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Mars waning Venus rising

From the ABC:

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, backed by factional Labor Party warlords, has made a tilt at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s leadership. Mr Rudd has told a press conference that earlier this evening Ms Gillard visited him to request a leadership ballot. Mr Rudd says the Labor caucus will vote on the party and Federal Government leadership tomorrow at 9:00am AEST.

Interesting times.

1,871 replies on “Mars waning Venus rising”

The Mormons lose!
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Prop 8 OVERTURNED: Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down In California.
In a major victory for gay rights activists, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a voter initiative banning same-sex marriage in California violated the Constitution’s equal protection and due process rights clauses.

After a five-month wait, 9th Circuit District Court Judge Vaughn Walker offered a 136-page decision in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, firmly rejecting Proposition 8, which was passed by voters in November 2008.

“Although Proposition 8 fails to possess even a rational basis, the evidence presented at trial shows that gays and lesbians are the type of minority strict scrutiny was designed to protect,” Walker ruled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/prop-8-overturned-gay-mar_n_671018.html

John Quiggan rips a new one for the liar of a mad Monk.
The scaremongering lie about GBNT on electricity shredded bare.
True to form though it will not make the MSM.

If Abbott’s estimate of the impact of a carbon tax were correct, this claim would have some credibility. The estimate is wrong, and his policy is a shambles. Such a disastrous miscalculation on a central policy issue ought to disqualify him from the Prime Ministership.

http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2010/08/05/more-on-abbott-and-carbon-taxes/comment-page-1/#comment-265098

Suggestions Kevin’s speech today is a gamechanger. Let’s hope so. He’s campaigning in Qld and NSW from Sunday.

I think Kevin’s speech just now was very significant. He has the freedom to be more aggressive than Julia could be – for example one of things he said was he doesn’t think that Abbott is up to the job of being PM. Julia would have been roasted for a comment like that. Plus, becuase he’s been pretty quiet for weeks, now when he comes out to say something, people listen – he can cut through.
Is there a risk he will outshine Julia? Maybe – but I think the upside of Rudd’s involvement is greater than the downside. That was an impressive effort by Krudd.

Oh – as someone on the other side of the fence pointed out – because Kevin is joining the campaign on Sunday, it’s quite possible his campaigning will trump the Liberal campaign launch for headlines. Hehe.

Undoubtedly a very good speech by Rudd. I would say one of his best. He had great material to work with….T.Abbott.

He has thrown the gauntlet down to his old adversary, the media, to apply the blowtorch to Abbott.

Will they oblige?

Well done to Stephen Long for having a crack at the super scam.

Retirement savings going backwards
By economics correspondent Stephen Long

Australians’ retirement savings have delivered a net return of just 3 per cent a year over more than a decade, an investigation by the ABC has found.

That is barely ahead of inflation which averaged 2.8 per cent over that period and 3.1 per cent over the past 10 years – implying that, system-wide, retirement savings have achieved virtually no growth in real terms.

“It’s not just bad for people’s pensions,” said Dr Mike Rafferty, an economist from the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

“At a 3 per cent return it’s an absolute economic travesty, because that money could be put to much better use.”

The ABC has analysed official statistics from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) on superannuation assets and contribution flows that go back as far as 1997.

In the 13 years to mid-2009, the superannuation system delivered an annual compound return of 3.04 per cent.

The system-wide returns are significantly less than the money could have earned had it been placed in effectively risk-free investment vehicles such as Australian bank term deposits or Australian government long-term bonds.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/04/2973596.htm

Open Internet for Australia.
———————————–
Joe Hockey just stated on JJJ Hack that Libs will *not* support internet filter.
*************************************************
The Liberals go one up.

Next bid!

This election is taking place on the social networks. If you are not on Facebook. You need to get on urgently. According to one poll on Facebook Labor would win the Greens would be in opposition, the Liberals would be third. From that we can deduce which parties are using Facebook the best.

1503 gaffhook I was hoping it would appear. Just posted it on Facebook. Get on and get your friends on!

Whew! Third time lucky!! Good to see you back Jen! The Greens are using Facebook REALLY well. I am very impressed!

Tony Abbott.
**********

Wears Lap-Laps. Frequently observed naked in public, his hairy
troll-like carcass blotching under the sun and revulsing the human
world. Naked – except for a small swathe of cloth, worn lap-lap fashion
over his gnarled and brutish genitals.

See! 😈

1532 HusseinStWorm Whirlpool thinks the election is over and the Liberals have won! Last time I check there was nearly 3 weeks to go! Remember the GST!

Chris

You notice how JoHo described it as opposing Labors “flawed” filter.

These are the weasel words. JoHo said it, if they get in Abbott will introduce his version of it, everyone squeals and he says no we said we were opposing Labors “flawed” Filter. Our filter is not flawed.
Somone over the fence made the comment; Yippee we can vote labor now, Abbott is going to block the filter and we will still have the NBN.

Welcome home Jen.

The filter was Kevin Rudd and Stephen Conroys filter. They believe in it. They owned it. Labor lumped it….but Labor will inevitably dump it.

Abbott won’t bring in a filter. Pell’s boys would be most glum.

Tough choice.
ALP was second last.
Then Howard spoke out, and Libs became second last.
Libs spoke out against the internet filter.
ALP second last again.
Need to fill in my postal vote soon!

Just hopped over the other side briefly.
I’d forgotten just how much of a pretentious wanker Adam Carr is.
Interested in the crikey election tipping competition though.

I have no idea why the ALP persist with the internet filter as its electoral poison. Slow but deadly and now the Nationals and Libs have come out against it. Why destroy the progressive and youth vote that they worked so hard to gain last election?

Putting off discussion on this issue until after the election fools no one.

At the moment my first preference in the Senate is the Greens.

Weighing up the Secular Party, Australian Sex Party and the Liberal Democrats as well though.

Any other progressive parties out there?

G’day, Jen. Well you’ve missed everything and you’ve missed nothing. It’s been a strange campaign. Stuff ups from both majors with the msm unsurprisingly biased to the tories.

Rudd has been remarkable in the last 24 hours. The double act of him going for Tones’ throat while emphasising the govt’s positive economic news and Julia rolling out policy among the people, should work well over the next week and a bit till the late launch 🙂

The re-emergence of The Rodent can only be an electoral positive for ALP. He might help pull a Perth marginal, but he’ll not be remembered well elsewhere in marginals.

LP has been pretty lame, blog BillBo has a handfull of fiesty regulars like Bushfire Bill and lefty e among the usual chatterati, Poss somewhat subdued at the mo but consistently astute. Many of us await the next polls with expectations altering between dread and moments of jolting excitement when eg., Green Senate BoP looms large and likely. Btw, Larissa Waters was “9/10” on her Q & A slot with Tony Jones et al. recently. Dunno where she is in the pecking order but on that performance, she is certainly has the stuff of leadership down the road apiece.

Reckon Rudd will stem the rot in Qld. to 4 Electoral Units and a few will fall in NSW. This will be offset with a couple of pick ups in the southern states. Solomon is the new Eden-Monaro.

Julia Guillard was on the ABC. Didn’t do too bad a job. Andrew Rob came on later. He was shocking. Fumbling for words. Jon Faine concentrated on the mining tax Rio Tinto’s 125% rise in profit. He seemed touch on a nerve with that one. Rob was really struggling for words. Now he is fumbling for words on their new scheme of subsidising employers. Someone said all the employers will do is put someone on for the subsidy and sack someone else. Not a good look at all. We need to see more of Andrew Rob. 🙂

Elena Kagan CONFIRMED To Supreme Court.
The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan Thursday as the Supreme Court’s 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history, granting a lifetime term to a lawyer and academic with a reputation for brilliance, a dry sense of humor and a liberal bent.

The vote was 63-37 for President Barack Obama’s nominee to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/05/elena-kagan-confirmed-to_n_672285.html

Chris B

Andrew Robb is the Libs best attack dog at the moment. He’s their only spokesperson, aside from Abbott himself. He’s covering for Joe Hockey – so I can’t agree with you. Less Robb, and show Hockey for what he is – lacking in the skills to be treasurer.

Welcome back Jen. I am slowly coming back from a period of utter despair. Am now more hopeful that Abbott won’t be PM. EC sums it all up perfectly.

In the economy of the hopeless, the currency of choice is distraction.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89045

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89029

Aug 5:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/rob-rogers

Run, Sarah, Run !
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/the_horror_20100805/

Aug 5: “Ah done bough mah boy a gattlin’ gun fo’ his 10th birthday. Kid’s a real firearms nut.”
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tom-toles

Aug 5:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/doonesbury

Aug 5:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/pat-oliphant

While our far-Right tories recycle the rodent, even the GOPpers have the smarts to sideline a liability like The Imbecile.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89036

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89053

“Climate Change is crap” in America too!
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89060

“University controlled tests comprehensively confirm that a mere 25% of British Petrolium’s Gulf Spill remains at large in a collector-friendly unctuous admixture. The aberrant seepage poses no threat whatsoever to marine and coastal habitats and locals’ livelihoods.”
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89065

Prince Charming pushes his luck……
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/89071

Ticsters, just to let you know I’ve been watching Treme (made by the people who did The Wire) and it’s as good as I had hoped. Like The Wire, the stories and the people are complex, and slowly revealed. The acting and the script is spot on. There’s lots of actors I recognise from The Wire and more to come, I think.

But the thing that makes it so intoxicating for me is The New Orleans backdrop. I’ve never been there myself, but now I must go. There is, of course, the devastation of the floods, but this show highlights the spirit of New Orleans, most notably, via it’s music. It has extended musical performances as a key part of the series – some of the characters are musicians. The importance of music to the ordinary lives of the people of New Orleans seems clear. Sometimes the music is a performance in a club, but sometimes it is a street parade, or a wake, or a radio station, or just someone’s home. And the music is simply fantastic.

EC – as a lover of good music I think you will love, love, love Treme.

Back in the polling game! Hotlist
by kos
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It’s been a rough month since the Research 2000 fraud was exposed, but we’re now ready to jump back into the polling game.

We’ve settled on two separate pollsters — one to do our election horserace polling, and one to do our weekly State of the Nation national polling.

We’re still not ready to announce the latter, since we’re still dealing with some last minute negotiations. But we can announce our horserace pollster: Public Policy Polling (PPP).

We obviously wanted a credible firm to excise the ghost of R2K, but we also wanted an accurate one. Well, according to Nate Silver’s pollster rankings, PPP was among the most accurate. Strip out the firms that focus on a single state (like U Cincy, Field, etc), and it’s top 10.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/5/890614/-Back-in-the-polling-game!

Taskforce boss says schools stimulus a success!
***************************************

The head of the taskforce investigating the Federal Government’s school building program has rejected claims of widespread cost blow-outs and mismanagement, saying the scheme appears to have been a success and has delivered “significant stimulus” to the economy.

The Government appointed Brad Orgill to investigate its $16.2 billion Building the Education Revolution (BER) scheme in April after critics claimed some projects were a waste of money and were not meeting schools’ needs.

Six weeks into his $14 million investigation, Mr Orgill has told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry that less than 1 per cent of schools have complained about the program and many are “thrilled” with the new buildings.

ALP 1 Liberal propaganda machine 0

more here…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/18/2930655.htm

Betfair online has ALP firming 6 cents this week. Not brilliant but better than drifting.

Monky is in Tassie trying to shore up the senate vote. Tories have sfa chance of picking up Braddon or Bass this time.
Labor 1.53
Coalition 2.78

1557 Enemy Combatant Great news! Just eh reporting of this news will make a lot more people aware of the issue.

ABC election analyst Antony Green says the decision is likely to favour Labor and the Greens.

“Given all the publicity, I would imagine there would be a huge increase in the number of 18-year-olds on the roll and that would probably assist Labor and Greens,” he said.

Apparently it still helps. Just not the way I thought.

more here…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2975602.htm

The ALP just keep inching forward with small victories.
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Prime Minister Julia Gillard says a future Labor government will implement all 14 changes recommended in a new report into the troubled $16.2 billion schools building stimulus program.

The Building the Education Revolution (BER) Taskforce, headed by banker Brad Orgill, has today released its interim report into the program, which has been beset by claims of waste and profiteering.

The report calls for changes to how future projects are administered and tougher rules on what constitutes value for money.

In the past three months the taskforce has visited 110 schools in five states.

The report finds that out of the 254 complaints investigated, about half related to value for money.

Half of the complaints came from public schools in New South Wales and 20 per cent from public schools in Victoria.

Alright a couple of big victories.

more here…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2975239.htm

I did Gaffers @1566
it was just as good as Katielou’s post 😉

Greens at 17% in Victoria according to Newspoll 😆

Be a hoot if the ALP win 3 “cliff-hanger” seat contests by a couple of hundred votes of formerly excluded voters and they retain government after an agonising votecount up to the full 14 days after polls close.

Justice, Get-up and The Rodent will all have played a part in an ALP victory.

Some good news in my mailbox today.
Despite the best efforts of the state and federal govt’s to truly fuck up when it comes to anything to do with climate change and de-carbonising the economy. It appears that some businesses are *finally* behaving in a “rational” manner.
From Climate Spectator (Free sub req)

New Lease of life for solar
Giles Parkinson
The push by construction and property giant Lend Lease into the solar energy business could be one of the most significant interventions to date in Australia’s nascent renewable energy market.

The move is based on a couple of simple premises. The most important of these is the belief that, within a few years, solar photovoltaic technology will match, and then displace, wind energy as the most cost-effective and efficient renewable energy source in Australia.

If that comes to pass, it could turn most forecasts for the build-out of renewable technology in this country on their head, and Lend Lease will be in a position to become a dominant player in what will rapidly become a multi-billion dollar a year solar PV market.

Lend Lease has been quietly working on its plans for the past 12 months, ever since it signed a deal with the world’s biggest solar PV maker, the US-based First Solar, to install 10MW of its panels on the roof-tops of its commercial building portfolio.

The two companies found that there was a meeting of minds, culture and ambition, and Lend Lease has now signed a deal to become the local partner for the distribution and installation of First Solar’s thin-film solar panels, whose modules are scalable from roof-top solar to commercial and industrial scale installations, and to large scale utilities.

Lend Lease, of course, has capabilities across all three markets; from its Delfin home business, to its large commercial and industrial property portfolio, and its construction business, where it has already been involved in two large-scale utility proposals that have been shortlisted for the federal government’s Solar Flagships program – one with AGL and First Solar and the other with TruEnergy and First Solar.

For good measure, Lend Lease has decided to take a completely new business approach to the solar PV market and, rather than focus on direct selling like the current incumbents, it has signed an alliance with a yet-to-be-named major bank and an energy utility (one would presume AGL or TruEnergy) to tap into their multi-million customer bases to market and distribute the product. It has also struck an alliance with the Norwegian firm REC, which will provide silicon-based solar panels.

Lend Lease notes that, even with the rapid boost in the solar PV market in the last 18 months aided by the proliferation of state-based feed-in tariffs, less than 3 per cent of Australian householders will have rooftop solar by the end of the year. The market is ripe for the picking.

“This will be a steep change in the domestic market,” says Chris Carolan, the head of Lend Lease Solar, who was the project director for Australia’s first 5 star CBD building, The Bond, the company’s headquarters. “No one saw Bond coming, no one knew what green star was,” he says. “We want to make the same impact with solar PV.”

Carolan expects the “tipping point” of the solar PV market in Australia will occur at around 2014. That will follow three years of anticipated and consecutive 20 per cent rises in local energy costs (mostly to fund grid upgrades) and declining costs in solar. First Solar is already the market leader in costs, has forecast a 20 per cent reduction in costs per year for the foreseeable future and has achieved a 6 per cent fall in the last quarter alone.

The economics of the venture will be boosted by the Brumby government’s large-scale solar target of 5 per cent by 2020, and the country’s first large-scale feed-in-tariff, an initiative Carolan expects will soon be followed by other state governments.

The 5 per cent Victorian target alone equates to around 2000MW of solar by 2020. Given that it will take a few years to roll out the first projects, that equates to a billion-dollar industry in Victoria alone.

Carolan says that quicker approval time, scalability and the wide availability of sunshine will make it a more compelling energy source than wind. And solar may have a price advantage too.

Lend Lease will also be able to bring its financial strength and its impeccable ratings to bear – something that many utilities would be unable to emulate – and its entry to the solar energy market has an even broader significance.

Firstly, it makes a nonsense of the argument that the only companies with the balance sheet and the motivation to bring such industries to life are those that are currently in the generation game, and should therefore be somehow protected because of this. Let’s strike that off the list of justifications for carbon price compensation packages.

Secondly, Lend Lease is putting itself in a prime position for what many describe as the next industrial revolution – an event marked not just by the introduction of new technologies, but also new business models.

And while Lend Lease may be the first large Australian industrial group to take such an initiative, it is in good company – GE, Siemens and a host of Asian companies such as Samsung, LG and Panasonic are taking a similarly proactive approach to the so-called green economy.

Carolan is being coy about targets for market share and financials, but he is starting the business with 30-odd staff and expects to boost this to more than 100 within six months.

Lend Lease has been working assiduously at the task, using 250 of its staff as “guinea pigs” so that Lend Lease could learn the business while installing solar PV on their rooftops. One thing it learned was that it was not satisfied with industry standards, so it is establishing a Lend Lease solar academy.

http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/lend-lease-solar-photovoltaic-renewable-energy-Australia?utm_source=Climate%20Spectator%20daily&utm_campaign=a786cf6ed0-&utm_medium=email

1544 Katielou I don’t know what he was on this morning. But he certainly wasn’t his best.

The police helicopter is circling over head. The last time this happened it was the riots outside the Bob Jane store. It seems very similar.

Hickenlooper Picks Hispanic Running Mate.
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Recent polls show Tom Tancredo’s entry in Colorado’s race for governor has made John Hickenlooper (D) the overwhelming favorite by splitting the Republican vote.

Today, Hickenlooper sought to drive the GOP wedge open even further by picking a Hispanic running mate, the Denver Post reports. Tancredo, of course, is one of the nation’s most outspoken anti-immigration activists.

http://politicalwire.com

The ALP needs to concentrate on two areas. “It’s the economy stupid.” & Abbotts scrapping of the NBN. Everyone else can concentrate on Abbotts neanderthal tendencies.

***Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered***
———————————————————–

A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives. An undercover investigation has exposed this effort, which has been in action for more than one year.

“The more liberal stories that were buried the better chance conservative stories have to get to the front page. I’ll continue to bury their submissions until they change their ways and become conservatives.”
-phoenixtx (aka vrayz)

Digg.com is the powerhouse of social media websites. It is ranked 50th among US websites by Alexa (117th in the world), by far the most influential social media site. It reached one million users in 2007 and likely has more than tripled that by this point. Digg generates around 25 million page views per month, over one third of the page views of the NY Times. Front page stories regularly overwhelm and temporarily shut down websites in a process called the “Digg Effect.”

The concept behind the site is simple. Submitted webpages (news, videos, or images) can be voted up (digging) or down (burying) by each user, sort of a democracy in the internet model. If an article gets enough diggs, it leaves the upcoming section and reaches the front page where most users spend their time, and can generate thousands of page views.

more here….
http://blogs.alternet.org/oleoleolson/2010/08/05/massive-censorship-of-digg-uncovered/

1580 Chris B That just goes to show the conservatives have worked out the power of the social media. We need to also be involved in all aspects of social media, whether it be Facebook, Digg or the Huffington Post.

Ferny Grover
Are you Ok? Hope you weren’t out walking the dog near the Ferny Grove School when the crane collapsed?

Ticsters, if you’re not watching Insiders, watch it online – even just the opening segment talking to journos. George Megalogenis just said something like “I’m not sure if we would have this behaviour if there wasn’t a woman running for election. Laurie Oakes, Kevin Rudd and Mark Latham all think the election is about them, and it looks like a pack of men rodgering a woman.” Words like “mysoginist” thrown about.

The panel completely slammed the press pack, with a big whack to Channel 9.

There’s going to be books written about this campaign.

1585
Katielou

It was good, he sat back and let the two girls have their little digs at Julia and then called it for what it was.
Julia was very impressive with Hopalong as well. He waqs trying to get his gibes in but she kept despatching them to the boundary for four more.
Good stuff.

Trouble is how many watch insiders.

Needles in a Haystack
*****************

A 20-something named Austin Heap has found the perfect disguise for dissidents in their cyberwar against the world’s dictators.
For Austin Heap, there was nothing particularly remarkable about June 14, 2009. The 25-year-old computer programmer was home in his San Francisco apartment, spending his evening the same way he spent much of his free time: playing videogames. “I was sitting at my computer, as I usually do, playing Warcraft,” recalls Heap. “My boyfriend asked if I was following what was going on in Iran, and I said no. I was busy killing dragons.”

Later that night, Heap logged on to his Twitter account. He read about the growing number of Iranians claiming that their votes had been stolen in the presidential election, and he saw people complaining that the government was censoring their cries of fraud and election rigging. For Heap—who says, “I am for human rights, the Internet, and I check out from there”—something clicked. At that moment, he decided to become involved in a battle more than 7,000 miles away in a country he admits he knew next to nothing about. “I remember literally saying, ‘OK, game on.’?”

more here…
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/06/needles-in-a-haystack.html

1585 Katielou It might have something to do with a misogynistic leader of the opposition and the religion behind him.

1589 I can think of other misogynistic religions behind Abbot. Exclusive Brethren for starters.

Now they want to nobble the internet.

For years, Internet advocates have warned of the doomsday scenario that will play out on Monday: Google and Verizon will announce a deal that the New York Times reports “could allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content’s creators are willing to pay for the privilege.”

The deal marks the beginning of the end of the Internet as you know it. Since its beginnings, the Net was a level playing field that allowed all content to move at the same speed, whether it’s ABC News or your uncle’s video blog. That’s all about to change, and the result couldn’t be more bleak for the future of the Internet, for television, radio and independent voices.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=116533

I don’t watch Channel 9 but apparently Laurie Oakes bagged his own network for the Mark Latham thing tonight.

1594
Katielou
I missed that as well. But it sort of follows the Mega George meme from this mornings Insiders. Laurie can’t bear to NOT be in the limelight himself. 😆
Latham’s a class A wanker and Julia Spillard does a nice piece on it here. http://youtu.be/RGbl0fVqwTE
But I remain profoundly cynical about Laurie’s squeals about journalistic integrity 🙁

Yep
Laurie wants to know why channel nine has hired him to try to interfere with Lauries government.

Laurie is sort of saying i control who will be government thank you very much, you can fuck him off right now.

Transcript of Julia’s presser today in Darwin here.
http://bit.ly/ddsDRF
I’m not actually sure I want this woman to be our next PM. …..
But then I think of the alternative………
And then I think….Alright…..If I must. (Sigh)
I’ll hold my nose and vote for someone who sounds like Maggie Thatcher on a generous policy day. 🙁

what the hell is going on????
Spent 8 days in africa (don’t ask… let’s just say that sometimes Family comes First…. Oooh, there’s a slogan :wink; )
get back, and apparently Abbott has the numbers in the polls to become PM.
Is Julia really so incompetent, or is the media just playing us all for fools?

Enlightenment required.

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