The Dump is:
For posting comments that don’t get up at the Drum, and for having a pleasant, mirthful or enlightening off-topic discussion.
It’s not for personal abuse of other commenters.
Please do that somewhere else if you must.
Play nicely or piss off.
However, why doesn’t a poster add a link for us to read and comment on here, much quicker. Maybe we can do a bit more bagging here, not that I speak for the moderators, yet.
NB: Being tiresome and boring, racist, sexist or just plain creepy is not playing nicely.
———-
The Pig’s Arms exists because a dozen or so years ago our other favourite playpen – the ABC’s Unleashed blogsphere started to go off. Like a sack of prawn heads in the sun. Something had to be done.
Moderation was taking forever. Comments seemed to be rejected randomly – outrageous ones appeared and reasoned ones were pinged. When they released the Drum / Unleashed ….. things actually got worse !
So many pieces from professional writers appear with no obvious merit. And the moderation has become, to put it frankly, appalling.
As a former contributor and a commenter, I was deeply disappointed at the plummeting quality from our pre-eminent media empire. And I resented so many challenging or dare I say, witty or funny posts in which we’ve invested seconds of our precious time – getting the chop.
So here, for all our benefit – is an open slather blog. Copy and paste your best rejected comments here for posterity. Does not matter whether you’re posting on the Guardian, First Dog on the Moon or wherever else.
And sprinkle pointers to the Pig’s Arms amongst your comments. Let’s try to rescue some of the old faithful.
Cheers,
Emm.
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
If you get the opportunity to see todays Insiders, you will see what clots we have in Ministerial positions. Kellie O’Dwyer, no idea. Was content to play wank word bingo instead of answering the questions then came out with some clangers. Like the Future Fund being a Sovereign wealth fund, really, I though it was there to cover public servants superannuation payments. That Labor didn’t set one up with record terms of trade but neglects to mention the GFC or the money pissed against the walls by Howard when the real money was pouring in. She then accused Labor of spending but when Barrie pointed out that LNP spending was at 25.9% of GDP far greater than the previous government well it was a mere bagatelle and necessary.
Was she born a fool is it her natural disposition.
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I record it always and watch over lunch. Kellie, like others, is finding it hard to transition to the new Turnbull style and still regurgitates Abbott shit slogans. The bloody future fund for public servants’ super still gives me the tomtits. So much money in such a short time which I say was stolen from us (ps people weren’t ALL about to retire) . It’s now nearly $100 Billion through investment and I hope it is paying ps super now.
But Algy, the rest of the show was pretty good – instant laughter from the redhead especially.
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It was vivienne, I don’t mind the tories making buffoons of themselves on this show. As regards super I don’t know federally but at the state level there are three super funds SSS SAS and the industry fund. The first two are very generous schemes. Paying a percentage of their final pay indexed for life. The need to retire at 60 SAS I understand is generous at 58. Both you can’t make any contributions after your 60th birthday. Several I know of still have thumping mortgages and need to work beyond.
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I stayed in SAS, in spite of being pressured to ‘upgrade’ to SASS some years back. I can retire at 58, three years away, but, like your mates, still have a mortgage, etc. Mrs M swapped to SASS well before we got together, so her retirement funding is less substantial.
We have a manager who is appalling, no personal or formal/informal management skills. She is starting to piss off a few oldies, who are inclined to say ‘F(*&^ it’ and retire early.
That future found was always touted as some great Lib idea, but, why the f&^% weren’t they paying into a super fund?
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Don’t retire at 58. The difference after two more years of payments is huge.
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No, can’t afford to, besides, I’m not digging holes, or laying bricks!!
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Seems to be the way Big M managers being elevated well above their station. We’re going through a merger and a restructure as a result. Had a 30 something suggest to me that they go around to all those in their late 50’s and suggest Voluntary Redundancies. Some of us in our late 50’s (57 tomorrow BTW) can’t afford to yet and aren’t ready.
Had one of the girls (told what an experienced Engineer she was at 26) about 30, talking about discrimination against those who were having children. Completely missed the point about older workers being discriminated against. Pointed out you can’t discriminate against anyone for any reason. Should have pointed out to her that Mrs A never had maternity leave for any of our kids and chose to stay at home. We struggled at times, though I guess its different now given Howard shooed all the at home mums and made two incomes mandatory for all new mortgages.
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Happy Birthday for tomorrow Algy!
Fortunately we are chronically short staffed, so no one’s been shown the back door.
Not many nurses ever go back to full time work after having kids. Some, like at your work, complain about not getting ahead. I don’t think they realise that you need a certain amount of time in the game to get reasonably good at it, let alone get ahead. One girl at work had to go part time because she got engaged, and was going to be soooo busy. Don’t what she’ll do when the littlies come along.
We were lucky with working shift work, and being able to swap from one to the other. If not, we would have both gone part time (I guess).
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Gee it must be tough being engaged Big, how did she find the time to work. I’m with you though I always thought that it would take me 10 years to be good at what I did. After nearly 40 years I’m still learning. Gets me though those who think that they’ve done this course or that an bang their an expert.
I think going part time in maybe three year for me has some merit. I’m only looking to work 5-6 more years.
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Happy birthday Algy. Hope you celebrate with something nice – dinner out maybe.
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Happy birthday young fella 🙂
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Happy birthday Algernon 🙂
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Thank you all for the kind birthday wishes. Mrs A is doing a very nice Chicken Chasseur for tonight.
There’s a homeless person at the crosswalk across the road from work, Theres one at every corner it seems in the city. Unlike most he shows his face, miserable as it is. I gave him $10 today and asked if that would help, the look on his face and the apparent joy of having somewhere to stay tonight. We had a brief conversation he told me his name was Jimmy. The joy on his face and the conversation made my day.
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Disappointing the only comment I made all day didn’t get up agreeing with Gerard. I can’t see anything wrong with pointing out that Eric Abetz uncle was tried at the Nuremberg Trials. Fits neatly with his politics
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I have given up trying to respond to either Gez or Helvi at the Drum as I found I virtually had a 100% fail rate.
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I get them up from time to time. My post was just before closing. Still I see the usual right wing nutjobs had their usual field day then complain that the ABC is too right wing.
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Those nut jobs do one thing I thought was now almost impossible – getting nuttier, crazier and using long time descriptors of themselves as descriptors of us ! Then there are those now persisting in calling Turnbull a Labor PM ! The Libs so far have no changed except for Turnbull bringing public transport back into play and talking to the cross benchers. Also of course he sounds better and is not Abbott.
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Saw a headline just now – Hayne dropped by 49ers ……… price paid for string of errors.
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Viv,I get the feeling we may just hear about everything he does.
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Can’t get a look in now – one day of triumph (sort of) followed by nothingness.
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Saw that you got a few up. Non of my alliases work.
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Came later. One has since been deleted. Late in the day seems to be more the go.
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Anyone heard whether Jarrod Hayne has nearly done something?
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No and of course Hung, I don’t give a shit. Watching motor bike racing . . . vroooooooooooom………..
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Who??
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……. and I am sure you don’t either of course !!
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I heard he nearly had a touchdown. I have never watched a game as stupid as Gridiron.
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I’ve checked the Washington Post and NY Times – nothing. Seems baseball is more the go at the moment.
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http://www.sportsfan.com.au/hayne-fumbles-early-against-ravens/tabid/91/newsid/178299/default.aspx
Looks like he nearly caught the ball.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-20/san-francisco-coach-says-hayne-is-mproving/6868068?section=sport
Looks like he nearly improved.
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He will hopefully progress to catching AND throwing a ball. Something of which to be mighty proud.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-23/jarryd-hayne-dropped-for-49ers-seattle-seahawks-nfl/6879080
Looks like he nearly made the team
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‘R Supwood:
15 Oct 2015 2:11:44pm
Your mind is numb from excessive onanism. Leave it alone.
Reply Alert moderator
Alfie:
15 Oct 2015 3:59:09pm
I will…once I find out what “onanism” means.
I laughed at RS, and was surprised that it got through, but, then, Alfie’s ignorance….priceless.
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Yes I doesn’t understand much Big, and onanism is him writ large. Mind you he has the inside running at the dumb today
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My reply to Alfie, that didn’t get up. “Alfie, you’ve just been called a wanker, but don’t know it because you are an ignoramus.”
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The vagaries of the Drum Sister.
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Classic Hung:
Freddie Frog:
13 Oct 2015 8:10:25am
Yes,
I’m sick of these types of “studies” that count the social costs of various things that advocates want to ban, limit or stop. If you actually added up all the costs that they attribute to alcohol, tobacco, domestic violence, fast food etc, you would think that we could lift our economy by an order of magnitude over night by stopping these products/things.
The double counting and heroic assumptions that are used in coming up with the figures are ridiculous. They are political tools for control rather than useful information for rational and informed debates
Alert moderator
Hung One On:
13 Oct 2015 8:25:58am
Yes so true Freddie,I mean you wouldn’t want to know about anything you don’t agree with would you.
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It deteriorated after that, the general tone, not Hung.
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Thanks Big M. I tried to get him to admit that he hadn’t read the studies but couldn’t get published. The other thing that is annoying me at the moment is how the Drum seems to let a few certain posters dominate a discussion like Ben the Idiot Lawyer but now it seems to be The Yank.
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Some people get any piece of drivel waved through. I just don’t get it.
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The Yank is quite reasonable, most of the time. I doubt that Ben has finished high school, let alone become a lawyer. Same with the shambolic comments from Nailey. Sometimes I can’t be bothered, as my posts seem blocked, then the occasional one gets through, often late in the evening??
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I tend to do better late in the arvo – not always of course. Some of my best stuff written over breakfast never sees the light of day.
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Most of mine that don’t get through contain some research and references, yet sometimes I will just say “That sounds like crap’ or words to that effect, and it’s straight through.
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I have it the other way Viv and yes I agree Big M the Yank is responsible if somewhat verbose. 🙂
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Actually Big I don’t think Ben reached puberty. Only managed one comment tup this week. Waste.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZhgqCi7q6Y
Vale
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You would have been in kindergarten when this was on the radio Algy.
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No 1st or 2nd Class vivienne when it was first released. Started school last term of 1963. Billy Joe Royal was only 73.
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Gee, I was only one or at the most two years out in estimate. You’ve been a keen music lover from a very early age. Yes, reflected in your lists.
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I’ll be 57 in a couple of weeks. I can even remember where I was when the Beatles toured (hospitals stick in your mind).
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I’ve been home and away a lot this week. Found the Drum a bit boring and a bit lifeless. With Abbott gone everyone has gone a bit ga ga or just plain nuts. The old Abbott lovers are contorting themselves into something I’ve yet to find a word to describe. Blithering idiots comes to mind but not quite right.
Have a lovely weekend planned – spit roast, and garlic prawns over coals for starters. Granddaughter is coming along a treat, totally gorgeous. I’m her favourite – we have poo and farts joke times.
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Waiting for our first one, here! Less than four weeks.
All indications, predictions, omens are auspicious and the anticipation is a life force of its own.
Baby shower on Sunday and gets who’s already cooked five dishes (of finger food) and will cook a spanakopita tomorrow?
Cots and special car seats already in place. So are all sorts of other baby doodadahs.
Had a hilarious conversation with the husband, a gorgeous Japanese boy who’s doing his PhD in Linguistics.
ME: When did you come to Oz, Naoki?
Naoki: 2013.
ME: What, you’ve only been here two years? (His English is perfect so I thought he had learnt it here.)
Naoki: Yes, just two years. The University in Japan wanted me to finish my degree here.
ME: I seeeeee. (Laughing) And did you imagine that within these two years you would be not only a husband but also a father?
Laughter all around.
Naoki: No, never. The Japanese gods are never that kind. Must be your Greek gods.
Like I said, I love the boy!
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Lovely Ato.
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Algernon:
05 Oct 2015 8:23:56am
Last decade we had rivers of money coming into the governments coffers from the mining boom. Money that should have been put into a sovereign wealth fund. But no the great leader Howard and his fair weather Treasurer choosing to spend it. Spend it on middle class welfare. Up against the wall it wend $320b of it. Buy an election and leave $20b on paper but in reality a deficit.
A mining tax to try and capture some of this revenue is howled down as a great bogie by the LNP. Then we had a Hockey as Treasurer clueless on every detail on how to manage an economy. He replaced by Morrison even more clueless than the clueless on he replaced.
These Liberals no idea what to do for the benefit of all Australians in times of plenty. Benefit for now and the future. If they don’t have a clue now what are they going to do when the recession hits us.
[Great kick off Ace]
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Thank you Hung I was excited getting first of the day and Gerard the second
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The usual shit-eaters were out in force today.
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Yes had a look theres a lot of nonsense been spoken a lot of nutters I saw. Didn’t bother commenting.
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Congrats, just saw that. You and GO got quite a few in early!
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Beat me to i – congrats. Lovely not to have bullshit hit the top.
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Did you notice the tag team with curlys silly comments.
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Yes, there are facts, then there are facts…
PJK used to call both Howard, and Downer, ‘Curly’, as in, ..’are you right there Curly….not only do the salmon swim up stream, the jump on the hook for you!’
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Yes. Was wondering if he would come back but he didn’t. We ko’d him good and proper.
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Big day for the pigs. Gerard and I are the first up on Verander’s blog today.
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All of the comments at the Bum have just disappeared.
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Well thats a poor show isn’t it.
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Its happened again Big. I blame Abbott of course.
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And again this morning. I think the new comments are being posted by someone who doesn’t know how the system works.
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Yes its on and off, I can’t keep up
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I’ve been in Rutherglen today. No comments on anything. No explanation that I can see either.
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Sometimes its on sometimes its off. I’ve got a dozen up and missed about six. Bunk made a great comment which I tried to congratulate them on three occasions but no joy.
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That coffee boy is no bloody good.
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What a creepy, chauvinistic, biased in the extreme, elitist, crass and vulgar interpretation of the Syria question by Bob Ellis!
All our allies are, according to him, of course, nice people because they don’t kill their own with chemicals and beheadings!
We don’t mind -in fact, it seems we very much approve and encourage the slaughter of millions and the maiming of many more millions in almost every square acre on the planet, in Vietnam, Iraq, in Libya, in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Algiers, in Afghanistan, in Yemen, all over Africa; and by choking up every economy of the planet and starving its people.
We don’t mind it -in fact, it seems we very much approve and encourage the carpet bombing of whole countries, the raining it with agent orange, with napalm, with phosphorus, with anthrax, with sarin gas and with every known and unknown lethal poison, with cluster bombs and with bombs from remote controlled drones!
No, all that is to be applauded, according to Bob Ellis!
What a fucking sad creature this once intelligent man has become!
Fuck you Bob Ellis!
Sadder still is a comment below this crap by one of his devotees:
Geoff September 28, 2015 at 6:34 pm
“You are maybe, the only moral voice in our nation though I am not well enough read to say this, but thank you for it anyway.”
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Did he really say this crap, ‘Mou ? Goodness, how the mighty are fallen. I always thought he was a snarky bastard, but when it was directed at the Libnats, I guess that was sort of OK.
Maybe it is that he’s gone from contrarian to demented as a natural progression – PP McGuiness -style.
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I think you have misread Bob’s piece. Bob is despairing of it all.
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Here’s the message, Vivienne.
Have I really misread it?
I found it too astonishing to believe also but he had written something similar not long before that also. I’ll see if I can find it.
Do read also the comments made by others below the post. I don’t think I’ve got it wrong at all.
In A Hundred And Four Words
by Bob Ellis
Our new ally is Bashr al-Assad.
He has killed more of his own people than Franco.
And we are on his side.
Some he has killed with chemical weapons.
And we are on his side.
His ally is Vladimir Putin.
He is a neofascist post-Soviet corrupt dictator and former KGB spy who shoots journalists.
And we are on his side.
And when an Australian soldier is beaheaded, or crucified, in a war vainly waged with apocalyptic savages, he will know he died in a good cause.
And in his last moments, he will be proud he was there.
Because of the company we keep.
http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2015/09/28/in-a-hundred-and-four-words/
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I read it Ato. Bob is not on Assad’s side – he is appalled that apparently Australia now is.
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Whose side are you on Ato, if any. Sounds like they are all bastards.
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Vivienne, Bob is definitely not on Assad’s side. I know little about Assad but I do know that he is nowhere near as bad as the so called West paint him out to be.
The two articles I’ve posted above are in concert with many other european articles which show quite clearly that a whole lot of bullshit has been written about him so as to excuse themselves for engineering yet another regime change for the sake of stealing more resources and diminishing the power of yet another country for the greater glory of zionoamerican interests.
Bob perpetuates that propaganda. He is wrong.
Thank Christ Putin is giving these thugs of the zionowestern axis of evil something to think about.
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Here it is:
“…And, oh yes, far from shirt-fronting Putin, his government is now assisting him in the protection of the mass murderer Assad, an actual WMD-wielding monster worse than Saddam Hussein…”
http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2015/09/27/turnbull-day-7/#comments
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Enormously disappointing to see this crap come out of his head.
Even if Assad and Husein are as bad as he says, are they anywhere near as bad as the last – what, five and more Presidents of the USA (with the exception of Carter) and all the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Khazaria (stolen Palestine) and several PMs of the Uk?
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Two great articles on Assad.
http://americanfreepress.net/seymour-hersh-assad-innocent/
Seymour Hersh: Assad Innocent
MAY 03, 2014 AFP NO COMMENTS
• Investigative report demolishes claim that Syrian military gassed own civilians.
By Pete Papaherakles —
A renowned investigative journalist has revealed in a worldwide exposé, which received almost no attention in the United States, that the Obama administration has known all along—and the establishment media has covered up—the fact that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad never gassed his own people in August 2013. This news comes as Secretary of State John Kerry continues to lie to the American people and the world about Syria in order to gin up support for an overthrow of the government in that Middle Eastern country.
In “The Red Line and the Rat Line,” which was published on April 4 in London Review of Books, which “has the largest circulation of any literary magazine in Europe,” Pulitzer Prize recipient Seymour M. Hersh explains that a sample of the sarin gas used in the August 21 attacks on Ghouta, Syria, was provided to British intelligence at Porton Down, the defense laboratory in Wiltshire, England. Analysis by the Brits proved conclusively that the gas did not match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal.
After the August 21 chemical attack, a “monster strike” was being organized at the Pentagon, which was to have included B-52s loaded with 2,000-pound bombs. It was set up for the purpose of completely destroying Assad’s military, the electric power grid, oil and gas depots, all known logistics and weapons depots, command and control facilities and all known military and intelligence buildings. Britain and France were also ready to provide fighter jets, ships and submarines.
In the final days of August, Obama had given the Joint Chiefs of Staff a deadline for the attack to begin no later than Monday morning, September 2. That’s why it came as a surprise to many when on August 31 Obama announced that the attack would be put on hold and asked Congress to vote on it.
What happened?
Russia, which insisted from the start that Assad was innocent, had its military intelligence operatives recover samples of the chemical agent from Syria and pass them on to British military intelligence, which then sent the material to Porton Down. The sample turned out negative against all sarin batches known to be in Syria’s possession.
So who was behind it?
Hersh points the finger squarely at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.
Pete Papaherakles discusses this article on the 4/18 edition of the AFP Editors Roundtable (5:55 – 20:22)
Syria Exonerated!
• Sarin gas attack on Syria carried out by terrorists, orchestrated by Turkey
• Obama calls off massive U.S. military assault because truth discovered
By Pete Papaherakles
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in a major report titled “The Red Line and the Rat Line,” published on April 4 in London Review of Books, explained how the escalation of events in Syria stemmed from developments in Libya.
In January 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the September 11, 2012 assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which described in a highly classified annex a secret agreement reached in early 2012 between the Obama administration and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan pertaining to what has come to be called “the rat line.” It involved getting arms from Libya’s arsenals into Syria through Turkey. Funding would come from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with support from Britain’s MI6, would do the gunrunning through Australian front companies and retired American soldiers to manage procurement and shipping.
The operation was run by former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman David Petraeus, who was CIA director at the time, but would soon resign due to an illicit affair with his female biographer.
The Benghazi consulate had no political role whatsoever. Its only mission was to provide cover for moving arms, which is the reason it was attacked.
After the attack, Washington abruptly ended the CIA’s role and the gunrunning got out of control, but that did not stop Turkey from handing terrorists who were in Syria illegal weapons such as surface-to-air missile launchers. There was much concern in Washington that the terrorists could use these weapons to take down commercial aircraft.
By the end of 2012, the terrorists were losing the war. Erdogan was angry and feeling betrayed by the U.S. for withdrawing its “rat line” support.
In the spring of 2013, the U.S. learned that Turkey was working with terrorists to develop chemical weapons and to train them in their use.
Erdogan knew that if he stopped helping the terrorists the war in Syria would be over. The Saudis could not arm the rebels sufficiently due to transport problems, so Erdogan’s only hope was to instigate an event that would force the U.S. to enforce its “red line” dictate and bring on its full military might. The problem for Erdogan was, Obama didn’t respond, because he couldn’t pin any weapons attacks directly on Assad.
According to Hersh, on May 16, 2013, Erdogan met Obama at the White House where he desperately pleaded his case. Obama agreed that Assad had to go and acknowledged that chemical weapons had been used in Syria in March and April of that year, but said he needed specific information in order to implicate Assad. The red line was still intact.
Complicating matters for Erdogan, in May of that year, ten members of the al-Nusra rebel group were arrested in southern Turkey trying to transport 5 lbs. of sarin gas. The mainstream media failed to report this, and ultimately, five of the terrorists were released after brief detention. The others were released pending a trial.
Just weeks before the August 21 gas attack in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, a highly classified briefing was sent to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel describing Erdogan’s desperation.
The briefing focused on the fact that the CIA’s withdrawal from the “rat line” had left Erdogan exposed militarily and politically. Supplies to Syria could only go through Turkey, not Lebanon or Jordan. If Syria were to win, Erdogan’s dreams of conquest would turn into a nightmare of hostile radicals at his border. It further stated that Turkey had expressed “the need to do something that would precipitate a U.S. military response.”
After the chemical attack, U.S. intelligence sensed that Syria couldn’t have carried out the attack and Turkey was suspect, but no one knew how it was done.
Ultimately, it was Dempsey and the joint chiefs who convinced Obama to change course by telling him “that the Middle East would go up in smoke” if the attack was carried out.
As intercepts and other intelligence kept coming in after the attacks, the evidence was found to support the suspicions. “We now know it was a covert action planned by Erdogan’s people to push Obama over the red line,” said Hersh’s former intelligence official. “They had to escalate to a gas attack in or near Damascus when the UN inspectors were there.”
The inspectors had come to Damascus on August 18 to investigate previous gas attacks.
“The deal was to do something spectacular,” he told Hersh. “Our senior military officers have been told by the [Defense Intelligence Agency] and other intelligence assets that the sarin was supplied through Turkey—that it could only have gotten there with Turkish support. The Turks also provided the training in producing the sarin and handling it. . . . Principal evidence came from the Turkish post-attack joy and back-slapping in numerous intercepts. Operations are always so super-secret in the planning but that all flies out the window when it comes to crowing afterwards. There is no greater vulnerability than in the perpetrators claiming credit for success.”
Hersh added that Erdogan thought his problems in Syria would soon be over: “Off goes the gas and Obama will say red line and America is going to attack Syria, or at least that was the idea. But it did not work out that way.”
Pete Papaherakles is a writer and political cartoonist for AFP and is also AFP’s outreach director. Pete is interested in getting AFP writers and editors on the podium at patriotic events. Call him at 202-544-5977 if you know of an event you think AFP should attend.
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Can Abbott be taken off the Home Page now ? I really don’t want to see his face any more ………..
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I think it reminds us of the two dreadful years we had and that really nothing has changed. The new PM is just articulate.
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I know ! But with Abbott gone I actually feel so much better, it is hard to put into words. I do believe there will be subtle changes – Hunt is already not sounding like such a complete idiot. Maurice Newman has been given the heave ho. Turnbull will not be talking to Jones and Hadley. Bolt hates him!
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What will the boy loving parrot and that moronic thug do now. And who gives a toss about Bolt another ignorant clown. Hunt always sounds like a complete idiot. Morrison seems to have as much as a grasp on economics as Hockey did. Plenty of other clowns got a gig. Dutton how I don’t know it goes on.
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Good questions – the shock jocks will probably stir up racial/islamic trouble shit or possibly go on a rage about AFL versus Rugby ! Bolt will go into decline – he simply can’t go on rubbishing Turnbull. Interesting times I reckon. The big worry is Morrison of course. Turnbull should have appointed another woman, Sharman Stone – she is not a complete idiot and can do arithmetic (she’s got a good education cv). Meantime, my worries will remain with Labor and Shorten. I’m keen to see Bowen go head to head with Morrison.
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Sharman Stone has a PHD in what I’m unsure. Morrison a BSc highly qualified then. Good thing is Turnbull hasn’t any time for the Murdoch press. Yes I’d like Shorten to step aside for Albo. Plain speaker no nonsense speaks to the common person. Bowen would wipe the floor with Morrison. Lets hope the days of the shock jock buffoons is over or at least tempered.
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From Morrison’s website: Minister Morrison holds an Honours degree in Applied Economic Geography from the University of NSW.
From Stone’s: Dr Stone holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Anthropology from Monash University, a Master of Arts in Sociology from La Trobe University, a Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Economics and Business from Monash University.
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Well Morrison is eminently qualified then. I thought I’d read somewhere it was science. So he’s a gloried Geographer. Stone is by far a better fit.
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Except Turnbull didn’t think beyond Morrison in his pandering to the mad far right.
Turning off now – doing a nice beef and veg stir fry. All prep done.
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After a very little success this week I get first up on Jensen’s religious waffle and apparently I am not alone that the article is ‘Rubbish.’. hey hey
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Perfect answer, Vivienne.
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I usually avoid the religious topics – all I ever want to say is ‘rubbish’. But that Jensen gets up my you know what. So I decided to just say it. Bingo. Will last me a while !
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The Jesus people are out in force today.
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A lot of ill informed nonsense on both sides. I don’t bother with the religious blogs for that reason.
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Religion is the personal choice of a person. There are thousands of Churches all over Australia for Sunday school sessions. I wish they would keep religion out of public education.
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Your first two sentences are truisms. I don’t necessarily agree with the third.
To understand why SRE is in NSW schools you need to understand how Public schools started in that state. Sir Henry Parkes was a strong advocate for public education through the Public Schools Act 1866 and Public Instruction Act 1880. Prior to that the Church (particularly the Anglican Church) held something of a stranglehold over education within the colony. The first act saw the takeover of church schools the second enshrined that education be free. In fact free, compulsory and secular. Secularism is a word hijacked by atheists. Parkes fought for this for 25 years. He was born into poverty saw the value of an education and its ability to pull people out of poverty. He also withdrew funding from non state schools or those run by various denominations and religions. Now Parkes was a Christian but as far as education is concerned a Secularist. I share that. I think that all non state schools should not receive any government funding. However Parkes stated that Religious Education should be taught in state schools for at least one hour per week. That is why it is taught in state schools. The reality is that its 25-30 minutes in Primary schools and perhaps a period in High schools often only once a month. Personally I’d prefer comparative religion be taught.
Most people of faith send their kids to state schools. Only about 10% of those who attend religious schools are people of faith. I see them as breeding grounds for atheists. Force feeding religion is counterproductive. A colleague of mine at work sends the children to the local Anglican College then complains about the amount of religion they’re taught or the amount of chapel they have to attend. Seriously what did they expect! Same with lapsed Catholics.
There was plenty of nonsense spoken in the Jenson blog. One person there claimed to be an ex Sunday school teacher yet from their own writing they clearly weren’t. Others claimed that the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, was about the church. Quite clearly it’s not, it looks at all organisations that have involvement with children. Currently it’s seeking responses from sporting clubs. Now I’m about to retire from the committee of a sporting club. The club has about 250 active members as well as their parents. We’re talking about a community of probably 500-700 people. There would be plenty of sporting organisations smaller than us. Yet this commission will look for nonces anywhere (none in ours). Child sexual abuse overwhelmingly occurs within a family by a family member. The founder of one organisation set it up after they found that all their kids were abused by their grandfather. Yes it happens in Churches, in nearly all cases the Catholic Church that has been protected by itself, law enforcement and even government. Organisations like Broken rites will tell you this. The Catholic Church is evil in the way it protects its own and the lengths with its smoke and mirrors it will go to.
I’m like Vivienne, I don’t normally comment on religious blogs.
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The Catholic Church has a very bad name in the Hunter valley, with card carrying Catholics refusing to go to church, or give their hard earned money to nonce protectors. A friend from work had taken accusations to someone senior in the church, only to be told that he would not start an investigation without hard evidence!! The other denomination that has come under the same scrutiny are the JWs, who also handle accusations of child abuse by their own inquiry, refusing to involve the police.
You are correct, Aly, the RC isn’t just about churches. When I was growing up the Boy Scouts was riddled with kiddy fiddlers.
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Yes I see that in Newcastle, not only were the nonces moved around they seemed to be aided and abetted by the local authorities. The Catholic Church is an evil institution in how it handles cases of child sexual abuse. Look at cases like Ellis. Its a defence they are all too eager to use. I’ve heard that argument countless times, go to the church only to be told they can’t. Then one might try to sue someone only to find that’s not their name or the order was actually something different. Then they’ll have a dirtbag investigator test the claims an suggest that the victim is besmirching the good name an character of who ever. This Royal Commission will record their “good” names and the evil they’ve perpetrated and there’s little the Catholic Church can do about it.
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On FGM topic;
Ben Nallay:
” I’m grateful, personally. I am indeed a beauty to behold.”
Me: “Does Medicare cover facelift surgery Ben?” …didn’t go down well with the moderator. 🙂
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The Elections of Wrath
“Of the lethal wrath of Achilles, Peleas’ son, sing goddess.
The wrath that hurled endless woes upon the Greeks and sent myriads of souls of brave warriors to Hades, leaving their bodies as spoil for all the dogs and carrion birds.”
So Homer begins his Iliad .
Political parties and a people of the arse hole.
They will now entertain themselves at tables rich with chicken shit and they will dance the tsifteteli which German and Belgian musos will play for them.
No plates will be smashed because each plate will cost a month’s wages.
We will now see what the word “Eurozone” really means.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, will set up a permanent chair and table in every square in every city of Greece and the cafes will shut down and be replaced by many splendid churches -like those in America- and many, bigger and more splendid brothels like those of Sydney, Australia!
Churches for the locals and brothels for the wealthy tourists. These will now be the industries that will lift our economy. Of course, in the process they will raze to the ground our “dignity” (remember the word? Tsipras shouted it from all the balconies of the land during the days before he showed us what sort of dignified person he, himself is)
Of course, the number of churches we now have is inadequate. We need more, to run to and hide every time the country has elections, every time when we need to face up to an enemy, every time we need to exercise our public duty. Every time we need to show where we stand, to show our guts, our soul our greekness.
Because we have some two thousand years since we have last showed our greekness.
Is it mere coincidence that this inclination of ours to show our greekness was erased at the same time that Christianity fell upon us?
Is this a coincidence or is it a conquering of some sort, like that which another, new religion fell upon us, the one called “Europism”?
I feel the wrath, this lethal wrath, as Homer calls it, the wrath of Achilles which hurled the brave souls of myriads of Greeks down to Hades… and paralysed him from fighting.
A deadly wrath!
They stole my beloved, my beautiful, my gorgeous Greece! And even though I expected yesterday’s election results they paralysed me. They stole my ability to think, they stole my words, my phrases. They left me in a state of aphasia.
That’s what wrath does.
I would hear Tsipras, during the early days of his emergence -an emergence that reminded one of that of Aphrodite, from the froth that a god’s sperm created as it fell into the ocean from the sky, Uranos’ sperm- criticising the “Cassandras” of the world and I would ask myself, “how can it be that an educated man like him doesn’t know that every one of Cassandra’s prophesies came true?
Why does he criticise the Cassandras, I would ask myself but then I’d calm my fears by telling myself that perhaps I didn’t understand the subtlety of his criticisms.
That’s how much faith I had in Tsipras. Alexis Tsipras, the new and the old Prime Minister of Greece.
But, there you have it! I should not have done so!
If you want to realise your crime, you must first silence all the prophets, all the Cassandres and all the Calhases and all the Teiresiases who can see into the future and see the consequences of your thoughts.
And the consequences in Greece henceforth will be the worst, the most uncomfortable that Greece has ever seen throughout her history as a free land.
Let us now forget the word Democracy, since Democracy needs a Parliament, like the ancient one where the greater number of the population of Greece (minus, I know, the women and slaves) to vote, just like they voted last June the 25th on the memorandum.
The new Parliament will look much more like a children’s playground, where adult kids will play happily with each other without the supervision of an adult.
A Parliament needs an opposition.
Can anyone see an Opposition in this Parliament?
The kids of our Parliament, Tsipras, Meimarakis, Kammenos and Leventis (fuck it!) Gennimata, Michaloliakos, all these kids will be listening to their teachers from Belgium and Germany: To people like Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Wolfgang Schäuble, Angela Merkel, Jens Weidmann, Mariano Rajoy, Andreas Voßkuhle, Jean-Claude Juncker, Christine Lagarde, Martin Schulz…
I feel shame!
I feel sadness
I grieve
I am crying
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Dear ‘Mou, My heart goes out to you as it does to the Great South Land, who will now learn the benefits of a new (and far classier) tyrant. Can you see Short-arse defeating a government led by Turnbull ? No ? Me neither.
It must be truly heart rending to have your homeland and your adopted country both without decent parliaments. Both sans an opposition worthy of the name.
But the days are long and Greece and Australia are nations of fundamentally great people and these travails will in time pass.
Kindly.
Emm
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It’s indeed heart smashing, Emm.
More so in Greece, not because it is my birth place but because the place has been betrayed in the most egregious way. A party that presented itself to the people as a “radical left” turns out to be a plant by the bankers and the ruthless fascists. The few in that party who discovered it, did so too late, only after its leader came back with the socially excruciating, if not lethal demands of the Eurozone masters.
That group of people who discovered this formed their own party but Tsipras, the traitor called an election in such a short time that the new, dinkum guys didn’t get a chance to organise themselves.
Coupled by the fact that the exercise of voting in Greece can be very difficult and often expensive, since the booths are as rare as hen’s teeth and as far apart as one continent to another.
So they’re now stuck for four years of debilitating, dispiriting poverty, by the end of which nothing that Greece owned will be owned by Greece and a government located in Brussells.
My heart, indeed bleeds for them.
It seems only my relos and a few of their mates managed to get to the booths and to vote for the real left party.
Shorten gave a reasonable performance last night on Q&A but only because he wasn’t asked any of the hot questions, such as those referring to the refugees, the indigenous, the price of land and housing, questions at the heart of the TPP with China and the USA, and the question about marriage equality. Why all the fuss to get the problem fixed. Howard took five minutes to add his five words’ worth: “between a man and a woman” .Why can it not take just five minutes for these pricks to erase them?
Anyone can look good when they’re asked questions about the price of rice in China. Ask them about the labour laws that China will introduce to australia.
The difference with the difficulties of the two countries is that in OZ we know what we’re getting. In Greece they were told they were getting a left -radical even!- wing party, free of the german demands but, instead go a neo nazi gang of thugs who will impose the german demand.
Betrayal of the worst kind.
I am hoping (hope beyond hope) that Tsipras will not be able to implement Germany’s 300 page list of demands by the end of the year, the result of which will be that Greece gets thrown out of the zone!
The reason, of course Germany gave Greece such a short time is that Greece will be forced to “sell” its assets at real give-away prices. The vultures have already blackened her beautiful sky!
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Shit, I’ve written a consummate response to this, Emms but it seems to have vanished into thin cyber?
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Mate, sorry, I think you used a shortened form of Atomou as your monicker and it got caught in the moderation in tray -and I went to bed early….. heheh.
It should be published by now 🙂
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I do have my Abbott moments, Emms. Sorry a’bout that!
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The new Ministry – I reckon any Ministry without Abetz in it has to be an improvement.
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And Andrews. I see Hockeys going back to being a failed real estate agent. I see Wyatt Roy has been rewarded Assistant Minister for Innovation. Seriously, a snotty nosed kid who went straight from school into the Parliament. Never had a job or qualified for anything. Dutton is still Immigration minister. How!
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Not much in the talent pool to start with.
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Yes, they’ve given the Baby of the House a rattle to play with!
Dutton is an absolute dud. Imagine any immigration minister joking about Pacific Islanders migrating here because of rising sea levels.
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Insult that he is a Minister, let alone an MP. We have too many idiots getting elected. Time for all party preselectors to treat us with respect.
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The cabinet looks like a ship of fools. Let’s hope that Sloppy Joe doesn’t get sent to the US. He would become a fat, shambolic TA, sans Speedoes.
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Watched some of the putting lipstick on a pig ceremony today a Government House. They all look happy families. Windbag blowing hot air out in Washington, heaven help ups!
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One Lib back bencher reckoned they spent over a million bucks, vs Labor’s nil, and Labor still had a swing against the Libs.
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In Canning!
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Yet they crow what a win it is to the Liberals, they even reckon Shortens in trouble here. Heres the rub. The average swing against a sitting member who dies whilst in office at a by-election is about 3%. This was near enough to 7%. it could have been 10 had Turd still been there. Is a million spent for relief well spent. Turnbull has to the end of the year to turn it around and unite them.
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See the hand cutter won Canning thanks to Empty
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Still it was nearly a 7% swing against the Liberals, Hung. They spent a shedload holding the seat whilst Labor almost ran dead and spent very little. The should have played up that he was a New South Welshman a bit more, that would have picked up a few votes. Suspect it was the Perth pommies that got him over the line.
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Heres another one which demonstrated why he was so unfit to hold the top office
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I think I have seen this, probably after watching Youtubes of Paul Keating, laying the ‘unrepresentative swill’ to waste!
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Its on a few days old but many hits. Just a scary few years in the nations history. Lets see if Andrew Peacock can do any better.
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Totally accurate summation. Great collection of Taffs.
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This might give you a chuckle.
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At least someone can laugh.
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I see a few more leaks today, might become a flood soon. What a lcuky country we are.
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Thanks Algy … but … I really really never want to see his face again.
I’ve always disliked the Liberals but ever since TA became LoTO and then PM the fact is that I do and always will hate him. Yes, hate. I believe he alone is/was responsible for turning so many Liberal MPs and Minister into hateful excuses for human beings.
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If you’ve got 14 minutes to spare the cringeworthy is worth a look. how could so many be so stupid to vote this person in. Malcolm might bring it back to the centre, but who knows we may just see the Liberal devour one another.
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I did watch both videos. I have now recovered ! (I remembered all those horrid moments/minutes all too bloody well !
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I honestly don’t know how anyone could have seen any of these incidences, and still voted for the silly bugger. It’s all comedy gold, taking work away from Australian comedians.
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Can’t get a look in today. Popped in and out a couple of times, sent off 4 posts and nothing. One would have been the 2nd on the women in parl thing and 3 tries at What can Turnb….. nothing and yet Alpo gets 10 up on one article. What is the effing trick to it these days.
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Got one ! yay
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I replied to one of the dog walkers bits of nonsense last night. It ended up going up at about 11am today.
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I persisted around 5 pm posting a couple of similar ones to those rejected and a few came up later which I now see this morning. Different mod perhaps.
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I’ve posted a few this morning. Lets see if any of them get up.
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Can you believe this this 4:10 and their not taking new posts. Got about 50% up today. Trialed Godwin’s ghost to see if it would. It did almost instantly.
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Noted that, but did not say closed for comments until you try to comment. Got a small flurry up late on Turnbull’s rise …. During the day is hopeless so I’ve pretty much given up. Have a go late (I turn puter off at 5 pm but might give it till 5.30 pm now). Disappointing for you Algy considering Friday the one day when you can give them a thrashing. Talking about that – they are all thrashing around about Abbott (and his achievements) and what Turnbull means etc – writing a lot of drivel and rewriting history. Almost funny.
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Abbotts achievements is almost an oxymoron. And Turnbull the savior of the Liberal Party give me a break. Half of them hate him. How interesting that the briefing against him has started and he hasn’t been in the position for a week. Didn’t do too badly really. I’ve had worse weeks. I’m sending the occasional one from my phone now during the day.
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First one up in months, as Big M:
‘Ben Nallay:
18 Sep 2015 11:29:41am
“That trade is continuing in the Mediterranean.”
Live trade in rubber boats … then frozen transport means jobs for unemployed euro-truckies and the work sets them free. I’ll take a tent under a coconut tree in the Pacific thanks.
Reply Alert moderator
Big M:
18 Sep 2015 11:41:04am
‘ I’ll take a tent under a coconut tree in the Pacific thanks.’
Hopefully you will take the physical and sexual assault, and mental illness that goes along with the ‘tent under a coconut tree’ on Nauru.
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Well said there Big M. Like it a lot. He and some of the other right wingers are in onanistic delight there at the moment.
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Thanks, Algy, Mrs M and I went to the ‘Nurses against the Border protection Act’ meeting last night. David Isaacs, and a young asylum seeker, now aged 20, spoke about Nauru. The way in which asylum seekers are treated there is far worse than any news outlet will report. People like Ben naily have their heads so firmly up their arse, and not a trickle of compassion in their hearts. Nauru is no coconut island!
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Too true Big its a failed state which Australia props up. The place is more like a gulag. I can only hope that Turdball shows a bit more compassion the Adolf ever did. Then again he has the nazi right to howl him down like Bernardi, Conchita and the brain dead George from Queenland ready to bark.
The way we treat refugees is appalling yet the LNP will squark how generous we are and how many we take. Germany will take 1% of their population in refugees this year, we’ll take 0.08%.
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Bev wrote this:
Bev:
18 Sep 2015 2:40:28pm
On a per capita basis we will permanently settle 3 times as many Syrian refugees as will Germany.
She can’t be serious. Germany with a population of 80 million is taking 800000. Australia with a population of 24 million is taking 20000. Germany is taking 12 times as many per capita in a country slightly under 1/2 the size of NSW in area
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Yes, Algy, the cruel and heartless seem to get the lion’s share of the comments. A few from you, Hung, Olive, and the odd one from GO and H. Amazed at the way some can justify this level of cruelty, when the world’s media are either gobsmacked at our cruelty, or laughing at our ‘leaders’.
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Interesting that Indonesia welcomed the elevation of Turnbull. They of course lost face over the mobile tapping incident. Not that Abbott could get the diplomacy. Local politics was more important. Showed him to be the buffoon he really is. Its very hard to put the genie back in the bottle after 14 years. These right wingers are just ignorant and cruel.
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I’m betting that Turnbull waits out the year before calling the election – but a lot will depend on Canning. A big win there – or even holding the seat will be interpreted as a Malcolm endorsement.
His first day in the chair looked a lot like “Son of Fraser” to me – notwithstanding Plibersek accusing him of “mansplaining”.
I might not be super fond of Malcolm’s politics, but at least he’s not a total fuckwit – with matching Treasurer.
The Shovel was hilarious today – saying that the Liberals are letting Tony pretend that he’s still PM – by holding pretend cabinet meetings and saying “Yes Prime Minister” a lot. Quite like Labor, really – letting Bill pretend he’s opposition leader.
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🙂
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I wonder if he wll Therese. Canning will be the test. I don’t think Labor ever thought they’d win the seat but I think they might have got close. Hastie grew up in NSW he’s an eastern stater. That will be enough for some in the electorate not to vote for him even if they’re Liberal voters. I also question what they might think of changing the jockey in the week leading up to the election.
I like the “Son of Fraser”. My thoughts were Andrew Peacock, all style and no substance. Still maybe Shorten might take the hint. If he’s a leader start talking from the heart. He sounds good when he does. Or will he continue with the one liners and zingers. I think he should hand over to Albo myself.
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