Punch on: Open thread 15/02/2012

Bill says:

05:39am | 15/02/12

A gambler and their money are lucky enough to get together in the first place…

S.L says:

08:09am | 15/02/12

Agreed Bill….......

fairsfair says:

08:52am | 15/02/12

Yes MarkF, big boobs are actually a curse. I’d kill for a set of Cs, which I think are the perfect size. I would seriously consider a reduction following having kids I reckon (if). Bit of a tidy up after they have done what they were put there for.

In terms of double mastectomy though - I think it would be really hard to come to terms with nothing being there. Reduced, yep, there is still something, but absolutely nothing would be really hard. The hardest bit for people to get over would be the emotional reaction to the scars.

People who have a breast reduction (generally as bad a surgery)  usually look to their scars as something they can live with due to the advantages, but people who have had to have their breasts removed associate those scars with something that could end their life. I guess coming to terms with that would be different for all - perhaps these photos would help, who knows.

But I think you are totally right about the positive attitude. In all aspects of life, not just cancer patients. I have completely changed my attitude in recent weeks and so much good stuff has recently happened to me - I can’t believe it.

nossy says:

08:58am | 15/02/12

@fairsfair   TimB’s fantasies will reach fever pitch now you have said that fairs - you know hes in love with you anyway!  hahahahah

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:02am | 15/02/12

@Nossy

LOL

Tsk Tsk

fairsfair says:

10:53am | 15/02/12

Tsk Tsk alright Nossy! LOL

I have never been quite about my bap obsession in the past. TimB is all too aware already!

Besides, we’ve clarified on many occasions the the State of Origin factor will always get in the way of our great love

TimB says:

11:23am | 15/02/12

  @ both Nossy and Simon.

And what Fairs said. It’s like Romeo and Juliet- But with more bogans in footy jerseys and less poison .

Okay maybe a bit of poison. But she can’t help licking those canetoads .

ausspud says:

11:56am | 15/02/12

@fairs-Out of curiosity were you called “Vinegar tit’s"at school  
Sorry if I offended.

fairsfair says:

01:12pm | 15/02/12

LOL ausspud…What does that even mean?!?!

My sister’s gay friend calls her sugar tits (rofl). Is that something to do with the sour/acidic factor? Because I’d probably agree

acotrel says:

06:42am | 15/02/12

Just now ? ? My wife has been turning off the TV news for the last two years whenever that negative LNP idiot starts barking ! You talk about toxic - there is no-one else in parliament as poisonous as Abbott, even though Mirabella is making a valiant attempt to take the prize. The whole LNP is a disgrace, and unfit for their role ! Have a quick look back at the tone of every debate - nothing to be proud of, and most of the way down has been paved by the LNP in their scramblet to regain their birth right ! BAD LOSERS !

TimB says:

06:57am | 15/02/12

Hey Acotrel.

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_is_your_prime_minister_a_liar/

7 lies straight from the Prime Minister herself. Try to avoid the intellectually weak “BOLT!” and disporve them if you can.

Tony can’t come close to matching the crap our PM has dished to us.

Dash says:

07:34am | 15/02/12

Now sit and watch how the Labor party dumps on Gillard. Everything will be blamed on her as it was on Rudd last time. The truth is that the Labor party has zero credibility left. They have constantly over promised and under delivered.

As acotrel demonstrates, the ALP are in denial. They do not accept responsibility for the job they have done. They blame Abbott for the fact that they have been unable to run the country properly and have created a class war.

acotrel needs to look at how the party he is a member of, has sold it’s soul out to the greens and the left faction. Extrreme socialism is ruining his party and the country yet all he can do is bleat about Abbott highlighting the fact that the ALP are crap!

The private health lie is a disgraceful joke! But is just the latest in a long line of deceitful bullshit dished up by the ALP over the course of the last four years. I cannot believe there are still people prepared to vote for this rabble! Unless of course they are on the ALP gravy train.

Any retro move back to Rudd is laughable given the way he was dumped and blamed for everything. What will happen to Swan, Shorten, Combet and the left faction if Gillard goes. What will happen to the ‘Resistence’ member Howes, that unrepresentative union heavy who put his Socialist mate into the top job?

What has the Labor party got to be proud of acotrel? The Carbon tax fraud? Credit card coverups? ALP backed builders with their noses in the taxpayer trough over the BER? Insulation deaths? The East Timor announcement when it never existed? The lie about private health? Fuelwatch? Grocery choice? the coast guard? The bribing of independents?  Record levels of debt? The removal by unrepresentative unions of the elected PM? The stacking of Fairwork with ex-union heavies? You’re proud of that are you?

People need to wake up! The ALP are going to promise you the earth like they did back in 2007 in a desperate bid to keep their taxpayer funded jobs. History has proven they are full of bullshit and will not deliver. As the cabbie said to me last night, “in my lifetime, the ALP have never been able to handle money”!

You can change the captain of a sinking ship, but it’s still a sinking ship!

Dash says:

07:42am | 15/02/12

TimB - do not fall into the trap that it’s all Gillard. The whole Labor party has zero credibility. The ALP are now trying to deamonise Gillard to save the rest of their sorry lot! Just as Gillard and Swan were instrumental in the failed Rudd years, so too are Shorten, Wong, and Albasleazy, instrumental in the failed Gillard years!

Do not let the ALP push the “it’s all Gillard’s fault” line. They’ve already started it in an attempt to save their own sorry arses! And journos like Oakes (see last weekends paper) and Farr (last two posts on this site) have started to sing the ALP tune.

Marco says:

08:04am | 15/02/12

@toxic P.m.

I reckon it must be a much much more dire problem for the A.L.P. when people dont just hate the leader but stop listening to her? It doesnt matter what good things the A.L.P. has to say now because people just dont believe a damn word they say. Surely she has to go!?!!

Gloria says:

08:33am | 15/02/12

Stop listening to this government ages ago and now waiting for the media eg Punch etc to do the right by the people she represents and help to put an end to this unscrupulous woman embarrassing the Australian people any longer. Anyone else to be our PM but her.

Blind Freddy says:

08:36am | 15/02/12

Did you see Juliar Bishop telling porkies last night on The Drum? She made Juliar Gillard look like an honest woman.

TimB says:

08:40am | 15/02/12

Oh don’t worry Dash I know the ALP isn’t a paragon of competence either. But Julia’s one of the worst of a bad bunch.

If the ALP want to get me (and I’m sure many other voters) even half intersted in looking their direction, they need to do a few things first:

1. Get rid of those who give their party such a bad name. I suggest starting with Gillard, Rudd, Swan, Thomson & Conroy. I’m not too fussed on Combet either.

Fergurson seems like a decent sort and he has his head screwed on straight about the nuclear power issue. I don’t think I’d mind him stepping into the void.

Which brings us to:

2. Radical policy shift.

Drop the carbon tax.
Drop any form of carbon trading.
Invest into nuclear tech & R&D for efficient renewables.
Kill the internet filter.
Drop the mining tax.
Broker a better royalty deal between the miners and the state governments but DONT lay claim to resources that constitutionally belong to the states.
Find a more efficient and cost effective way of creating a fast internet network.
Tell Bob Brown where he can shove it.
Tell the unions where *they* can shove it.

Those are the kinds of things I want from a political party. The Libs don’t tick all the boxes on that list unfortunately, but they tick more of them than the ALP currently do. The ball is in the ALP’s court really. Unfortunately I don’t see them suffering a massive attack of common sense anytime soon.

GB says:

08:59am | 15/02/12

@Acotrel. So this is what it’s come to now has it? Are you really that desperate that you’re going to try and blame alol this on the LNP? LMAO!!!!!!!!! Face the facts. Your party are a shambles. You’ve got a PM who couldn’t lie straight in bed, a wimp for a Treasurer who is really showing those big bad banks, A Foreign Minister spending his time auditioning for his next role at the UN all the while undermining his assassin at every opportunity, the GG’s son-in-law behind every duplicitous action within the party and changing the Superannuation laws to favour his Union cronies on the boards of Industry Super Funds. Another front bencher who likes to spend his members fees which pay for his Union-supplied Credit card on hookers, and so on and so on…................

Yep, you’re right. It’s all the LNP’s fault.

TimB says:

09:06am | 15/02/12

Actually I did Freddy. I’m not sure why she felt the need to do that, it was such a minor issue. And it was clear to what she was alluding, so the denials just look silly- Although I’m sure she had her tongue planted in her cheek the entire time.

Regardless, on a scale from 1 (‘I wasn’t the one who farted in the lift’) to 10 (‘There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead’), I’d rate Julie Bishops performance last night at about -3.

If that’s the kind of lie that keeps you stewing at night, then you’ve got issues.

Blind Freddy says:

09:26am | 15/02/12

@TimB
“If that’s the kind of lie that keeps you stewing at night, then you’ve got issues.”

Not at all - just keeping the commentary “fair and balanced”.

Gloria says:

09:28am | 15/02/12

@ Blind Freddy

Please don’t even try to link anyone’s deceitful ways to that of Julia Gillard. Even Labor caucus MP Craig Thomson doesn’t come close to the way Gillard has lied to the Australian people. Craig Thomson deceived the members of the Union he worked for but Gillard to hold a straight face and lie to the Australian people is the scum of the earth. Gillard becoming our first female PM began with a lie and only the truth will set her and the Australian people free otherwise you can look forward to more woes!

This is not about politics it is now about getting rid of a person who holds the highest most honourable, should be respected position in the land. All credibility is lost by her own doings and we the people shouldn’t have to endure anymore of her deceitfulness etc!

I think it was very clever of Julia Bishop to link the Rudd coup with the coup of the Maldives! You can read into it however you want!

Anubis says:

09:33am | 15/02/12

@ Acotrel - now tell us your opinions of that lying wretch Gillard - caught out many times, most recently on 4 Corners. How can you justify her remaing in Parliament when she has less credibility than an alley rat?

DaveB says:

10:03am | 15/02/12

Song for the day: http://youtu.be/hzTeLePbB08?t=41s

Blind Freddy says:

10:11am | 15/02/12

@Gloria
“I think it was very clever of Julia Bishop to link the Rudd coup with the coup of the Maldives! You can read into it however you want!”

I think it was dishonest of her (Bishop) to pretend that she had not deliberately made the link.

If you were able to keep politics out of it, as you advise me, you would see that they are both (Gillard and Bishop) deceitful and liars. You are ideologically sympathetic to one and not the other - hence your blindness in one eye.

TimB says:

10:28am | 15/02/12

Freddy, if your mind equates Gillard’s election stealing lie with something as trivial as what Julie Bishop did, then it is you who is one-eyed.

It is far to simplistic to say ‘they’re both liars!’.  As Dr House says, *everyone* lies. What’s important is context & impact.

Equating Gillard’s behaviour with Bishop’s and having the teremity to describe such a view as ‘balanced’ is just plain ridiculous.

I can just see you at a trial defending a murderer by pointing out that the Judge just killed a fly!

‘You’re both murderers!. Where’s the balance!?’

Blind Freddy says:

10:37am | 15/02/12

@TimB

“What’s important is context & impact”

Given other contexts Bishop will lie again. It comes so naturally to her - just like Gillard.

I would like to hear some of the reassurances she must have given Turnbull, as his deputy, before Minchin arranged the leadership coupe in the Liberal Party that put Abbott in charge.

Time will tell - but for now she has proven herself a liar. Why you are defending Bishop obviously lying - well, who knows- party loyalty?

Blind Freddy says:

10:45am | 15/02/12

@TimB

Has the killing of a fly been elevated to being a crime of murder lately- I must have missed that one.

You will find that legal priciple is legal priciple- theft of 100 dollars or 100, 000 dollars is still called theft. Bishop is a 2 dollar liar and Gillard is a 200 dollar liar- happy now?

Ando says:

10:47am | 15/02/12

Blindfreddy,
Julie Bishop was embarrassing on the Drum . Every time I think I have no choice but to vote Liberal I see something like that

Gloria says:

11:01am | 15/02/12

Blind Freddy

If that is the case why is the vast majority want to see the end of Julia Gillard as our PM? It has come to the stage where Craig Thomson is looking more credible than this country’s PM. ( Craig Thomson hasn’t lied as much to the nation like Gillard ) Gillard has not only disgraced herself, her party but the people of this nation. She must be replaced, be it Craig Thomson for all I care. I leave that to the Sussex st thugs, they owe it to the people of Australia.

Blind Freddy says:

11:18am | 15/02/12

@Gloria

Just because one liar is more popular than another liar doesn’t relieve the more popular liar of being labelled a liar. Bishop is a bare-faced liar.

TimB says:

11:18am | 15/02/12

“Has the killing of a fly been elevated to being a crime of murder lately- I must have missed that one.”

Not at all. But given how your mind defines balance and equivalence, it wasn’t a great stetch to assume you see it as such.

“You will find that legal priciple is legal priciple- theft of 100 dollars or 100, 000 dollars is still called theft”

And I think you’ll find different definitions of theft. Grand theft and petty theft for example. You might even find that they carry vastly different punishments too.

“Bishop is a 2 dollar liar and Gillard is a 200 dollar liar- happy now?”

So why bring up a ‘2 dollar lie’ in response to a ‘200 dollar lie’? Why try to claim that this is an example of ‘balance’?

How silly.

ausspud says:

12:02pm | 15/02/12

@acotrel-You still managed to find a way to blame Abbott,Good one.
What next the extinction of the dinasaur’s.

Gloria says:

12:28pm | 15/02/12

Blind Freddy

Like Gillard and her minority government you have lost your moral compass! If you can’t find it for yourself try comprehending what I am saying so as to help poor Gillard restore some kind of credibility to the Labor brand and the people of Australia instead of disgracing us further. We are being laughed at on the international stage, Parliament with the new speaker because of Gillard is a joke. Julia Bishop had every right question Rudd the way she did. It couldn’t be helped, everyone except the likes of you are feeling disgusted with what Gillard is throwing back at us.

Get rid of her and start afresh! I was asking for elections but not anymore, just get rid of her for all our sanity and to bring back some credibility to what should be the highest and most honourable job in the land.

Gregg says:

01:27pm | 15/02/12

What about we have Julia and Julie as the featured girls on a femal parliamentarians lets get it off girls calendar to raise funds for breast cancer.
They could even run it with the shave a head day.

Supportive captions could be ” Bring it on ” ” Make my Day ” and we might even be able to fit in somewhere ” I’ve had the dirty ” or perhaps it could be ” I’m dirty “

Kevin might even be able to fit in some pole dancing and with Pete the headmaster Slipper losing control, the show could have all the makings of a great cabaret act.

sunny says:

06:14pm | 15/02/12

Geez the anti - Labor/Gillard crew sure have got a lot of energy to spare. Maybe we should harness it somehow as an alternative to fossil fuels.

marley says:

07:44am | 15/02/12

@BJ - this has nothing to do with “coasting along on your looks.”  I have a relative who had a mastectomy - and she struggled quite a bit afterwards with body image, but not because she was relying on beauty for anything.  She was in her 60s at the time, a widow and comfortably independent. 

But losing a breast is losing part of your body, part of what you are and have been for your whole life - it changes how you see yourself and how you think of yourself.  You’ve got scars, something’s missing, you don’t look the same.  You can get prosthetics so that, to the outside world, you look “normal,” but you only have to look into a mirror to know that you’re not.  And you’ve got scars to remind you of just how vulnerable you are and how fragile life can be.

If you don’t have sympathy for women going through all of that, well, then you’re missing a lot more than these women are.

M says:

07:46am | 15/02/12

Don’t worry about them BJ, it’ll last until they’re about 30 and then the looks start to fade. Unless they’re smart enough to marry early, they can only get so far before they get traded in for a younger model.

gobsmack says:

08:59am | 15/02/12

That’s a bit mean BJ.
You’ve also got to take into account that men are voluntarily giving those women “what they want” so perhaps the fault lies partly with men who allow their balls to dictate their actions.

Red Blooded Male says:

09:04am | 15/02/12

@ Gobsmack, what’s wrong with a man letting his balls dictate his actions? If I had a choice between a 30 year old former beauty and a 21 year old supermodel, which one do you think i’d go for?

gobsmack says:

10:05am | 15/02/12

@Red Blooded Male
I’m thinking more about situations where a female gets an undeserved promotion because she is young and attractive.  Some, if not all of, the blame for that should be levelled at the male (or lesbian) boss who made the unfair decision and who gave the young girl the power to use her looks to her advantage.

BJ says:

06:09pm | 15/02/12

Men collectively can challenge female sexual power. Individual men who refuse to do women favours can just go home alone.

Bill says:

06:48am | 15/02/12

As many men die of prostate cancer as women do of breast cancer, but you never hear about it. Where’s the national campaign to highlight THIS health issue? Why is there no equivalent of pink ribbon day for men? Are our lives less important? Apparently so.

SimpleSimon says:

07:28am | 15/02/12

@Bill - whilst I agree there should be more focus on male cancers, we do get the whole of November for depression in men and prostate cancer.

Shane says:

07:46am | 15/02/12

Dear @Bill and @Hoob. Perhaps YOUR lives are not worth as much as mine. Most likely because I’m not a self absorbed, woe-is-me prat like yourselves.

Here’s a tip. Shut your damn whingning, go get a camera, take some pics of the tackle of blokes who have recovered from prostate cancer and send them to the punch. Oh yes - and harden the f**k up.

marley says:

07:46am | 15/02/12

Movember.  You might have heard of it.  If not, maybe you should ask yourself why you’re not doing for it what women’s groups do for breast cancer.

Erick says:

07:50am | 15/02/12

@SimpleSimon - “we do get the whole of November for depression in men and prostate cancer.”

Not really. November is White Ribbon man-hating month.

The Punch, for example, ran several articles promoting the White Ribbon propaganda during November.

The Punch has never run an article on man’s depression during November, or any other month for that matter. And the only contribution to Movember was one article the day after it ended, and that article wasn’t even about prostate cancer!

This is fairly typical of the mainstream media in general. Men don’t matter, so those who have an interest in issues that affect half the population must go elsewhere.

Erick says:

07:57am | 15/02/12

@Shane - Thank you for that splendid example of misandry in our society.

@marley - Perhaps you should ask why the media constantly promote breast cancer issues and charities, while ignoring prostate cancer and Movember. Why is half the population considered of no consequence?

Hoob says:

08:02am | 15/02/12

@ Marley

Movember isn’t a media organisation.

Shane* says:

08:12am | 15/02/12

How about the fact that 92% of women in Australia survive breast cancer? It’s simply not the killer it once was.

Now, bowel cancer on the other hand… Kills far more than breast. Kills far more than prostate. Kills both genders. We have an effective population screening test. It works. It’s simple. People can do it at home. Every doctor and medical group under the sun raves about it. We have the government’s own health committee saying it should be given to every Australian every two years once they hit 50.

What do we have? Handwringing in Canberra, and a half-baked testing program that passively allows thousands of Australians die each year.

(Lastly, I recommend you all check out exactly what the much-praised McGrath Foundation do with their millions… not exactly inspiring. They bank it. And they fund a few dozen nurses, since apparently each nurse costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, even after training).

Rossco says:

08:17am | 15/02/12

Shane- your reply is the hallmark of a knuckle dragging troglodyte. Also to think that movember covers all the mens cancers are laughable. Womens cancers get far more media attention, donations and government funding. Men’s lives are largely expendable in the Western society.

Bill says:

08:23am | 15/02/12

@ Shane - you are part of the problem, not the solution.

Someone mentions the disgrace that many thousands of men die every year from cancer without national media support and all you can do is offer abuse.

To call someone a ‘prat’ because they are concerned with men’s health says so much about you and your understanding of the issue.

Go away and let the adults lead the conversation.

SimonFromLakemba says:

08:28am | 15/02/12

As Marely says, Movember is huge in Australia.

http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/articles/89/1/September-Events/Page1.html

All there Hoob.

As Shane says, why don’t you get off your whinging arse and do something about it? A lot of the charities today were made by individuals.

Erick says:

09:06am | 15/02/12

As we can see, misandry runs deep in our society. Simply mentioning men’s health issues brings forth strangely hostile, emotional attacks from people like Shane and SimonFromLakemba.

Why all the hate, I wonder? It’s like some weird psychological nerve has been struck.

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:07am | 15/02/12

@Erick

No, I just dislike people who whinge when they could change it but don’t.

Either of you could start a men’s group but haven’t, you are part of the problem.

Hoob says:

10:17am | 15/02/12

@Simon

Again Movember is NOT a media organisation.

The Prostate Foundation is also NOT a media organisation.

Ando says:

10:58am | 15/02/12

Shane,
I dont understand your level of anger. Breast cancer support has become an advertising tool for the Nrl/Afl etc to prove they respect women. There is absolutely no doubt the attention it gets is unbalanced.

Erick says:

11:32am | 15/02/12

@SimonFromLakemba - You are missing the point. From some of your comments in other threads, I get the impression that you don’t read what I say very carefully.

There are already groups addressing these issues. What I’m criticising is the way the media gives disproportional coverage to issues that affect women, while ignoring issues that affect men.

I suspect a slightly less extreme version of Shane’s attitude is at work here.

SimonFromLakemba says:

11:42am | 15/02/12

@Hoob

I do see your point and I did raise those when the whole movember thing was missed by the Punch.

What my point is, you can become part of the media - set up a charity, set up a website, go to Sunrise and get national attention like breast cancer day etc.

Shane* says:

12:21pm | 15/02/12

Since we’re both replying on this comment, I think it’s important to note that I am not Shane. I am Shane*.

gobsmack says:

12:39pm | 15/02/12

What I am witnessing here is the imposition of new standards of political correctness.  It is impermissible to mention any women-specific issue without first acknowledging a corresponding male-specific issue.

Erick says:

01:12pm | 15/02/12

@gobsmack - ”  It is impermissible to mention any women-specific issue without first acknowledging a corresponding male-specific issue.”

Exactly. For too long it’s been the other way around,and men’s issues have been ignored.

We’re now starting to use the same tactics that the feminists have used so effectively over the past fifty years.

mr g says:

01:52pm | 15/02/12

@Erick. No articles on the depression of men? You’re crazy. They print your garbage and that depresses me. Get off your backside and start marching, and stop trying to convince happy, contented blokes to become as beaten and broken, and as miserable as you.
Perhaps you and your whining compatriots would be better off if you had a checkup now and again. You remind me of blokes who have rotten teeth because you’re frightened of the dentist.

marley says:

02:18pm | 15/02/12

@Erick - why do the media constantly promote breast cancer issues and ignore prostate cancer issues?  Well, they don’t.  There are scads of articles and stories about Movember, and I’ve certainly seen a few newsclips about advances in treating prostate issues.

So your real question is why does breast cancer get more publicity and support, which it does, than prostate cancer.  Well,offhand, I can think of a couple of reasons, that have very little to do with any concerted campaign against men. 

One is that breast cancer awareness campaigns have been around since the 1980s, whereas Movember is less than a decade old.  So the former campaign has better contacts, a higher profile and more experience;  the latter is still learning the ropes, but is building fast.  Hell, it went from a small initiative to a global one in less than three years.  That suggests to me there’s a lot of concern out there for men’s health issues.

Another is that the key to breast cancer is early identification - and there is a reliable screening tool.  So, the message is clear:  women need to get mammograms.  With prostate cancer, there is no reliable screening tool as yet, so the message is less focussed, more diffuse, less “catchy,” if you like.

And I’d say the third thing is that men’s groups need to push harder for publicity and support for their issues.  Getting media attention doesn’t just happen - it requires a lot of work - press releases, gimmicky slogans, video clips, recruitment of eminent people to talk about the issue.  The media takes what its fed.  Feed them more, and they’ll publish more of it.

All of that said, did you know that the five year survival rate for prostate cancer in the early 80’s was 57% and now it’s 85%?  That compares with breast cancer figures of 72% and 88%.  So it’s not as though nothing is being done to address men’s health issues:  there has in fact been enormous progress over the last 25 years.  Which suggests, again, that men’s health is of consequence.

Finally, you say men’s groups are now starting to use the tactics which feminists have used so effectively for the last fifty years.  Well, dammit, if you could see feminists were being effective why did it take you 50 years to adopt their tactics?

gobsmack says:

02:30pm | 15/02/12

@Eric
“We’re now starting to use the same tactics that the feminists have used so effectively over the past fifty years.”
When revolutionaries become dictators they employ exactly the same logic to oppress everyone who had even the hint of sympathy to the former regime.
Those of us in the middle find one set of tiresome propagandists replaced by another set of tiresome propagandists.

SimonFromLakemba says:

02:46pm | 15/02/12

@Erick

“We’re now starting to use the same tactics that the feminists have used so effectively over the past fifty years”

So now you are admitting that you are a men’s right extremist? Bit ironic since you dislike feminists so much.

I very rarely comment on your pieces so not sure where you got that opinion from.

Sarah says:

03:12pm | 15/02/12

I have not lost anyone to breast cancer but have had 3 close family members get diagnosed with varying forms of it. One of them survived by the skin of her teeth. -

So yes whereas breast cancer is heavily featured over other cancers in the media and the public awareness - I’m not angry about it at all. - Because that awareness, the money for research - it has led to a extremely low mortality rate - which in large part - is why I still have my 3 family members with me today.

Hoob says:

06:15pm | 15/02/12

@Sarah

Excellent, so long as you are not affected then, it’s justified.  Fair enough that men should die so your family should survive.

marley says:

08:25pm | 15/02/12

@Hoob - see my comment above.  The five-year survival rate from breast cancer and from prostate cancer is almost the same these days - the prostate cancer survival rate has improved much more than the breast cancer rate.  So, with any luck, and a lot of scientific advances, your chances of survival from prostate cancer are as good as your wife or daughter’s chances of surviving breast cancer.  If that’s not good enough, what exactly do you want?

nossy says:

08:52am | 15/02/12

@acotrel   deep sympathys acotrel.

John L says:

08:51am | 15/02/12

Call them, ask them how the process is going, tell them you really really really want the job, enforce the idea that you are confident you can perform to expectation, ask them if they have any further questions for you (which they probably won’t), ask some your own questions that you might have thought up in the meantime. Face it, they’re not going to drop you off the list for doing so; in fact they might put your name further up for being keen.
You can be grateful that you didn’t have a bad hair day during the interview, right?
BTW, good luck to your friend there.

fairsfair says:

09:35am | 15/02/12

I echo John’s advice Kerryn - just ring them daily so check for an update.

I have just waited 6 days… it was killing me - all I could think about. I was in contact daily just maintining how keen I was on the opportunity. If anything, it makes your name stick in their head.

Good luck!

My dad has too markedly reduced his PSA by drinking Pomegranate juice. What did your friend do?

SimpleSimon says:

07:33am | 15/02/12

Yep, Blend 43 is rubbish, and I switched to Moccona French Style for instant coffee at home a while ago, but international roast has to be the most godawful piss-infused sludge I’ve ever had the mispleasure of drinking. Just horrible.

TChong says:

07:48am | 15/02/12

M
You like “International Roast” ?
Really?
As an indication of just how shite IR is-
its the powdered floor sweepings of choice, served out for free in NSW Health.- ie given away to staff and patients / visitors.

Tatty_Anne says:

07:49am | 15/02/12

International Roast used to be the ultimate in instant coffee, way back in the 1970s when a cappuccino was still a ‘foreign’ thing.  Now all the instants taste like crap. 

I think our collective taste buds have changed, I’ll admit to being spoilt by barista brewed coffees pretty much available anywhere anytime.

M says:

07:59am | 15/02/12

International roast is miles ahead of 43 in terms of taste.

Rossco says:

08:25am | 15/02/12

International Roast is akin to drinking encrusted camel shit.

Nescafe Gold is what i draw a line at.

gobsmack says:

08:31am | 15/02/12

The clue might be found in the word “worksite”.

fairsfair says:

08:56am | 15/02/12

International Roast reminds me of my Grandma. I’d take it over Blend43 anyday. Blend43 is cheap and they seem to sell it for $10 a barrell or something. Its toxic.

My current workplace was recently looking at dropping up to $20k on a coffee machine or supply people with a 2x coffee voucher per day at the coffee shop over the road. I talked them out of it really because it was a stupidly expensive and rediculous notion, but secondly - just upgrade it to Gold blend FFS and maybe buy some different biscuits. People have got to be happy with that.

M says:

09:08am | 15/02/12

@Gobsmack, yes, the clue is worksite. As in construction site.

Would it really be that hard for the people who stock the kitchens of these places with nescafe Gold rather than bloody 43?

For all those who are hating on international roast, I’ve tasted worse coffee from Gloria Jeans.

HappyG says:

09:22am | 15/02/12

Fairs. I read your comment with interest. I work for a large corporation who recently had a purge ( downsizing program ) due to the ” economic situation”. So here I am along with hundreds of other blokes in the country who have worked in the field for these jokers for 20 plus years shitting myself that I’m about to be made redundant and the top dogs are sending out blurbs about the construction of the new HQ building in Melbourne. Here’s the good bit. In one of these feel good news bulletins these cretins put out a questionaire to all the good folk in HQ about what sort of coffee they want on the various floors of their new building. This at the same time they’re laying off long time employees. These same deadshits expect me to put hand on heart, sing the company song and rally the troops to the cause. FFS are they that disconnected from the real world.

Tim says:

09:35am | 15/02/12

Fairsfair,
I don’t think buying a proper coffee machine is a waste at all.
My work bought a fairly good one for about $7-8k and it would make a couple hundred coffees a day (maybe more, i’m not counting)..
Far better than workers skiving off to the local coffee house for a 30min break a couple of times a day.
Best money the business ever spent.

jay-ded says:

09:42am | 15/02/12

@M.  At least your worksite provides you with tea / coffee.  Where I work, I have to provide my own cup / sugar / tea / milk etc.  I even have to provide my own bowls, plates and cutlery.

That’s what happens when you work for the government.  Can’t spend tax payers money on tea and coffee.

HAHAHAHAHAHA bit of a joke when you consider the waste of the ALP.

Ben C says:

09:46am | 15/02/12

Blend 43 is good for coffee milkshakes or iced coffees. It’s not that flash when you drink it hot.

fairsfair says:

10:11am | 15/02/12

Tim, I get where you are coming from and that was the motivating factor in looking into it - knobs constantly over at the coffee shop. Not ringing ahead to order, not sending one person to get the whole team’s etc.

But I am with HappyG - same sort of story here. We are by no way a large office and the fact that they were wanting to do it is just a joke. They can’t see a need to keep the stationery cupboard stocked or put on an office Junior to allow the receptionist to have an actual lunchbreak, but they see value in buying a $20k coffee machine?

It is utter wankery. Instead, what happened was we were all spoken to at our quarterly big meeting and reminded that we are not paid to take thirty minutes (some people up to four times a day) to get coffee over the road. You can see the coffee shop from the window and some people even sit down to drink it! WTF planet are they living on?

Since when did it become the employer’s responsibility to ensure that its employees were adequately caffeinated? I am in favour of increasing the quality of the instant (and I am a coffee lover keep in mind), but actually bringing in an industrial coffee machine is just a laughable prospect.

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:14am | 15/02/12

@Jay-ded

Why should work have to provide anything? I have always been at a loss as to why work places provide, cups, plates,  biscuits etc when they are things that people want, so should bring in them self.

In terms of productivity, I’ll stick up for smokers here. Why is smoking seen as a loss of productivity and yet coffee breaks aren’t?

I don’t work in Government, but is that still the case where smoke breaks were banned?

jay-ded says:

10:26am | 15/02/12

@SimonFromLakemba.  I agree Simon.  I wasn’t actually stating that work should provide tea etc for me, I was just stating that having coffee provided for you at all is a bonus and not to complain.  If you don’t like the coffee provided, bring your own.

As for the smoke breaks being banned, they couldn’t do it because of the reason you just stated.  People would spend 20 minutes getting a coffee, but a ciggie break only takes 5-10 minutes.  It’s also something that they couldn’t really watch out for.  You could just state that you were going for a coffee and have a ciggie while you waited.

TChong says:

10:46am | 15/02/12

jay- ded
which state do you live?
what line of guvmint work do you do?
i thought most guvmint jobs had tea / coffee supplied, as part of the awards.
NSW Health has always laid on such “refreshments” ( or supply your own noun for what they offer). to staff.

ando says:

11:05am | 15/02/12

I thought I hated international roast but I have recently developed a taste for it. It has a certain creaminess. The reaction I get from others is never positive.

jay-ded says:

11:12am | 15/02/12

@TChong.  I work in QLD in IT.  I have worked for QLD Health (Breastscreen and Pap Smear Register), QLD Studies Authority and with Transport and Main Roads.  In each of those contracts everyone supplied their own stuff.

SimonFromLakemba says:

11:44am | 15/02/12

“People would spend 20 minutes getting a coffee, but a ciggie break only takes 5-10 minutes.  It’s also something that they couldn’t really watch out for.  You could just state that you were going for a coffee and have a ciggie while you waited. “

That’s what I always thought. People would always try and find a way to join the both.

M says:

01:02pm | 15/02/12

@ Ando, I’ve served International roast to coffee snobs and they’ve loved it. But that’s what you get when you think Gloria Jean’s coffee is good coffee. I didn’t have the heart to tell them it was instant rather than percolated, it’d destory them. 

I think it’s a severely under-rated coffee, and most people are put off by it because it’s a cheap option, and they don’t want to be seen as cheap.

Snobs the lot of them. I love the stuff.

Hoob says:

08:09am | 15/02/12

The media are pro feminist, pro drugs, pro welfare.

it massages their white class guilt, it’s kind of like a sect.

SimonFromLakemba says:

08:31am | 15/02/12

Agree, bit of a cop out.

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:01am | 15/02/12

White guilt * rolls eyes *

Hoob says:

10:21am | 15/02/12

@Tory

Enter ‘Drugs’ into your own search engine right here.

gobsmack says:

10:13am | 15/02/12

I’ll just say this.
If one of the ALP apparatchiks thought that the spectacle of Tony Abbott being threatened by an unruly mob of aboriginal activists would somehow provide a political advantage to Julia Gillard, they are even more out of touch with today’s electorate than I thought.

iMitchy says:

11:09am | 15/02/12

I thought it was hilarious to see these Aboriginals at the tent embassy, who think they are the best candidates to lead their people in all things political, refer to Tony Abbott as the “Deputy Prime Minister”. That’s not even a slip of a tongue. That’s pure ignorance.

It would seem that anyone who would actually make a good political representative of the Aboriginal people is busy not being a Numpty and therefore smart enough to stay as far away from the Aboriginal political arena as possible.

One such person I know is the one-and-only reason I found my self torn at not being able to make the angry, racially generalistic comments I would have liked to on 27 January when our flag was being burnt. What little faith I have left in his people rests solely (and safely) in his hands.

He is one of a select few who is doing great things in the community and helping people get their shit together instead of stirring up more trouble and setting back causes. And he knows who Tony Abbot is.

jay-ded says:

11:16am | 15/02/12

Why would you do something like that and then lie about it?  Especially with cameras around?

Erick says:

11:35am | 15/02/12

@jay-ded “Why would you do something like that and then lie about it?  Especially with cameras around?”

Arrogance? Stupidity? Following the example set by Julia Gillard? I just don’t know.

I get the impression that some of these people aren’t the sharpest bulbs in the woodpile.

SimonFromLakemba says:

11:47am | 15/02/12

@Jay-ded

Like most people who lie, because they thought they could get away with it.

That union rep is scum as far as I’m concerned.

I hate Abbott with a passion but what Hodges and Sattler did too him wasn’t warranted.

Aitch B says:

12:25pm | 15/02/12

@SimonFromLakemba

Too bloody right!!

That Kim Sattler is a nasty, vicious piece of work.

Donny says:

02:39pm | 15/02/12

Considering it has now come out that Ms Sattler was lying the whole time, I wonder what the Labor Party (due to it’s close links to the Union Movement) and the Union Movement are going to do about her?

At a minimum, they should toss her out the door for bringing the Unions into disrepute, but unlikely as Union bosses (or ex Union bosses) seem to be a protected species at the moment :-(

fairsfair says:

09:05am | 15/02/12

That has been my breakfast for that past ten days. Three carrots, two apples plus a chunch of ginger - delicious!

What wrong with you Nossy? (tee hee, don’t answer that).

TimB says:

09:07am | 15/02/12

Well Nossy, not to worry. If you keep making all your drinking decisions based on poll results, I’m sure you’ll be switching to hard liquor to wash away the pain soon enough

fairsfair says:

09:31am | 15/02/12

chunch?

nossy says:

09:43am | 15/02/12

@TimB   hahah Tim - I have been known to “change trains” once I see one headed in my direction! Also a great fan of the British Infantry in the 1800’s who “only fired when they could see the whites of their eyes”.

nossy says:

09:49am | 15/02/12

@fairsfair - heres what you need to boost your spirits fairs - washed down with a BIG shake!  hahaha bon appetite.
http://tinyurl.com/7ldolmg

fairsfair says:

11:24am | 15/02/12

Thats insane Nossy!

After ten days of living on juice only, I am craving salad with olives. Wierd.

Aitch B says:

12:21pm | 15/02/12

Since I discovered it a few weeks ago I’m almost addicted to chorizo and three bean salad. It also has sweet corn and nice crunchy bits of capsicum in it.

@fairsfair

Now that you’ve mentioned olives I reckon I might add some sliced black ones to the abovementioned salad….

*drool*

fairsfair says:

01:09pm | 15/02/12

Oooh Aitch - whack a bit of spanish onion in that and I’m there!

I just drove forty minutes round trip out of my hour lunch so I could eat my salad with olives. I had prepared it, but left it in the fridge.

It was so worth it.

Aitch B says:

01:31pm | 15/02/12

@fairsfair

ooooOOOOOOOooooo

Gonna get me some spanish onion on the way home, methinks!!

Knemon says:

02:46pm | 15/02/12

Red Onion is hard to beat in sandwiches, yummy? (Don’t cook with it though)

fairsfair says:

03:54pm | 15/02/12

red onion, tomato and cheese on fresh white bread…...........

Damn it - I’m supposed to be off carbs!

jay-ded says:

11:19am | 15/02/12

Maybe Ferguson?  Not that I’m an ALP supporter, but he seems to be the best of the bunch.  I could probably live with him as PM.

TimB says:

11:31am | 15/02/12

I posted a list of what I would like to see up above Adam. That thread has been derailed by Blind Freddy’s appeal for ‘balance though, so noone appears to be taking any notice.

So reposting down here where it’s more appropriate:

“If the ALP want to get me (and I’m sure many other voters) even half intersted in looking their direction, they need to do a few things first:

1. Get rid of those who give their party such a bad name. I suggest starting with Gillard, Rudd, Swan, Thomson & Conroy. I’m not too fussed on Combet either.

Fergurson seems like a decent sort and he has his head screwed on straight about the nuclear power issue. I don’t think I’d mind him stepping into the void.

Which brings us to:

2. Radical policy shift.

Drop the carbon tax.
Drop any form of carbon trading.
Invest into nuclear tech & R&D for efficient renewables.
Kill the internet filter.
Drop the mining tax.
Broker a better royalty deal between the miners and the state governments but DONT lay claim to resources that constitutionally belong to the states.
Find a more efficient and cost effective way of creating a fast internet network.
Tell Bob Brown where he can shove it.
Tell the unions where *they* can shove it.

Those are the kinds of things I want from a political party. The Libs don’t tick all the boxes on that list unfortunately, but they tick more of them than the ALP currently do. The ball is in the ALP’s court really. Unfortunately I don’t see them suffering a massive attack of common sense anytime soon. ”

gobsmack says:

11:46am | 15/02/12

I’d be thinking about defecting.

SimonFromLakemba says:

11:53am | 15/02/12

As a Labor voter we had it all with Rudd. He was smart, articulate, had ideas, knew what was going on in today’s society. Only thing we didn’t see was him turning into a complete asshole to his caucus.

If Rudd stayed on course he would of had 2 terms as PM because the Libs had nobody ( still don’t have anybody ) instead now we have Gillard.

Stephen Smith is a good choice, he has the poison chalice at the moment in Defence and has done a pretty good job of it.

Ferguson is a quiet achiever who I don’t mind.

Penny Wong is a very good politician who I think would be pretty capable.

Bill Shorton I really like, always fronts up for interviews, handles himself well and has done pretty good for his portfolio.

The bad thing for Labor at the present is that they are all being tarred by Gillard so moving forward they are going to have too much baggage.

Anubis says:

12:19pm | 15/02/12

@ Gobsmack - shouldn’t that be written as defecating?

Knemon says:

01:06pm | 15/02/12

@ TimB - “If the ALP want to get me” - Who are you trying to kid? You’re a funny one Tim.

It wouldn’t matter what the ALP did, there is no way known you would ever vote for them. You’re more than rusted onto the the LNP, you’re well and truly welded on.

BTW - I thought the internet filter was scrapped?

“Find a more efficient and cost effective way of creating a fast internet network” - They have, it’s called Fibre Optic.

“Tell Bob Brown where he can shove it” - Shove what where?

Adam Diver says:

01:17pm | 15/02/12

@ Simon,

The only thing Rudd could do competently was pander to the media. Outside of that I would like to hear his achievements, because I have a blooper list that I am sure is much longer and more impactful than his achievements.

If I was in caucus I would throw my own hat into the ring, although I am not sure if the Labor party would be overwhelmed with my conservative policies.

TimB says:

01:48pm | 15/02/12

“@ TimB - “If the ALP want to get me” - Who are you trying to kid? You’re a funny one Tim.

It wouldn’t matter what the ALP did, there is no way known you would ever vote for them. You’re more than rusted onto the the LNP, you’re well and truly welded on.”

Knemon don’t be stupid.

If the ALP and LNP completely swapped policy platforms tomorrow, I’d be voting for the ALP.

I’ve examined the parties, looked at the policies and chosen to support the party that I think most closely matches my own political beliefs. Is it a perfect match? No. Is it a better match than the ALP? Yes.

If and when that changes, so too will my vote. But at the moment that vote rests with the LNP and I will make no apologies for that.

What I take offence to is the characterisation of my support as ‘rusted on’. I’ve arrived at my position on the back of my own opinions. I’ve given my reasons for holding those opinions countless times, and I like to think that they’re fairly well reasoned even if you don’t agree with them. I am no more ‘rusted on’ to the LNP than you are to the Greens or Simon here is to the ALP.
I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate it if I was to claim that the only reason you’re voting Green is because you must be high as a kite and utterly incapable of rational thinking, so I’ll thank you not to make similar insinuations about me.

‘Rusted on’ is when you blindly support a party beyond all logic and reason. Think of Acotrel if you want a prime example.

Knemon says:

02:08pm | 15/02/12

@ TimB - Fair enough - I apologise for offending you. In the same vein, when I say I would vote for the LNP if Abbott was not their leader, the same respect should be given. Cheers.

Blind Freddy says:

02:26pm | 15/02/12

@TimB

“I posted a list of what I would like to see up above Adam. That thread has been derailed by Blind Freddy’s appeal for ‘balance though, so noone appears to be taking any notice.”

I would like to take the credit for noone taking any notice- but I suspect it has more to do with the content of your posts (yawn).

MarkS says:

02:31pm | 15/02/12

Not so Radical policy shift & something a competent ALP would be able to do, if they muzzled the left.

Lower and modify the carbon tax.
Bury any form of carbon trading
Invest into nuclear tech & R&D for efficient renewables with money from lowered carbon tax.
Kill the internet filter & bury it forever
Make the mining tax a true RRT, just copy Norway’s since our public service appears incapable of designing one
Use federal income power to force a better royalty deal between the miners and the state governments
Make the NBN more efficient and cost effective
Shove Bob Brown out the door, never let him & his ilk back into any sort of deal again. No spoon is long enough to eat with that devil.
Ensure the unions are the servants not masters of the party

SimonFromLakemba says:

02:54pm | 15/02/12

@TimB

I am definitely not a rusted on supporter ( I would vote Libs if they had someone who was progressive with a brain ), when the Labor party do something wrong I admit it. I can’t remember the last time you said something negative about the Libs, honestly it looks like you think the sun shines out of their arse.

AdamC says:

03:22pm | 15/02/12

TimB, John Howard commented in his book, Lazarus Rising, that Liberal voters are less tribal than Labor voters.

TimB says:

03:30pm | 15/02/12

“I would like to take the credit for noone taking any notice- but I suspect it has more to do with the content of your posts (yawn). “

Looks like a few people have taken notice of it here Freddy. Both Knemon and MarkS have responded.

I think I’ll stick with my original hypothesis that the sheer stupidity of your posts distracted everyone.

TimB says:

03:38pm | 15/02/12

Up above Simon, I admitted Julie Bishops blatant lie on The Drum last was stupid (although not equal to Julia’s whoppers whatever Freddy would have us believe). That’s a negative isn’t it? Believe it or not I don’t think they’re beyond reproach.

I’ll freely admit there’s not as much negative criticism aimed at the LNP (as opposed to the ALP or Greens)  coming from me, but to be fair, they’re not in government. I’m always going to be paying more attention to the ALP’s shenanigans whilst that remains the case.

Get to me in couple of years time when Abbott is in power and I will probably have lots to say about anything boneheaded he does.

jay-ded says:

11:54am | 15/02/12

Nossy, I think I’m gonna throw up nossy.  Little kittens, so sweet and fluffy - gawd.  If I was your lovely I’d kick you in the nuts too!

ausspud says:

12:11pm | 15/02/12

Yep their policy is to _________________________________ .I hope that clear’s things up.

TimB says:

12:51pm | 15/02/12

About freaking time!

This is one government policy I can support 100%.

If only that turd Atkinson hadn’t held it up for so long…

Wynston Cruso says:

03:08pm | 15/02/12

About time indeed, Atkinson was a moron to hold this up. No benefits to not having this. Unfortunately we’ve already missed out on some pretty sweet games that not many people will be bothered going back and playing.

James1 says:

03:52pm | 15/02/12

Read the comments.  Some of them are simply hilarious.  I like the Christian who claims we gamers are “morally decayed”.

Awesome stuff.

gobsmack says:

03:57pm | 15/02/12

Yay!  They got my vote.

Wynston Cruso says:

05:42pm | 15/02/12

Oh man the comments are hilarious. Not just the Christian guy, but also the preceding 100 or more comments flaming that very guy’s pretty stupid comment. I especially like how we’re all out of control with sex, violence and drugs. Good times.

MarkS says:

02:32pm | 15/02/12

In theory no & no, in practice Hell Yes & Yes