A Surplus of Lies

G'day Possums,

C5th Greek dramatist Aeschylus, was the first to say that "In war, truth is the first casualty"  anticipating in great measure the creations of our current Ruling Rabble, its faux intellectual base, "The-Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-From-a-Parallel-Universe," aka the IPA and its propaganda wing led by The Ugly American, Murdoch and also aided and abetted by various other media cabals like Channels 7, 9 and 10 who all deliberately trivialize and mis-inform the public as to the state of the nation.

Or should that be, a satire of a country?

Following the filming of the farcical misadventures of The Red Terror's No Notion Head Clown, 

Ashby The Sleaze and the Deep North's Miniatur-Fuhrer, Dropkick Dickson embarrassing the nation

with their clumsily inept attempts to ingratiate themselves with another fascisit organisation in the

Un-united States,  the NRA and the Koch brothers praying that filthy lucre would come their way by 

promising to water down our gun laws, their dictator Poorlean-Please-Explain, Hanson garbled her 

way through a presser with much misplaced righteous anger by shooting the messenger 

(because that's what you do with Al-Jazzeera Mussies, inn-it?) and boringly, again played the innocent victim 

with claims it was all a "set-up" and although Dropkick evinced all the emotional intelligence of an 

11 year old fantsist thug by wanting to "....Machine-Gun bathers from a beachside mansion ..." 

and The Sleaze admitted to "...no emotion at all..." (and for that matter, should have added, intelligence), 

they were mostly innocent and Scummo Morrison "...was a fool..., the ABC was without morals.. 

for running the programs..." and the Port Arthur Massacre which forced the restrictive gun laws 

was "..a government conspiracy..." because she'd read it in a blue book, which unlike herself, 

wasn't very thick. 

Unbelievably, all this said by a Senator for Queensland and her staff, proving that 

shit, also rises to the top.

"We're in the black, we're in the black" chorussed the Ruling Rabble "...and we've lowered 

taxes, too..." responded Fiction's Frydenberg, their pretend Treasurer.

Dominus Vobiscum... Et cum spiritu tuo.

Thus, in the beginning began the budget surplus. Not, as many are saying, on the underspending of 

billions of dollars on welfare services but on "prudent, careful" economic management, giggled and 

smirked the Ruling Rabble. 

That government debt, six years on, is now twice what it was when Labor "...had a debt and deficit 

disaster..." how can we now have a surplus? 

"Simple", say the Ruling Rabble "You're wrong or You're a liar. Our surplus starts next year so we 

have announced it now to make you feel good."

"You're wrong or You're a liar... that $180,000,000.00 we wasted on Christmas Island was a saving."

"You're wrong or You're a liar, all those roads and fast rail plans in knife-edge electorates is not 

Pork-Barrel bribery it's prudent economic management to save our skins."

"You're wrong or You're a liar, of course we can make financial forecasts 15 years ahead?"

"You're wrong or You're a liar... the NBN is a beautiful set-up ....and we don't need electric cars, 

but we do need more coal-fired power stations... and we're saving Medicare.... from itself and who 

cares about the environment or the Arts? 

And so it goes Petals... their "surplus" is perfection whilst Labor's bigger projected surplus is derided 

by the Ugly American's comics as The Magic Pudding... time will tell which "truth" this war will kill.

Hoo-roo Possums,

Shane.

Becoming Dumber and Dumber.

Fading into Dumb

G'day Possums,

Paul Keating once said that when in power your policy framework changes the culture of the nation.

Assuming then that the aforesaid is true let's reflect on some of the more significant utterances of the past fortnight and determine by the language sentiment and intent what sort of country Australia is presenting, not only to the wider world but more importantly, to itself.

Anti-Immigration minister Dodo Dutton has said the 7,500 refugees who have not applied for visas are "fake refugees" and that for them the "the game is up" for costing the taxpayer $250,000,000.00 PA.....  oddly enough, the same amount Dodo wants the taxpayer to spend on his new Border Farce and Anti-Immigration fiefdom.

After denuding legal and language services to refugees Dodo has set an October deadline for these people to fill out the 180 question, comprising 45-60 page questionnaire and statement some of which information is impossible for these people to access.

At the same time Asbestos Bishop was misleading the United Nations as to what a nice place we are in our treatment of refugees.

Are we dumb enough to silently accept this hypocrisy?

 

The Highway to Hell

Closer to home in what was the Tardis State (Where-All-Went-Backward) Victoria, Matty What's-a-Green-wedge Guy, chief opposition clown had one of his troupe (Brad Battin) pratfall in his union-bashing workout by erroneously telling parliament that it took 51/2 hours for professional firey's to attend the Black Saturday bushfires. This attempt to further politicize the volunteer fire services and to "scotch" the latest reforms in modernizing state fire services only serves to remind that "NO" is the most frequent word you'll hear uttered by any of the ruling rabble tribe in relation to reform as opposed to destruction, which is their forte'.

Are we dumb to accept this crass politicking?

 

reflections

World climate scientists are now saying that ocean levels are going to rise faster than previously predicted because of the alarming increase in the arctic melting.  Australia's ruling rabble in its 2017 budget has axed funding to a measly $600,000.00 for the National Climate Change Research Facility a body that offers information on how best to mitigate climate change and the consequences of sea level rises; and from 2018 it will receive no funding at all.

Ruling Rabble apologist, N.Saava in a look-over-there moment decried Labor's Willy Shortsuff's budget-in-reply speech as only once mentioning climate change whilst pointedly ignoring that fact that the funding cuts were not mentioned by the ruling rabble at all.

Australia is subsidising fossil fuel production to the tune of a massive $A5.6 billion a year and also funds the industry with a further $A292 million a year in public finance, as it expands fossil fuel production on multiple fronts.

 I firmly believe we need legislation that will make criminal and enable the jailing of those who stalled, denied or halted practices trying to ameliorate climate change and its consequences

N. Saava must think we're dumb! 

The Battler's saviour from the Deep North  Poorleen, Pleez Oixploin Hanson is in more electoral strife after her chief of staff, printing guru and sometime pilot, Oily Ashby (he of Slippery Pete's demise) decided that potentially defrauding the electoral office and their own candidates was a good way of making money. Caught on tape making the suggestion and also that he would deny he had ever said it,  Oily later excused himself for a poor choice of words and said, by way of obfuscation, that it was an illegal tape anyway only made by a disgruntled member to embarrass Noe Notion. Pooleen Pleez Oixlpoin had a hard time interrupting her employee Oily at a presser, where she blamed the ABC for creating false news and upsetting candidates and that Oily really had no need of more honesty, ethics and general morality. Around this time  an "advisor" to climate denier, coal enthusiast, conspiracy theorist, the gift that keeps on giving and all round fruit cake,  Noe Notion Senator, Mr 77, Mal-addled Roberts, was arrested on multiple counts of assault! 

Please note that these people see unionists as corrupt and needing strict laws to control them.

I'm dumbstruck!

In what Prime Miniature Truffles Turdball opined was an act of love, not rape, Tax evader, self promoter and serial anti-labor activist, Twiggy Forest has "gifted" a tax deductable  $400,000,000.00 to causes of his own choice.  This crass attempt to mitigate the fact that in 2014-15 his Fortescue Metals made $9.1 Billion in sales and only paid $13.2 Millions in tax on profits of $208 Millions or 6.3%  only re-inforces Twiggy's hypocrisy and Truffles out-of-touch, Cayman Island elitism.

As a piece of right-wing anti welfare greed masked as philanthropy this sordid episode surely marks a new low point in the dismantling of a welfare system for all to be replaced by the feel-good crumbs brushed down to the peasants when seen fit by the ruling rabble.

Next time you see you are paying somewhere between 28-36 % tax on your earnings, ask yourself how dumb do you think they think you are?

And then there was that bastion of right-wing intellectualism (I know, it's an oxymoron), Quadrant!  Having never moved beyond purveying the time warp of the Melbourne Olympics, employer of Daisy the Preening-Princess-of-Putrid Prose, Cousens, and Board Member whose face was obviously the model for the "Angry" emoticon, Nick, Snarler Cater, this magazine and self espoused standard bearer of free speech and the repeal of 18C, allowed essayist (?) Roger Franklin to publish an online piece  suggesting that said it would have been preferable for the Manchester bomb to be exploded in the ABC’s Q&A studios on Monday night, blowing up host Tony Jones and the panellists. The ruling rabble's personal para-military, the AFP has been called in to investigate but as the deed was not done by a Labor person, a Green or a Muslim there'll be a nothing-to-see-there enquiry.

Taste and intelligence never seem to intersect with the ruling rabble, how dumb is that?

Then there was the writer of "The Thick of It",  Armando Iannucci who deploring the questioning style of contemporary TV journalists brought to my mind Leigh Hissy-Fit Sales whose technique fitted his description of a 30's journalist interviewing Churchill by asking the question, "Mr Churchill , you know Germany's problems are caused by the Jews as Mr Hitler says they are, don't you?"

Dumb and Dumber Petals... what choices are we to make before this country is destroyed by the right wing?

Hoo-roo,

Shane

Is the Tide Turning?

Shane with Bouquet

G'day Possums,

some pics of  flowers from the garden to leaven the more depressing aspects of this weeks demonstrations of people behaving badly...and the usual suspects defecating in their own nests.

We have never had political and corporate corruption on such a scale, media as fecklessly useless and a future so dim as we have at present…. Welcome to the new Dark Ages; the new feudal system, where business has bought government and its representatives only spruik what business desires.

From the Ruling rabble Mk#1 with Rabid-the-Hun and their lying incompetent implementation of the IPA wish-list followed by the five minute dawn of false hope that Truffles’ promised with his ruling Rabble Mk#2 which has only resulted in further fiscal maladroitness and the degradation, sullying and polluting of every single facet of Australian society that once made this country a nation to be proud of.
 

They have killed democracy. They have lied, cheated and stolen . They have replaced a vision of tolerance, equity and fairness with racism, greed and inequality. They have gutted education and manufacturing and are gradually destroying the health system and in doing all this have spiritually weakened the country to such a degree that any small crisis will see a population turn in on itself as all confidence has been sapped from them.

A disturbed man, running from police after a stabbing and kidnapping has mown down and murdered people on Melbourne city street in his car...at present, 5 dead and some 20 injured, many very seriously.

The Dominatrix of One Notion, The Red Terror, Hanson announces at a "presser" after her sleazy advisor Ashby (remember the tawdry Slippery Pete Affaire?)  blows in her ear, that it was a Muslim Terrorist attack  .... incorrect as always and not withdrawn...  which is by followed Libertarian Senator, Loopy Leyonhjelm  tweeting almost immediately, " Probably one of those semi-automatic assault cars. " .... thus  proving his  tasteless, moronic and self serving insensitivity but then, being supported by another One Notion senator, Mal-Addled Roberts who tweets in reply, "Brilliant. One of those things I wished I had thought of first."

You really have to wonder to what level these pond scum have sunk the parliament?

What has this nation become with the electing such boorish, insensitive and egotistical stupidity of the likes of Leyonhjelm, Roberts and Hanson to our parliament?

Loopy, having not really grown up describes himself as a Libertarian; a state which can also be confused with narcissism.

Mal-Addled Roberts, on the other hand is just plain ..well, addled.

The Red Terror, Hanson is more akin to the Manichaein principle that you have to experience evil to eventually know goodness and you only operate at a level of a very basic duality.

And then you just have to look at the "candidates" the red terror is inflicting on WA: amongst them a nutter xtian pastor and self-proclaimed miracle worker who wants staff at his drive-through coffee shop to be bikini dressed barista's and  an ex- felon who filched stamps and on-sold them to Australia post.

You really don't have to ask: is democracy failing?

It might be grim days and they may stay grim for a while but with the unpopular election of the fascist Trump in the Un-united States and the subsequent huge demonstrations against him we may be witnessing the turning of the tide. He just might be the agent to finally collapse capitalism. 

Certainly, the levels of anger here in Oz are rising as the Ruling Rabble staggers from one crisis of their own making to the next and where even the normally supine mainstream media are beginning to ask questions, not only about their competence but also what their policy direction is and where the country is heading. 

Many are saying: "The storm is coming"; demonstrations are being planned and I get the feeling Possums that things are going to get messy in way we've not experienced here before. The right wingers, the IPA and their capitalist ilk are not likely to accede to having their destructive agenda stymied and will fight tooth and nail to ravage any semblance of the civil social society that currently remains rather than admit they are ideologically wrong and that all their free-market and trickle-down theory has failed the country miserably.

A sniff of revolution, Petals?  Perhaps.

Hoo-Roo,

Shane  

...seeing a House of Cards

Shane with House of cards

G'day Possums,

A few more from France and some recent ballet stuff....

BTA, Tamra

BTA, Tamra

BTA, Rebecca

Tuilleries, Paris, Night

Vezelay Panorama

St Martin Canal, Paris.

The Weekly Wombat Droppings

This week on “The Chunder Channel 000, Liarbril”

6.00   Play-Skool for Pretend Pollies. This week Jimmy “Little-but-Loud” Paterson and Chrissie “Bunter” Berg vie for the “Scatology Prize” hosted by the well known charitable organization, “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka IPA). Similar in format and content to “Celebrity Blank-Minds” these neophytes brandish words at each other across various ABC forums in the vain hope of finding a cogent concept that will finally deliver them relevance in the real world of real adults and intellectuals. 

More Da-Da than Dali, this  was the vehicle  that elevated Timmy “Twat-Freedom-Man” Wilson  to notice and a $300,000.00 position of unqualified ignorance by having similarly language challenged friends in high places.

(PG, L, H)

6.30   The Carbon Free High-Jinks Hour. Hosted by our Second Biggest Miner, Clive “Titanic” Palmer with special guests. This week our favourite Big-Pup plays a double entendre back-flip by accepting climate change and having his guest, Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore deny the existence of a Carbon Pricing scheme. Sashaying one step forward and two steps back Clive demonstrates his knack for being as good for political life as Popcorn is for nutrition.

(MA, V, L.)

7.30   From the Heart.  A feel-good program of mawkish mutual admiration.

This week Jason A Wilson pens a thank you note to Head Plonker from “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka, IPA), John Roskam.

In this reviewers mind, public recognition for amateur organizations similar to that which JR heads should occur more often to bring these shy cabals out to wider scrutiny and notice.  http://jasonawilson.tumblr.com/post/89901662170/thankyou-note-to-john-roskam

(PG, A, H, V.)

8.00 Rank Rats. Highly financed (Public Subscription) Saga of a Much Maligned Union Hero, Cathy Jackson explaining how her alleged $1.3 Million spending on three union credit cards with no expenditure details bears no comparison to Thommo’s  $10 grand whatsoever.

Produced by the Liarbril Party, The BCA, IPA and featuring a truly Dickensian cast

of dodgy lawyers, Ex-Union bag-men and other shady “colourful” characters. Funded by the mug taxpayer in place of investigating either Paedophile behaviour or shonky financial advice from a "what" Bank.

(M, R, A.)

10.00 Fiscal Follies.  How to make a simple analysis of the economically under-educated d. Disect ex-priest, “Rabbutt-the-Hun” and Joe “Cereal/Toyota-Killer” Hockey’s interpretation of “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka, IPA’s) Right-Wing-Free-Market-Thought Bubble of a Budget. A somewhat treasonous piece by one, John Kelly who will probably have fiscal retribution meted out to him.

 http://theaimn.com/ridiculous-debt-deficit-scam/

Also; something else to put the meat on the bones before the animal is devoured.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-two-budget-charts-show-how-much-money-joe-hockey-is-cutting-from-hospitals-and-schools-2014-5

PG, A, V.

10.15   Mayhem for Murdoch’s Minions.  Enthralling and long running UK Court-Room drama exposing and detailing the lives, tribulations and trials of amateur journalists’ Andy and Beccy who “Apprentice-like,” try to anticipate their Master’s (The Ugly American) every wish.

This week: “The Verdict.” The prosecution lawyer in “Mayhem” shows admirable restraint at the Beccy’s verdict. His quietly acerbic, "She was paid an awful lot to be very incompetent..." is a moment to watch.

If the Poms as punishment, transport her Down-Under, it can only be as payback for “Rabbutt-the-Hun” having Downer seek asylum in Britain, not because the “Australian” needs more receptionists.

(MA15+, N, S, V)

12.30   The Slippery Pete Affair.  Another long running political/bedroom-farce again sponsored by the “Liarbril Party” and again funded by the taxpayer.

Episode #69: “The Withdrawal.” James decides that it’s all, ”…. too, too much..” and elects not to perform in the High Court as he still “feels for Pete.”

This may not be the consummation of these proceedings as the roles and machinations of Chwissie “The Whyne-and-Perfect-Prat-of-a-Prefect” Pyne and Mal “Mongrel” Brough in this bedroom farce have not yet been fully explored.

(MA15+, N, S, V)

1.00  Late Prayers for Believable Hypocrites:  Homilies of a piquant IPA nature for those who think they believe. Hosted by The-New-Cashed-Up-Faith-Pushers and with the School Chaplain Chorus. Salvation Donations (Cash, Brown Paper Bag only) may be sent to, “A. Sinodinas, c/o Liarbril Party Room, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.” 

1.05   Close.

Hoo-roo Petals,

Shane

..watching the wheels fall off.

G’day Petals,Further pleasant serendipity from France but in Wombat Droppings the spectacle of having to watch the wheels fall off.

Shane with Wheels

Co-incidence again perhaps but when having a look through some of the French images which still need post processing I discover that I’m looking at stuff whose shooting dates are within a couple of days of the anniversary of when they was taken.

Jailly, Burgundy

It was a day of just meandering about the Nievre district of Burgundy and making little discoveries like the ruins of the Chateau de Passy les-Tours which figures in Jeanne d’Arc’s siege of la Charitie in 1429.....

La Charitie-sur-Loire

 ...and the former Benedictine Priory of St. Sylvestre’s at Jailly, a small C11th-12th church, unfinished, which according to local romantic folk lore was built by fairies leaving a “empreinte melancholie” and to the cow that saved a church from fire at St. Saulge....

St. Sylvestre’s at Jailly

 

Lurcy-le- Bourg

.... and finding the list of Cure’s dating from 1580 at Lurcy-le- Bourg and on to the op shop in Premery

Premery

Loire

Forest, Jailly

All of which sort of makes the Melbournian appellation, “Jeff’s Shed” for the convention centre a trifle prosaic.

And some from a recent performance shoot for BTA.

Wombat Droppings or Low Down Politics in Oz

Prime Miniature “Rabbutt-the-Hun’s” muck-raking Royal Commissions are not quite working out as he and his malevolent rabble had planned.

It is difficult not to come to the conclusion they are just monumentally vindictive political exercises and a gross waste of money.

The case of the “investigation” into the Unions particularly, is more likely to bite back at the accusers. The fact that police had been informed of certain activities and have not acted; then comes the statement to the Royal Commission that inducements were offered to “Get Gillard”… and the Royal Commissioner who is investigating events of 20 years ago says that this evidence from 5 years ago is not relevant! Or that the ruling made by the commissioner relating to cross-examination of witnesses bears more resemblance to “ordeal by fire” or “Ducking.” 

All would seem not relevant to what appears an a-priori judgement and a serious diminution of the standing Royal commissions can have.

The Sharks are circling main witness Kathy Jackson.... and "Phone-Card" Reith may be in the water, too... anyone smell blood yet?

The wheels are falling off.

Another bad look was “Slippery” Pete’s accuser James “He Spoke to me, He Spoke to Me” Ashby deciding not to press his case in the High Court as it appeared it was going to open a real can of worms for both Chwissie “The-Whyne-and-Perfect-Prat-of-a-Prefect” Pyne and the other player in this malicious saga, Mal “The Mongrel” Brough. How does an ex DJ get a law firm to waive/absorb its $1,000,000.00 fees? How is he going to pay for Slipper’s costs that are likely to awarded against him?

The wheels are falling off.

Remember the fabled Labor Budget Crisis?  Well Joe “Cereal-Toyota” Killer has made a real Liarbril one in his first and only budget… a real doozie!

The Banking boys are now saying confidence within the community is so bad that it is impacting on the economy. That, if “real” people are fleeing retail and are saving more as they become more aware of the huge shift in costs in health care as Medibank is dismantled and pensions eviscerated with unemployment going up when education is being slashed then the merde is really hitting the fan.

Mrs Wombat opined t’other day that the increase in Uni fees just might be to the detriment of private schools. Parents having to make a choice between an expensive secondary education for their social standing and a very expensive tertiary one for their children’s future, may well choose the latter as giving their children best opportunity.

When this comes to pass it will be wonderful to see how these Liarbril, wrongly self proclaimed, “superb-economic-mangers” will argue away the private school school bleatings about having to fold up and go bankrupt for lack of clients and the remaining State schools are screaming in need of more funds for their sudden intake of “privilege”.

Then, hearing a right-wing financial commentator on radio express similar thoughts, you really do know…

The wheels are falling off.

On Q & A, last week (16^th) the final question of the night to Dee Madigan, Author and Advertising person…”Dee Madigan, if you could offer one solution to turn around the un-sellable budget what would it be?" Dee Madigan, "You can't. It's shit!"

The “right’ seem like socially undeveloped children; terrified that someone is taking away their toys by welfare distribution.

Defence Minister, “What’s-‘is-Name” has decided that another way of eliminating Unions is that tenders for new Naval craft will only be offered to Spain and Korea, as our shipbuilding facilities are A/ not big enough and B/ we are not competitive enough. That this will cripple the shipbuilding workforce is of no concern to “Rabbutt-the-Hun” our “Infrastructure” Prime Miniature.

The wheels are falling off.

“Rabbutt-the-Hun’s” daughter Frances Abbott makes a mess of things…..

Channel Liarbril, 19:00: Episode #1243: " Lives of the Entitled." Watch a lovely 24 yo have her daddy rescue her from a foolish decision to "...be independent." And see the tribunal complaint system subverted and the innocent party unjustly foot the bill!

19:30: "The Doleful Comedy Hour." Two teams of 20 per side battle physical challenges and each other for the prize of a single job.

Watch the losers digging the “Naptime” East–West Folly, in the new series “Green Army Blues.” 10.30.

The wheels are falling off.

Then there was the news that security had been beefed up around the main suspects.... Abbott, Hockey, Pyne and Bishop and a demonstrator threw himself at Bishop's car hitting it with his banner... causing "Rabbutt" to bleat "How Un-Australian.." it all was... conveniently forgetting his own putting his fists through the wall, either side of the head of a woman who had defeated him in a student election....bloody hypocrite!

The wheels are falling off.

Let’s not mention the Middle Eastern mass Diplomatic response to West Bank name changes or paying a sliding scale to have refugees go back to their strife-ridden countries or “Tardis” State (Where-All-Goes-Backward) Pretend Premier Dennis “Dodo” (Genus: Inutilus Rusticus) Naptime giving the Chinese $25,000,000.00 for processing Brown Coal and limiting Solar and Wind energy!  This, at a time when Germany is 70% renewables in its country’s electricity production!

Hoo-roo Possums,

The wheels are falling off.... and there is trouble ahead.