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Post by angra on Sept 29, 2012 21:47:26 GMT 10
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Post by angra on Sept 29, 2012 22:15:26 GMT 10
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 30, 2012 9:11:56 GMT 10
Um, ok, so there's this tape ... video.theaustralian.com.au/2285149672/Alan-Jones-claims-PMs-dad-died-of-shameAnd yet: Attendees at the function were running for cover last night, with two leading Liberal Party members telling The Sun-Herald they had not heard the comments, despite listening to Jones's entire 50 minute speech.
State Liberal MP Ray Williams told The Sun-Herald: "It was a loud room and a long speech. I recall Julia Gillard being mentioned but not John Gillard."
Young Liberal president Simon Fontana, a staffer for Community Services Minister Pru Goward, also insisted he did not hear any claim that John Gillard had died of shame.
He told The Sun-Herald he had listened to the entire speech but did not hear anything about Mr Gillard's death. Hmm. (added link)
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 1, 2012 13:52:02 GMT 10
This "Pseudo-Watch" silliness has to stop.
I just got a call from a friend, asking me to go buy her some codral. She tried to herself, but the pharmacist said she couldn't buy more than one box of codral per month, unless she got a prescription.
Last year I bought a few boxes of codral - a couple for me, and a few for the same friend (I basically drove past the chemist on the way home, so it was more convenient for me - I also get sick a lot less, and people who aren't sick find shopping inherently easier).
One day they declared to me that I appeared to have an issue, and that they were concerned. I had bought a whole box of codral night/day PER MONTH (OMG!). They then tried to sell me other things as WELL as my box of codral (which they sold to me anyway), because they thought they might be able to.
I completely understand the purpose of pseudo-watch. I have no idea if it's working, but I understand what they're doing. I like the idea, and I applaud the desire to get amphetamines off the market. Seriously.
However ... I have a @#%$ security clearance. If they want me to have a chat to the feds to explain that I'm not a drug-chef, I'm happy to do that. They can come and have a look around my house. One response to that is "well, they're not really going to turn you in to the cops, are they? Don't be silly". To which I respond - then what is the point? I'm either crossing some threshold into "breaking bad" or I'm not. If so then turn me in (really). If not, then get out of my face.
I think the problem is that they've given an information system to pharmacists which tracks a single purchase. And they (or at least the ones that I go to) have leaped upon that information and seen it as a way to sell stuff. They don't get a lot of opportunities like that in this country, because we have privacy rules. And given the way they've responded to this tiny little sliver of information, I reckon that's a good thing.
They've actually made me feel sheepish about wanting to buy a box of codral. That's just bonkers.
A strict limit of one box of codral per 4 weeks, enforced at the checkout, is idiotic. It is inflexible and stupid. It leads to people being sicker than they need to be by restricting access to a safe, effective drug, and almost certainly contributes to days off work. It needs to stop. I personally don't think pharmacists should even have access to that data. Their role should be to enter the information, and that's it.
Maybe I need to create a facebook page?
And when I say "codral", I obviously mean the stuff with pseudoephedrine in it. The stuff that works, in other words. I don't bother with the other - it's basically just panadol.
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 3, 2012 20:35:37 GMT 10
There's much whinging today because our trade balance has fallen to around 2 billion in the red. And that's not good, absolutely. However ... that's also roughly the average figure for the decade before the ALP took office. I recall when our balance of trade was a monthly moan. But commentary about it has been quiet for a few years, now. About 5 years, in fact. Here's why: www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/09/trade-deficit-worsens/Skeptical sorts can get the numbers for themselves here: www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/5368.0Aug%202012?OpenDocumentSo, once again, we're all in a tizzy because a KPI is almost as bad as it was under howard.
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 3, 2012 21:04:43 GMT 10
Apparently this is a gaffe: abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/biden-says-middle-class-has-been-buried-last-four-years/“This is deadly earnest. How they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years, how in the Lord’s name can they justify raising their taxes. We’ve seen this movie before,” Biden said to a crowd of 1,000 at the Fillmore Charlotte. Um. Ok. A few wits are even suggesting that this can be a zinger in the debates. Sure. Let's look forward to that. The "gaffe" appears to be acknowledging that the US economy is doing it tough. Is that it? I don't think anyone's been doubting that. And here's the funny part - look past the "gaffe" at what biden's actually saying: He's arguing AGAINST a tax increase. Do the reps REALLY want to be giving coverage to this sort of "gaffe"? It appears that the eager o'keefes of the new media have finally got a genuine in-context quote from the obama-biden ticket that looks embarrassing .... and it's biden arguing against his opponents' (allegedly proposed) tax increase. It's sure been a tough campaign. And folks should take note - he's not saying 3.5 years. He said 4 years. That's kind of the point - this mess did not start on obama's watch. Crow about it, but I think it'll be courageous to try to use this in the debates. I think telling a bunch of struggling voters in red states that they're losers is a far worse gaffe.
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 5, 2012 8:35:30 GMT 10
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 6, 2012 10:44:05 GMT 10
I haven't watched the whole presidential debate (it sounds too depressing, and I do actually have priorities - I had to listen to something wonky, for example).
But I did have a scan through a few random bits on le tube last night. Obama looked tired. There's no doubt about it - he wasn't on his game. As much as I think gore's a political liability these days, not to mention a bit of a bozo, his comment about altitude might not be completely ridiculous. But whatever the reason, obama wasn't actually at his personal best that night. To me, he just appeared to be tired. He was explaining himself well, but lacked his usual zip.
The ODS sufferers are naturally trying to claim that he wasn't the problem, it was his policies. Yeah, good one. And bolta's pushing the line that maybe he's just not as smart as the "adoring" media have had us believe (I don't believe that, and I honestly doubt that bolta believes that) All of which requires that people just ignore the evidence. Go watch the LAST lot of debates, for example. Watch the interviews he did with bill o'reilly. Watch the recent CBS interview. Those are the same stupid obama with the same awful policies, and he rocked the joint.
I think he just looked tired. Dunno why. It was unfortunate, though.
I hope he gets it together, because I don't think the world (let alone america) can take another republican presidency this soon. At least let the spring-affected arab countries get their act together and form viable governments before the reps' backers start demanding their military payoff. Don't let the whitehouse defund the SEC just as their financial sector's having to work out how to function honestly. They currently have a president who actually NEEDS to bring the budget back into surplus - don't change that now.
I didn't see enough to be able to evaluate the claims that mitt discarded any sense of honesty and switched to "just say anything" mode. It sounds like he (at least) backflipped (or just plain denied) a few of his own stated policies, and wasn't called on to explain how he plans to pay for tax cuts. Obama should have pinged him for that, if true. Given romney's much-overdue repudiation of his 47% comment (it only took 2.5 weeks), I wonder if he's just decided to throw it all out and reinvent himself from scratch. If so, it should make the campaign interesting to watch.
I also didn't see enough to say whether the hate-fest directed at jim lehrer is fair. That's also a pity. I think they should just get Gwen Ifil to moderate everything in future.
[an aside: I'd like to think that bolta knows that there isn't actually a "red button" that gets carried around with the president. The magic suitcase actually contains pre-gamed launch scenarios and response codes. Its point is to avoid having to brief the president from scratch in the short time available before a second-strike - the US chain of command requires executive authorization, but they don't have time to start cold. The joint chiefs can say "we want to do XXX", and the president can look at the the summary information and say "yes" or "no" and supply a code to demonstrate that communications haven't been breached. There isn't actually a button, and I hope nobody really believes that the president is the only guy with the magic combination key for the missiles]
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 6, 2012 11:01:07 GMT 10
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Post by angra on Oct 6, 2012 11:02:53 GMT 10
Remember the farce when Reagan was shot, and Bush (the VP) was on a plane and the Chiefs of Staff were worried about who had 'the football' (which is a suitcase with launch code instructions in the event of a security alert)? In fact there seem to be several of these as a backup. There is an interesting account about this by Richard V. Allen here. www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2001/04/allen.htmI seem to remember this was turned into a rather funny film. Reassuring to know that the security of the world is in such hands. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzwc_Rp_rvg
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Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Oct 6, 2012 14:47:16 GMT 10
This latest twist in the totally non-politically-motivated case against peter slipper ... and the reading of allegedly-relevant messages in court.
From my initial reading of what happened, I understand that the "shell-less mussel" message had not been accepted as evidence before it was read out loud. It wasn't yet, officially, on the record. And I guess that means that, unless somebody leaked it, it might never have been. The reading of the message in court was defended as being an attempt to demonstrate the relevance (unsuccessfully, it seems to me), but the practical outcome was that the press could report it.
Of course, that TOTALLY undermines slipper's claim that the case is a politically-motivated attempt to destroy him. Anyone still in doubt would be completely mollified by a stunt like that. (/sarc, obviously)
As for the message ... *sigh*
I think slipper probably has a few ... quirks. The contents of the messages that have been revealed to us so far include things the like of which I have never said, and couldn't imagine ever saying, not even in private. I guess it takes all kinds, but some people just have a really gross imagination.
But that "shell-less mussel" thing isn't unusual. It's incredibly adolescent, but no male person who has been to a high school has not heard things like that. I could quote a few things of a similar nature (and worse) that I heard as a teenager (and less frequently as an adult) but this is a family blog.
And as much as girls don't like hearing mucky euphemisms for their lady parts, I don't think it necessarily reveals a misogynist attitude. It might reveal an adolescent mind, stuck in some sort of weird stage of juvenile development, and it also suggests an attitude to sex that I'm quite glad I don't share. If it was the sort of thing he went around saying out loud, with the intention that it be heard by women, then yeah - I'd say he was a lady-hater. But as it was, it was a private, puerile message that was massively embarrassing when revealed, probably a bit of an issue for the marital relations, and likely only revealed in court in order to make the continuance of the case as painful as possible for the defendant.
And hasn't it been snapped up by the AFR and herald sun?
It also makes it just about impossible to defend slipper, which (I suspect) was just a happy coincidence.
But I don't think it's particularly easy to defend either of these people. I notice that there aren't exactly legions of journalists shouting the praises of james ashby either. But that's not the point. The point is to attack slipper. Ashby isn't the one in the dock (... and that's all I'll say about that)
I would love to know how many other skeletons the liberal party has stashed away in its cupboards, should their owners decide to cross the floor. I wonder if this is how they ensure party discipline?
Maybe the ALP should start re-thinking that pokies deal with wilkie ... do something great, and go out with a bang.
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Post by angra on Oct 6, 2012 15:37:25 GMT 10
Cool stuff for sci-fi geeks.
A team of alien-hunting astroboffins has been awarded a grant to search the sky for immense engineering feats that would reveal the existence of astral civilizations far, far more advanced than us puny humans.
Lead by assistant professor Jason Wright of Penn State's Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, the team will use NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to search the sky for the infrared fingerprints of possible Dyson Spheres, energy-capturing mega-structures named after all-around smart guy Freeman Dyson, who postulated their existence in a 1960 paper.
According to Dyson, any advanced civilization would inevitably use up all of the resources on their planet, and would be forced to look elsewhere for energy. The most obvious place, he surmised, would be the star around which their planet orbits.
To capture that energy, they would construct the aforementioned Spheres – mind-bogglingly immense structures that would surround the star and collect its energy. These structures could be actual spheres, but more likely would take the form of rings, swarms, or banded spherical collections of energy harvesters.
The Register, The Atlantic
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Post by angra on Oct 6, 2012 15:43:37 GMT 10
While we're on sci-fi, is it theoretically possible to capture some of the massive kinetic energy of the earth's motion - either orbital or from rotation? I guess we'd need some fixed point in space relative to the earth which is a bit of a problem.
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Post by angra on Oct 7, 2012 0:33:07 GMT 10
We complain about Bolt and so on, but the the greatest threat to sanity must be Psychic TV, broadcast every night on GEM and 4ME.
This is pure unadulterated faeces. And there are 'Australians' watching this stuff?
"Connect with Australia's expert mediums, psychics and clairvoyants - live and interactive. Our team of specialist, hand selected psychics are ready and waiting for your call! We operate our very own television channel and provide a range of quality services to suit everyone.
Our psychic services operate 24 hours, 7 days per week to connect and provide that special insight into your life. A warm welcome and thank you for visiting us at PsychicTV."
Shoot me. Please.
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Post by angra on Oct 7, 2012 0:47:59 GMT 10
Forgive me. Psychic TV is also the name of a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music. Contributors to Psychic TV have included artists such as Coil, Current 93, Hafler Trio, The Cult, White Stains, Soft Cell, Fred Giannelli, XKP, Master Musicians of Jajouka, Matthew Best, Daniel Simon Black, Bill Breeze, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Derek Jarman, John Gosling, Timothy Leary, Rose McDowall, Stephen Kent, Vagina Dentata Organ, Andrew Weatherall, Larry Thrasher, Z'EV, Zef Noi$e, Jeff Berner, and many others. "Vagina Dentata Organ?" I'm a fan. Something I think GEM and 4ME would like to ignore. But perhaps opens some interesting possibilities for cross-promotion? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_TV
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