Punch on: Open thread 20/01/12

acotrel says:

06:04am | 20/01/12

I have no trouble sleeping since I started reading Tony Abbott’s book ‘Battlelines’ !  The DLP lives again ! - Mr B.A.Santamaria - ‘ghost who walks’ ! !

Hoob says:

06:56am | 20/01/12

Sure he’s happy to have your money acotrel.

acotrel says:

08:20am | 20/01/12

@Hoob
You don’t really think I paid for it ? ?
There was a copy in the Wangaratta library, so our local got it for me.  I know I was hanging shit on it, but some of his ideas on supporting families are not too bad. He even mentioned the stuff I said a few days ago about removing the means tests on pensions, and taxing the total income of pensioners.
So you see even though he’s a total idiot, I didn’t dismiss him out of hand !

Dash says:

08:31am | 20/01/12

@acotrel, it would appear the Australian Communist Party lives again.

Gillard - Socialist Forum Secretary, self confessed radical socialist
Paul Howes - Member of “Resistence” and the Democratic Socialists
Lee Rhiannon - supporter of the USSR invastion of Czechoslovakia and ASIO files on the families involvement in the Australia Communist Party.
Greg Combet - ALP socialist left member and organiser of the “Cavalcade to Canberra” which resulted in the destruction of public property, the hospitalisation of security workes and the looting of shops.
Doug Cameron - millitant unionist attacking freedom of the press and free speech in this country

And at the centrepiece, the Communist Tax Manifesto also known as the Carbon Dioxide Tax.

Public owned and censored monopoly of our internet.
Media inquiries into free speech
The threat of punitive legislation and stand-over tactics to force Telstra (a private company) to hand over the use of it’s assets
Taxpayers money used to set up a Carbon tax propaganda department
Taxpayers money used to set up the “Climate Institute” to produce documents telling us what the ALP want us to hear
Socialism parading as environmentalism
Increased taxation - flood tax, carbon tax, profits tax,
Wealth redistribution to sympathetic ALP demographics

This is the reality of the ALP today. People should look at what years of debt and socialist government did in Greece!

Cookie Monster says:

08:35am | 20/01/12

acotrel - if T Abott is a total idiot and has some of the same ideas as you - does that make you a total idiot as well.

patsy says:

08:42am | 20/01/12

My future brither-in-law is an AM. It was awarded for services to sport as he is a world champion amputee golfer and mentors the new ones.He was featured in the 40th anniversary collectors edition of Australian Golf Digest in the 40 most influential people. The only differnce between him and Tiger Woods, whom he has beaten, is the prize money. But he really is an AM. One morning he used his key and came in and scared the begeezus out of me because I’m a PM.

Chris L says:

08:56am | 20/01/12

@Dash - or perhaps we could point toward the success of socialist Sweden.

Then again, guilt by association is a silly game. It’s like saying Queenslanders are better than New South Welshmen simply because our team keeps winning the State Of Origin (there are plenty of better reasons for it)

Shane From Melbourne says:

10:10am | 20/01/12

@Dash- You forgot the arch-socialist John Howard and his setting up the middle class family welfare state. Handouts galore. But then it is only wealth redistribution when the ALP does it.

Dash says:

11:14am | 20/01/12

Shane, the Howard government gave money back to ALL taxpayers! And at the same time, paid off the ALPs $96billion debt, balanced the nation’s budget and still created a surplus. Any comparison with the current crop of incompetent fools is laughable!

You complain about family assistance because you’re single yet you received 5 years of consecutive tax cuts under the LNP that you never had under Keating!  And the current ALP had a chance to deliver some of their own cuts last budget and delivered you zero!!! If it was 11 years of ALP government we’d have not paid off our debt before the GFC. We’d not have had the Financial Services Reform Act protecting our Financial Services Sector, you’d still be paying tax on a top marginal bracket of $60,000 p.a. and there wouldn’t have been $26billion dollars for Swan to waste on handouts to dead people!

Good try though.

neo says:

12:00pm | 20/01/12

I’m far from a morning person. Ideally, I would like to go to bed at 2-3am and wake up at about 10-11. At the moment, I tend to go to sleep around 2 and wake up around 8, which really does suck. Nationwide flexible working hours, we need you.

Seth Brundle says:

12:32pm | 20/01/12

That link to the critique of the white ribbon campaign was quite interesting.  Apparently, the fact that I have never hit anyone does not preclude me from being a violent man, and I may in fact have inflicted “spiritual” violence on the women in my life.  I am also not able to consider myself a “good” man.
Jeez, I guess I am a real piece of crap.  I guess it would just be best for everyone if I crawl away and die.

Erick says:

01:00pm | 20/01/12

@Seth Brundle - Indeed. The white ribbon campaign isn’t about stopping violence. It’s about demonising men.

Wynston Cruso says:

02:16pm | 20/01/12

I hate mornings. And death to those who dare be happy at such an ungodly hour.

acotrel says:

03:36pm | 20/01/12

@Cookie
‘acotrel - if T Abott is a total idiot and has some of the same ideas as you - does that make you a total idiot as well. ‘

The exception proves the rule !

acotrel says:

03:47pm | 20/01/12

@Dash
Get real ! If tha t’s what a communist is , what does that make John Howard ? - the author of Mein Kampf ?

TChong says:

05:56am | 20/01/12

A big loss for this site nihonin.
thanks for the larfs.
May your god watch over you , and all you hold dear.

nossy says:

06:00am | 20/01/12

@nihonin thats a bit sad fella - hang in there and best wishes.

Erick says:

06:41am | 20/01/12

Sad to see. Come back when you can!

Mahhrat says:

08:01am | 20/01/12

That’s a sad state of affairs.

It made me realise something I’ve often struggled with - the Punch website is not smart-phone friendly.

Any chance we could get an m.thepunch website?  news.com.au has one, I’m sure it wouldn’t be that difficult.

Ben C says:

09:22am | 20/01/12

Big loss to the Punch community. Hope to see you still posting on here (no matter how infrequent).

Blind Freddy says:

10:11am | 20/01/12

Paraphrasing Bob Hawke in 1983.

“Any boss who stops his employees from posting on the Punch is a bum.”

ausspud says:

11:50am | 20/01/12

Hope to see you back soon nihonin.
Now is your chance to live again.

neo says:

12:03pm | 20/01/12

VPN/Proxy = win. Could also = loss of job though :(

Damn, they’re trashing your rights.

acotrel says:

03:43pm | 20/01/12

@Blind Freddy
‘Paraphrasing Bob Hawke in 1983.

“Any boss who stops his employees from posting on the Punch is a bum.” ;

And he’d know all about that being one himself !
(‘boss’ , that is ... he was the PM ! )

acotrel says:

06:10am | 20/01/12

I saw Graham Kennedy making ‘fark’ crow noises on camera years ago ! That was so naughty - he deserved a smack round the legs with a wet tram ticket, for destroying the morals of the whole country and leading the aborigines towards pornography !

S.L says:

07:17am | 20/01/12

When channel 9 had “stump mike” years ago Geoff Boycott missed a Dennis Lillee outswinger and screeamed “FOOK IT!” straight into our living rooms. Richie didn’t make one comment…............

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:05am | 20/01/12

What else do you expect from Hewitt? he’s a grub.

neo says:

12:14pm | 20/01/12

Poor Roddick though.

Aidan says:

06:47am | 20/01/12

I thought it was a kippah.

Hoob says:

08:32am | 20/01/12

Kipper?

Hoob says:

08:32am | 20/01/12

Kipper?

Aidan says:

08:57am | 20/01/12

@Hoob

No, “kippah”.
You know; a yarmulke, a Jewish cap.

Mind you, I’d pay good money for a picture of Ant with a kipper on his head.

neo says:

12:07pm | 20/01/12

The church of bread and kipper?

fairsfair says:

04:21pm | 20/01/12

He looks like he recently starred in Romper Stomper…

acotrel says:

08:27am | 20/01/12

I liked the one better where he dumped the sheila with her bags on the side of the road for contradicting him on camera ! I wonder if Erick has seen it ?

Ben C says:

09:24am | 20/01/12

“How’s the weather?”

S.L says:

07:28am | 20/01/12

The Wiggles were a mediocre rock band (the Cockroaches) that found a market in childrens entertainment and they ran with it to great success. Sam Moran was always an employee even before Greg left. He was simply “promoted” to the front of the stage when he replaced him. If he got a lousy salary deal that’s his problem. At the end of the day it’s a business employing many people.
I bet Paul Paddock (Captain Feathersword) got himself a decent deal without really being a Wiggle!

ibast says:

09:26am | 20/01/12

I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.  People only had to scratch the surface to see that Sam was never part of the Wiggles.  The Corporation was always the original members and Sam was always “just” an employee.

What has become apparent is the Telegraph gets grubbier every day.  Some low minded editor there seems intent on sullying the Wiggles by creating a story where there isn’t one.  News of the world has moved to Australia.

Kerryn says:

10:10am | 20/01/12

But they’re the WIGGLES!

Some of us have fond memories of Greg, Anthony, Murray and Jeff!  news.com.au, you ruined everything! :-(

Aah well.  All the old classics are being ruined-anyone watched Bananas in Pyjamas recently????

Chris L says:

08:41am | 20/01/12

I get the feeling MTR isn’t operating on all cylinders.

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:07am | 20/01/12

Its been in the news all week. I tried to post a website link here but as it had porn in the title it blocked me.

Its good to see MTR getting what she gives out.

Anubis says:

09:39am | 20/01/12

@ Carz - you won’t see an article on the Punch about this. MTR is an occasional contributor to this forum (she has a wide range of outlets for her particular brand of bile). The Punch won’t turn on one of their own.

Carz says:

10:14am | 20/01/12

While I didn’t expect to see The Punch do a piece on it I did expect to see it turn up in the open thread. I couldn’t believe that Erick and his like-minded friends haven’t been crowing about the various factions of feminism turning on each other.

The fact that her anti-choice reasoning has been revealed as a means of “protecting” women is really starting to turn people off. Feminism is supposed to support the idea that women have a brain equal to that of men, and are capable of using it to make rational decisions. Banning abortion as a means of “protecting” women is more than a little paternalistic and gives the idea that maybe women aren’t capable of rational thought after all.

Erick says:

11:16am | 20/01/12

@Carz - I’m aware of that issue. However, there are more important things to highlight than the loss of credibility of someone who already has little.

Thus, the two links in my first comment above, both of which are far more significant than some feminist throwing a tantrum.

Anna C says:

08:15am | 20/01/12

“Only an aboriginal can be GG or Prime Minister in a republic.”

Huh, are you serious ZSRenn???? What a bizarre thing to say. That’s discrimination. Race shouldn’t come into it. Anyone regardless of their race, religion, sexuality etc should be able to aspire to be GG or PM.

marley says:

09:00am | 20/01/12

Why can’t an aboriginal aspire to either of these positions right now?

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:09am | 20/01/12

haha You have to be taking the piss? This isn’t the ZSRenn we all know.

BTW id love to see an Aboriginal person as PM, in 30 years time I think it could be possible with more city Aboriginals coming into the mainstream.

Elphaba says:

09:11am | 20/01/12

I’m as much Australian as the Aboriginals are.  They didn’t spring out of the dirt, and neither did I.  If they want to be GG or Prime Minister, they can earn it like the rest of us.  That’s equality.

Ben C says:

09:33am | 20/01/12

Until we see more Aboriginal people in parliament, it’s not likely.

If I remember correctly, Ken Wyatt is the only Aboriginal MP at current. We’ve had Aiden Ridgway back when the Democrats were around. Why don’t more Aboriginal people put their hands up during election time? They don’t have to run as party members, they can run as independents.

Anubis says:

09:51am | 20/01/12

@ Ben C - don’t forget Senator Neville Bonner back in the 1980’s

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:25am | 20/01/12

@Ben C

It would be good to see an Aboriginal party that had Aboriginal issues as its basis, sort of like Family First.

Problem is getting all the Aboriginals to agree which would be another problem as they are tribal.

Ben C says:

10:27am | 20/01/12

@ Anubis

I was only born in 1985, but still, thanks for the history lesson. We definitely need more people like Bonner, Ridgway and Wyatt in parliament if we are going to have any hope of bridging the gap between indigenous and non-indigienous Australians.

Ben C says:

11:08am | 20/01/12

@ SimonFromLakemba

That was another idea that I had. Further to your tribalism roadblock, I would suggest the sensitivity around racism as another reason why it won’t work.

neo says:

12:11pm | 20/01/12

I wanna see the Aboriginal fella who plays his didgeridoo and pinches girls bums at Blue Mountains as our PM. He’s a funny dude, heaps chilled out.

Dot says:

08:41am | 20/01/12

Blah Blah Blah ...
The world according to dash, who forms his opinions based on Liberal party press releases supplemented with lashings of misinformation from the Ltd. New Company.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Anubis says:

09:03am | 20/01/12

@ Dot - and you can refute his claims about the honorable socialist members of the current Government can you? Well go on….what are you waiting for?

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:11am | 20/01/12

@Dash

Provide reason why you think the equally hated Tony Abbott could do a better job?

Anubis says:

09:30am | 20/01/12

Whoops - I was referring to Dash’ earlier post not this one. I take back that comment Dot.

AdamC says:

09:36am | 20/01/12

Dash, you know what is strange. Many of the most fervent supporters of this epically duplicitous government howled the loudest that John Howard was a liar when he transparently reversed his ‘never ever’ position on a GST well before the 1998 election. The only explanation for this double standard is that those people simply have no values or principles outside of the partisan context.

That is a little sad, really.

Dash says:

09:49am | 20/01/12

Anubis - don’t waste your time with The Badger. As you can see, he would rather attack me personaly than come up with any rational or meaningful argument to refute the facts noted in my post.

It doesn’t take much of a mind to personally attack someone does it. Personal abuse is always the option for someone who has no argument.

Typical of Badger, high on noise, short on substance.

Billy Hill says:

10:19am | 20/01/12

@AdamC. The introduction of the GST was a good business decision,.a concept Labor find abhorrent The Feral Labor administration is rotten to the core,taking its modelling from NSWLabor (known locally as Scum) and implementing it nationally the future is bleak economically,massive waste,corruption and incompetence will see this rotting carcass that BrownSussex st administer leave a stench even the Chinese business leaders find repugnant.LOL

Shane From Melbourne says:

10:43am | 20/01/12

So as a taxpayer I’m supposed to pay a medicare levy for the public health system and also subsidize someone else’s choice to use private health insurance? Hell no, that is socialist. Let them pay in full for their own lifestyle choices.

AdamC says:

10:55am | 20/01/12

@Shane From Melbourne, yes, you are.

What you are actually paying for, of course, is healthcare, which is perceived to have public benefits. Those benefits do not depend on whether the provider of the healthcare is private or public. Private insurance plans should be able to compete with Medicare for funding in an open market.

Also, what is it with ALP cheerleaders and hostility to self-reliance? Gillard’s moderate rhetoric is undermined by her constant pandering to the far left on everything!

old fart says:

11:17am | 20/01/12

yes, I see young tony thought it was funny to use the italian linerr disaster as a jokey way of stopping boats.  Ignorant unfeeling bastard, people dead, people still missing and he thinks it’s funny.  Matybe we saw the real tony

Dash says:

11:29am | 20/01/12

@Shane of Melbourne, you miss the point entirely! The idea behind the rebate is to get people who can afford to pay their own way for Health care to do so and stay off the public purse!

If the rebate is removed because the ALP cannot balance our finances, all it will do is reduce the level of private cover, force more people into the public health care system, drive up insurance costs and lengthen public health waiting lists.

It’s stupidity from the ALP for short term financial gain. And they wrote a letter to the industry promising not to touch it! Clearly they have now shame!

@AdamC, the reason Gillard panders to the left on everything is because she is a radical lefty loony who was secretary of the Socialist Forum and still a paid up member in 2002. And the far left are the ones who secured her position. Howes is a raving socialist (was a member of “Resistence”) who put her into the job and the greens are a pack of watermelons who think frogs are more important than human beings.

Dash says:

11:34am | 20/01/12

Old Fart - How many people have died in boats since the ALP weakened the LNPs border protection laws? You’re worried about Abbott’s comments? Meanwhile, the ALP has blood on it’s hands. Interesting stance you take!

Any chance we might see the real Julia any time soon?

ausspud says:

12:07pm | 20/01/12

@Dash
What I hate is the continuos referal of it being “middle class welfare”,
There is nothing wrong with taxpayers getting some of their money back if it helps alleviate some pressure off public hospitals.
Why dont they lower taxes,look after the disabled & pensioners,and everyone else gets vouchers for food,bills etc.

Chris L says:

12:13pm | 20/01/12

I’m certain that letter was only meant as a rock solid, iron-clad guarantee and surely no Coalition voter expects such a promise to be kept.

old fart says:

01:10pm | 20/01/12

@dash, I will just help you with your selective craft syndrome, SIEVX, children overboard, stopping that many boats that naval personel are still receiving treatment for the things Howard et al forced them to do so they could hide the fact they DID NOT stop one boat, only swept them out of the public conciousness.  So dont crap on about blodd on the hands of the ALP. Their policy is identical except they have not left people to rot on Nauru, all of who incidentally are now resident in australia.
So stop crapping on with same jaded outlook as the rest of the LNP / ALP barnacles and just once try forming an opinion by yourself based on fact you moron

Dot says:

01:27pm | 20/01/12

Dash says “How many people have died in boats since the ALP weakened the LNPs border protection laws?”

What you meant to ask is how many people have died since Abbott opted not to support changes to the constitution that would have allowed off-shore processing.
The blood is on Abbott’s hands and you know it. 

Interesting stance you take to try and pin it on the ALP.

Abbott not only owns those deaths, but every asylum seeker that has arrived by boat since Oct. 13, 2011 when he opted for on-shore processing.

holden says:

02:19pm | 20/01/12

Correct weight, Dot. Poor Dash obviously gets confused with the rather uninformed opinions he manufactures at the bidding of the equally uninformed Liberal Party.
What, pray tell, is Big Ears’ stance on the Health Bill that the ALP are “trying to force through the Parliament”?
(They are not, but Dash knows that). Do Big Ears and Noddy Hockey support the Bill that is not being “forced through Parliament”?
Mind you, as ABBOTT was probably the worst ever Health Minister, and as Hockey has trouble organising even his own haircut, we will probably never know.
And who is the Badger to whom you keep referring? The one you say ‘refutes’ your facts. Dash, I realise that you are new to this game, but facts cannot be refuted. Don’t worry though. You don’t deal in facts, just name-calling and trite, childish imaginings.
I’ll pretend you know the ropes a bit, and give you a question about the Coalition. I hope you can answer, not just for me but for the many, many other folk equally puzzled.
Why hasn’t Abbott appointed the Leader of the National Party, Mr Truss, to the Deputy Leadership of the Coalition? Perhaps a quick phone call to Big Ears might allay the suspicion that he sees himself as “The Man!”. I mean, tradion demands, and all that guff that the Libs say they observe.
Please reply, won’t you Dash. None of the usual, “not worthy of comment” garbage that your beloved Leader spouts whenever he gets a curly one.

Dash says:

02:32pm | 20/01/12

@Dot - what a load of crap. Sounds like you are forming your opinion on the basis of ALP press releases! The ALP weakened the law and suddenly it’s Abbott’s fault! - lol. The ALP can’t balance a budget - oh must be Tony’s fault. Credit card Fraud - oops Tony’s at it again. The insulation fiasco - yep that nasty Abbott. ALP backed builders with their noses in the taxpayer trough under Gillard’s BER - let me guess…. Abbott’s fault? $150 billion of ALP debt - Abbott? Qantas debacle - Abbott? “There will be no carbon tax - Abbott? I’m a fiscal conservative - Abbott? No child shall live without a laptop - ???? Bloody hell!

@Old Fart - any sign of the Coast Guard Rudd and Gillard promised us all before the 2007 election? Or has that gone the same way as cheaper groceries, cheaper fuel, more affordable housing, 260 childcare centres, the East Timor Solution, Cheaper Better Childcare, the Citizens Assembly, root and branch tax reform, “there will be no carbon tax” and the ALPs budget surplus? Open your eyes.

You say their policy is identical?? Except for removing temporary protection visas, building three new onshore detention centres despite a promise not too, shutting down Naru, costing the Australian taxpayer $200m to relocate 4,000 people the Malaysians determine should come to our country, lying to the Australian people about East Timor and the ALPs dodgy deal to send women and children to be flogged in Malaysia. A country that is not a signatory to the UN convention. A convention Gillard held up as being the sole reason the ALP ignored Naru??? Get a grip! Gillard announced the East Timor Solution on the eve of the 2010 election, and it never even existed. She announced policy and she didn’t even discuss it with their government! You must be embarrassed to have voted for that lie. And you must be embarressed to have fallen for the rest of the ALPs lies. Some fools never learn! I guess that’s why there is still 28% of voters still voting for this failed government. The same 28% who would vote ALP even if Joseph Stalin was in charge!

GregE says:

02:40pm | 20/01/12

@Dot - Remind me, who’s the government again? Why should Abbott support a policy that would cost the Australian taxpayer millions just to relocate people that Malaysia want to send here? And what happens after the 800 have gone?

Any chance the ALP will accept responsibility for government? I mean, they have been in power 4 years now. And everytime they screw up it’s someone elses fault. It’s laughable.

Ben C says:

03:07pm | 20/01/12

@ holden

For your education, The Badger was a long-time Puncher who would support the ALP blindly, and would not offer any reasoned debate. Quite regularly, The Badger would take up other users’ pseudonyms and post comments that were contrary to said alias’s actual viewpoints. The Badger would also at times post insults to other users that would slip through the Punch’s censor, much to the chagrin of many of us other long-time Punchers (those of us who have been here since day dot).

Around midway through last year, The Badger suddenly disappeared from the Punch. Many of us suspected that The Badger (or Badgina, as renamed by some Punchers) had been blocked from commenting. However, the Punch can only do so much, and we suspect that The Badger has been taking up other pseudonyms not used by regulars to post random insults, and illogical arguments. Such as that published by Dot.

GregE says:

03:14pm | 20/01/12

@Old Fart - I just read Dash’s response to you and I notice it’s quite factual:

During the 2007 election, the ALP did promise a Coast Guard and it hasn’t been delivered. I’d forgotten about that.
Grocery choice failed.
Fuelwatch failed.
The ALP did promise 260 childcare centres and they have not been delivered.
The East Timor Solution announcement was bad form really. To announce it and not even talk to their government is shameful.
The Citizens Assembly promise was replaced by a 2 party committee already aligned to the ALP Green policy. Most of the population had no representation.
Rudd promised “root and branch tax reform” and they’ve done nothing but give us 3 new taxes and ignore most of Henry’s report.
“there will be no carbon tax” is a direct quote.

To be honest, I don’t see how you can argue with any of those facts. And calling someone a moron is a bit of a last resort for someone who has no comeback.

holden says:

04:55pm | 20/01/12

@Ben C.So am I to assume that because you know all of this stuff about Badger, and you are not Dash, (who I asked to respond, but he was unable), then you are able to deduce things without any evidence. How do you know Badger wrote under other people’s pen names?
Are you really Dash, trying to avoid answering, and hopefully shutting down my question? Or do you just like extricating Dash from unwinnable arguments?
I asked him why Big Ears doesn’t rate Truss worthy of the title of Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Perhaps you would like to answer that for me, or are you unable, like Dash, to find any reply other than that Abbott the Rabbit is a control freak? A foul-mouthed control freak.
Do let me know, there’s a good fellow.

Dot says:

06:20pm | 20/01/12

That’s the thing about these rabid conservatives holden. They can only play the man and not the comment.

They form an opinion based on conservative logic and questionable media sources and put it down as if it were fact. It’s not fact, it’s opinion.

The born to rule conservatives close their minds to the truth when they are out of power. All they do is bitch and moan and call their biased opinions fact.

Tony of Poorakistan says:

08:29am | 20/01/12

+1
 
I’m starting to wonder just who is being paid off in Australia, frankly, because no-one in the ALP seems to care how many of these freeloaders get in.

TimB says:

08:50am | 20/01/12

There was a similar article in the Guardian. Is it the same one?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/18/afghanistan-people-smugglers-taliban-europe

Have saved the link. I look forward to posting that every time Marilyn Shepherd starts foaming at the mouth about the issue and claiming there’s no such thing as people smuggling.

Anubis says:

09:05am | 20/01/12

Yep, its the same article TimB. Should get M Shephard well and truly foaming at the mouth that one.

SimonFromLakemba says:

09:13am | 20/01/12

You would be naive to think their isn’t a people smuggling industry out there.

marley says:

09:34am | 20/01/12

@simon - or part of it.

Ben C says:

09:42am | 20/01/12

@ SimonFromLakemba

No, Marilyn Shepherd is just in denial.

Just thinking of the money that people smugglers make per passenger, you would think that they could afford to make a few repairs to their boats, or maybe even buy a better boat.

AdamC says:

09:54am | 20/01/12

I think it is important to note that, as objectionable as this entire criminal edifice is, it is only responding to the demand created by the West’s continued love affair with an outmoded system of asylum-seeking. The prospect of resettlement in the West is like a lottery ticket for m,any Afghans, for whom a life coloured by the risk of violence and lack of economic opportunity is the norm.

It is up to countries like Australia to remove the incentives that keep people smuggling alive.

Tim says:

10:23am | 20/01/12

AdamC,
that’s exactly what I’ve been saying.
The Refugee Convention was written after WWII to stop people who were fleeing persecution being turned back at the border.
International travel was hard, long and expensive.

Now an asylum seeker can choose their country of destination quite easily and international air travel has made every signatory country a target.

We should be doing our best to make sure that the people we help are truly the most in need of that help, which I think is currently not the case.

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:29am | 20/01/12

@Ben C

As far as I know their boats get confiscated, spending money on them means they lose money. Plus I have a feeling they don’t really care about the asylum seekers.

Ben C says:

11:11am | 20/01/12

@ SimonFromLakemba

Too true, I was thinking of those that actually made it here and back without being detected. Which, I must admit, is not many.

neo says:

12:17pm | 20/01/12

I don’t understand why these people just don’t get a holiday visa and stay in the country. Doubt it costs much more, but it’s much safer.

Seth Brundle says:

12:39pm | 20/01/12

Give it 30 years.  We’ll all be trying to buy our way out of Australia.

marley says:

09:37am | 20/01/12

@Mahrat - maybe Max needs one of those cone things they put around the dog’s head. A nuisance, but it might give him a chance to heal.  And if you’re walking him at 5:30 in the morning, you don’t have to be go through any public embarrassment

Mahhrat says:

11:49am | 20/01/12

@Marley, they be an Elizabethan Collar named, and I’ll get one if he continues.  For now, he’s wearing my daughter’s old shirts, and they seem to be doing the trick!!

marley says:

06:40pm | 20/01/12

@Mahrat - ah, innovation! I like it.  Anything that works.  Stay away from the gaming, and stroke the dog.  Much more satisfying.

Knemon says:

12:36pm | 20/01/12

You watch women’s tennis? Too funny.

Form guide says:

01:35pm | 20/01/12

@Knemon,Mate,Have another look,not that im interested in tennis

Budz says:

01:50pm | 20/01/12

I had to for a little bit when I was waiting for the Hewitt Roddick game.

Anubis says:

08:31am | 20/01/12

Enjoy your visit to this fair city redvixen. There can never be enough redheaded foxes in town (I assume from the handle you are a redhead).

redvixen says:

10:09am | 20/01/12

@Anubis - yes, I’m a redhead.  I always do enjoy the fair city of Melbourne.  Try to get there for a week every couple of years.  (It’s not as good as Qld though, sorry).

Anubis says:

10:35am | 20/01/12

Have to agree with that last comment RV. I am an ex-pat Queenslander myself - schooled in Cleveland, lived on one of the bay islands, first major job was on a cattle station west of Rockhampton etc. Would move back there in a flash if the work was available, but alas it is not as I work in a very specialised field now. Most of my immediate family is still in Qld and I do occassionaly visit.

ausspud says:

12:19pm | 20/01/12

If your planning on watching womens tennis dont forget fill your ears with play dough.

RobJ says:

09:06am | 20/01/12

They’re in Melbourne tonight, I’m so excited!

“pretty sure this is the last opportunity to see these guys on our shores.”

That’s my line of thinking, it’s been 15 years since their last visit.

marley says:

06:51pm | 20/01/12

Ah yes, The Damned.  I’ve got three relatives, one of whom is doing all three gigs - I haven’t heard a report yet of the Brisbane one, but apparently there’s a photo out there of him with the Captain.  He’d now be in Melbourne with two more rellies for that gig, then all three are heading to Sydney for the final one.  I think you could say that he (and they) are fans.

I expect it’s all going to be wonderful (puts earplugs on).

Puck says:

08:45am | 20/01/12

I blame Howard for being a Bush lapdog, taking Australia to war and stirring up the hornets nest in the middle east.

Anubis says:

08:55am | 20/01/12

And, as I mentioned above, warning documents from the Taliban can be purchased for a fee from a roadside vendor in Afghanistan at will.

Arturo says:

09:20am | 20/01/12

@Puck,

Wrong…

Australia was already receiving a flood of refugees from Afghanistan from 1998 to 2001 before it intervened in Afghanistan in 2002.

John Howard ended the people smuggling.  All Julie Gillard, Kevin Rudd and Labor have done since they came to power is promote people smuggling.
 
Maybe its all part of Labor’s courting of a small but very rapidly growing demographic, after all Labor does see itself as the party for minority groups.

Puck says:

01:38pm | 20/01/12

The world according to Arturo

got any facts to back up your account of the Howard years?

marley says:

06:34pm | 20/01/12

@Puck:

http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bn/sp/boatarrivals.htm#_Toc285178607

And it’s very clear that the number of Afghan refugees worldwide dropped significantly after the allied intervention in late 2001.  Check the UNHCR website.

Frank says:

09:44am | 21/01/12

@marley

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33851.pdf

Ii is very clear that the number of refugees has not dropped, but they have been caught in a revolving door of bureaucracy.

marley says:

12:21pm | 21/01/12

@Frank - I’m sorry, but did you actually read your link?  The first two sentences say:

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has helped 3.69 million Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan since March 2002, marking the largest assisted return operation in its history. In addition, more than 1.11 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan without availing themselves of UNHCR’s assistance, bringing the total number of returnees to at least 4.8 million.”

In other words, nearly 5 million people who were refugees in 2001 were no longer refugees at the time the report was written.  I don’t see what that’s got to do with “revolving door bureaucracy.”

It is simply wrong to argue, as Puck has done, that the allied invasion precipitated a mass exodus out of Afghanistan.  The exodus had been occurring for years, and certainly hit a peak just before the invasion, not afterwards.  The numbers of Afghan refugees outside Afghanistan dropped precipitously in 2002 and for the next few years. That is very easily verifiable.  If you (and Puck) want a clearer picture, here’s a UNHCR document.  It’s a bit dated, but certainly explains what was going on in the late 90s through to around 2005.

http://www.unhcr.org/421316072.pdf

Blind Freddy says:

10:23am | 20/01/12

Start by getting up earlier- even if tired- rather than by going to bed earlier. Get into some natural light as early as possible; eg. sit in the sun while having breakfast.

Yuri says:

10:40am | 20/01/12

I’ve been on that cycle for about 3 months now, and it’s starting to take its toll. Going to bed at midnight (probably closer to 1am), then getting up at 7 (after hitting snooze a couple of times) makes the 3pm drowsiness very hard to withstand. Every week I tell myself I will catch up on sleep over the weekend, but it never happens.

I could be a mornig person, but I like my evenings too much!

old fart says:

11:23am | 20/01/12

930 bed 530 up, been doing it for years, dont even need an alarm clock

Early to be early to rise, I’ve got the healthy bit right, still working on the wealthy and wise bits

ausspud says:

12:16pm | 20/01/12

Watch tv, with the shit thats on you’ll be snoring in no time.

TheRealDave says:

12:51pm | 20/01/12

I usually get of fthe computer around 1am…sometimes 2am….read for up to an hour and then I’m woken up at 7:30am for work. Been doing that for years….and yes, I sneak off for a nap here at work sometiems between 2 and 3

There are days I crash out at 7pm….but if anyone wakes me - I can’t fall asleep again till the usual time. Shits me. Even if I am dead tired and have only closed my eyes for 10 minutes - if I get woken up, thats it, I won’t fall asleep till around 2-3am.

fairsfair says:

04:25pm | 20/01/12

I can’t nap. I always wake up with a raging headache and feel like someone has thrown sand in my eyes. Nana naps usually spell disaster.

I’m going to begin my “change” Monday. Weekends are for sleep ins - so up at 5:30am Monday I shall be!! Thanks for the tips!

You are right about TV though ausspud - though I have to say after about 10:30pm you can usually find some half decent show. I have been watching NZ shows like The Almighty Johnssons, Nothing Trivial and Go Girls. They are way better than a repeat of Two and a Half Men that is on in prime time. Such a shame that decent shows don’t get normal airtime - particularly with the presence of the secondary channels like 11, 80, 88, 72 and 73 - just more of the same sh*t at the same time.

subotic says:

11:34am | 20/01/12

Damn them all to hell ~ C. Heston

neo says:

12:23pm | 20/01/12

:O At least there are still thousands of other file repositories.

Good luck, USA, good luck.

Anubis says:

09:35am | 20/01/12

Keep pursuing it, obviously fraud - I assume it was a PayPal purchase you are talking about. PayPal does have a buyer protection scheme which will reimburse under certain conditions.

patsy says:

10:47am | 20/01/12

Just got off the phone with Paypal. Apparently it’s not their problem. So there you go. I have a bullshit buzzer for thre NRL season when we don’t like the call so, I pressed it before I hung up with the person with the American accent. I pressed it and it said in an American accent “That was bu****it” “
She passed the buck back to me. I WILL get my money back. She said I can’t cancel my paypal in case they don’t know were to send my money to.
Advice is cancel Paypal. Even the fraud investigator said so.Doing it now after I ring the bank.

Anubis says:

10:15am | 20/01/12

I was an avid supporter of PayPal for quite some time, having used it for many years. I stopped using PP about 2 and a half years ago when one of my cards got cloned. I know that PayPal was the source as that account was only ever used for PayPal purchases through EBay. The account only ever had money transferred to it when I made a purchase, so fortunately, it was empty when it was cloned. After that I stopped using PayPal.

SimonFromLakemba says:

10:36am | 20/01/12

I love him. He has some outlandish thoughts and comes across as strange but he doesn’t care and isn’t conforming to the hard right like the rest of the lackeys.

The best part of the debates is when the candidates try and out perform each other as to who can be the most conservative - Anti Gay, Anti Abortion, Anti Government, Pro Guns, Pro founding Fathers etc. Makes for a good watching spectacle and a cringe-worthy one to as one of those guys could potentially be the leader of the free world.

I was watching the Carolina debate on Fox News last week and the moderators barely acknowledged him and the crowd berated him when he said Americas pro military foreign policy isn’t working.

For a guy to get absolutely no press from the Republicans news outlet and do as well as he has is a pretty good accomplishment.

subotic says:

11:32am | 20/01/12

Ah ya bugger SimonFromLakemba, there’s nothing worse than when I have to agree with regular Punchers on political stuff.

Ron Paul is a bloody legend, and if only the Republican Party hadn’t just handed Obama another term because the rest of them are just plain dickheads, old Ron might have actually had a chance there.

I got a fifty says more young people vote for Uncle Ron than any other candidate…

Yankee politics. Not as much fun to watch as their football, but it’s bloody close!!!

SimonFromLakemba says:

12:38pm | 20/01/12

@Subotic

Agree

TheRealDave says:

12:56pm | 20/01/12

Ron Paul is a nutter. He’s the US version of Bob Katter…if Bob was articulate, could speak English, knew anything about econmics, ever glanced at an atlas and or had an IQ above the temperature of tap water or learnt to use a knife and fork.

Both exspouse alleged ‘populsit’ views…that would ruin the country economically, politically, socially and militarily if they ever got their rat claws ont eh reigns of power.

But apart from that, they are fun to watch

Hoobs says:

01:18pm | 20/01/12

@The Real Dave

Guess you don’t need an IQ to obtain medical degrees?

Got to love the ignorance.

Budz says:

01:38pm | 20/01/12

@TheRealDave: Please refer to the Punch article from earlier today:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-biggest-bigots-are-the-buggers-who-blame-bigotry/

James1 says:

11:20am | 20/01/12

Violence is so unnecessary when it comes to regaining the lost counties of Ulster.  In time, as the demographics change, the lost counties will go home of their own accord.  I wish these extremists would just be patient, and use just methods to advance their just cause.

SimonFromLakemba says:

12:42pm | 20/01/12

Your more of an expert than me. As far as I know it all goes back to the potato famine when the English came and effectively implemented polices to starve them? and discriminated against the Catholics?

I’m Assuming that’s what the IRA are for?

James1 says:

12:50pm | 20/01/12

Pretty much.  Also they want to feed Protestant babies to the Pope.

seanr says:

01:34pm | 20/01/12

Agreed James1, pure demographics and a referundum will see the 32 counties united again at some point. Sadly some Republicans can’t seem to let the violence go..and helps their street cred when they are doing their money making rackets..drug dealing, petrol smuggling etc

JC says:

01:25pm | 20/01/12

I really really really don’t like Abbott, but I thought his joke was hilarious and pretty damn quick witted, something I wouldn’t have expected from him.
I think the Labour party is going to make themselves look stupid by making a big deal about this, I mean, just about everyone has made a joke about that captain.

Knemon says:

01:26pm | 20/01/12

Hi Tim…It was probably about par for Abbott. My worst nightmare coming true would be dining out with Abbott…It couldn’t get any more boring…watching grass grow would be far more fun!

SimonFromLakemba says:

01:34pm | 20/01/12

Just saw that to, made me laugh. It was a stupid question to ask him, what was he meant to say? As much as I hate Abbott I thought it wasn’t too bad.

Tasteless says:

02:16pm | 20/01/12

Surprised he couldn’t blend in a reference to the carbon price and mmrt. He’s slipping badly, but hey .... shit happens.

marley says:

05:50pm | 20/01/12

As I understand it, the young man did stab himself to give himself credibility, maybe not with the street, but with his clients and his employers. Perhaps you have a different version.

His employer let him go because he was self destructive and not doing his job.  And that happened before the employer knew about the criminal charge against him.

When he was charged a couple of months later with making false statements to the police, he pled guilty.  The Age broke the story but didn’t name him;  the Herald Sun did name him.  As a result, his contract with his next employer was torn up.

Now, I’m not exactly condoning the Hun “naming and shaming” but the self destructive pattern had started earlier, and frankly, I think an employer had the right to know who they were hiring and what baggage he might be carrying.  His employer at the time of the offence was certainly very unhappy that it hadn’t been told about it.

So, while I think yes, some soul searching should be done at the Hun, I also think it was in the public interest to know that this young man should not have been working with troubled kids. 

As I say, perhaps you know more about the situation than has appeared so far in the press, but honestly, on the face of it the Hun simply reported a factual story.  And if papers can’t do that, what’s the point of their existence?

Ben C says:

03:57pm | 20/01/12

I take it you’ve just come back from a boating trip, or a beach run nossy. Tim was a couple of hours ahead of you.

fairsfair says:

04:18pm | 20/01/12

So you took no offence to the stupid question that was asked nossy - only the response?

I haven’t heard the interview, but looking at it on paper I see no issue with it - the questions is stupid and Tony probably should have refrained from answering it but his answer simply highlights the fact that generally, if the boat is not stopped before reaching Christmas Island it generally smashes up on rocks and some people die Costa Concordia style - we’ve all seen that happen and I’d care not see it happen again.

Wynston Cruso says:

05:23pm | 20/01/12

Let me know when he becomes the worst PM ever, then I’ll care what people say about him. This was pretty funny, and accurate, which makes it funnier.

Tim says:

09:03pm | 20/01/12

Haha nossy,
This time I beat you to it.

holden says:

10:55pm | 20/01/12

Not up to your usual standard , FF. I expect better from you as I had you as a caring soul. Abbott’s “shit happens”, and then this says much about his reaction to tragedy.
This is not an “I support Labor”  post, just an “I support caring for families with losses” post.
And Winston, who thinks it was “pretty funny” and “accurate”  really should have a look at his sad self.  He probably lives alone with his books about the Nazi regime and the Pol Pot torture manual.

nossy says:

05:57am | 21/01/12

Abbott was on National TV last night and aplogised for his disgraceful reamark folks - I rest my case - a class A dill if ever there was one.

stephen says:

11:36pm | 20/01/12

‘A bed without competition ?’

Talk to ‘Erick’.

His bed, I’m sure, is already empty.