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Showing posts from February, 2012

Slightly barbed jokes are dangerous now

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It's a dangerous thing in politics, apparently, to have a sense of humour; certainly a barbed one. Kevin Rudd discovered that this morning when a pointedly witty remark at a private function was blown up as if it was some kind of vicious attack on Julia Gillard. What a load of ... The Labor leadership aspirant was at a party with then South Australian Premier Mike Rann after a performance at the Adelaide fringe festival when he happened upon a group of the Catholic God botherers who control Labor in that state and whose factional leader Senator Don Farrell had played a major role in his being deposed. Judge the Rudd remark as reported in the Sunday Mail for yourself:

Making fun of political pundits

From Paul Krugman's New York Times  blog comes this salutary reminder: I often make fun of political pundits who imagine that there are elaborate psychodramas going on in the mind of the electorate, that voters are parsing the president’s policy proposals to see how he shapes up to some kind of Platonic ideal; folks, voters are busy making a living and raising families, they get their news in snippets, and they have no idea what the White House proposed last month; what they mostly notice is whether things seem to be getting better or worse. So it’s scary that WH political operatives actually seem to believe all this political-pundit nonsense.

A tick for the speech writer and the deliverer

A fine speech today by Prime Minister Julia Gillard commemorating the death of Sir Zelman Cowen. Both written and delivered well.

The Reserve Bank's inclination to punish

It's as if there is an inclination to punish in those monetary economists. Here goes Australia, in the words of the official statement of the Bank after today's board meeting, " with growth expected to be close to trend and inflation close to target." Perhaps the only downside is that the "labour market conditions softened during 2011 and the unemployment rate increased slightly in mid year, though it has been steady over recent months." But let's not worry about those 5.2% of people without a job, or all those working less hours than they would like to. Put in the background the statutory requirement we have for  the maintenance of full employment in Australia."  Let's just keep things exactly as they are and leave official interest rates unchanged. They are a callous lot.  And why? Is inflation going to become a trouble if rates are lowered? Well ... no, not actually. CPI inflation has declined as expected, as the large rises in food

With economy improving, Obama would beat Romney: poll | Reuters

From Reuters : A Washington Post-ABC News survey of 1,000 adults found that, for the first time, Obama's prospects have brightened against his potential rivals as his overall job approval rating climbed on his handling of the slowly recovering economy. If the election were held now, Obama would win 51 percent of the vote compared to 45 percent for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and current Republican frontrunner, according to the poll. He would win with 54 percent compared to 43 percent for Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives who has vowed to continuing seeking his party's nomination. 'via Blog this'

The Daily Tele, rats and big cheese provide ingredients for a lively parliamentary opening

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It's as if the editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph Paul Whittaker wanted to send a message to the Speaker of the House of Representatives with his front page today- Come on, I dare you! Last year, after the paper ran a picture of Speaker Peter Slipper that was altered to include rats whiskers and a tail, the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, Robyn McClelland, wrote to  Paul Whittaker: Published on the front page of the newspaper and online is an image of the Speaker, taken during proceedings of the House of Representatives; the image has been digitally altered. The modification of this image is in clear breach of the Guidelines for Still Photography in the Chamber and resolutions of 16 October 1991 and 1 May 1996 relating to the use of broadcast footage of chamber proceeedings … The  McClelland letter went on to say she would refer the matter to parliament’s “media review” to “clarify restrictions” and threatened “sanctions” to be taken against the newsp

And a welcome back to The Insiders

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And all of us political tragics welcome back  The Insiders  - with mixed views Share “ Great to see Meet the Press and Insiders back for another year Simon W 3 hours ago Reply Retweet Share “ I'm disappointed that #insiders was dominated by speculation about a leadership challenge - again. It's a self-fueled media feedback loop. Blind 5 hours ago Reply Retweet Share “ #insiders was pretty meh, bit like a chat show focussed on discussing Neighbours plot Zac Spitzer 4 hours ago Reply Retweet Share “ Cassidy needs to be removed from #Offsiders and #Insiders. He is so #outoftouch he's #boring Garth Morrison 5 hours ago Reply Retweet Share “ I've watched my last #Insiders for 2012. Maximum tedium and press gallery self absorption. Matt Francis 7 hours ago Reply Retweet Share