Punch on: Open thread 05/03/2012

Gravelly says:

07:22am | 05/03/12

Palmer deals with snakes and lizards every day! The ALP types, State and Federal! What a guy!

Erick says:

08:03am | 05/03/12

@Fred - Kylie and Olivia just sing songs and look pretty. They’re no more deserving than Palmer. I suspect your objections are based on your personal politics rather than the merits of the people involved.

AdamC says:

08:32am | 05/03/12

“Looks like Palmer just rode the property then the mining boom, so no.”

What does that mean? I take it you are a billionaire then too, Fred, given how easy it is to ‘ride booms’?

Clive Palmer is definitely a character, which is what I see the living treasure designation as reflecting. It is not so much a reflection of a person’s greatness or character. Palmer has been very successful and he has been financially rewarded for it. He would need to do more public service type stuff to warrant getting an OA, but living treasure I can maybe agree with.

Gratuitous Adviser says:

07:23am | 05/03/12

I agree.  My GGrandmother would never have a Catholic (and she was Irish Catholic) in the house after her husband died because it was common practice in late 19th century Australia for priests and ministers to hover around dying landowners with a promise of everlasting life if they change their will for the benefit of the church.  She was out on her ear soon after the wake.  I want an apology and compensation now.

Palmer, a national treasure?  Peeeeeeeeuuuu.  This one has a smell around it.

News from the sheltered workshop says:

08:20am | 05/03/12

All the tripe written in the Sunday Telegraph makes me sick.
It’s the current affair or today tonight of the press world

People who read it are simple minded folk

TimB says:

09:01am | 05/03/12

Thank you for your contribution Badger. It’s nice to see that you have provided your usual level of thought-provoking insight to the topic at hand.

If it clogs the pipes after you flush it, let me know. I know a good plumber.

Mahhrat says:

09:37am | 05/03/12

@TimB:

After the forum Mr Radcliffe said he had tried to inject some “light-hearted humour” and “would not have made any of the remarks I did - or hold the class - if I had known a journalist was in the room”.

Mr Radcliffe should be appointed a permanent journalist.

jay-ded says:

11:11am | 05/03/12

Church’s have been doing this for years TimB.  The Catholic Church in particular will always tend to the elderly by sending out people to look after, cook, help clean etc, but only if the elderly person leaves their property to the church in return.

At one stage, a large portion of the North Shore in Sydney was owned by the Catholic Church.

TimB says:

01:02pm | 05/03/12

That’s disgusting Jay-ded.

I know there’s undue influence laws available to allow wills to be challenged, but clearly they don’t have much teeth here. Is something stronger needed? But then what happens when you have people who genuinely wish to bequeath to charities?

Tricky situation. But something needs to be done to discourage this sort of practice IMO.

Elphaba says:

01:15pm | 05/03/12

You don’t even need to be dying.  If you make a regular contribution to some charities, they’ll ring you continually asking you to pony up more money.

It kinda takes the good feelings out of the whole giving process.  My mum gets phone calls all the time from Medicins San Frontieres…

marley says:

01:36pm | 05/03/12

@elphaba - I had that problem with MSF and I agree.  I just told them flatly to take me off their list.  I still get begging letters from them, but haven’t had a phone call since.  Tell your Mom to get tough with them, and they’ll lay off the calls.

Elphaba says:

02:13pm | 05/03/12

@marley, I did mention to her that she should, firmly but politely, remind them that she can withdraw her generosity at any time.

It’s disappointing that it has to come to thinly veiled threats though.  I don’t believe the fact that you’re collecting from a charity entitles you to bombard the people donating with requests.

I haven’t had any calls from Earthwatch yet, and the only communication with them has been stuff I’ve requested on their research expeditions.  Either I’m not home when they do call, or they’re good people…

Mahhrat says:

06:50am | 05/03/12

With all respect mate, if this is the best the anti-ALP brigade have got to say for all the fracas of the last few weeks, then your alternatives are no better than the incumbents.

ZSRenn says:

09:37am | 05/03/12

@ emeritus, agreed I would not be surprised if Rudd is already planning New Labor or whatever he is going to call it. This is the best opportunity for these members to keep their seats. Nay the only opportunity for some of them.

With the choice of Carr, not only has Gillard told the voter that her government is bereft of talent but she has told her government she has no faith in them either.

Someone wake this guy up says:

10:46am | 05/03/12

Excellent sleepy renn
Quick, go send a telegraph to Benson over at the Telegraph and tell him you have an excellent idea he can beat to death for the next 8 months.

The only party bereft of talent is the party that has the exclusivity of NO for answer.  Proof of the shallow pool of thinkers in the NOposition party.

TimB says:

12:38pm | 05/03/12

Ah the irony of decrying shallow thinking, whilst trotting out the tired and unoriginal ‘NOpposition’ line.

It’s delicious.

Thrace says:

01:02pm | 05/03/12

*sigh*

If the shoe fits wear it TimB
This one its perfectly.

Blind Freddy says:

09:21am | 05/03/12

And as a Bombers fan- I say let the Saints have them. We only care about the real season.

Mahhrat says:

10:24am | 05/03/12

@Blind Freddy:  I have to say I disagree.  You can’t put that many hyper-competetive souls in the same room and then pretend like you don’t care.

Sure, you stagger your list and bloody new talent and whatever have you, but you still want to win.  You don’t tell the 26 players to give up at half time.  It’s a nonsense.

gobsmack says:

07:04am | 05/03/12

I think the whole concept is suspect.
Occasionally, there are exceptional individuals who deserve this accolade but inducting a handful of minor public figures on an annual basis only cheapens the title.

stephen says:

07:34am | 05/03/12

Kylie just the other said that she doesn’t feel Aussie, but English ... which kind of makes her a 750 million pound Pom ... and she can stay there.

iansand says:

08:09am | 05/03/12

The final result was determined by a poll conducted by Woman’s Day.

Any more questions?

Tatty_Anne says:

08:09am | 05/03/12

The new batch were inducted to make up the numbers after some of the 100 members passed away.

What happens to them?  Do they become “National Dead Treasures”?

gobsmack says:

08:52am | 05/03/12

@Tatty Anne
They become buried treasures.

TChong says:

09:36am | 05/03/12

Gobsmack
LOL funny !

ibast says:

10:09am | 05/03/12

looking at JB in the photo I think they’ll have to come up with another soon.

Kerryn says:

08:16am | 05/03/12

I get the feedback at me all the time on the phone - makes it hard to hold a conversation when you hear yourself played back to yourself!

gobsmack says:

08:39am | 05/03/12

‘Sadly, they report that it has no effect on meaningless sound sequences such as “aaaaarghhh”.’
Tony Abbott is safe.

John F says:

09:31am | 05/03/12

I see you visit Gizmag too Erick.

Mahhrat says:

09:34am | 05/03/12

@Gobsmack:  Only takes .1 of a second to say “No”, too.

John F says:

09:40am | 05/03/12

ooppss
http://www.gizmag.com/speechjammer-silences-speakers/21686/

Elphaba says:

09:58am | 05/03/12

Like calling home when you’re OS.  It’s a nightmare.  That’s a case when email is a good thing.

TChong says:

09:20am | 05/03/12

zeta
thats one way of looking at it.
Equally, maybe those whose two faced, hypocritical machinations have been exposed, want wikileaks to be all about assange, that way it keeps the focus off the email contents.

TChong says:

09:34am | 05/03/12

agree markG
Disgust is the only response I feel.
Gaddafi, and his very secular Libya ,for all its faults , kept these fundamentalists at bay.
The British and French oil companies that financed this “spontaneous” peoples power revolution, just may regret their decision to hand out weapons.
Also, have you noticed how the support( from western govts) for a Syrian revolution , has become more muted , since an AlQueda offshoot decided to be part of the “good guys”  in over throwing Assad?

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:35am | 05/03/12

They are scum. the NTC are pretty pro Western so something hopefully will be done about it.

SimonFromLakemba says:

12:20pm | 05/03/12

Update: They have caught the group.

markG says:

12:53pm | 05/03/12

“the NTC are pretty pro Western so something hopefully will be done about it. “

Yes but are they Pro-Western by convenience or by actual desire. Will they prosecute their Muslim brothers on this? That remains to be seen. This incident may well be the thing that brings out the NTC’s true allegiances. If they take measures against fundamentalist Islam this may well undo any of the unity that this new government presently has. Without the controlling influence of a dictator, the secularists and fundamentalists may well create more problems than Gaddafi ever did. I assure you that a second civil war in Libya would be more brutal than the last and would be oriented around ethnic cleansing rather than just national leadership. Lets hope this issue is resolved at the incident.

AdamC says:

01:10pm | 05/03/12

I am sure Libya’s NTC will make a big show of slapping these young miscreants on somewhere other than their wrists. However, I don’t think we need worry abou them being stoned to death or beheaded. I mean, it isn’t like they took up Christianity or committed adultery or anything. You know, we need to keep a sense of proportion here!

Seriously, the NPT will retain a pro-western orientation so long as it calculates that is in its best interests. Like other Arab states, Libya does not naturally share Western political values. But its leaders will still heap praise on Cameron, Sarkozy and the rest until:

1) the Chinese front up with some major dosh to reinvigorate Libya’s oil industry - no human rights strings attached;

2) the whole country collapses into inter-tribal warfare; or

3) the Muslim Brotherhood, or one of its offshoots, takes over and turns Libya into a Sunni Iran.

Still, I am sooooo glad those adventurous European leaders helped knock off Gadaffi. Wasn’t that just a great move!

SimonFromLakemba says:

02:01pm | 05/03/12

@AdamC

No matter which country or who you are when it comes to money and power play, every country is the same.

TimB says:

09:30am | 05/03/12

Disqualified on account of the fact that he’s clearly a member of the undead

Knemon says:

01:10pm | 05/03/12

@ TimB - Shows how much I know (Yeah, OK) - Bob Brown was already on the list, but he just told a press conference that he intends to send the certificate back to the national trust and tell them where they can shove it, he doesn’t want to be on the same honour roll as Clive Palmer. Each to their own I suppose!

Therefore as his replacement, I would like to nominate Tory Shepherd

TimB says:

01:30pm | 05/03/12

Dummy spitting sook.

If anything, I think Clive Palmer has more right to be offended .

AdamC says:

01:44pm | 05/03/12

Did Bob Brown really do this?

If so, it is a good illustration of the modus operandi of this despicable government. They use their many mouthpieces and proxies, Senator Brown among them, to deliberately escalate the rhetoric and then whinge and complain when the targets of their attacks, like mining magnates, fight back.

SimonFromLakemba says:

02:05pm | 05/03/12

@TimB

” Dummy spitting sook.”

I think Clive Palmer wrote the book on that. A few more years and he’ll beat Gerry Harvey for the title.

gobsmack says:

02:14pm | 05/03/12

How ironical that one of the coalition’s cheersquad should mention “mouthpieces and proxies” in a thread about mining magnates.
Of which party is Palmer a member?  How much did he give to it in donations?
The only real question is does the Palmer serve the interests of the LNP or vice versa?

AdamC says:

02:39pm | 05/03/12

Gobsmack, Palmer was simply responding to Wayne Swan’s unhinged attacks on him and other rich mining industry notables. I cannot see where any mouthpieces or proxies are in operation there.

Furthermore, Gobsmack, I realise that this may require a bit more independent thought than is usually displayed by Labor’s legion of syncophants, but have you considered that Australia’s treasurer deliberately initiating a highly personal, nasty catfight with high-profile investors and entrepreneurs might be, you know, a bad look for the nation? Just a thought. I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself ...

markG says:

02:34pm | 05/03/12

They bothered because of the human rights violations. Problem is that the rebels are not the angels they make out. Sometimes a bleeding heart does not produce what you want it to produce despite your best intentions.

jay-ded says:

11:20am | 05/03/12

I’m over Coldplay.

Elphaba says:

11:31am | 05/03/12

@jay-ded, they’re great live.  But I will give them up for something else, since I’ve already seen them.  I wasn’t a fan until I got a ticket for the X&Y tour and I was blown away.

But yeah… keeping eyes on a couple of other acts I’d like to come out too…

RyaN says:

11:44am | 05/03/12

@Elphaba: oh that’d be awesome, a flashy lighty thingy for you wrist to go with the mind-numbingly incoherent lyrics.

Elphaba says:

12:01pm | 05/03/12

RyaN, I don’t tell you what to spend your money on…

Bogan Pride says:

12:05pm | 05/03/12

Ryan
The flashing light will match the ones are her runners.

Ben C says:

01:42pm | 05/03/12

@ M

In respect of Dame Edna, Barry Humphries is on the list.

Knemon says:

02:01pm | 05/03/12

@ jay-ded - I agree. I’m assuming that the woman holding up Jack Brabham is Olivia Newton-John? I never would have guessed it, but I suppose my memories of her do go back about thirty years!

jay-ded says:

03:08pm | 05/03/12

Mine too Knemon.  I can remember when she was really young singing country music.

mr g says:

09:35am | 06/03/12

Does Erick know about this? He will demand to know why the Men’s Day is so late in the year.  He will agree with you Jayded, and ask why we don’t just have a “People’s Day”,  where all of the people meet all of the other people and the women do all of the work while Erick and Co lay back basking in their superiority.

jay-ded says:

02:45pm | 05/03/12

Yeah, me too Simon.  I’m beginning to think that I smell or something…

SimonFromLakemba says:

03:16pm | 05/03/12

We’ve been put in the stinky corner Jay-ded!

jay-ded says:

03:57pm | 05/03/12

I wonder if the stinky corner comes with a lovely multi-coloured dunce-like cap with the wording:  “You Smell!”

Or are they saving that cap for someone special in the ALP?

whatapal says:

06:19pm | 05/03/12

Yo AnthonyG, welcome back mate.

Speaking of comedians, Nicole was playing around on the site over the weekend. You poor bastard I can appreciate what your going through. Well anyway she was just prattling away and came out with something that may be o great interest to you.

Anyway, she told us she keeps your cojones in a metal box she buried in the backyard. I think she said something about the corner where the dogs do their thing.

Hope this helps.