This is not funny!

I can think of a dozen funny lines I could have written about this headline but read the story.  Psychometric testing is standard practice for any business of size and should be mandatory for all aspiring politicians.

Myers-Briggs and the like are hardly "new-age" (well perhaps so in Murdoch's empire where head-kicking 101 seems to be the only criteria for promotion).  And while they would do a good job of weeding out at least the worst of the megalomaniacs, wankers, evolution-deniers, thieves and idiots, I'm not sure how such instruments could be calibrated to (safely) take account of ego - that essential ingredient in political success which is usually the last thing you look for in a good CEO or leader.

Ewen Jones speaks - again

Further to yesterday's post, This is what we got for the $460 in wages (times about 5 for on-costs) that The Big Ewe cost the taxpayers of Herbert on Wednesday of this week:

via OpenAustralia.org

Ewen Jones - Big dick or class clown?

Rather than a serial pest (and here), could it be that The Big Ewe is nothing more than a naughty private school boy who is no good at the "my dick is bigger than yours" game (The Mad Monk's forte) so seeks attention and approval by being the class clown?

"Mr Jones said he had now won the trifecta he was the first of the 2010 MP intake to be mentioned, to be warned, and to be ejected" Martin Rasini

And just like all class clowns, he seems to be proud of his achievements!! 

The Bulletin seems equally impressed by The Ewe - giving him a whole page today  to sell his wares and try and convince us that his achievements have been meaningfull!!!  I can't find The Ewe's piece on-line - perhaps that is the sort of content that Murdoch's Bulletin will make us pay-to-view or perhaps Rupe just claims the $5,000 value of the free PR as a tax deduction)

For the sake of balance:  The Big Ewe has made 13 'contributions' to debates in parliament since elected two months ago - at just over $14k per month in salary and allowances (ie not including staff, offices, car, etc, etc), that's about $2,160 per utterance!

I wish I could get those sort of rates!

PS: All I ever got as class clown was bashed up

Is Ewen Jones becoming a serial pest?

Listening to the House of Reps Question Time just now, Speaker Harry 'The Headmaster' Jenkins warned The Big Ewe of Herbert that he was in danger of breaching Section 65(b) of Standing Orders and should be very careful.  (I think he was talking in class and not paying attention to the proceedings)

Is this getting to be a bit of a habit?

Come on in. Take a seat at the Cabinet table. Let’s talk water.

Regular contributor Dee writes:

Just before the QR Float takes over the media completely.

Patrick Lion caught my imagination today.

I guess it won't be too long before there are many vacant seats at the ALP Cabinet table, however, I'd put a small wager there is now, and will be in the future, standing room only with the many advisers providing high quality advice by way of large numbers of options.

They have wound up the mis-allocation of taxpayer's funds to new levels.

Patrick Lion's Courier Mail post is well worth a read: Come on in. Take a seat at the Cabinet table. Let’s talk water.

Ewen Jones's recent appearances

The following is today's RSS fee from OpenAustralia.org for The Big Ewe.

Yep! you got it - The Big Ewe's contruibution to the national debate last Monday was just four words:  Yassous, Yassous, Dawson and (yes) Dawson.

Flying free, making a racket and crapping all over Townsville's "opinion makers"

The Towsville blogosphere is exploding and The Townsville Bulletin and a few other of Townsville's high-and-mighty should be afraid - VERY afraid!!

Check out The Magpie's Nest:

What, The Magpie Finished?!  FARK NO!

The old bird has simply moved to a new nest in the blogosphere, a universe where both you readers can move your lips while you peruse his regular load of old cobblers, or `column’ as it is known in some circles. In this smarty pants techno world, it’s now officially a `blog’, with regular `posts’ and guess what? You readers – yes, both of you – can have a say too. Just stick the tongue out of the corner of your mouth, crinkle the brow in concentration and – hey, knock yourself out, use two fingers if you like - tap out a message in the comment area provided. It will be published if it gets past the battalion of lawyers on alert for legal naughtiness.

The Magpie blog is also a work in progress, and will expand as the weeks go by with new links to some very interesting places. If you like, The Magpie will give you an email alert whenever he posts a new load of drivel, which will be at least every week, possibly more often. Just email him requesting same at townsvillemagpie@gmail.com

I know that The 'pie has been around the town a lot longer than I, has much better connections, knows a lot more about racing and punting and front-bar stuff and has a bit more time on his hands that I do - so expect to see his scoops regularly cross posted here.

Or better still, just get on his email list at townsvillemagpie@gmail.com

Welcome to the blogosphere Magpie - I'm looking forward to this!

Well, I got that one wrong!

Saturday's headlines about Clive Palmer's generosity with his staff at Yabulu has made me reassess the man - clearly he's a much smarter business owner than I expected.

While the the $10m face value of Saturday's party plus the 55 Mercedes Benz sedans, 700 holidays for two in Fiji, and 50 weekends in Port Douglas is iimpressive, the real cost was probably closer to half that (55 by Merc CLC 200 K Evolutions @ $58k each = $3.2m book values before what would be a VERY big bulk discount)

Either way- it's not a bad investment for $16m in (presumably recurrent) savings and the lifelong loyalty of his staff (and associated reduced turn-over costs as a result).

Now that's smart business and smart management!
* Honourable mention goes to Mercedes Benz who got a free page-5 pic and endless free mentions in the three pages of coverage

Is Lavarack Barracks about to become a Detention Centre?

Hansard it out and we can report on The Big Ewe's first question in Parliament (see this earlier post).

As you can read for yourself, he was either set-up by Chrissy Pyne as leader in the house or he seriously thinks we are under threat of seeing Lavarack Barracks turned into an asylum seekers' camp.  Which is the real Ewe I wonder?

And don't you just love Gillard's "go away little boy and finish your homework" answer?

John Howard's re-re-re-launch of Lazarus Rising , and THAT Mango

Unfortunately, I couldn't find online the pic that accompanying The Bully's regurgitation of the Book Company's PR Release. It took me a long while to realist that it's not a potato he's menacing, but rather a Mango....

an  Anti Skinny Shoe-Hurler Operational Logistics Enabling   

Military Attack Neutralising Gooks Ordinance

Howard deseves more...a LOT more

Peter Gray explains why he felt compelled to throw his shoes at John Howard on QandA:

Well said!  But he deserves to have a lot more than shoes thrown at him - like "the book"

The Big Ewe get's told off

The Big Ewe just got himself another mention in the House - admonished during question time just now by Speaker Harry Jenkins for being disorderly and "picking-up bad habits early".

Unfortunately, we won't see it in Hansard

Today's big news - a big iTunes PR campaign

So the Beatles back catalouge is to be released in iTunes?

But do you really need it?

And if you really, really need to buy - would you do so from iTunes??

$35.99 from iTunes or $28.99 from JB Hi-Fi online (and it's an actual CD with liner notes and pictures and stuff

Hat tip: Groupthink

Our Generation in our Townsville

Reader Kaylene sent this link for the film Our Generation, announcing that she will be organising some community screenings and fundraising in Townsville soon - stay tuned for more details, but in the meantime check out the trailer:



You could also check-out this article in the Cairn Post - interesting that we've seen nothing similar ion Townsville so far !!!  Go Kaylene

The invisible man-of-steel

I just love the reports that man-of-steel John Howard (never to be confused with the pig-of-steel - a true Oz icon) gets mentioned just three times in Bush's 500-page attempt at writing his own history.

PS: It would almost be worth going to the Townsville re-re-re-launch of the old fella's soon to be remaindered book just to count how many mentions he makes of his old friend George - I guarantee it's a lot, lot more than three!
Via Your Democracy

Bligh and Fraser sell Port of Brisbane … to themselves

Regular contributor, Dee, prompted me to cross-post this piece from John Quiggin

Bligh and Fraser sell Port of Brisbane … to themselves

According to the Brisbane Times, the Bligh government has just sold the Port of Brisbane to a consortium led by the Queensland Investment Corporation. This must have been a tough negotiation, given that the QIC website states

As a Queensland GOC, QIC’s shareholding Ministers are the Honourable Anna Bligh MP, Premier and Minister for the Arts, and the Honourable Andrew Fraser MP, Treasurer and Minister for Employment and Economic Development

Note: As with the QR sale, it looks as if the government has retained about $1.3 billion of debt in the Port of Brisbane Corporation, which now has no assets, so the net proceeds will be less than half the announced price of $2.3 billion.

I also love one of his tags for the piece - "bonehead stupidity".  It should be well worth following the comments on John's page during the day

Lazarus to Rise (yet) again - in Townsville

Guest contributor, Dee forwarded the following to me suggesting that we start collecting boots and shoes now!

I love the way it's tagged as a Book Launch - it must be the 50th time it's been launched in the last couple of weeks.

And I know that business is business and that they'll make a good quid out of it, but I must say that I'm surprised by Mary Who being the organisers/sponsors! (as will a lot of their regulars I suspect!!)

Alumni Association - Hon John Howard, former Prime Minister – Book Launch - Lazarus Rising

Date: Wednesday 17 November 2010

Time: Auditorium opens at 5.30pm

Location: Sir Geroge Kneipp Auditorium (Building DA026), JCU Douglas Campus, Angus Smith Drive, Douglas, TOWNSVILLE, Australia

Summary: JCU Alumni in association with Mary Who? Bookshop presents The Hon J Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia in conversation with Richard Lane and also launching his autobiography Lazarus Rising.

John Howard spent decades under media scrutiny, and while his credentials as a political leader, devoted family man and sports tragic are beyond dispute, in this autobiography he reveals much more about himself. In Lazarus Rising.

Howard traces his personal and political journey, from childhood in the post-World War II era through to the present day, painting a fascinating picture of a changing Australia.

We see the youngster who had to overcome serious deafness and who latched onto the family passion for current affairs and politics. From school debating, to a legal career, to the Liberal Party and life with Janette, it all seemed such a natural progression. Yet no one would say that Howard had it easy; not when his own colleagues sidelined him ... twice.

An economic radical and social conservative, John Howard's ideology united many Australians and divided just as many others. Lazarus Rising takes us through the life and motivations of John Howard and through the forces that have changed and shaped both him and the country he led for 11 years.

Lazarus Rising will be on sale afterwards and Mr Howard will be pleased to sign copies.
Presented by: JCU Alumni,  Mary Who? Bookshop
Cost: No charge

Registration: Please register online at http://alumni.jcu.edu.au/netcommunity/JohnHowardTnsv

Contact: Everyone welcome. For further information please contact Viv Sonntag, Email: Viv.Sonntag@jcu.edu.au, Tel: (07) 4042 1850.

And I just can wait to see how The Bully creams itself when they get the call for a 1-on-1 interview with the old war-horsemonger.  I wonder whether Editor Gleeson will keep that one for himself.......

Crime and perspective in Townsville

Maybe today's headline news in The Bulletin may finally give the city's 'opinion makers' a real perspective on crime and law and order in Townsville.

Contrary to the wedge first inserted by Mooney all those years ago and repeated ad nauseam ever since by the likes of Cr Dale Last and of course The Townsville Bulletin, the real crime/law-and-order issue in this city (as in any other) is not a few homeless people looking untidy and (perhaps) drinking in full view of the general public (and the 'opinion makers' in particular) or a few teenagers in the western suburbs meeting in public spaces at night or having the occasional brawl or leaving the occasional graffiti tag.

As is very clear from today's story, the locus for crime in this city (as in most) is the night club district where the purveyors of and profiteers from legal drugs provide the venues, culture and environment for the illegal drug traffickers.  As has been the case since the days of Al Capone, they're also great places to lander money.

Arguably these dealers - the legal and the illegal - are some of the city's greatest social menaces.  The police understand this, that is why they devoted so many resources to this last operation (on top of what they have to normally devote to Flinders Street night-in and night-out).

Perhaps now Cr Last and The Bully will finally get it too?

PS: Having again broken a lifetime habit and read today's editorial in The Bully, maybe it will be a while before they get it.  Reading that 'opinion-making' piece you'll see that the problem is young people (2 out of 11 identified in the article were below 20 years), that responsibility rests with parents (tell that to the aging parents of the over-40s who were arrested) and that the public policy response should be an education campaign!  Doh!

Sex shame or just plain pedophilia?

I find the headline highlighted below fascinating. 

Pedophile becomes sex shame teacher when it happens in a private school (or is that, a private school formally attended by many of Courier Mail's elite?)

Explaining the US mid-term election results

America frightens me at the best of times, but the swing to the radical right evident in the mid-term election results scares me absolutely sh*tless.

Think about this graph and what it is likely to mean over the next couple of decades in countries with similar demographics (like Oz) - voluntary voting or not.  Think too about the backlash that will come from under-30's as they have less and less power in the process. 

My guess is that the next wave of new music will emerge over the next 2-3 years - about the time that we should expect the rise of the next anarchist, neo-Nazi, and hippie movements

Via The Daily Dish

Andy Irons - July 24,1978 – November 2, 2010

Via Gerry @ Weddwould

Climate change denialists are all stoners

I noted in The Tally Room's sumnmary of the US mid-term election outcomes, that the Calforniam results incuded defeat of Proposition 19, which would have legalised marijuana (56% opposed), and Proposition 23, which would have suspended climate change legislation (58% voting No).

Could this mean that,in California, most stoners are also climate change denialists???

Found in Slim's letterbox

Regular contributor, Slim writes:

Bligh's local representatives are getting desperate by spamming the community far and wide.

The community could show their appreciation by sending a message to:

• thuringowa@parliament.qld.gov.au
• mundingburra@parliament.qld.gov.au
• townsville@parliament.qld.gov.au

The community could picket this function.

Cheers,
Slim

I for one am tempted to go just to see how many turn up (my bet is 18 not including the organisers) ....

Horse wins the Melbourne Cup

First posted in An Onymous Lefty in 2005 and again today

In exciting news today, a horse won the Melbourne Cup horse race. This horse travelled around the track at Flemington slightly faster than the other horses.

Around the nation, some people won money because they bet on the winning horse. Other people lost money, because they bet on a horse that didn't win.

Sports reporters broke out the special occasion hyperbole, reminding their viewers and listeners that if one of the horses happened to win, it would be the most tremendously exciting and fantastic thing that had ever happened in their lives, and that they would be telling future generations about the glorious win of a specific horse in the 2005 version of an annual race, for all eternity. Because it would be that astonishing.
"Dad, dad," children of the future would say, "what happened in the 2005 Melbourne Cup horse race?"

And fathers would reply, "Children, children, don't you remember what happened? I tell you this exciting story every night!"
And the children would cry, "We know dad, but please tell it again because we love it so."
And fathers would tell the story. It was 3pm on 1st November 2005, and there were about twenty horses lined up at the start of a racetrack in Flemington, Melbourne. They ran around the track. One horse won by taking less time to do this than the other horses. One horse came second, one came third and so on. And there was much rejoicing/weeping, depending on which horse the various people had backed. And this went on for a few days until everyone remembered that for the rest of the year they don't give a shit about horse racing.
It was truly extraordinary.

And this amazing story gets replayed every year!!