28 September, 2015

Is AB OK? Don’t worry, he is.

By now, you’ll have read or read about Andrew Bolt’s love letter to the memory of Tony Abbott as prime minister.

Why couldn't you tell the truth before, Andrew? Were you lying? Again?
It has even led some to wonder if Mr Bolt should be put on 24-hour watch for his own safety.
 
Are we at peak unhinging? I wish it were so.

Fear not, friends. Andrew Bolt is not rocking back and forth whimpering under his desk. Instead, he is wearing a grin the size of Ralph Malph’s saying “I still got it!” while he creams himself over all the outrage he has provoked again.

And Bolt, gentleman that he is, has also taken the internet heat off his Sydney colleague Miranda Devine, who wrote something downright dangerous yesterday.

Bolt hasn’t snapped. He still knows exactly what he’s doing.
  
 


27 September, 2015

Thinking of linking

This week I have been mostly reading...

Australia:
Joe Hockey in line for plum post, despite being a political loser who was almost sacked

Chris Brown concert tour posters replaced after Melbourne activists' 'I beat women' sticker campaign

Cory Bernardi: new right wing party could challenge Liberals - Would probably raise the collective IQ of both parties.

A sour, bitter episode, Tony Abbott’s career will cast a long and oppressive shadow

Peta Credlin breaks silence, slams media’s ‘tripe and bile’

The victims and casualties of Peta Credlin’s wrath

Tony Abbott's policy muddle was clear to all

Tony Abbott's department discussed investigation into Bureau of Meteorology over global warming exaggeration claims, FOI documents reveal

Bronwyn Bishop voted against Tony Abbott because he’d forced her out as Speaker

There's a righteous impatience to this newly empowered electorate "Maybe this is instability. Maybe it's democracy."

Xenophon takes aim at Turnbull

Sexism isn't responsible for Peta Credlin's own failures

Peta Credlin: Everyone to blame but a failure of a chief of staff

Hand the power of preferences back to the people

Guess who really stopped the boats? (hint: not Abbott)

Dear Scott, here's the way to go

A new leader does not cover up a $20 billion budget hole

How Tony Abbott's government was the least productive since 1971 

Bidding farewell to Peta Credlin, the woman who broke all Canberra's rules 

US:
Ahmed Mohamed's parents handed out pizza to reporters outside their home Worst. Terrorists. Ever!

GOP's Muslim moment: why Trump, Carson are so unsettling to party

Fact-checking Martin Shkreli's claim that Daraprim is 'underpriced, relative to its peers' (Spoiler: False!)

World:
Caught on camera: The moment Peter Greste learnt of pardons in Egypt

Young suicide bomber weeps before final mission

Yazidi woman raped by 'American jihadi' to testify to Congress

Russia exhumes bones of murdered Tsar Nicholas and wife

Fact-checking the link between climate change and ISIS (Spoiler: Mostly true)

Media:
Liberal leadership spill coup sparks News Corp 'civil war' More popcorn!

The war between Donald Trump and Fox News is back on

Music:
Morrissey says 'there is no need for me to say goodbye' as he plays 'final' UK gig in London. Says there is no point touring if he can't get a record deal

Album rescue series: Aerial by Kate Bush

Don Henley In Conversation With Billy Joel

Something Changed: Pulp's Different Class Revisited

Frank Zappa And Zubin Mehta Talk Music

Animals:
Industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history

Science:
A camera fast enough to show the speed of light! 

This Slug Has Such a Big Penis It Has to Mate Upside Down

Pluto’s surface looks like “dragon scales” in NASA’s new high-res colour photos

Tech:
How PowerPoint is killing critical thought 

History:
Why Brave New World is No Longer the Terrifying Dystopia it Used to Be

Humour and satire:
An Australia Out Fax

Halal Linked To Terrorism By Complex Series Of Imaginary Connections In Cory Bernardi’s Head, Enquiry Finds

I got stupid on me and now I need to wipe it off on you:
The Science Behind Richard Dawkins’ Problem with Ahmed Mohamed

Radicalisation Awareness Kit: Government's new booklet for schools links green activism, 'alternative music' to terrorism

Tony Abbott: my legacy the key to victory at next election

The least boring photo on my camera roll:



21 September, 2015

Richard Dawkins joins Sarah Palin

…or, Irony – what even is it?

Richard Dawkins has attracted criticism (in other news, it’s Monday) after joining and amplifying accusations that Ahmed Mohamed committed some kind of fraud in claiming to have “invented” the clock that got him arrested for taking a bomb to school.

Firstly, so what if he hacked a bought clock instead of assembling one from virgin components? What were YOU doing when you were 14?

Dawkins’ nitpicking included the rather racist allowance for the possibility that the young brown kid didn’t have a full understanding of English…


…but in my opinion, the worst in his series of tweets on the topic was this one, prefaced with the classic weasel words, “If this is true…”


With that comment, Dawkins veers towards the deranged ramblings of Sarah Palin in implying there may have been sinister motives. Here we have one of the loudest advocates of reason and rationality, with no evidence other than a YouTube clip and his own feels, suggesting Ahmed might have been playing some kind of double-bluff in order to get attention.

With all due respect Professor, I think you might be projecting. I’m sure it’s not that you can’t process the idea of a Muslim boy with a passion for science being victimised for his race and/or religion.

In admitting he’d gone too far, Professor Dawkins explained he was feeling a bit sensitive.
  
 

20 September, 2015

Thinking of Linking

What I've been reading this week. May contain traces of #LibSpill

Australia:
The show must go on - why Abbott can't help his symbolic acts

Leadership challenge against PM Tony Abbott by Malcolm Turnbull ‘inevitable’, Liberal MPs say

The Brilliance Of Peter Dutton's Apology

Turnbull challenges Abbott

Malcolm Turnbull was Australia’s worst ever Communications Minister

Liberal leadership spill: Tony Abbott's annual pension to top $300,000, plus extras

Liberal leadership spill: five reasons why Malcolm Turnbull will avoid Julia Gillard's curse ...or you could just say "Cos bloke."

14 Of The Greatest Moments In Abbott Government Apologies

Australia will forgive Malcolm Turnbull in a way they never forgave Julia Gillard

How the Liberal party machine swallowed the real Tony Abbott alive

The Right To Throw A Tanty: We Watched The Abbott Loyalists Explode, So You Didn't Have To

Young Liberal meeting boils over as verbal clashes turn physical after leadership spill

some scrappy thoughts on tone

Liberal leadership: MPs audition for life under Turnbull

After the wreckage Abbott caused he still left feeling sore and under-appreciated  

Cory Bernardi doesn't rule out quitting the Liberal Party following Malcolm Turnbull's elevation - Bernardi moving from the Liberals to a fringe right wing party would probably raise the average IQs of both.

Tony Abbott: In the end, there was poetry

Tony Abbott’s Long Demise

Vale, Tony Abbott – both a unique man and a unique failure 

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch cops cracked sternum at home in Cairns

How it happened: Inside the Malcolm Turnbull leadership coup

Leadership spill: Turnbull coup resets a government that had stopped working

Dumped PM Tony Abbott says he intends to stay in Parliament

Yes, we’re not a banana republic, and no, the system ain’t broke

So many highlights this week from a grown-up Returnbull and the lunatic fringes ... and toupees

Twist of the knife reveals real Julie Bishop

Malcolm Turnbull will succeed if he remains true to his word

Malcolm Turnbull the National Circuit breaker

How will history look upon Abbott and his prime ministership?

Why Tony Abbott must go quietly into the night

Kicking the Abbott

US:
Obama invites suspended Muslim teen to the White House

President ‘Zero F*cks Left’ Obama Launches Epic Twitter Rant To Haters

Society:
Moral injury and the recalibration of priorities

Music:
The Beatles / 1 expanded with restored videos and remixed audio

David Gilmour profile

Tech:
Stop Windows Telemetry/Tracking/Upgrading to Win10

It’s too late to give machines ethics – they’re already beyond our control - Just because it's been the basis of science fiction doesn't mean it's not a problem.

Science:
Pope Names U.S. Jesuit Planetary Scientist to Head Vatican Observatory

History:
How and Why Australian Prime Ministers Left Office - Update

Animals:
Feral Cat Howls for Weeks After Loss of Her Best Friend Who Showed Her Love

Park Ranger Comforts A Sad Gorilla That Just Lost Its Mother To Poachers

Faith:
Archbishop of Canterbury plans to loosen ties of divided Anglican communion 

Pope Attacked Over Motu Proprio; Cardinal Kasper Reasserts His Proposal

I got stupid on me and now I need to wipe it off on you:
Bring Back Tony Abbott As PM Because We Voted For Tony - Your Excellency, we the undersigned know absolutely nothing about the Australian electoral system, the constitution, or the Westminster system of government. 

Rare nobility on a night of change

Tony Abbott loyal to a fault: why Philip was knighted - "History will be much kinder to the Abbott prime ministership than today’s analysis would suggest." Yeah, Greg, I'll take that bet.

The least boring photo on my camera roll:


12 September, 2015

Thinking of linking

This week I have been most reading...

Australia:
Local #IndiTalks media slams @MirabellaSophie’s “playground politics”

Officials admit discussing idea that cruise operator could hire foreign crew

Cruise ship boss wants apology from Prime Minister Tony Abbott over lie claim

Death penalty: Australian Federal Police dobs 1847 suspects

Syrian migrant crisis: Australian Islamic leaders label Christian refugee preference as 'bigoted'

Coalition auditor for 2013 election costings breached standards

The Syria Syndrome

FactCheck: Does Australia take more refugees per capita through the UNHCR than any other country?

Abbott's just saying 'stop the boats' to everything now?

Get on with your jobs: Christopher Pyne admits damage from Abbott government reshuffle talk

The refugee crisis has opened an ugly fissure in Australia's rightwing politics

Peter Dutton jokes with Tony Abbott about rising sea levels in Pacific nations  Adult government!

Peter Dutton overheard joking about rising sea levels in Pacific Island nations

Tony Abbott’s outburst: how the PM ‘dumped’ on Andrew Robb over the China free trade deal

Moronic lesser minds make a meal of migration

Kiribati president lashes Peter Dutton for 'vulgar' joke about rising sea levels in Pacific, urges action on climate change

'Waves are battering my home': Marshall Islands Foreign Minister slams Peter Dutton after climate joke

Karina Lock: nothing was going to stop ex-husband from murder 

US:
Black, Harvard-Educated Ex-Tennis Star Says NYPD Tackled Him Outside Luxury Hotel

Entire native Alaskan villages are relocating as climate change pushes up sea levels

Stupidity, Not Religion, Put Kim Davis in Jail

Survivor Files $1.2 Million Lawsuit Against Kim Davis & Mike Huckabee It's probably easier and cheaper for Republicans to just assume that musicians hate them.

Michael Stipe to Donald Trump, Other Candidates Using Band's Music: "Go Fuck Yourselves" See?

Why I'm done with the 9/11 ritual

Rick Perry Drops Out, Takes Gloves Off With Trump When Rick Perry calls you ignorant...

Mitch Landrieu avoids house arrest with last-minute court ruling

UK:
Jeremy Corbyn’s critics back away from bid to elect shadow cabinet

Dame Vivienne Westwood Drives Tank To David Cameron's House In Fracking Protest

Society:
I wish we could all appraise class issues like Antiques Roadshow's tweedy experts

Media:
The Footy Show: TV's greatest embalming feat needs to go

Objective reporting: it's a thing of the past

Objective reporting: we need it more than ever

14 ways Buzzfeed found its Australian voice

Science:
New Pluto images confirm it as a world of mysteries 

​Wind Turbine Drone Inspection Could Be a $6 Billion Industry in Under a Decade

Mental health:
Why You Should Think Before You Ask ‘R U OK’ Today

Faith:
Christian politicians won’t say it, but the Bible is clear: let the refugees in, every last one

Stephen Colbert, in interview, discusses faith, joy and humor

Humour and satire:
We need to look after our own first, say people who would never help anyone

The least boring photo on my camera roll:




05 September, 2015

Thinking of linking

This week I have been mostly reading...

Australia:
Dyson Heydon may have 'misled' on decision to quit Liberal fundraiser, says ACTU, as ruling delayed again

Well beyond bordering on farce

Stopped on the street by border force? Six things you need to know 

Battlers and plutocrats: How political connections reward Australia's super-rich

Border force announcement went to Peter Dutton's office twice before release 

F is for farce: how Australian Border Force united the nation against it

Border Force: preserving freedom doesn't sit with governments You know you've stuffed up when even Tim Wilson can't rationalise your actions

Tony Abbott's rush to join air strikes in Syria appears politically rather than strategically motivated, Middle East expert says. Ya think?

Two years on, pugilist Abbott leads divisive and divided government  "It showed a level of trickiness that was not obvious, at least to this writer, when Abbott was a Howard government minister." It should have been, Michelle, it should have been.

Australia’s Brutal Treatment of Migrants 

An unhappy anniversary as Abbott government turns two "Most of us believed it when, as opposition leader, he said the soap opera would end and this would be a government of no surprises, no excuses." Speak for yourself, Nikki!

Heydon gave a lawyer's response to a layman's test

Fee concerns cloud Australia corporate registry sale

Tony Windsor poised to challenge Barnaby Joyce for New England

Tony Abbott's first two years: broken promises and confected 'wars' leave voters deeply unimpressed

The Nazis, ashamed? Abbott's Third Reich comparisons are not 'gaffes'  Notwithstanding the fact that Tony Abbott is the world's most well-educated ignoramus, this does raise a question: If hiding your actions is a sign you're ashamed, why all the secrecy over what we're doing to refugees?

US:
Hurricane Katrina is still complex, catastrophic story "Have you ever wanted to be heard and left alone at the same time?"

I’m from New Orleans, but I didn’t understand why we needed to save it (Spoiler: he does now)

New Orleans: The Week After the Week After "Many New Orleanians were dreading this week. They didn't need decade-old memories rekindled. Those memories had never been un-kindled." 

UK:
David Cameron’s refugee response would appal past Tory prime ministers

World:
Big Bank Says It’s Going To Cost A Lot To Do Nothing On Global Warming

Media:
How We Will Not Be Talking About The Murder Of Two Virginia Reporters

Fairfax leading jihad to bring down Abbott Government, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says Cry, baby, cry

Charlie Pickering's news review show The Weekly deserves another run Hell yeah!

Twitter tyrants and social justice warriors beware! The libertarians are coming for you 

On Aylan and the ethics of circulating images of the unconsenting dead

Happy Monday Paul Ryder to play the butler in Batman TV series remake Holy Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches, you're twisting my bat-melon, man!

Tech:
Beats By Dre headphones teardown finds metal parts included just to add weight Just in case you were wondering, yes, they're overpriced crap.

Car cassette slot mistaken for iPhone dock

Food:
Meals in Melbourne

I got stupid on me and now I need to wipe it off on you:
Jeremy Corbyn’s politics are fantasy – just like Alice in Wonderland in which Tony Blair argues for evidence and reason over feelings. Yes, THAT Tony Blair.

Vale:
Oliver Sacks, Renowned Neurologist And Author, Dies At 82

Oliver Sacks, Neurologist Who Wrote About the Brain’s Quirks, Dies at 82

The least boring photo on my camera roll:


01 September, 2015

Thinking of linking

Last week I was mostly reading...

Australia:
Tax, Economic Management and the Long Slow Death of the Abbott Government

The Sydney schools becoming Anglo ghettos

Alternate V/Line routes across Victoria

Tony Abbott pushed for US request to join Syria air strikes

Where's our ambition? Quit stalling and get on with reform

F is for farce: how Australian Border Force united the nation against it

The Guardian view on Australia and gay marriage: all out of step except Tony Abbott 

Hot air fills the leadership vacuum

If George Brandis won't stand up for the rule of law, why is he attorney general? 

US:
It’s time for Latinos to unite against Donald Trump

OK, This Trump Thing Isn’t Funny Anymore

Harry Shearer Katrina-anniversary BBC radio documentary to stream Saturday

World:
South Korea is trolling North Korea by using loudspeakers to blast K-pop over the border

Apparently a gorilla is on the cusp of learning to talk

Music:
Habitat for Humanity hosts an intimate concert featuring Randy Newman

Morrissey's Debut Novel 'List of the Lost' Out This Fall

Media:
How did the Australian media get it so wrong with Kathy Jackson?

ABC's Leigh Sales cleared of bias in Joe Hockey budget interview

Max Markson swears by Mark Latham 

History:
Windows 95 20th Anniversary: 20 Years of Tech Advancements

In 1975, this Kodak employee invented the digital camera. His bosses made him hide it. 

Vale:
Oliver Sacks, Renowned Neurologist And Author, Dies At 82

The least boring photo on my camera roll: