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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”

I’ve always liked Ludlam.
Definitely a credit to the Greens and one of the best senators going around.

Should be the communications minister.

If the ALP’s odds shortened as a result of the Costello advertisement, the Time Warp will help too!

It’s amazing isn’t it.

Months and months of rabble rousing trying to make Tony Abbott and his neanderthals electable goes up in smoke in a matter of days as they have to actually produce policy and direction and trust.

The Coalition have to stop hurtling down Oblivion Highway and veer left onto Sane Avenue.

Tony Abbott – Electable = scoff.

Asanque

Agree i’ve always seen Ludlam’s talent. He will be a Senate powerhouse for a few decades.

Hat tip to over the fence. Pure Gold.

Once the AS seekers find out about the Libs broadband plans, they’ll turn their boats around.

U.S. Supersizes Afghan Mega-Base as Withdrawal Date Looms
By Spencer Ackerman

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Anyone who thinks the United States is really going to withdraw from Afghanistan in July 2011 needs to come to this giant air base an hour away from Kabul. There’s construction everywhere. It’s exactly what you wouldn’t expect from a transient presence.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/08/u-s-afghan-mega-base/

Abbott defends candidate critical of Jews, gays, women.
********************************************

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended a Liberal National Party (LNP) candidate who once published a university newspaper containing material critical of Jews, gays and women.

Mackay City Councillor George Christensen only needs a swing of 2.6 per cent to win the marginal Labor-held seat of Dawson.

But today questionable material published by Cr Christensen in his university days in the 1990s has emerged.

In the publication, called The Student Advocate and published by the Conservative Students Alliance in 1998, Cr Christensen reportedly made jokes about AIDS, linked Jews to the crucifixion of Christ and described women as “stupid”.

more here….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/10/2978737.htm

Asanque

You mentioned there is no Bennelong value seat worth a punt this year.

I haven’t got any inside info at all but my gut tells me BOOTHBY. Julia’s home seat and without Nicole Cornes and with S.A. swinging to Labor..

As i said, Gut Feel.

$2.55 on the bookies. Best betting value imo.

Harry Hurtlewatch sez:

“The Coalition have to stop hurtling down Oblivion Highway and veer left onto Sane Avenue.”

Geez Harry, doncha wanna see the the masters of the tory antipodean universe tooling down Dirty Boulevard, bound for a metaphorical T-Bone at the intersection of Desolation Row and Rue Morgue Avenue?
It ain’t gonna be pretty, these things never are unfortunately, but it’s a fair bet that we’ll all be watching them come the mega-gutser.
Strictly for reasons psephological, naturally, as we are all professionals. :mrgreen:

Eleven sleeps hence, in a act of enlightened bipartisanship, the wiz-kids of spin of both houses should be dragged from the tallyroom and “destroyed” as humanely as prevailing community standards permit …………”Live” in front of the national electorate.

This time, a message needs to be sent TO THEM.

We’re not bloody Seppoes, we are modern Australia, FFS!

Over the fence a few have listed which Libs they want beaten the most. My order:

1. Kevin Andrews. Come on Dunkleyites. Do it.

2. Plod Dutton. Useless, smug git.

3. The lovely Sophie. Go Jen.

PS I don’t get the hatred for Whiney Piney. He is after all a reasonably sane moderate Lib…..I know he’s an annoying git but i reckon he’s actually a bonus for Labor whenever he pops his head up and uses that voice of his.

Red Kez:

“Mr. Abbott, if you economic credentials are as sound as your media advertisments say they are, why havn’t you got the courage of a leader to debate the PM live and unscripted on the Economy bearing in mind that your paths cross at the Rooty Hill RSL tomorrow?”

If Kez can badger Julia on why she hadn’t picked up the phone to call Kev in hospital, then he HAS to ask a “character” question like that of Monky.

1718 HarryH

Thanks HarryH 🙂
Personally, I’m on the ALP in McEwen at 1.70 at sportingbet as a pretty safe bet.

I’m hearing the same as you regarding Boothby, but haven’t had a chance to do research on that one as yet. My understanding though is a swing to LIBs in Qld/NSW, a swing to ALP in SA/Vic.

I’m a little more wary of SA given the swing to the Libs in the recent state election though. Nicole Cornes was a bad candidate last year, so I agree that could be one mitigating factor.

Chris, thanks for the correction re Kevin Andrews. Go Menzieites. Kick that unhinged bastards arse. 🙂

Here are a few on the ground reports from the other side:

‘I have a fair few people in Boothby and Sturt who keep me updated.

I’m from Boothby (now live in Wakefield), but my parents still reside there. In Boothby, there is a massive core of 60-80 year old people including my grandparents who simply will not vote Labor (lots of nursing homes and retirement villages). However, I know for a fact that there were a huge demographic of 40-50 year olds who wanted to vote Labor (as the rest of ths state did) but didn’t want to vote for Cornes. I don’t blame them. If even half of these people decide to vote Labor now, they will win it. I think it’s a real chance. But it’s such a traditional Liberal area that it will still be a surprise.’

From Dio:
[‘The Labor Party tells me they are very confident about Boothby, but not Sturt, based on internal polling.’]

Also:
[‘Just went for a drive around my electorate of Boothby and I see they’ve put up whole heap of Julia Gillard corflutes (especially around the beach area).

I think the ALP are getting very confident about the seat.’]

Well that was a magnificent effort Tony. Losing the election in one interview is a truly impressive feat.
😆 He must be *really* looking forward to his 3rd go with Kezza on the 7.30 report. 👿 :mrgreen:

Thank goodness I took the $1.62 on Labour yesterday.
I don’t think it’s going to get anywhere close to that after today’s performance by the Libs. What a friggin train wreck!!

I’m actually kinda angry that a guy like Abbott can get so close to being our PM.

I mean, everyone who assisted him to get so close ought to be ashamed of themselves….if they cared….which they don’t. I don’t really blame his fellow troglodytes who know no better. But the rest who have tried, and who are still trying…should hang their heads.

As EC said earlier…we are not bloody brain dead Seppo’s. We are a reasonable country filled with reasonable people.

We deserve much better.

Yudiono: Mr Abbort what time did you arrive?

Abbort: I flew in this morning.

Yudiono: Oh so you got here before your email.

Kerry: What is peak speed

Abbort: When you are in a finely tuned red ferrari heading for a cliff at 300kph.

Hope you were listening when Kerry asked him about raising the GST.

He is a slimy as a shithouse rat.

1743 HarryH Fortunately the voter is far more focused now. Although I think the media did a bit of stirring. The ALP was being far too cautious.

Hat tip to over the fence

Tweet

GC51

Liberals are suggesting TAbbott take a swim at Portsea. #ausvotes 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

JULIA GILLARD has taken her “Real Julia” persona to mainstream Australia, appearing on the popular Channel Ten panel show the 7pm Project.

The Prime Minister appeared relaxed and good-humoured on the television program, prompting Melbourne broadcaster Steve Price to accuse her of trying to “charm” her way into the Lodge.

“You have absolutely changed yourself,” he said.

Ms Gillard feigned offence, saying “Are you saying I wasn’t charming before?”

[The video is worth watching as well]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/real-julia-keen-on-tv-appearances/story-fn5ko0pw-1225903627836

My favourite bit of wit today from BK over the fence:

“Wouldn’t it be great on 21 Aug to be able to say “Hey Tone, what’s it like to get tossed by a shiela?”

Dear Merry Band of Ticsters, if anyone is up to writing a few paras to head a new thread, please so indicate.

The Emily Post book on web etiquette insists that it is poor blog-grooming to drag too large a thread trail through cyberspace. 🙂

That ends a highly successful day for Julia and the ALP. Or to be completely honest a disastrous day for the Liberal Party.

Enter Arbib, Bitar and their focus groups. Their technique involves targeting the least politically committed voters in key marginal seats. The Arbib-Bitar theory is that these people determine who wins government, and that their views should therefore predominate in policy-setting. In a bizarre reversal of conventional political wisdom, leadership is redefined as following such people by pandering to them.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/focus-groups-and-factions-tear-heart-out-of-labor/story-e6frgd0x-1225903163255

Putting aside the woeful state of the hurtling(lol) Libs, does anyone think PMG has the want to clean up the mess that is the Federal ALP?

I find this article spot on to what every frustrated wannabe Labor supporter is voicing online and in real life.

Why Democrats Play the Bush Card
****************************

A new Public Policy Polling survey of undecided voters finds that 51% think the current state of the economy is still President Bush’s responsibility to only 27% who think it’s President Obama’s, and 55% of them would rather have Obama as President to only 28% who are feeling any Bush nostalgia.

This is without ANY advertising to remind voters about THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

Attention David.
http://politicalwire.com

Had a chat with Andrew Leigh this morning, the ALP candidate for (and bound to be elected member of) Fraser. The topic of the discussion was climate change. He was very firm in his view that he wanted a price on carbon. But he was equally firm in that the ALP had no choice but to negotiate with the Liberals, not the Greens, in the Senate.

While he is not enamoured of the citizens assembly idea, he has great faith in Julia’s ability to build consensus and use that consensus to put pressure on the Liberals.

Chris B,

That is a great poll for the Democrats. But it should be remembered that the contest is not a presidential one this time. However, it gives more cause for optimism that the Democrats will not lose the Senate or the House.

Best of Rand Paul headlines.
***********************

Rand Paul’s Bong-Fueled Kidnapping Spree, Idol Worship (the Atlantic)

Rand Paul Allegedly Tried to Force College Classmate to “Take Bong Hits,” According to GQ (CBS)

Bongs and Kidnapping? Rand Paul? What the… (updated) (NY Daily News)

Will ‘Aqua Buddha’ Derail Rand Paul? (AtlanticWire)

Drug-crazed Rand Paul kidnapped woman in reefer frenzy (Salon)

Reefer Madness! (TPM)

GQ claims Paul in kooky secret society during college (Kentucky Enquirer)

Rand Paul’s College Days in a Secret Group (Newsweek)

GQ: Woman says Rand Paul kidnapped her in college, ‘tried to force me to take bong hits’ (Washington Post)

Happy Hour Roundup: Rand Paul campaign threatens GQ mag (The Plum Line)

Rand Paul’s ‘Aqua Buddha’ prank: Blasphemy amid the Baptists? (USA Today)

and my favorite:

Woman Accuses of Rand Paul of Basically Acting Like a U.S. Senator While Still in College (Vanity Fair)

I didn’t think this Looney Tunes could win. I suspect this will make it a whole lot more difficult. Mind you nothing is 100%.

More here…
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/9/891620/-Best-of-Rand-Paul-headlines

Those crazy university kids and the things they get up too!
***********************************************
Woman Accuses of Rand Paul of Basically Acting Like a U.S. Senator While Still in College (Vanity Fair)

The extremists of the Republican Party.
*******************************

Jim DeMint, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Joe Barton, Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin. Just to name a few. It is going to be very, very, easy to make an advertisement of the guys and show them as the norm for the Republican Party. Run the ad all the way through October.

It was all George Bushes/Republicans Fault

Its still the economy stupid!

All touch a raw nerve. There’s your advertising campaigns. Run advertisements all through October. Landslide!

Liberal broadband 16 mb/s between midnight and 6am.
Normal service will slow to a crawl, when in full use.

Just had another nibble at Labour on sportsbet as the odds continue to tighten.
Lab in to $1.38 with the Libs drifting out to $3.00

Radio Survey 5: MTR fails to gain traction

The fifth metropolitan radio ratings survey of 2010 has shown that the newest addition to the talkback market in Melbourne, MTR 1377, has failed to attract an audience.

MTR fell to a share of just 1.4 per cent in the latest Nielsen survey, down 0.3 points, leaving it languishing at the bottom in Melbourne. It was level with ABC NewsRadio and far behind other niche stations like Radio National and ABC Classic FM.

The paltry result contrasts with the heavy publicity given to the new talkback station when it launched earlier this year.
…………
MTR’s bosses have attempted to put on an optimistic face publicly. Steve Price, one of the station’s presenters and its program director, told The Age that “we’re of the view that we’re putting to air a pretty good product” – despite the lack of listeners to appreciate it. He also blamed bad reception for the cool response from viewers.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of reactionaries. 😀

These are the goofs that our racist prime minister is pandering to.

http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/08/11/radio-survey-5-mtr-fails-to-gain-traction/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=radio-survey-5-mtr-fails-to-gain-traction

Paddy looks like you had great timing with your bet. Possum’s latest tweet…

Pollytics Centrebet now blowing out further – Coalition on $3.06… and continuing to move out. Something is up

Oh dear! Phoney Tony has stuffed up big time. 😆
Trying to get out of paying up to Getup is going to look pretty bad.
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/EndMandatoryDetention&id=1301

1775
No Chris. The ALP’s odds are tightening (ie getting shorter) all the time.
I figure they are worth a bet at anything more than $1.30
So I’ve backed them multiple times at different odds.
The best was $1.62 and when I last threw money at them they were $1.38
It also gets safer to bet on results as we get closer to the event.
(Less chance for major stuff ups.)

Oh dear! Phoney Tony has stuffed up big time. 😆
Trying to get out of paying up to Getup is going to look pretty bad.
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/EndMandatoryDetention&id=1301

1775
No Chris. The ALP’s odds are tightening (ie getting shorter) all the time.
I figure they are worth a bet at anything more than $1.30
So I’ve backed them multiple times at different odds.
The best was $1.62 and when I last threw money at them they were $1.38
It also gets safer to bet on results as we get closer to the event.
(Less chance for major stuff ups.)

1783
gaffhook You’re on a roll. :mrgreen:
So’s twitter. 😆
Somebody keep @marklatham from the cheap RSL drinks at #rooty hill

The Liberals are hiding from their broadband policy. With their 12mb/s speed, a lot of users will slow it down dramatically. I bet Tony Abbott doesn’t know this.

Julia, Julia –
one way to piss off the teachers is to say that an 8 week training course makes people ready to face the classroom.
Dumb Dumb Dumb.

While I’m sure the “non-debate” at Rooty hill ass A borefest.
At least the twitter feed is coming up with some gems. 😆
Try

#rooty hill. 200 voters + 1400 journalists + mark latham = bar fight?

Or…

#rooty “What do you have in the way of Tasmanian Pinot Noirs?” “Here for the debate are you”

1786
Jen I’d have to agree about pissing off the teachers with that sort of garbage. But I think Miss Jules is pandering to the Rooty Hill mob right now.
If she turns out to be OK after the election and morphs into a human being…Well I’ll be utterly delighted and make grovelling apologies for being a cynic.
But listening to her doing the “Bash a dole bludger for the economy” spew today, was a little distasteful to say the least! 🙁

Paddy, concur with your advice. ALP are still good value at those odds with 9 sleeps to go. I got on New Julia last week at evens with my best mate for a spot. He’s a senior subby with one of Citizen Rupert’s Sydney publications. Fucken journos think they are god’s gift to knowledge. Their didactic certainties can punish one to the nth degree.

He was trashing the ALP at the time saying that they had lost momentum and that their handlers were a bunch of amateurs. Which was of course true. But with Julia consistently ahead on PPM, kinda figured that Oz voters wern’t ready to give her the spear quite yet.
Suggested then to my mate that he was a hapless victim of work-place groupthink, which pissed him off no end (we hurt each other a lot, it’s a weird and beautiful friendship of ~40 years. Jewish and catholic guilt have araldited us for the duration) 🙂

He wanted to bet 50 there and then. But I saw a chance to make a buck, so I took it.

“Let’s make it a spot then, Mr Eddy-The-Expert !”

“yeah righto, yer on.”

*little fish are sweet*

1791
Oh that IS sweet Ecky :mrgreen:
Esp taking it from a mate who’s one of Rupe’s minions @ EVENS no less, is a joy to behold. 👿

* pushes Ecky to the corner to face the wall and not speak for 24 hours. Fraternising with the enemy. hmmmmpphhhhhhhh

I hope your pizza is cold and your stubbies are warm with your lucre of ill repute.

I’ve watched most of the Rooty Hill thing (avoided the commentary) and it is clear this is not an audience of undecided voters. Abbott is getting applause after 90% of his answers – Julia got maybe one or two rounds of applause. Some 28 year old named Joel got up and asked why he should vote for Abbott – he had a joke with Abbott and basically affirmed him. People on twitter have identified that guy as the son of SA Lib MP Joe Scalzi. He was a big brother contestant and is a young liberal.
http://www.news.com.au/joel/story-e6frf9ho-1111113384703
What a load of B.S.

Abbott getting easy questions – some obvious dixers. Julia got many hostile questions.

Another stake in the heart of the Catholic Church!
****************************************

Mexico Gay Marriage: Supreme Court Orders All Mexican States To Recognize Weddings Performed In Mexico City. Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that all 31 states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in the capital, though its decision does not force those states to begin marrying gay couples in their territory.

In a 9-2 decision, the tribunal cited an article of the constitution requiring states to recognize legal contracts drawn up elsewhere.

It did not specify what degree of recognition must be granted to same-sex couples.

more here….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/mexico-gay-marriage-supreme-court_n_678016.html

Oh FFS this #Rooty thing is making my head explode.
Just saw another obvious young liberal ask a dixer about the NBN – basically saying she wanted the Libs policy and finished with “that’s great – good luck with the election”. Yeah – independently selected undecided voters.
Fark.

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