I had started in the wrong place.

    So back to the drawing board.

    New Weekly salon. The year for me has been Coronavirus, climate change, China and corruption. Plus for me, add cataracts.

    I’ll do a Christmas post, but not before tomorrow.

    Meanwhile, enjoy!

  2. Mr Speaker

    If I may, might I remind Hon Members that percentages usually total 100 or thereabouts and we’re all aware of it even if we didn’t study Latin at school. Mr Speaker, Minister Ley claimed in a press release that her “worst job/”best job” ratio was 40/80, Mr Speaker.

    Forty to eighty and these are supposedly percentages! So I asked the Parliamentary Library to check up on these strange figures… Mr Speaker, it turns out the real ratio was 40/8. Only 8% thought the Minister was doing the “best job”!! Inflated her 8 to 80, Mr Speaker. Didn’t notice, apparently that the trick too her into a logical impossibility.

    Maybe she needs some new staff in the office, Mr Speaker.

    Merry Christmas!

  3. While I’m here I’d like to wish everybody a joyous solstice – or whatever it is you may be celebrating at this time 🙂

  4. Thanks, zoot.

    Ambi, that is a really sad story, but sadly par for the course.

    My problem with the survey is that I didn’t know what was being compared. If the performance was worst, was that in relation to expectations, or what?

    Logically it couldn’t be worse than the rest, because then the whole shebang would need to add up to 100, nicht wahr?

  5. Yes indeed, Merry Christmas to all.

    Brian as you opened with that very memorable image of Moz with the lump of coal, and you enlightened us that he has received an award from Trump, ughhhhh, it is an opportunity to look at incredible low quality of leadership Australia endures.

    For starters my calculation of the commercial value of that lump of coal Moz is holding as an energy source is a huge 10 cents. However converted to Carbon Fibre it is $50. A 500 to one value ratio that is beyond the comprehension of Moz and his fellow LNP morons.

    Moz’s award when you drill into it was for his enlightening of Trump on the many ways Trump could be inhumane to asylum seekers (turn back the boats and isolated incarceration). Read the words in the award carefully in the context of Moz’s first interaction with trump in trying to fob off asylum detainees to the US, and Trump’s initial humiliation of Moz. But ever the sycophant he persisted and became very valuable to Trumpy, hence the award.

    Butt that wasn’t the end of it as Moz’s loyalty to Trump led him to call for an investigation of China in support of Trump’s ridiculous covid assault on China. This led to China reacting with an ever increasing shutdown of Chinese access for Australian resources to the extent where the last I heard China said the other day to Moz “you can keep your coal, we’re not buying any more from Australia”.

    I’m waiting for the Moz to add that to his “success in CO2 emissions reduction”.

    I think it is going to be a Crappy New Year

  6. Thankyou Ootz, and bilb2.

    Here’s a collection to go on with, starting with your Cruisemas link, bilb:

    Merry Cruisemas

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSznsGLf898&feature=youtu.be

    Margaret and David

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLxqH6Rq0Lw
    The top 10 weather and climate events of a record-setting year
    https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/12/the-top-10-weather-and-climate-events-of-a-record-setting-year/

    Gigawatt-scale: the world’s 13 largest green-hydrogen projects

    https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/gigawatt-scale-the-worlds-13-largest-green-hydrogen-projects/2-1-933755

    Sorry, don’t have time to do the links the professional way.

    The third is meant to show that any idiot can see the climate is moving into a new phase which promises to be catastrophic.

    The last, somehow or other Australia has on the books 5 of the 13 largest hydrogen power developments.

  7. I did enjoy Margaret and David.

    I think that I have seen a hydrogen charging port here. I’ll take a photo when I pass it next.

  8. I’ve been catching up with distant rellies, tackling the garden which is bursting with life, tangling with technology as usual.

    Next post will be mid-afternoon, I reckon.

  9. John, I heard some commentary about this on the BBC last night. They were saying that there are now 140 million ‘poor’ in the US.

    No definitions given, but there seems to be large numbers of people who struggle for food and shelter.

  10. More Trump: “US unemployment benefits for millions in limbo as midnight deadline for Donald Trump to sign relief bill passes” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-27/us-unemployment-benefits-for-millions-in-limbo-donald-trump/13016200
    “Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet have lapsed after President Donald Trump failed to sign an end-of-year COVID-19 relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

    Key points:
    A partial government shutdown could begin on Tuesday
    Mr Trump insists the bill’s plan to provide $US600 COVID relief checks should be raised to $US2,000
    Many economists agree the bill’s aid is too low but say the immediate support is necessary
    Mr Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the US$2.3 trillion ($3.02 trillion) pandemic aid and spending package, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on December 26, and $US1.4 trillion for normal government spending.
    Without Mr Trump’s signature on the bill by midnight Saturday night (US time), about 14 million people will lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data.
    A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then.
    “It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who will lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit as a result of the package not being signed.

  11. Apart from unemployment benefits there is a small matter of ” $US1.4 trillion for normal government spending”. I think it will mean government shutdown. Not sure how that works in detail.

  12. Apropos of nothing, I stumbled over this on a thread I was reading and it rang true for me.

    Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. — Frank Wilhoit

    I have no idea who Frank Wilhoit is or was but Wikipedia informs me he was the Thomas F. Sheehan Professor of Political Science at Drake University (either that or a contemporary classical composer).

    As for the situation in the US, I am torn between ‘Trump must be a Russian asset’ and ‘Trump is simply as intelligent as a sack of hammers’. It’s a real pity about the collateral damage.

  13. The collateral damage on the consequences of destitution is 100% intentional. The Kushner family business preys on low rent tenement blocks where rents are typically $200 per week. In 2016 they owned some 10,000 such units. Yes that is 2 million a week gross turnover. Right now is a good buying time for such property.

  14. Gladys B has just announced that 7 minutes of fireworks will go ahead on New Year’s Eve, but no-one is to go to the CBD to watch it.

    I hope people will take more notice than they did when she told them not to go to the CBD for Boxing Day sales.

  15. “Donald Trump signs $US2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill.” Crisis averted before it got worse. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-28/donald-trump-signs-coronavirus-relief-bill-into-law/13017520
    Also: “Democrats have promised more aid will come once president-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signalling a wait-and-see approach.” Hope the Democrats get both senators in the Georgia senate run-off. The US doesn’t need a senate dominated by the Republican blockers who will stop Biden doing things that need doing after 4 yrs of Trump.

  16. Zoot: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. — Frank Wilhoit”
    Catches some of the behaviour of Australian Conservative parties. Just think robodebt and sports-rorts as an examples.

  17. The extraordinary thing with Trump was that he did a video 5 days ago bagging the legislation, then went away to play golf.

    The Dems tried to rush revised legislation through, but where closed down by the Republicans.

    Trump just kept playing golf and tweeting, while it looked as though the whole government would be facing shutdown, people starving and thrown out of their rentals etc.

    Seems he was just stuffing everyone around because he could.

    Mary Trump said that no one condition describes him. Not just a narcissist, maybe also a sadist who enjoys hurting people.

  18. From the Conversation: “The less equal we become, the less we trust science, and that’s a problem.” https://theconversation.com/the-less-equal-we-become-the-less-we-trust-science-and-thats-a-problem-151691
    “The survey asked the international scientists whether lawmakers in their country had used scientific advice to inform their COVID strategy.
    Overall, the scientists split 50:50 on how much, or how little, their government had considered the scientific advice.
    Opinions varied widely between countries. In New Zealand, almost 80% were happy with the attention their government paid to scientific advice. In the United States, fewer than 20% of the scientists thought the same about their government.” and: “One obvious factor in scientists’ attitudes is the penchant some politicians from various parts of the world have for denigrating experts.

    Outgoing US President Donald Trump frequently dismisses anything he disagrees with as “fake news”.

    In Britain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, a raft of economists argued that Brexit would damage the UK economy. Leading Conservative politician and Brexit supporter Michael Gove ignored them, saying: “people in this country have had enough of experts”. “And recently in Australia, the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank, issued a report Flame Out, which argued there is limited future need for natural gas.

    A spokesman for the energy minister Angus Taylor dismissed the report, saying its findings about the manufacturing sector did not reflect the industry’s own views.

    Who needs experts when they can rely on industry?
    Less-equal societies trust less
    But there are other, less obvious, factors underlying how much attention countries and governments have paid to expert advice.
    A significant one is the level of inequality in the country. This graph maps the results from the Frontiers survey against levels of income inequality.
    It goes on. Interesting piece: “

  19. Brian

    “Seems he was just stuffing everyone around because he could”.

    What a way to be remembered, Pres. T.

    Happy new year to all.

  20. Here’s the graph in John’s link:

    Dunno, I suspect there is more going on than that particular binary.

    Also the text does not say, but the caption indicates the survey was done in a Covid 19 context. If so you’d have to ask why Australia is only in the middle, except it looks as though the publication date was October 2020 (not 2000), when things looked a bit different.

    That’s the other thing. It’s a survey of opinion and some of the country samples are quite small.

    Interesting, but I think there is more to know.

  21. I’ve been think about this a bit in the last hour.

    Many are saying, at least we followed the science on Covid, so now how about climate change.

    I have two comments. Firstly, if the Federal Government was in charge of health in this country and the states did what the Feds said, then we would have been like the US and much of Europe.

    Secondly, if 50:50 is the overall form then the human race is in trouble.

    There is a third point. Would anyone like to align following science with democracy?

    NZ is a very democratic place, but how do we account for China in third place?

  22. Rupert’s out to get me; the link should have taken you to news.corp where it would have been straight from the horse’s bum.

  23. ‘Aldous J. Pennyfarthing ‘ is a top pseudonym IMHO and if it’s not a pseudonym, it jolly well should be.

  24. zoot, a bit more nosing around gave me a link to news.com.au which republished the NYP story here as an opinion from the NYP editorial board.

    This is what the Wikipedia entry says:

      In 2017, the New York Post was reported to be the preferred newspaper of U.S. President Donald Trump, who maintains frequent contact with its owner, Rupert Murdoch. In October 2020, the Post endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump for re-election, citing his “promises made, promises kept” policy. Weeks after Trump was defeated and he sought to overturn the election results, the Post published a front-page editorial asking the president to “stop the insanity,” asserting he was “cheering for an undemocratic coup.” The editorial continued, “If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match.” The Post characterized Trump attorney Sidney Powell as a “crazy person” and his former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s suggestion to declare martial law as “tantamount to treason.”

    Trump has finally gone too far for a paper with this tradition:

      The Post has been criticized since the beginning of Murdoch’s ownership for sensationalism, blatant advocacy, and conservative bias. In 1980, the Columbia Journalism Review stated “New York Post is no longer merely a journalistic problem. It is a social problem—a force for evil.”

    And proud of one of its most famous headlines – “Headless body in topless bar”.

    Only in America!

  25. The New York Times has endorsed every Democrat candidate for the last 60 years, do we call bias on them?

    Or is their bias justified?

  26. That said, it’s an indication of the arrogance of “ journalists “ nowadays that they have the audacity to tell the Elected President what to do and their distain for Democracy.

  27. Yes zoot, negative attitude toward trump good, positive bad.

    I got the point.

    What was your attitude toward Ruperts NYP when they broke the Hunter Biden laptop scandal?
    ( it’s ok, big left media, Facebook, Twitter and google buried that as fast as they could )

  28. Jumpy: A slight twist on your words: “That said, it’s an indication of the arrogance of “ JUMPIES“ nowadays that they have the audacity to tell the elected leaders what to do and their distain for Democracy.” and the wisdom of of the esteemed Zoots of the world.

  29. Yes zoot, negative attitude toward trump good, positive bad.
    I got the point.

    Errr, no you didn’t. That’s not the point. Our discussion was not about bias.

    it’s an indication of the arrogance of “ journalists “ nowadays that they have the audacity to tell the Elected President what to do and their distain for Democracy.

    Wrong again. That’s freedom of speech which is built into the USA’s version of democracy (first amendment and all that).
    Assuming you have read the NY Post article you have obviously not understood it. It was written because they are in favour of Trump. They’re on his side. They’re giving him good advice, not criticising him.

    Now get back under your bridge.

  30. Haha, face it, the leftists are gunna miss him.
    You need some focal point for your insatiable overflowing hate to vent at.

    The only Question is, who’s the next ?

  31. Here’s a bet.
    In four years time the next Republican nominee will be called worse than trump.

    How much ?

  32. Look on the bright side Jumpy.
    You now have four years (or more) of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the focal point for your insatiable overflowing hate to vent at.
    Everybody’s a winner!

  33. Jumpy, in zoot’s link Robert Reich is saying:

      Trump has brought impunity to the highest office in the land, wielding a wrecking ball to the most precious windowpane of all – American democracy.

      The message? A president can obstruct special counsels’ investigations of his wrongdoing, push foreign officials to dig up dirt on political rivals, fire inspectors general who find corruption, order the entire executive branch to refuse congressional subpoenas, flood the Internet with fake information about his opponents, refuse to release his tax returns, accuse the press of being “fake media” and “enemies of the people”, and make money off his presidency.

      And he can get away with it. Almost half of the electorate will even vote for his re-election.

    And you think that reporting anything negative about what is happening is demonstrating that the reporter “need[s] some focal point for your insatiable overflowing hate to vent at.”

    I’m speechless!

  34. Impunity.
    impunidad in Spanish, I think.

    Ask your Venezuelan friends, Jumpy, how “impunity” looks now in their nation, and how it looked under the late Hugo Chavez.

  35. The message?

    A president can obstruct special counsels’ investigations of his wrongdoing,

    Obama did that and Biden did that in Ukraine for Hunter.

    Biden, Obama and Hillary did that. Steele dossier ring a bell, it was the reason for the FISA phone taping of trumps first campaign.

    push foreign officials to dig up dirt on political rivals,

    See above.

    fire inspectors general who find corruption,

    Biden, Hunter, Ukraine blackmail with foreign aid money.

    order the entire executive branch to refuse congressional subpoenas

    Same as Obama with Fast Furious and a few other scandals with “ wingman “ Holder.

    and flood the Internet with fake information about his opponents,

    Struth, name a politician that doesn’t.

    refuse to release his tax returns,
    Fair call, but not a threat to democracy

    accuse the press of being “fake media” and “enemies of the people”,

    Obama prosecuted more journalists than all other presidents combined under the espionage act, look it up because CNN is not going to tell you.

    and make money off his presidency.

    How rich are the Clintons and Obama’s now and would they be rich without the Presidencies?

    Face it, you’ve been blinded to leftist malfeasance voluntarily.

  36. I think that the US political system is in need of radical reform that covers a whole lot of problems, not just those highlighted by Trump and his eccentricities.
    In the long term Americans might thank Trump for highlighting some of these weaknesses.

  37. Interesting to ponder what might lead to reform, John. There’s the Constitution, there are the independent powers, there are the electoral processes.

    Presumably most State electoral bods think they’ve renovated their methods (in the last 10 years, say)”Hanging chads” gave an impetus.

    Outsiders might think a Tantrum-in-Chief should be enough. But to be fair, over here it took the extreme brinkmanship of 1975 and its Viceregal resolution….. to lead on to the calm deliberations of the Constitutional Conventions. IIRC the leading figures were experienced Federal and State politicians, drawing on legal advice and including delegates from business etc.

    Bu then some of the dust had settled and there had been time for reflection. (Bubbling along in the background was public controversy, journalists’ paperbacks, and no doubt thousands of conversations in legal firms, board rooms, union meetings…….)

    ***
    Ya gotta have a decent system.
    Part of its being decent, is that it can be fixed (improved) when need be.

  38. Ya gotta have a decent system.

    You also need people who will act in good faith.
    Ever since Barry Goldwater, Lee Attwater, Newt Gingrich etc etc infested the Republican Party it has been obsessed more and more with grabbing and holding power, regardless of the means. Just one example is the sedition of 126 Republican house members who sought to mount a coup via the courts.
    I’m not optimistic the rot can be stopped.

  39. Zoot: “I’m not optimistic the rot can be stopped.”
    Joh Inspired significant reforms in Aus. Ditto the related Gough dismissal where Joh was a key player.
    Trump has the power to inspire reforms in the US. I am optimistic/gullible.
    Some Republicans are showing signs of rejecting the recently adopted party discipline that helped the extremists.

  40. “…a coup via the courts.“

    Congratulations, the most idiotic term I’ve seen all week. And it had stiff competition from many written here lately.

    Such is

    the wisdom of of the esteemed Zoots of the world.

  41. Thanks zoot

    Yes: “persons of good faith” or similar. Civic-minded, interested, disinterested and determined. So, where are they to emerge from?

    Parties tend to want members/supporters “red in tooth and claw”………

    In the 1975/Canberra case, after the dust settled enough folk (I think) decided: “geez, that was close! The country was teetering on the edge of who-knows-what-kind-of disaster. Better do something to make sure two clowns in future aren’t able to lead us all down that blind alley!!”

    I don’t think our style is overly democratic; do we still have a store of pragmatism? For want of a better description it might be called English, empirical, liberal pragmatism.

    N’est-ce pas?

  42. Jumpy: You seem to be scornful of the idea of “the wisdom of of the esteemed Zoots of the world.”
    Are we expected to acknowledge instead “the wisdom of of the esteemed Jumpys of the world?”

  43. No John, it’s not a binary conundrum, zoot is a fool propped up.
    A bit like the retarded kid at every footy club, protected.

    He was even so terribly sad that he posted bile on Xmas Day!!

    So did you.

    Me, I was enjoying friends and family too much to vent hate.

    But hey, a happy lining for you all. I’ve decided to minimise the hate, bile and catastrophic doom intake for 2021. Which means I won’t be visiting CC much at all. Hooray!!

    Mainly because in the first 2 months at least there are a multitude of health and marital problems to address within my direct families and friends.

    I need to be at my strongest and most positive, for them. No room for sad arse zoot, that’s for sure.

    So fair well in you sunset years and don’t interrupt kids skateboarding.

  44. I seem to occupy an unusually large space in Jumpy’s head.
    Quite open to the prospect of sub-letting it if anybody is that masochistic

  45. Matters arising:

    He was even so terribly sad that he posted bile on Xmas Day!!

    A link would be useful. As far as i can tell I didn’t comment at all on Christmas Day.

    Congratulations, the most idiotic term I’ve seen all week.

    Since you haven’t explained the basis of your judgement I must in turn assert that this is in fact the most idiotic comment on this thread.

    E…Vid…Ence or your pants self combust.

    Jumpy laying down the law. A law he refuses to obey.

    Wishing you a happy new year Jumpy. I hope your travails will soon be behind you.

  46. “41 yr old Louisiana Republican congressman-elect Luke Letlow dies from COVID-19”. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-30/louisianas-luke-letlow-dies-from-coronavirus/13021922
    “The 41-year-old Republican from Louisiana announced on December 18 that he had tested positive for the virus and on Christmas Eve a spokesman said the father-of-two was being transferred from St Francis Medical Centre in Monroe to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Academic Medical Centre for treatment.
    “It is with heavy hearts that @FirstLadyOfLA and I offer our condolences to Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s family on his passing after a battle with COVID-19,” Governor Edwards said on Twitter.
    Governor Edwards said Mr Letlow was taken “far too soon”.
    “I am heartbroken that he will not be able to serve our people as a US representative, but I am even more devastated for his loving family.”
    Mr Letlow won a run-off election on December 5 for the 5th District seat, which represents Northeast and Central Louisiana.”
    Relatively young. good medical treatment and still he dies.
    Now we have the UK virus which is supposed to be 70% more effective with fatality rates unknown at the moment. Now spreading beyond the UK.

  47. Jumpy: Ride off into the darkness if it will make you happier. Do wonder what your definition of bile is and what I am alleged to have said on Xmas day.

  48. Oooo, someone’s being Jumpity Upitty.

    Its understandable, though, with the impending collapse of the Trumpassphere enabling a return of rationality to international dialogue. At last colours, numbers, words, and reality all are realigning with the origins again to leave those afflicted with the conservative cognitive dissonance of the last 4 years completely disoriented and unable to cope without the assistance of specialised caregivers.

    I wish him well, though a full recovery, I believe, is unlikely.

  49. Disappeared incriminating comments now!!
    This is a worse history revisionist cesspool than I thought.
    You can drown in it alone.

    Best of luck all sock puppeteers and socks alike.

  50. Disappeared incriminating comments now!!

    Care to tell us what you thought you saw in the comments?

  51. Never mind now zoot ( team retard), it’s gone.
    You, John and I know the truth if it.

    May your conscious be your judge, if you have one.

  52. Let me guess. You got pissed on Christmas Day?
    If not you’re delusional and displaying signs of paranoia.
    And for the record if your version of my Christmas “bile” sounds anything like what I might have written I’ll admit to it.
    (BTW, I didn’t get pissed on Christmas Day.)

    It would also be a reality check if you told us who the sock puppets are. Brian can probably confirm or deny your suspicions accusations.

  53. I stand corrected; I did make one comment on Christmas Day.
    For those of robust disposition who are able to withstand the bile which so upset our Mackay Mauler, John’s comment is here. My response immediately follows it.
    He’s a delicate flower, our Jumpy.
    But I’m sure he will immediately apologise for his vile accusation that the comments were dispatched down the memory hole. (Advice for any new readers: don’t hold your breath)

  54. May your conscious be your judge, if you have one.

    If it’s not already obvious, my conscious is clear.

  55. I checked the back end of the blog. In fact there were three comments only made on Christmas Day. One was by Ootz near the top of this thread wishing all the best.

    Jumpy is right, John and zoot, in that you made one comment each, starting here.

    I’ll leave anyone interested to judge whether Jumpy’s epithets about the comments are accurate.

  56. I’m watching a discussion on Trumps continual demands for ballot signature checks in Georgia, and where they are actually doing a sample check of 10% of the votes in Cobb County. In 15,000 signature checks they found 2 ballots where there was an issue. Both still genuine votes but one had no signature on the envelope but the correct signature on the ballot, and the second where the wife signed the envelope but the voter, the husband, had correctly signed the ballot. So much for Trumps demand that there were 10s of 1000s of fraudulent signatures orchestrated by enemies.

    https://youtu.be/PcCO0KQqDgE

    Trump won’t be satisfied until inner Circle White House Staff have privately examined the signatures personally and given their opinion on the results. An opinion that would be taken as legally binding over every other official audit and ballot recount. As Trump knows, there is only one trustworthy and Nobel Prize Winning American, and he is Donald J Trump.

  57. Prize winner?

    Medicine: bleach injections, just putting it out there OK?

    Literature: collected Tweets, biggest number of followers has to count with the Committee by the way I heard there was a bit of a scandal there not so squeaky clean eh? Nobel.

    Chemistry: volunteer self-experiment steroids cocktail, like way way big man got that damn virus right where we wanted it

    Physics: no nuclear weapons attacks by me, no fallout issues that’s way huge man, fallout could reach right into Russia OK I’ve seen the maps tremendous guys these map guys big shout out to the map guys and their secretaries man some of those women…

    Peace: I met with Rocket Man, OK? Did Obama ever meet with Rocket Man? Or Mergel, or Moritsen, or Johnston, or Macrobiotic….? Nuh. No guts, I tell ya.

    Real Estate: this is a new Prize the Nobles are putting on after my very generous donation. Said I didn’t want to be nominated but they insisted. You know how persuasive Danes can be about real estate.

  58. Thanks bilb2.

    No I hadn’t seen that.

    By the way, Wiki tells me about earlier attempts by the US to purchase Groenland. Quite a long, slow serious pas-de-deux from 1947 to 1955 or so. Well, not an equal dance.

    Intermixed with US defence beginning in WW2, then early Cold War, NATO, ….. with Pres DT a footnote.

  59. Thanks zoot.

    I have to admit, the yellow praying mantis is kinda cute!!
    I will call her “Prey”. Or perhaps she’ll call me that.

    Those Bostonians have come a long way since that rough crowd banded together to throw all the Maccas Coffee Grounds into the Harbour as an act of insubordination!

    Bostonians, heralds of the future, as always…..

  60. 2021 is here. I’ve just checked, and the sky has not fallen.

    At least not yet.

    Happy New Year.

  61. “Georgia Republican senator David Perdue in coronavirus quarantine ahead of Georgia runoff and planned Donald Trump rally” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-01/david-perdue-covid-quarantine-georgia-senate-runoff-trump-rally/13025786
    (If the virus had a vote it would thank the Republicans for making it so much easier for the virus to spread.)
    In the same article it is reported that:
    “President Trump returns to Washington to highlight achievements on social media”
    “The President returned to Washington DC early from his resort in Florida.
    The White House has given no reason for his early return, but it coincides with Mr Trump’s fight with Congress over his veto of a major defence bill and his demand for increased COVID-19 stimulus checks, as well as a spike in tensions with Iran.
    In a video posted on social media, Mr Trump praised his administration’s “historic victories”, which he said included its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the economy.
    “Before the pandemic we built the greatest economy in the history of the world,” he said.
    “Now we are doing it again.”

  62. It’s early new year days yet Brian. Lets hope we don’t hear

    “On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

    Dear Leader said to us

    I’m here now For Ever

    Votings dead, run down

    Un-der my MAGA Bus.”

    You can all look forward to such treasures as:

    He had questioned the legitimacy of elections, attacked the free press, called for the arrest of his political opponents, encouraged white supremacists, violated anti-corruption safeguards, implemented nepotism, advocated measures that limit voting, sought more control of the civil service, claimed unbridled executive power, treated the federal government (even the White House grounds) as his own private duchy, and embraced despotic leaders around the world. After the 2020 election was called, Trump branded the results a “fraud,” insisted he had won, and asserted that victory had been stolen from him by left-wing radicals, corrupt Democrats, and the media. He signaled to his supporters that American democracy was utterly crooked—that they shouldn’t trust the results—and many leaders of the Republican Party joined in this treacherous subversion of the election.

  63. On the 9th day of Christmas.

    Here comes Trump making his case for suspending the constitution .

    https://apple.news/AeVLX5cgMR_yd7DNgmlucnA

    I think that the verse for this day goes something like …

    ‘On the 9th day of Christmas Big Pressie said to us,
    “I’ve got 9 new reasons to throw Georgia,
    Un-der my BS Maga Bus!”’

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