Auspol June: It's Time for Sodomy

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol June: It's Time for Sodomy

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Psst, we had the budget, it was a flop.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2017 14:59

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:35

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

A challenger appears for World's Greatest Satirist! Come on down, Malcolm Knox!

# ¿ Jun 3, 2017 03:41

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/feminism-under-attack-as-women-defend-mens-rights/news-story/85689a2a6b7a29b290113dda8f06debb

Imagine being this oblivious to other people's life experience and having that reinforced by Daddy's friends and contacts. It's smug but sad at the same time.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2017 04:36

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Laura Tingle fires up in the AFR:

AFR paywalled posted:

The NSW Labor Party doesn't have much to laugh about these days. Last week, former state minister Ian Macdonald was jailed for 10 years for misconduct in public office, joining his former ally and powerbroker Eddie Obeid in the slammer.

But black humour is sometimes the best antidote and it was on display at a tribute dinner in Sydney last Friday night for Labor's legendary speechwriter Graham Freudenberg � who has written galvanising words for Labor leaders since the powerful ones that set out the ALP's opposition to sending Australian troops to Vietnam for Arthur Calwell, and outlined Gough Whitlam's 1972 campaign platform.

Little Patti sang an updated version of It's Time, which reflected in part how Freudenberg had sought pre-selection for the NSW Upper House but had been "rolled" by another powerbroker, Graham Richardson, in order to deliver an upper house seat � and immense and destructive influence � to his mate Eddie Obeid.

Just think how different things could have been if Richo hadn't intervened. "Freudy" would have been able to make a positive contribution and have one of the jobs historically handed out as a form of super to loyal party troopers on both sides of politics.

The gig would have fallen on the largesse side of the ledger, not the side of corruption.

Sadly, "jobs for the boys" now seems like a rather quaint reflection of a much, much more innocent world.

We have faced a rapid descent through corruption for personal gain to a truly alarming world where, according to some fine reporting this week by my colleagues at Fairfax and the ABC, we are seeing how vulnerable our state and federal political systems are to foreign influence, in this case by an aggressive Chinese state machine.

Our intelligence agencies are alarmed. And of course what is happening here only seems like part of an end-of-days attack on government institutions and processes around the globe, from inside and outside; from Russian interference in European elections, to planting fake news to disrupt the delicate power balance in the gulf states, from Donald Trump trying to get the FBI director to drop an investigation into members of his administration.

No less than the former US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in Canberra this week that things at home were not only worse than Watergate, but that his country was under "assault" from its own president and Russia.

Keeping it secret from Trump

Clapper told the National Press Club he would understand if Australia's spy agencies withheld intelligence from American counterparts because Trump could not be trusted to keep it secret.

Both Trump and the Russians seem to be involved in the extraordinary rift in the gulf. Whoever is behind the split between Qatar and six of its neighbours, the combination of this with the assault on the Iranian Parliament has spread the instability in the Middle East that much further.

Yet much of this has just involved "information chaos". What happens if the sorts of digital disruptions and hacking that have been involved in so many assaults on governance this year turn into "system chaos" that affects transport and power systems?

Yet we are more transfixed by the human horror of another form of assault on our social fabric, from the actions of terrorists who increasingly act on their own in committing violent carnage against individuals.

Both sides of politics have a really serious interest in doing more than just working out how vulnerable they are to scandal on political donations, lucrative consultancies and the exercise of soft power, and grasping just what an existential threat they face from outsiders, and deciding to act together to do something about it.

The dark influence

For all the people who have complained for years about the dark influence of stakeholders, it is completely Mickey Mouse compared to what we have seen this week, only matched by the extraordinary stupidity of politicians caught out actually publicly intervening in issues directly after money has changed hands.

And it may just be that stakeholders � including business, industry, and energy groups � may prove to be an ultimate force for good in seeing an end to a domestic political war that has also destroyed plenty in politics.

Ahead of the release of the Finkel report on Friday, we have seen a parade of business leaders calling for some policy certainty out this week. Enough is enough, to quote a phrase in much circulation in other contexts.

This has provided a base from which Labor has put out a hand of bipartisanship. "The most effective policy for investment certainty in the energy sector is bipartisanship", Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wrote to the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

Of course, this is not entirely without its political calculations. Labor's position puts the pressure on Malcolm Turnbull to stare down the conservatives in his party who cling to the belief that it is government policy alone that is responsible for the decline in the relative competitiveness of coal.

Yet in combination with all these other interests, it also has the effect of marginalising those who, in a supposedly pro-business party seek to rage against the consensus and the reality of an investment strike.

The risks in energy and climate change policy now, it seems, come from lone wolf operators like Tony Abbott rather than the powerful institutions of our economy.

Fuelling Finkel

As this column revealed last week, Finkel is expected to favour a technology-neutral low emissions target. But this will neither be the end of the emissions issue, nor is it necessarily the most crucial issue that will flow from Finkel.

Remember what Chief Scientist Alan Finkel was asked to do by the Prime Minister. Turnbull wanted to know how to ensure the stability of the energy system at a time of increasing intermittent renewable inputs; on affordability; and finally on emissions reduction.

Reports already released have pointed to the significant cost of measures like add-on battery power to new renewable projects that would go to the issue of system stability.

Finkel will be the beginning of a renewed discussion about emissions reduction, which will move from mechanism to targets. It is a battle that will last at least until the government's own review of Paris targets reports later in the year.

In the meantime, the dangerous political issue will be affordability. Almost on cue, a series of big east coast energy price hikes from July 1 started to be rolled out on Thursday.

A big part of the problem remains a shortage of gas. In a world where everything and everyone is connected, that makes what happens in Qatar just another nightmare, another source of disruption.

TL;DR poo poo's hosed up

# ¿ Jun 9, 2017 00:06

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Cleretic posted:

Help me out, Latika Bourke used to be a decent journalist, right? I'm not imagining that? I swear I remember her having credibility.

No, she was always about horse-race hot takes and never really got a grip on anything.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2017 11:48

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

You Am I posted:

Watching the Frankie Boyle video just got me riled up when he talked about the media's part in the election in the UK. His words are so true

Like Boyle says, you may as well automate politicians as robots with drop-in local references in template speeches, because that's practically what the political class think we deserve. You'd get exactly the same reporting.

Look at this, it's not much different to how it works here.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2017 18:18

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Starshark posted:

I saw Sarah Blasko last night and have the 2XL t-shirt to prove it.

I'm jelly, she's awesome.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2017 04:19

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

They've gone one better than that, they want the Act to stop imposing a value system...if it's not theirs.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2017 02:59

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Idiot news update:

quote:

Fresh concerns have emerged over the introduction of potentially industry-crippling battery installation safety guidelines, after the release of a draft report from Standards Australia appears to have upheld a controversial recommendation that effectively ban battery storage systems inside homes and garages.

The draft guidelines � which were first aired in February this year, and again by the Queensland industry regulator but quickly hosed down after a major industry-wide backlash � still appear to recommend that most current technology home energy storage units be located outside of homes, in independent �kiosks� or �bunkers.�

Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton says the industry had hoped that the controversial guidelines would be scrapped after the similar recommendation from Queensland regulators, which also surfaced in February, was revised out of that state�s guidelines following consultation with industry.

And he said that a previous disclaimer from Standards Australia, that state governments did not have to adopt the recommendations, was not good enough.

�There do need to be strong standards across the industries, and therefore as this progresses, whatever standard is reached will be applied to the industry. �therefore we�re very engaged and concerned,� Thornton told RenewEconomy on Wednesday.

�Things have moved on, there�s been a lot of progress in terms on international standards and what�s happening in Australia. We now hope common sense prevails,� he said, adding that if it didn�t, there could be some �pretty significant ramifications.�

Industry players will also be hoping for some common sense, having already condemned the proposed SA guidelines as �ridiculous� and over the top, particularly in comparison with international standards.

They have also warned that the requirement for batteries to be housed in independent structures risked adding thousands of dollars to the cost of battery installation in Australia, making it uneconomic for the millions of solar households in Australia keen to store and batter manage their PV generation.

�In Europe, we have 30,000 installations and some of those have been around since 2010, and not one fire has happened, no one has been injured,� said Chris Parratt, who heads up the Australian operations of global battery giant Sonnen, in comments in February.

�There is a standard being released in Germany that allows for lithium-ion batteries to be installed in homes. So why Australia appears to be going the opposite way, I don�t know,� Parratt said.

�If you�re going to ban the installation of all battery storage in the home, you might as well ban all laptops,� said Richard Turner, the CEO of Adelaide based Zen Energy, which partners with one of the industry�s pioneering battery storage makers, Greensmith.

�It�s just a ridiculous position for this country to be in when we have the best renewable energy resource to harness and individuals can basically be energy independent in their own homes.�

For the CEC�s part, the industry body has pledged to mount a strong campaign to have the standards removed or revised.

�Heavy-handed regulation of home energy storage devices risks crippling one of the most exciting industries of the future before it gets going,� it said in a statement on Wednesday.

�We believe that as long as home energy storage units meet strong international standards and are installed by an accredited installer to clear guidelines, requiring units to be installed outside of a house is unnecessarily restrictive,� it said.

Gosh I wonder who would benefit from such a standard :iiam:

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 06:56

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Meanwhile questions about the Julie Bishop Glorious Foundation in Question Time.

Rob Mitchell helps:

https://twitter.com/RobMitchellMP/status/874855146542571521

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 07:08

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Useful stuff to remember:

https://twitter.com/WorldOfMarkyD/status/874499395621867520

A run down of LNP donations from Energy companies too:

https://twitter.com/WorldOfMarkyD/status/874491359247310848

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 07:17

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Cheap Trick posted:

I will always remember the De Beers and "pig farm pink sludge" threads.

In other news:

https://twitter.com/JoshButler/status/874875797517021184

Their reason? They were "still working it out". Seriously.

https://twitter.com/JoshButler/status/874879556758491136

Let me make that clear: they opposed a motion to drop the idea because they weren't sure what their position was.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 08:49

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

open24hours posted:

I understand the rationale behind the ownership restrictions, but I don't understand why there's such a high barrier to entry for TV. Surely it isn't that there are only five companies interested in running a TV station in Australia? I guess it's all academic now that internet speeds are fast enough for streaming video.

You ask this question in a politics thread. Take a wild guess.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 02:38

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

NTRabbit posted:

See this is the part you seem to keep tripping over, Mia Freedman is in no way a progressive feminist, but you want to insist it's true anyway so you can keep up your search for outrage

Agreed, Mia Freedman is exactly the person Beautiful Daisy� wishes she could be. She publishes opinion in the public space for money, she deserves neither defence nor outrage. Either laugh or ignore her, anything else plays into that dumb celebrity self-image. I don't care who she is, I sometimes care about the topics but I don't for one loving second think she's any more qualified to advance her opinions just because she has a website or got on to The Drum. She ain't no public intellectual, guys.

And people are bad on the internet, quelle loving surprise. I've watched her endless self-promotion and clashes with women on Twitter and that is not an engagement any man would feel welcome to join, let alone argue. Ita Buttrose might seem a fuddy duddy but she never stooped to this kind of bullshit, and was an actual pioneer for professional women and is still fighting the good fight.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2017 07:52

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Starshark posted:

I want kids to take as many drugs as possible. What now.

What does Mia Freedman think, I don't have an opinion yet.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2017 08:56

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

No one here gives a poo poo about Mia. She's not poor, she's not downtrodden, she sticks her foot in her mouth with alacrity, and she does not practice what she preaches. Outrage crusade fail.

One Nation senator Peter Georgiou helps Sri Lankan 457 visa holder get residency

quote:

A West Australian One Nation senator has distanced himself from one of his party's main policy platforms by stepping in to assist a 457-visa holder secure permanent residency.

Sri Lankan man Edwin Asariyas, has been working as an electrician in Kalgoorlie in WA's Goldfields since 2011.

Last month the 57-year-old's application to stay in the country was rejected.

Senator Peter Georgiou intervened, arranging a meeting with the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke, and Mr Asariyas was yesterday granted permanent residence.

The move is out of step with his party's stance that Australians should be prioritised over foreign workers when it comes to local employment.

But Senator Georgiou, a sparky himself, said this was a special case.

"We had a good look at the facts and the circumstances surrounding Edwin's case," Mr Georgiou said.

Yes but this is a good one. Still, I'm rating it as :unsmith:

because Pauline and James are nowhere near it.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2017 07:24

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Futuresight posted:

What's even the point of a One Nation politician who doesn't hate immigrants?

I think many have expected some kind of split down the line, maybe not like this. It's interesting that WA PHON is doing its own thing which might tarnish the brand a bit, or even better lead the way in other states.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2017 07:34

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Zenithe posted:

I've been wrong before, but can it get much lower than this?

I'm sure she'll be richly rewarded for being both horrible and irrelevant. Fortunate that we don't do UK honours any more.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2017 10:59

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

ABC posted:

But News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt defended Symons on the grounds he is a clown.

�That�s his gig,� Bolt said. �He jokes. He plays with words. He holds up certainties to ridicule. He is a contrarian (within the ABC�s tight cultural parameters) and bridles at the stupid constraints put on language by our modern bullies.�

Jesus tapping Christ, he even apologised you moronic bastard.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2017 01:17

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Disrespecting the rule of law to suck up to LNP ministers, truly the political class.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2017 03:03

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Tampongate: Guardian live blog reports

quote:

Finance minister Mathias Cormann says they are not luxury goods, they are just not listed as health items.

The Greens move to abolish GST on sanitary goods has failed 33-15.

BUT

quote:

Senate has voted 32-16 in favour of the amended bill on GST low value goods, which would delay the implementation of the tax on imported goods below $1,000 to 1 July 2018. It will also refer the issue for a Productivity Commission review.

Make tampons part of the terms of reference then. Oh and the RC into the banks was defeated as part of ALP amendment on the levy bill in the HR 70-76.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2017 04:10

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

It's 'potential terrorist attack'. And 1 person is dead now.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2017 05:57

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

starkebn posted:

Fine, it has just become so overly misused that sometimes it's hard to tell

There is a class structure: I would characterise it as the rich, the managerial class, the political class, the employed, the working poor, and everyone else in order of who looks down on who, and who gives the orders. Maybe we should classify full time and part time in that, but I tend to think part timers are working poor anyway. But upper, middle, and working divisions are just as useless today as white and blue collars.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 04:27

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Owners isn't a bad name but doesn't quite reach the parasitical nature of it. Someone argued that they're really just the new aristocracy but are too scared to admit it. I look at the political response to Grenfell as a good example of their detachment and greed.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 04:48

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Never fear, catholic schools will stay rich because something something base.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 05:07

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

D&D, the shittiest thread.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 11:30

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

NTRabbit posted:

Can't wait for the word cloud

I lolled. Great avs, mystery buyer!

# ¿ Jun 22, 2017 07:41

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Stoca Zola posted:

I wanted to post something about autism (and other conditions that result in behavioural issues) in schools since this year every primary school in my town is taking it very seriously and have been rolling out a program to address it. The buzzword around it is "interoception" but I don't think they use it in the strict dictionary definition of the word. I realised there's probably no point trying to explain any of it since I'm not an educator myself, I haven't been to any of the training and I can only guess at what they're hoping to achieve. I don't even remember the name of whoever is pushing it so I can't read up on it. Every teacher is applying it in their classes and we have a room set aside and staff/support time allocated to work on it. My best guess based on context is that it's about helping kids pay attention to what is going on inside their minds and bodies, so that they can better control their own behaviour, remove themselves to cool down before a melt down occurs, be aware if they are hungry or tired or need the toilet etc, which leads to less disruption to the rest of the class. But like I said, I really don't know. It's a big thing though and it seems to be successful so far, but not entirely sure what the metric is to measure that.

My school has always had a small population of kids with varying disabilities or conditions and the outcomes from being part of the "normal" system have been extremely positive for those kids - and for the rest of the student population the benefits are exposure to difference, and tolerance of difference being normalised instead of a special case ie not switching on special behaviour just when a special needs kid is around. My own anecdotal metric is that my desk is directly across from the principals office so I overhear every kid who is a repeat offender being told off/suspended etc. These kids are not the autistic kids, they're not the kids who have ADHD (who come to the front office every lunch for their medication), very rarely the kid with downs, etc. In my experience it is a complete load of poo poo to blame the "special needs" kids for being disruptive. There are disruptive kids with problems whose needs are not being met but when they come from "normal" families and don't have a convenient diagnosis to lay the blame on (and maybe there isn't one, some kids just like misbehaving) it is much harder to address the problem. You need a diagnosis to get assistance, some parents are in denial and won't engage with that system. More often though the parents just have no interest in discipline or consequences for bad behaviour, or have had no success and don't know what to try next. It's a completely separate problem to addressing the needs of known special needs kids, which in my experience is being handled better and better all the time despite the lack of funding.

A Good Effort Post

# ¿ Jun 22, 2017 08:31

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

open24hours posted:

Weird, hey?

When fear doesn't work, they switch to greed.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2017 05:36

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

racing identity posted:

Is this some Liberal party astroturf bullshit?

Exactly, but they think they're countering Getup!

# ¿ Jun 24, 2017 06:25

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

They're doing it wrong.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2017 06:42

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Parties are terrible about generational changing of the guards, and a change in Greens direction was inevitable. This is a bit childish though.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2017 08:12

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Senor Tron posted:

Either he deeply believes anyone would trust him as PM again, or he knows deep down it will never happen but has nothing else to strive for. Either way it's glorious to watch.

It's worse than that, he's channelling the ghost of BA Santamaria and I would not be surprised if a resurrection of the DLP by another name was soon to follow. Then spots on the ABC to whine about various issues every week.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2017 09:45

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:35

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

edit: ^^^^^ lololol noone's letting Campbell near anything of substance ever again, not even the Libs are that dumb.

Goffer posted:

dunno if NSW tactics are gonna to work in vic, even the rurals are less godly

It seems as if they pay no attention to basic demographics, it'll get them nowhere in Bendigo and probably less in Ballarat what with Pell's little trial coming up. If the intention is to pick up elsewhere, I don't see where.

(I'm not referring to Muslims in Bendigo but the sizeable African refugee population for whom God became a joke what with their families brutally murdered in front of them in tribal violence).

# ¿ Jun 30, 2017 07:29

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