Auspol March - C U Next Trollday, Auspol - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol March - C U Next Trollday, Auspol

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

quote:

An offer from Christian groups to install a solar system, free of charge, at the residence of the Australian Prime Minister has been rejected by the federal government, for reasons including concerns about cleaning costs and security.

The gift of 12 crowd-funded solar panels and free installation at Kirribilli House was offered to Tony Abbott last Christmas by a group of Sydney church leaders known as Common Grace � a rapidly growing movement of thousands of socially-minded Christians from various denominations.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 11:46

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# ? May 27, 2024 21:49

Paracausal: Sep 5, 2011; Oh yeah, baby. Frame your suffering as a masterpiece. Only one problem - no one's watching. It's boring, buddy, boring as death.

Ok, a panel of over-40s discussing youth issues. Kewl qanda.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 11:51

Goodpart: Jan 9, 2004; quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
rip

Les Affaires posted:

# ? Mar 16, 2015 11:55

ASIC v Danny Bro: May 1, 2012; D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
CAPTAIN KILL

Just HEAPS of dead Palestinnos for brekkie, mate!

Les Affaires posted:

I noticed that too.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 11:57

Goodpart: Jan 9, 2004; quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
rip

Goodpart posted:

# ? Mar 16, 2015 11:57

Wizard Master: Mar 25, 2008

Goodpart posted:

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:18

Wizard Master: Mar 25, 2008

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:18

ASIC v Danny Bro: May 1, 2012; D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
CAPTAIN KILL

Just HEAPS of dead Palestinnos for brekkie, mate!

Wizard Master posted:

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:23

Mr Chips: Jun 27, 2007; Whose arse do I have to blow smoke up to get rid of this baby?

I heard the audio for this before seeing it, and thought it was a Clarke and Dawe sketch: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=400865080094904

Christopher Pyne is some sort of Dr Frankenstein and manages to find ways to revive satire so he can kill it over and over

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:23

Goodpart: Jan 9, 2004; quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
quarter circle forward punch
rip

Wizard Master posted:

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

yo what's up wizard master

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:26

Drugs: Jul 16, 2010; I don't like people who take drugs. Customs agents, for example - Albert Einstein

Wizard Master posted:

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

i am witty and charming wizard master

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:27

Nuclear Spy: Jun 10, 2008; feeling under?

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Snakes and other reptiles like lizards, periodically shed their skin and emerge stronger, larger, and healthier.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:34

Gentleman Baller: Oct 13, 2013

Someone who hates themselves enough to watch QANDA, tell me if Hockey says something stupid on QANDA tia

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:46

Ler: Mar 23, 2005; I believe...

I didn't watch but all indications are pointing to a resounding yes. Twtter is blowing up about him not knowing gently caress all about superannuation and defending the wealthy's abuse of the system.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:51

Mr Chips: Jun 27, 2007; Whose arse do I have to blow smoke up to get rid of this baby?

Gentleman Baller posted:

Someone who hates themselves enough to watch QANDA, tell me if Hockey says something stupid on QANDA tia

"Hockey says something dumb" was paying $1.0001 as the show went to air

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:51

hiddenmovement: Sep 29, 2011; "Most mornings I'll apologise in advance to my wife."

Wizard Master posted:

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

really? I'm first?

WIZARD MASTER

# ? Mar 16, 2015 13:26

Milkfred E. Moore: Aug 27, 2006; 'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Wizard Master posted:

All of you are so dull, humorless and unaware it's embarassing. Auspol owns forever.

W
I
Z
A
R
D

M
A
S
T
E
R

# ? Mar 16, 2015 13:53

Skellybones: May 31, 2011; Fun Shoe

Birdstrike posted:

"This implies Scott Morrison is a bronie now to sue for defamation."

- Australian Bronie Club

Wait, which ABC is the LNP trying to destroy again? This is important.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 13:58

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Birdstrike posted:

"This implies Scott Morrison is a bronie now to sue for defamation."

- Australian Bronie Club

# ? Mar 16, 2015 14:00

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

I only found out what that meant recently.

do you mean the reference, or the actual food and drink items to which Hannibal refers?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 14:02

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Mithranderp posted:

do you mean the reference, or the actual food and drink items to which Hannibal refers?

the former

# ? Mar 16, 2015 14:21

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

the former

y...you've at least SEEN Silence of the Lambs, right?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 14:45

Zetsubou-san: Jan 28, 2015; Cruel Bifaunidas demanded that you [stand]🧍 I require only that you [kneel]🧎

# ? Mar 16, 2015 19:00

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

The Age's economics editor is apparently an innumerate buffoon.

quote:

Dipping into super for a house is a good idea

Peter Martin

Denying Australians access to their money to stop them entering the housing market is a cruel way to keep a lid on prices.

Can we give Joe Hockey a break? He says he is prepared to consider allowing us to dip into our super to buy houses. What on earth could be wrong with that? A house is far more useful in retirement than superannuation. Just ask anyone who has tried to survive without one.

Yep, having a large single indivisible and potentially hard to move asset sure is categorically better than an income stream. Run out of money, most of your wealth in your house, but you happened to retire during a downturn in the property market? Tough fuckin luck.

quote:

When the Harmer pension review examined the question some years ago it found only 3 per cent of home-owning single pensioners were in severe poverty compared up to one quarter of those who rented.

Huh, people wealthy enough to have bought a house at some point are less likely to be in poverty than those who weren't? :monocle:

TV ownership rates also correlate negatively with poverty, so we should probably let people take their super fund down to gerry harvey to buy five flat screens each

quote:

Rent eats income. It's why houses are important in retirement. They relieve us of the need to pay rent.

Houses eat income too dufus, rates, utilities, upkeep etc.

quote:

When renters attempt to earn that income they lose half of it in cuts to whatever pension they are on.Home owners don't need to earn that income.

If only there was some form of scheme by which retirees could have an income taxed at a lower rate, say by mandatory regular contributions throughout their working life?

quote:

Labor is saying silly things about home ownership now. Its deputy Tanya Plibersek says "you can't eat your family home, you can't pay your electricity bill with it".

But you can feed yourself and pay your bills by saving on rent and by taking advantage of services that allow you to borrow against your home. Centrelink offers such a service. You can get up to the full pension fortnightly right up until the day you die taken out of the value of your home, and you'll never be kicked out. Private operators offer similar deals. The Financial Review published a feature on this topic on Saturday.

The full pension is marginally above the poverty line, and likely to go below that as we move forward to a time when everyone has had mandatory super contributions for the entirety of their working life. Going into debt to live off premium chum seems like a pretty lovely strategy for retirement.

quote:

Australians are right to want to dip into their super to buy houses. Many do it the minute they can, telling their super fund trustee they've "retired" at the age of 55. They use the payout to pay down their mortgage and get back to work. You can't blame them. It sets them up for retirement better than would super.

It would set them up even better if they were able to use their super to pay down their mortgages earlier, before they grow.

Not if it means they're paying a higher price in the first place by inflating the market it doesn't.

quote:

They can't because the present system forces them to save year in, year out at 9.5 per cent even when they should be paying down debt. Like attempting to drive a car by pressing on both the brake and accelerator pedals at the same time, it is possible to save and be in debt simultaneously but it's wasteful.

Or, you could actually have more diversity in your wealth rather than sinking every last penny into one single large indivisible asset which is often hard to move. Having all your wealth tied up in a house is as stupid as having it all tied up in a single large gold bar.

quote:

That's how Labor's Paul Keating saw it in 1993. Campaigning as prime minister he promised to let all Australians draw up to $10,000 from their super to help buy a family home. Young Labor saw it the same way on the eve of Kevin Rudd's election in 2007. It proposed what Hockey is now proposing. Australians up to the age of 30 would be able to take $15,000 from their super for the deposit on a home.

"What good is having an extra $15,000 in super when you're 65 if you're still renting when you are 85?" asked its then national president Sam Crosby. Labor's Wayne Swan responded. He came up with a plan for super-like savings accounts, especially to save for deposits.

Well how about for a start you're quoting an argument from the national president of Young Labor. Secondly $15,000 in super when you're buying a house won't be $15,000 in super when you're retiring because it will have been compounding interest over the course of ~35 years.

quote:

The contributions and earnings would be taxed like super � at a flat rate of 15 per cent � up to a generous limit. After four or more years they could be withdrawn, but only for the purpose of buying a first home.

The plan bombed, partly because Swan made the mistake of making explicit the unfairness of the super tax concessions. Treasury told him to tax the accounts normally and achieve an effective tax rate of 15 per cent by making direct contributions, more for high earners, less for low earners.

Invited to submit comments on the treasury website, Australians were appalled. "I am shocked and utterly disillusioned to find that under the current proposal, the government contribution is twice as much for those paying the highest rate of income tax," wrote one.

Swan modified the scheme somewhat and it died of lack of use. The main reason it bombed was that Australians didn't have the spare cash to put in the accounts; 9 per cent of their income was going into super, whether it was wise or not.

Surely being economic rationalists they would still have made sacrifices to put the money towards a deposit. After all, what use is $15,000 in your piggy bank at 65 if you're still renting at 85. Also claiming that super is 9% of a person's income is ridiculous.

quote:

Compulsory super is a one-size-fits-all solution to a problem that hasn't been clearly defined. It takes the same proportion of wages each year regardless of the calls on income that year and the size of the debt that would otherwise be paid down.

Canadians are able to withdraw up to $25,000 from their super funds to buy first homes on the proviso that after a year they begin paying it back in equal instalments over 15 years. New Zealand and Singapore offer similar deals.

It's said that if it happened here it would push up the price of houses, but that's true of any measure that makes houses easier to buy. Denying someone access to their own money in order to deny them access to the housing market is a particularly cruel way to restrain prices.

This is utter gobbledygook. You know a measure that makes it easier to buy a house without pushing up prices? Putting downward pressure on prices. How about instead of freeing up more funds for people we do want to buy houses, we close off avenues for people we don't want to buy houses. If only there were some current incentive provided to people buying to rent which we could close off.

quote:

The best way to hold down prices for first-home buyers is to take out the competition. Second and third home buyers (so called "investors") now almost outnumber owner-occupiers at auctions. One out of every seven Australian taxpayers is a landlord.

Eliminating the competition hey? What if we for example gave a lump sum payment to put on a house, only available to first home buyers, that should help out housing affordability right?

quote:

It can be said in their defence that they provide rental accommodation, just as that used to be said for the far smaller number of foreign investors in real estate against whom the government has taken action. But by elbowing out of the way would-be owner-occupiers those landlords are also creating a class of people to rent to, a class of Australians who may never be able to afford their own homes.

Eliminating negative gearing, while allowing it to stay for existing landlords, would remove the competition. Along with allowing Australians access to their own money to buy their own houses, it would ensure that more of us had the kind of genuine security in retirement that only a home can give.

Mere sentences after claiming all attempts to make buying a house easier inflate the market, he suggests a measure that would make it easier to buy a house without inflating the market.

quote:

Home ownership was once an article of faith of the Coalition. Hockey has at least shown an interest in getting it back on track.

An article of faith is a perfect way to describe this sort of attitude to home ownership as it is entirely non evidence based (let's not even mention the fact that current attitudes to home ownership were fostered as a means of social control in response to the post-war red scare).

Shoving never-ending streams of more money into the housing market does not help people who want to own the place they live in.

Encouraging people to have even higher proportions of their wealth tied up in a concrete asset like a house is not sound economics.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 22:13

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Mithranderp posted:

y...you've at least SEEN Silence of the Lambs, right?

yes, but theres a hidden meaning to that line.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 22:17

V for Vegas: Sep 1, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER

Zetsubou-san posted:

Ah fixed ut. Ah'm a fixer.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 22:45

Sulla Faex: May 14, 2010; No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING

For the lazy

http://mentalfloss.com/uk/movies/27139/the-hidden-meaning-of-the-silence-of-the-lambs-iconic-line

He eats his liver with fava beans and chianti. When you are on MAOIs you can't eat beans or liver or drink wine. He was telling her subtly that he hasn't been taking his medication

# ? Mar 16, 2015 23:09

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

4corners said nobody in the lnp foresaw any of the backlash to the budget?? Smoking too much of their own jenkum imo.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 00:14

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Gough Suppressant posted:

The Age's economics editor is apparently an innumerate buffoon.

Martin's normally pretty decent too, I don't know what came over him,

Sulla-Marius 88 posted:

When you are on MAOIs you can't eat beans or liver or drink wine.

Depends on the MAOI, but I don't remember anything in particular to suggest that he was on that form of antidepressant. Also the most obvious thing that MAOIs tend to restrict is cheese.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 00:33

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Martin's normally pretty decent too, I don't know what came over him,

Made even weirder by his article today lauding the head of the grattan institute taking Hockey to task on negative gearing last night.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 00:59

Halo14: Sep 11, 2001

# ? Mar 17, 2015 01:59

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

katlington posted:

4corners said nobody in the lnp foresaw any of the backlash to the budget?? Smoking too much of their own jenkum imo.

The Republican Party, circa 2012 elections.
Except in this case they won, and have no idea why the public voted them in.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:01

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Gough Suppressant posted:

The Age's economics editor is apparently an innumerate buffoon.

Well either he's had some sort of stroke (he hasn't, he's proudly tweeting it) or suddenly he needs to shore up his old age with a piece that guarantees his super. Otherwise I don't understand how he's abandoned any logic, except that he seems curiously desperate to avoid discussing the problem negative gearing presents.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:03

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Final FINAL day of Hockey trial:

@MWhitbourn posted:

McClintock says he may be slightly longer than he indicated yesterday. "What a surprise," Justice Richard White says #HockeyFairfax

And with that we begin the very last day of the Hockey defamation trial. Not an auspicious comment from the judge there! Indeed he goes further to say that the reason he allowed a further day is to prevent McClintock repeating himself. McClintock starts by blaming Sean Nicholls for not asking Hockey was he selling access to his office. Then he blames Fairfax for their very conduct of the trial, claiming that displays malice and the whole cross-examination of Hockey should be struck out, as it was only intended to smear him! This isn't exactly the summing-up of a winner here. He starts reading out Goodsir emails again and the judge is getting restive, reminding McClintock that he is a judge and he can read submissions himself. Then McClintock demands top damages (of course, duh who wouldn't), and then tries to anticipate Hockey winning without damages claiming Fairfax would report it badly. This is beginning to sound slightly hysterical.

Collins gets to reply to McClintock's charges. He points out that the plaintiff wants very specific meanings imputed and the judge will have to decide whether those things are so imputed for the plaintiff's case to succeed. (He's saying here that the if the defence is bound by its choice of defence, the plantiff is also bound by the terms of the complaint he chose, not whatever extra things he's tried to load upon it). He rejects the charges of a smear campaign both in the article and in court and suggests McClintock has fallen back on ad hominems And with that, Justice White adjourns and we have a finished case!

Fairfax have already mooted a High Court challenge should they fail in the case, no doubt prompting McClintocks feverish performance today. Collins has apparently stated in his written submission that qualified privilege has had a bad run in appellate court, and this is a problem should they wish to fight an appeal. I was unaware that a Federal Court judge couldn't overturn an NSW Appeals court decision, which is being suggested here?!

In any case, the summing-up of the plaintiff doesn't suggest much faith in the outcome, so I would assume the sting is in the written submission, at least I'd hope so!

edit: and upon thinking further I realize that they always intended to appeal the verdict and hence complained about the defence's case during the trial. No wonder the judge is not impressed. This stinks of US-style attack-by-litigation and borders on vexatious.

ewe2 fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Mar 17, 2015

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:27

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Oh look it turns out that another alternative therapy to treat cancer "celebrity" is a complete failure, but this time with the added bonus of rather than dying they lied about having cancer the whole time.

quote:

Belle Gibson's overseas book launch has been officially scrapped amid concerns the Melbourne author faked having cancer and withheld thousands of dollars in charitable donations.

Atria Books, an imprint of publishing giant Simon & Schuster, has told Fairfax Media it is immediately dumping its deal with Ms Gibson and will scuttle all existing orders for The Whole Pantry.

The popular cook book was due to be released in US book stores next month.

"Our decision was made upon the failure of the author to provide clarification for numerous allegations concerning her biography and charitable endeavours," Atria Books publicity director Paul Olsewski said.

"Orders currently in our system will be cancelled."

The termination of the social media entrepreneur's US book deal came just hours after publisher Penguin revealed it will also pull The Whole Pantry from circulation in Australia.

Penguin has previously admitted never fact-checking Ms Gibson's story, which claims healthy eating and natural therapies helped her treat multiple terminal cancers.

The 23-year-old launched her cookbook and smartphone app off the story of healing herself from brain cancer, but now says she may have been misdiagnosed. Close friends told Fairfax they did not believe Ms Gibson's diagnoses and medical experts say they find her story of multiple cancers implausible.

Ms Gibson and her company have been under close scrutiny after a Fairfax Media investigation revealed she had failed to hand over thousands of dollars in fundraising proceeds promised to charities.

The Whole Pantry's official Facebook page has been disabled after Ms Gibson came under fire for deleting critical comments about her fundraising activities and health claims. The page, which had been inundated with about 1000 messages since last week, was removed on Tuesday morning.

It comes after thousands of posts were deleted in recent days from other social media pages belonging to The Whole Pantry and Ms Gibson, including the app developer's Instagram account "healing_belle", which has been wiped clean.

Global tech company Apple, which heavily promoted Ms Gibson's app as one of the first to be made available on the Apple Watch device, has remained silent for almost a week despite mounting accusations and repeated requests for comment. Apple refuses to say whether it stands by Ms Gibson.

Ms Gibson went to ground last week when controversy erupted over her business practices and the validity of her health claims. She has not responded to calls or emails from Fairfax Media, but blasted critics in a recent social media post for speaking out against her.

Ms Gibson, who wrote of being "bullied to my death", went on to defend the work of The Whole Pantry.

"I know the work my company and it's [sic] contents did changed hundreds of thousands for the better," she wrote.

Belle Gibson it seems was another "I cured cancer by eating right" person and Apple especially went overboard promoting her apps on the iOS. Turns out she may be a serial medical fraudster who has faked diseases for years for attention.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:36

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

quote:

As well as encouraging her social media followers to avoid vaccinating their children and backing medical cannabis, Ms Gibson also supported the practice of drinking raw cow’s milk.

A real winner.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:42

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Open up submissions for anyone who has lost a loved one who eschewed medical treatment after contact with her book and then throw her in jail on X counts of manslaughter.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:42

Laserface: Dec 24, 2004

The amount of total loving idiots dying because they think they know better than professional doctors will never cease to amaze me.

Now, I can also add total loving idiots who believe them and spend money on their products tot that pile.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:42

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

I was misdiagnosed, it wasn't brain cancer, it was fingerpaint

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:44

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# ? May 27, 2024 21:49

Les Affaires: Nov 15, 2004

I'm reminded of the various cases in the 1980s where concerns parents were alarmed with the rise of metal and the argument that came back from one of the bands was basically "Why the hell would we knowingly want our fans to kill themselves?"

# ? Mar 17, 2015 03:46

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