Open thread April 27-30
It’s the open thread, freshly baked for another week.
One of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time is the saga surrounding Gizmodo’s purchase of a lost iPhone prototype. The latest chapter has seen police seize the computers of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, which has unleashed a new sideshow about whether or not it’s legal to seize a journalist’s property. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
“There are both federal and state laws here in California that protect reporters and journalists from search and seizure for their news gathering activities.
Which the Macalope snarkily summed up;
Shorter EFF: buying stolen merchandise is fine as long as you write a story about it.
If you were a journo exempt from search and seizure laws what would be writing about? I think I would suddenly become a prolific motorcycle reviewer.
I think Bolt has finally gone insane: Obama plans a race war. Could a rational person distort reality to such an extent?
This is astonishing. What the PM really needs to say, but he can’t for obvious reasons, is that families of people who die through inexperience, insufficient training, bad planning or bad luck don’t have the luxury of rejecting an apology they never should have asked for in the first place.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/28/2884252.htm
I do feel very sorry for these people, but no more than I feel sorry for the dozens of other people who’re electrocuted every year in industrial accidents, or who otherwise fall prey to mishap or mistakes. It happens. A lot. These deaths are not the fault of any minister – they just happened to occur in a badly-regulated industry that the guv had the poor judgment to get involved with.
Is every industrial accident on a federally-funded road project the fault of the minister? How about the accidents that occur on that road? Usually, the blame lies with the person whose decisions caused the outcome – e.g. the driver or the project foreman/manager. So much for all that personal responsibility stuff we used to hear about.
Great article again in Skeptical Science:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=182
on what is actually happening with the Arctic Sea Ice. Even when people like Watts say that the ice is recovering it is in fact not. The area of sea ice is on par with previous years but it is much thinner than previously recorded. Interesting stuff.
Shame about that Great Big Tax on Everything, eh guys?
Some folks here have noted that AB doesn’t respond to their comments. I think I know why.
I imagine he can’t bring himself to actually READ the comments on some threads. This thread is doing my head in:
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/rat_exterminated_banksys_grafitti_goes_the_way_of_all_graffiti/
I’m not sure if many of these posters have even bothered to think about what they’re posting, or whether they’re just applying some semi-creative eliza-algorithm to responding in whatever way they feel they’re expected to.
Andrew’s right – this was graffiti. It went the way of graffiti. That’s the point. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t BE a graffiti artist, he’d be a poster artist. But that’s not quite the same thing as deciding that banksy’s a talentless bozo who just defaces stuff – a quick skim over the things that he’s done shows he’s not the ordinary graffiti artist. He’s a clever graphic artist who’s decided to use graffiti as his medium. His stuff is meant to be seen in context, and quite a bit of it is very clever. A few of these posters overshoot just a WEE bit in their eagerness to Be Just Like Andrew.
Re Matthew’s comment, this effort on that thread by JaneS takes tonight’s award:
Divorced from reality, you say? My sides!
The ABC is really starting to give me the shits.
Apparently the government is going to enforce plain label packaging on tobacco products from 2012. Not being a smoker, it’s not going to affect me one way or the other. But it was discussed by Fran Kelly this morning on Radio National.
Who did she get on the show to interview about it? The relevant minister? A member of the health advisory committee that made the recommendation? No. She had on some shill from the IPA (THE IPA!!!) who, with no evidence at all said it was going to cost squillions of dollars in compensation to the tobacco companies for God knows what.
Kelly did have the grace to acknowledge that a professor of law at Sydney Uni said claims for compensation were bollocks and she did very timidly ask the IPA guy about their funding from tobacco companies but why on Earth did she give the IPA who know stuff all about anything so much oxygen? Why didn’t she interview the guy from Sydney Uni?
I often wonder where some people get their views from. It certainly isn’t from thinking or assessing things obvjectively.
philipb20, they did have a separate segment later in the morning with Rob Moodie of the National Preventative Health Taskforce. She put some of Tim Wilson’s arguments to him. But there was a big gap between them and people don’t necessarily get to catch the entire program.
For those who are interested, you can listen to the segments with Wilson and Moodie.
DeanL posted this in the weekend thread, I suspect because we didn’t update the sidebar links to the current thread. I’ll repost it here so it can be discussed:
Toaf @6
Yep – it’s almost like a godwin. I wonder if there’s ANYTHING that argument can’t be applied to?
Another reposting of a comment from DeanL:
An outpouring of hatred-filled commentary in relation to a blog by Mr B relating to climbing Uluru – but, obivously, they’re conservative-not-right-winger like himself:
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/spare_us_your_tears_and_leave_us_our_rock/
When confronted regarding the commentary below, here’s how Bolt responded:
—————————————- {Edit – just adding a line to clarify where Andrew’s response ends and others’ comments resume – Tobby}
Hollow Men attacking straw men at The Australian, did you just notice this?
TZ @ 12: what lovely people Andy attracts! So full of humanity and consideration for others.
Pedro @ 4,
Seems you’ve got your world wide web wires crossed here. This blog has never really delved into discussions about the CPRS, ETS, etc. so there’s no real need to fire up that conversation now. And even if this was a forum to discuss such issues, which it’s definitely not, there’s been nothing of note happen that’s worthy of discussion. Plus, if there was anything worthy of discussion, it would probably be because of Abbott, News Limited, Bolt or Christian fundamentalists. Probably all of them together. But regardless, there’s nothing really to talk about so don’t even worry about it.
To avoid future embarrassment, also try to avoid subjects such as refugees, childcare, whaling, home insulation, green loans, indigenous housing or government accountability and stick to the new, hot and relevant topic of anonymous comments posted on the Bolt blog. That way, you’ll be able to display your prowess as an obvjective thinker, rather than just a mindless supporter of a lousy government.
TZ @12:
“My people, the indigenous peoples of the British Isles”
Who???
philipb20 @7
Haven’t heard it yet, but I suspect that sometimes these decisions are determined by who answers the phone
The responses to a fairly obvious decision about packaging (I’ve wondered for years why they haven’t done this) are actually a bit funny. How anyone can call this a “draconian anti-smoking law” is beyond me.
Thanks TZ – I didn’t realise there was a new weekly thread.
Matthew of Canberra @ 12
Obviously, the original indigenous peoples of the British Isles: the pre-Celtic peoples who were forced out by the invading Celtic British and Goidelic Celts, who were conquered or pushed back by the invading Romans, and then again by the invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who were pushed back and raided by the Norse and along with the Norse were conquered by the Normans, who were Norsemen who had settled in France, and, um, yeah.
Those indigenous Britons.
“My people, the indigenous peoples of the British Isles”
This guy is clearly a Pict, or a Celt….actually no, he’s merely a Neanderthal…
NicM @1
Sorry I have come to this late, Andrew is just following the Rush/RNC line, maybe someone should point out to him that the Presidents made his call to young people and women as well as African Americans and Latinos or are all young people and women a different race? The other point is that GW Bush didn’t need to make a call to White Men to vote for him because they allready did.
It seems to me that this is just part of the attempts to drag Australian politics to the Right. The attack on the traditional owners of Uhlaru and this attack
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/abortion-attack-sparks-outrage-20100428-tshu.html
are signs of a disturbing trend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYvOgnabABU&feature=player_embedded
Oh for the good old days, when you could advertise a legal product
John Many Johns
Oh for the good old days when you could die slowly of cancer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjunlWUJJI
Upyasmum @ 15.
Congrats on your promotion to PP’s Minister Of What We Can And Cannot Discuss.
I promise to check with you in the future to see if my posts meet your approval but in the meantime forgive me for being reminded of Confessions confidently and most emphatically insisting: “THERE WILL BE AN ETS”.
Pedro
Can we remind you of that after the next election? Crowing now is not going to end well
Right wing columnist, Miranda Devine, on their ABC Radio National program ‘Big Ideas’ – as part of a broadcast of a seminar held by the Liberal Party front organisation, the Centre for Independent Studies.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigideas/stories/2010/2886101.htm
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Centre_for_Independent_Studies
Pedro @ 23, Trust me, your posts almost always meet with my approval. As I do @ 4.
My point, perhaps clumsily expressed, is that the silence on the death of the ETS is extraordinary. For months global warming and the ETS dominated conversation here – and now, with this massive announcement, nothing. Not a peep.
Either, all that commentary in favour of immediate action on climate change covered in these pages was meaningless hot wind with no conviction behind it, or, there’s silent disbelief that Rudd is actually the one-dimensional politician that most here hoped he wasn’t.
If this is truly a home of progressive thinking, where is the outrage at the lack of action on climate change, where’s the disgust at the neglect of refugees wanting to come to Australia and mistreatment of those here? Where are the demands for promises to be kept on indigenous health, housing and education?
At least the conservative side of the spectrum had the courage of their conviction and necked the leaders that didn’t properly represent their values. Judging by the noise level of protest on this site, Rudd’s got the blessing to continue on the current course. Gutsy stuff, Comrades.
Funny, I could NEVER imagine the Liberals necking Howard! (Could you?)
He proposed “the world’s most comprehensive emissions trading system”
Got you, now, Upyasmum, and whole-heartedly agree.
Surly. You really think the ETS is going to be an issue in the upcoming election?? Really???
You can blame the Liberals, their media cheer squad and the Greens for failure to act on climate change in Rudd’s first term. Rudd is right to put the issue on the backburner until after the election because the current Senate won’t pass his mandated legislative agenda and so there is no point pursuing it at this point.
When the government wins a 2nd term and has a more friendly Senate we will see action on climate change. In the meantime you, pedro and your beloved coalition should be perplexed because with the absence of the CPRS from the budget forward estimates, and the upswing from mining inputs, your debt and deficit scare tactics suddenly took a sharp turn towards no-man’s-land.
Ummm. Who are you referring to?
Shame about that lefty UK PM caught out insulting people, eh?
Yes, a terrible shame that he was forced to apologise to a bigot for the unforgivable crime of calling her a bigot.
Pedro
Interesting that some complain about the reporting of “off the record” conversations but are gleeful at this, no hypocrisy on your side of politics.
The sad truth is that this should never have been released, I think Sky might find all the UK leaders will be wary of talking to Sky
And Pedro this is a storm in a teacup, and if Brown’s government falls it won’t be over rubbish like this. Besides it’s not like he was insulting someone who had worked to get justice for others at the cost of his own health, no he is nothing like the current leader of the Liberals here.
I thought it was amusing, Brown, the leader of new Labour a ‘lefty’? Compared to you maybe.
“The sad truth is that this should never have been released…”
Yet your ranks pounce on video released of bad things happening in war zones. Hmmm.
RobJ: do not feed the troll.
Poss on Shanahan’s effort in today’s Oz. Most of the columnists in the MSM (including Shanahan) obviously write for those with memory loss, or who prefer their op-ed material to revise history.
But the sooner Rupe paywalls it the sooner it dissapears into obscurity.
“Six months earlier, an unnamed person had told Mr Clarke of Mr Guthrie’s ”hand gesture” that ended a terse meeting between him and senior columnist Andrew Bolt.”
http://www.theage.com.au/national/beverly-hills-cop-out-boss-also-had-jumbo-joyride-20100429-twlu.html
Pedro
Not even remotly the same, Helicopter taken video was taken as part of a war that we are paying for and should have been released (upon request). The Brown comments were recorded by accident and what public interest does it serve other than to show he calls a spade a spade. I like him more for this.
And you haven’t anwered how this is worse than Abbott’s comments on Bernie Banton last election ?
This business with gordon brown and the “bigoted woman” ….
Having heard the audio, I’m actually a bit surprised that it’s the “bigoted woman” part that’s getting ALL the attention. Sure, that’s rude – but the rest of it is a insight to how public “meet and greet” events work that’s straight from “The Hollowmen”, or perhaps more appropriately “The Thick Of It”.
“That was a disaster … you just should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? … Sue, I think. It was just ridiculous. ” (from AM transcript)
Confessions @ 29, It’s not relevant who’s to blame in holding up the ETS, it’s the Government’s responsibility to push through the things they truly believe in. We were told by Rudd that this was the greatest moral challenge of our time and that hesitation would be disastrous. This delay shows him to be a coward or a liar, or both.
“When the government wins a 2nd term and has a more friendly Senate we will see action on climate change. In the meantime you, pedro and your beloved coalition should be perplexed because with the absence of the CPRS from the budget forward estimates, and the upswing from mining inputs, your debt and deficit scare tactics suddenly took a sharp turn towards no-man’s-land.”
Yeah, and when Pluto aligns with the second moon of Jupiter and Neptune, Rudd will pull out his tough but humane asylum seeker policy. (I recall you claiming that AS wouldn’t be an election issue too. Nice strike rate so far).
He’s all talk. If he wasn’t, he’d have the next election as a DD on the ETS and be assured of it passing.
And RobJ, do as you’re told (@ 36). No engaging the enemy, even if it is light-hearted banter with a long-time contrib.
As much as it is clear that Pedro has decided to simply troll this site, she has a point in relation to the Brown video.
It is silly to suggest that the media should have sat on it instead of broadcasting it. He is vying for re-election as the PM and any information relevant to the public’s decision in that regard should be fair game.
The UK is, after all, a democracy.
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices…
Which when considered is not necessarily bad at all (provided that they agree with me).
The thing that shits me though is that some idiot cries fouls when a spade is called a spade. It is the truth that hurts most and the Australia that I grew up in used to be proud of its peoples open and forthright manner of speech. Now we get tossers who cry foul even when it happens on foreign soil!!!
And I suspect that the reason behind it is simply that the individual involved is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices against the left (or what they perceive comes from the left).
I bet that irony thing burns eh pedro?
Spare me the Dennis Shanahan history rewrite. The government had a deal with the opposition who then, at the provocation of the Minchinite Minority, proceeded to eat their own leadership in order to install one of their own as leader ahead of the Senate vote.
With Fielding as a de facto coalition denialist, and with the Greens refusing to vote for the bill, there is no point in the government pursuing the legislation with the current Senate a third time.
And please answer my question about who this mystery conviction politician you refer to on the conservative side of politics. Because you and I both know it isn’t the weathervane Abbott.
The government has reportedly decided to drop the fundie filter. As happy as I am about that, that really is hypocracy from Rudd, who told us only weeks ago that (wtte) the government made no apologies for wanting to be tough against child porn – not that the filter was ever going to stop access to it in the first place.
In my view Conroy is the worst performing government minister. I have no confidence in his ability to implement the broadband initiative. Perhaps after the election there will be a reshuffle and he will be moved to a lesser portfolio, or one that could weather a few stuff ups without too much fuss.
“it’s the Government’s responsibility to push through the things they truly believe in.”
Um. That’s not always possible in, you know, a democratic bicameral parliament
Or by “push through”, do you mean the sort of pork barreling that lubricates the US congress? They “push” lots of things through – often bad.
Politically, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing – it’s a big change and deserves to attract a reasonable amount of support to get passed. Although the greens really have covered themselves in stupid over this. Whatever happened to “the art of the possible”? They just held up a piece of legislation that would have had international impact, and they should be smart enough to realise that (why do they think that monckton show was down here campaigning?). They blew it. They won’t get their preferred targets any time soon – and even the ones that were on offer are now at least 3 years more distant. Nice work guys – here’s a piece of rope, now show us what you can do.
Every now and then, it is interesting to see how the sausages get made.
I would like to express my sympathy for Mr. Bolt. He has a dilemma. On one hand he is pleased that Tony Abbott want to reduce immigration. But he is up set that Abbott is {Snip – we can’t say that – Dave}
The only regrettable thing with Gordon Brown is that he was forced to apologize to a bigot (they’re taking our jobs away…blah blah) to save votes.
I love how when politicians are honest, people dont like it…but then they dont like it when they’re not.
The woman was a doddering moron.
Who is reporting it confessions?
Now the Govt has broken many promises, I’d be happy if they reneged on their promise to pump $100s of millions of tax payers money to the richest schools in the nation. To those who want to pull their kid’s out of the state system because for some reason they believe that there kids deserve better than the rest, fine, but don’t do it with my money. I feel the same about the private health rebate, why should I subsidise the likes millionaires to have better health care than me?
“They just held up a piece of legislation that would have had international impact,..”
Sorry Matthew, but you can’t be serious — what international impact would the introduction of an ETS in Australia have, besides of course crippling the ability of our producers to compete with international companies who have no such scheme adding to their production costs ?
And some people still think the UN is a respectable organisation:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/29/elects-iran-commission-womens-rights/