And even as I wrote this piece, news broke that Greg Hunt, Minister for the Environment when you’re not having a Minister for the Environment, has just been awarded the inaugural best minister in the world gong in Dubai. I rest my feckin case.
The Turnbull government recently appointed Philip Ruddock as its special envoy for human rights. Ruddock will quit the government in order to take up his new position, as it will entail considerable amounts of travel during which time he would be absent from the House, and this, he considers, is not fair to his Berowra electorate.
One can imagine the glee with which this arrangement was arrived at. How enraged and outraged the lefties will be was likely the first consideration, as Ruddock’s expertise in furthering human rights, or even lobbying, was most certainly not a central concern. The man has all the charm of an embalmed corpse, indeed, his waxy pallor during his Howard years caused me to note on more than one occasion that he looked as if he’d just crawled out of his coffin as the sun went down.
Ruddock is known as the architect of the Howard government’s off-shore detention policy, the “Pacific Solution.” This “solution” was condemned by Human Rights Watch as a rights violation, as it contravened international law. The UNHCR supported this view. A long-standing member of Amnesty International, that organisation asked Ruddock to cease wearing its badge, as he had done consistently and conspicuously whilst committing rights violations. Ruddock also introduced Temporary Protection Visas.
In 2003 Ruddock was appointed Attorney-General. He introduced the Marriage Amendment Bill, in which marriage is for the first time defined as being solely between a man and a woman, thus preventing same-sex marriage and civil unions.
Ruddock once famously referred to an asylum seeker child as “it.” He was also responsible, along with John Howard and Peter Reith, of lying to the public on the matter of asylum seekers throwing their children overboard in order to gain access to Australia.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop explained it thus: Mr Ruddock will actively promote Australia’s candidacy for membership of the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2018-20 term. He will represent Australia at international human rights events and advocate our HRC candidacy in selected countries.
Ruddock’s appointment demonstrates yet again that Turnbull varies little from Abbott in his practices: the only difference is the patronising urbanity with which he oils his self-satisfied way through his political life. Turnbull, like Abbott, makes decisions based firstly on the retention of his personal power, followed closely by the retention of his party’s power, followed closely by their collective desire to troll lefties just because they can. Yes. They are that infantile.
Turnbull continues the Abbott tradition of treating government, and governance, as a personal plaything. Abbott trolled the nation when he appointed himself Minister for Women. He did it again when IPA stalwart and vigorous opponent of the Human Rights Commission, Tim Wilson, was parachuted into a job invented for him at that very Commission, with the vague title of Freedom Commissioner and a salary of $325,000 pa.
While the LNP are having great fun trolling, it’s also their intention to take over or outsource institutions they perceive as obstacles to the implementation of their ideology. The government’s decisions have little to do with the welfare of the country, or anybody in it who is not in thrall to that ideology.
I hope the idiots who thought things would be better cos Turnbull are smacking themselves upside the head right now.
The LNP risking a leadership spill in an election year must be as likely as the survival of polar bears, which is to say, negligible. Turnbull is in the strongest position he’s ever likely to enjoy: he could do just about anything and remain Prime Minister. Yet he hasn’t the courage to run with it, and continues to roll over like a submissive dog under the pressure of his party’s extreme right-wing.
The man is scum. He’s worse scum than Abbott. Abbott was always scum, but Turnbull, on the face of it, seemed once to stand for something, though in retrospect I’m not sure what that something was. Turnbull has the smooth voice and sophisticated delivery the cloth-eared and dry-mouthed Abbott so conspicuously lacked, yet behind all his mannerisms, Turnbull is as hollow, and as pretentious, and as cruel.
Welcome to government by troll.
No Place For Sheep 
He was THE pivotal figure in selling the original problem back in 2001 when Howard was casting about for an issue to escape a looming election defeat.
No one trusted Howard, but sad, sincere, stoic ol’ human-face; he was the honeyed tongue that could engage the public. Game changer, sadly for all.
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I think it’s a joke article – see my comment below. 🙂
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We are basically a pretty unsophisticated lot of people, but usually our bullshit detectors are well functioning and have guided us pretty well in the political morass.
Turnbull with his pretend sophistication is certainly not our man, we did not like Abbott much ,but at least we knew where stood with him, we found it easy to deal with him and to dislike him..
Go away Mal, don’t bring back Tony, but something real like Albo…
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One of Australia’s largest first world problems is ‘homelessness’ we have in excess of 100,000 ‘officially’ homeless’ people in Australia, a large percentage of whom have been victims of domestic violence. My question is ‘if we can’t put a roof over these people’s heads’ shouldn’t we cutting back on our immigration for a little while until we at least house these poor bastards (figure of speech only).
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While I understand your sentiment, homelessness and immigration are two quite different things. If we had zero immigration we would still have 100,000 homeless. There is not even a correlation between them let alone causation. If our society wanted to put roofs over the heads of the homeless we could do it in a flash (assuming the homeless want them, which some would not but that is another issue). We could at the same time double our immigration and the two would not collide. The former would be a cost, the latter would lift the economy-as well as our social richness.
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Townsville blog, “The economy” itself is a loaded term. Big business understands that the economy is an apparatus for private gain, to be milked by the more astute.
Whereas we see it as the productive, accumulation and redistributive capacity of human activity within a society, to a constructive end, for people.
Were priorities to be rearranged even slightly, there would be no problem in providing both adequate social infrastructure for our less advantaged and also increasing the uptake of people like us who have also experienced suffering and on a more severe level than most of us will ever be put through.
But the people who hold power are more concerned with neoliberal economics, holding power for those who loot precisely the monies required for more rational spending. And they won’t give it away because their narrow view of life has it that people can only be regarded as sucessful and worth the envy of their neighbours through conspicuous accumulation and consumption.
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Who is ‘we’?
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we are fair dinkum Aussies.
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“We” is us. Us decides wot cums ere. Giddut!
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a wanker of the highest regard.
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Stew, Yes of course I had’nt considered that some would ‘choose to be homeless on freezing cold nights and hot days, of course you would ‘want to be homeless’ the point is if our society does not have the political will to house our homeless, how can we provide roofs for nonAustralians?
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I’ve tried to explain to activists that one reason Australians are cautious is through a long and rightly felt mistrust for those running things…too often nasties await us, hidden with the pages of weasly/ tricky stuff like FTA’s.
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Bur hey.. 270 women and kids…do we have to sell our souls to save our skins?
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Possibly, yes.
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Well can we sell you then to save a fucking baby?
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I’m afraid you have gone over the edge Marilyn, you need to destress mate, have a Bex and a little lay down.
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Having worked with homeless people and the mentally ill, I can assure you that there are a small minority of homeless who choose to do this: snow, hail or shine. I was not being an apologist for our lack of action in taking care of a large number of unfortunate people who do not want to be in despair.
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Then how can we house another 12,000 refugees?
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Stop whining you clown, we manage to house 7 million tourists, migrants, foreign students and fucking temporary workers.
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So a couple of hundred thousand Aussies shouldn’t be a problem
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More a case of some of these folk, through their illnesses, no longer gifted with choice?
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The people with an illness you should be concerned with are the people with insatiable greed for whom enough is never enough and companies who have not paid tax for the financial year ending 2014.
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Germany’s economy is benefiting of those many well-educated, skilled Syrian migrants. In Australia the immigrants are mainly hard working people willing to live in cramped conditions and at the same time saving up to build or to buy their own places.
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PS. According to ABC’s Fact Check you’ll find the most homeless amongst the Indigenous and single parents.
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So, how do we house and feed an extra 12,000 refugees?
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Those same lovely peaceful people with no respect for women who raped 100 German women on New Years Eve, oh yes they are lovely people aren’t they?
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TB, you naivety is showing. The millions of refugees fleeing from the Mid East and Africa are fleeing largely because of the stinking mess “civilised” big powers have made of their countries over the last century… millions dead and tens of millions homeless.
If they are hungry and tricky, a bit ratbaggy after months on a cold, wet road to WesternEurope, well, think of where they come from and what state you would be in if it were you.
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Here is an interesting article about brainwashing and consent manufacture: https://newmatilda.com/2016/01/25/fairfax-orientalism-how-to-win-friends-and-trash-muslims/
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Martin Place siege raised the hackles of many Aussies, Curtis Cheng murder and the lack of respect they have for women and the Cronulla riots showed us everything we needed to know about these people they will not asi,ilate with us and we have asimilated with many races before, but we have not seen anything like this before.
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It was my ‘reality’ that was showing this did happen, and muslims were the perpetrators, and that’s a fact. A nice thanks to the country that took them in I shouldn’t think, no German is cheering about the incident, just like no ‘true blue’ Aussie is cheering about the Martin Place siege.
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Yeah, TB
I am always scared walking home alone when I see a gang of Muslim men walking towards me – coincidentally, I am just as scared whatever their nationality is.
Treating women badly is common across ALL cultures – doesn’t that just make you feel all warm ‘n fuzzy?
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Actually it disgusts me what a culture, very unAustralian.
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Martin place was about an Australian citizen brutalised by our public servants and pollies after getting out of brutal Iran. He had long ceased to be a refugee.
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He did remain however a muslim.
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The conservatives don’t want to acknowledge the failures of marriage and partnerships DV and its consequences represent. So they go into denial
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i’d never thought about that before but you might be right. Hmmm and there’s probably a strong liking for the hyper-masculinist revival movement amongst those quarters as well…
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For fuck sake, does every scab have to bring everything down to an ignorant racist excuse to torture children,
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You need to expand on it.. I don’t understand the comment.
Which scabs do you mean? Presumably like Pelluzo?
If you mean Townsville, don’t. This is a person who is just learning the game and I for one would rather ease the anxieties to the point where the person on the street can glimpse the truth.
And careful, or DQ will be after you for potty-mouth again.
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Which reminds me.
Townsville Blog is most likely open-mindedly chewing over the contributions of other posters as part of h(is)er own search for truth, since the post yesterday.
I would ask this person what they thought of Pelluzo’s SS performance in parliament a few days ago.
“NO exceptions”, even for little babies? The 270 are no real threat. I’d have loved to have seen the federal politicians get real, be real Australians and grant the women and kids the amnesty Sara Hanson Young proposed.
They are too scared to give even a little on what has become a dog made of bullshit that they are now wagged as the tail thereof.
I won’t drag DQ into it at the moment. He has said he would be comfortable fighting for asylum seekers in court: I take him at his word.
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The tories are sticking to their guns because if you make an exception for one and not the other it would be seen to be unfair and they have told these people that they won’t be settled in Australia. Cambodia is an option for them all.
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Will you go to fucking Cambodia then and stay there.
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No way I’m a hard working Aussie, let the unAustralian people go there.
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I’m probably one of the idiots who thought Turnbull would be better – and I have to say I’m daily thankful for the absence of Tony Abbott and the puerile debates that followed behind him like a trail of used tissues. I’m still reserving judgement on Malcolm, and I’m mindful of the fact that there appear to be conservative forces lurking away in the background ready to pounce… but that doesn’t mean he needs to overtly pander to them – and Phillip Ruddock as our human rights champion just makes me violently and copiously sick and will surely end in a national embarrassment. Aussies may have poor memories but the international community certainly doesn’t.
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You are too generous and long suffering Sam.
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D’you really think so? MT still strikes me as someone who thinks for the long term, but perhaps it’s emerging that he’s actually a bit uncomfortable dealing with unhinged extremist zealots whether daesh or his own party members (and who wouldn’t be?) so he leans towards placating rather than suppressing them. Strategically rather silly but understandable. I’d probably do the same thing in his position… but then I’m not sure what my sense of identity would be if I didn’t have something to self-harm over/-;
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He thinks for his long-term, I agree.
Your last sentence – there’s something in that for everyone lololol :-))))))
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He is more a danger because he lacks the irritating, attention grabbing behaviours of Abbott. Turnbull is a cat not belled.
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Well said. Whatever applause the gesture gets Turnbull in the Monkey Pod room, the intent behind the appointment is despicable and serves to further confirm Turnbull’s own weak leadership and lack of judgement.
Do we really need to send another message to the world that human rights don’t apply here or on our detention centres?
As with Howard and Abbott before him, Turnbull is reduced to posturing – posing as tough on border protection because he is a weak individual who will do anything for political gain.
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This seems to be the only kind of politician we have now.
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Regrettably. Unless the electorate can express its dissatisfaction via social media.
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I did hope Turnbull could temper the desires of the far-right, just a little.
Well, colour me stupid, the (further) slashing of the CSIRO (specifically the climate division) and the appointment of Ruddock as Human Rights whatever, are timely reminders that nothing has changed in the Liberal party, not one thing; just the front-man.
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You probably have come across Michael Pelluzo, the ranking Immigration official just before parliament and his outrageous performance before senators:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-08/5yo-asylum-seekers-not-raped-on-nauru-immigration-official-says/714749
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The man is insufferable.
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He was in charge of customs when the decision was taken to not rescue any refugees in trouble at sea.
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loony!
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And today Greg Hunt…who votes for these dipsticks, nobody I know will admit to it
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No one ever admitted to voting for Kennett all those years ago, in Victoria… well not anyone I knew.. which probably says more about me.
Anyway, why I am more disappointed in Turnbull than Abbott? Glad you asked, I never expected more from Abbott; he is and remains a single dimension man – what you see is more than what you’ll get. Always pigheaded, full of his own righteousness – not a man of or for the people; a never-was.
Why I loathe Turnbull so much now; he is intelligent, thoughtful, capable of understanding nuance… yet he has remained true to the far-right faction party line – Turnbull knows better than this and has deliberately chosen to go along with the far-right. I guess he also knows best where his future is and it is not about leaving a beneficial legacy to Australia.
The thinking was that Mr ‘Nice’ would lead more voters to return the LNP coalition in 2016.
With Abbott, Labor was a shoo-in – with Turnbull. more people can be fooled more of the time.
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I think the same way – never expected anything from Abbott, hoped for better from Turnbull. I don’t know why. :((((
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Diannaart, like you I foolishly thought that Turnbull would be better, what a disappointment he has been.
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I’ve known too much about waffles turnbull for too long to expect that he would do anything other than maintain abbott’s “policies”.
His professed social liberalism applies only to him.
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I do love your work. Dead on the money I think here.
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Thank you John.
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Hunt’s Award has to be a piss-take:
“World leaders, scientists and media experts are attending the summit which features forums on the future of renewable energy, zombie apocalypse preparedness and the future of money.”
“Zombie apocalypse preparedness”?
LOL
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The man who wrote an honours thesis proposing that big polluters should pay for their pollution…
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Oh, but he was a student then,. Was it Churchill said every young man should be a lefty, every ageing man should be a conservative, or some twaddle like that.
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One quote goes (roughly) “a lefty at twenty- no head. A lefty at fifty, no heart”
You could imagine some wad like Andrew Robb saying that, couldn’t you?
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That is a statement I’ve heard only from tories.
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Only a Tory would be stupid enough to think it let alone say it..
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How astonishingly wrong you are I’m a Left winger and have been all my life.
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Do you realise what you have just said?
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WTAF??? I didn’t see that
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Elizabeth Farrelly dropping another pearl on the same topic: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ruddock-and-pell-promoted-to-their-level-of-malefeasance-20160210-gmq8n3.html
If only everyone were so sensible!
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“I am sorry the Cardinal’s heart is dodgy. I am”.
So heartfelt.
And 2001, came back to me, too.
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any point adding this?http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-11/bradley-asylum-policies-and-the-problem-of-a-'higher-purpose'/7158430
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Yeah, I can see Michael Pezzullo and Townsvilleblog becoming best buds.
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Don’t be too hard on her.
The public has been forced fed on it for a long time.
Media Watch put up a beautiful example of how low msm have sunk with stories on the Telegraph lying quite blatantly about Tony ABBott’s so called dinner with President Obama, and there was more about censorship laws passed year.
As Bradley says in the article, the thing comes back to the manipulation of fears involving open borders and what that some what nebulous concept might mean.
Then the activists getting frustrated trying to operate in an information vacuum and starting to lose it with the uninformed, who dig in further. Marilyn is an intelligent person, as an example, but can’t get that less bright folk don’t get what is easy for her to understand, after many, many years investigating on it
And if she put her deeper and more considered evidential stuff up, would many read, let alone understand the fine detail ?
You see, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, TB and many other’s BELEIVE it, but it is the case due to background consent manufacture, including playing on our quirky complicities.
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Well said, PW.
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Paul
I was bullied a lot when young.
Not because I was so very different – if you count being shy, skinny and crap at sport as a difference.
I know what hate and ostracization feel like – I am heartily sick to my stomach of people who foment hate about others.
TB is not stupid – why this belief that a particular group of people be hated whether for reasons of religion, colour or gender?
This along with the loony tunes federal government – not forgetting Great Britain, USA, have appeared to have been overpowered by the hate-mongers?
How did they get to hold so much power?
I do not know what to expect if the Libs get back in this year, yet I do not see any alternative.
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I thought about you long and hard last night but not as a male serial pest. I thought about you as a real person and If I were a football club manager, there is no question you would be one of my first recruits.
I pride myself on my ability to discern excellence from mediocrity, a diamond from whatever cowpat it rests in.
You are remarkable.
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Paul
You might not want someone who readily asks ‘why’.
🙂
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I think you have been round longer than that.
I hope with me it is not so much the question but how it is asked and that applies to anyone I meet.
I have no designs beyond the making of new friends, am a bachelor, now likely way too set in his ways for conventional relationships. Another would drive me nuts and me, her, were she even a half-normal woman.
Remains of the Day.
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Well, that’s a relief I’m not running a matchmaking business here. LOLOLOL :-))))
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What colour are your eyes? I have a thing for blue eyes..
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https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/37306?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=causecommunity
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Thanks for that link, townsville.
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http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/energy-industry-needs-to-focus-on-consumers-it-may-need-them-33528
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dianna, the only alternative that I use is to vote Green and give Labor my 1st preference. I may not be as knowledgeable as the rest of you I left school at 14 years of age 46 years ago. Despite my lack of knowledge I have made a life for myself, something that couldn’t be done in the 21st century. I vote Green because I know how the Labor Party is run by two right wing anti-member supposed unions who deliver Liberal Lite policies and gerrymander the internal voting systems. I see a couple of new parties beginning with former Labor party disillusioned members like myself, it gives me hope for the future.
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You don’t require a formal education to know that denigrating an entire group of people for the actions of a few is not exactly an intelligent response to a problem.
For example, I have been raped on more than one occasion – not going into details but I was raped by an Australian male who thought he was perfectly entitled… I could blame ALL Australian men – but that would be stupid a waste of time and not achieve anything.
That’s what hate does – it’s regressive and the only thing it achieves is more hate.
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dianna you have my deepest empathy, and compassion.
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Rubbish, gees you carry on don’t you.
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Ruddock is an old tory ultra right wing wanker who cost Beasley a Prime Ministership.
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Of course I don’t agree, but I think you are better than this, and I refer to the personal attack on someone’s physical features, it belittles your opinion.
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You will have to point out what you mean better than that if your opinion is to have any weight.
Otherwise we may suspect you of trolling.
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I’m keeping it simple, personal attacks on someone’s physical appearance are not necessary, and not needed to support any argument, if that’s trolling, so be it….
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Nurdler is right, personal criticisms of appearance are low.
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I am asking you for specifics.
Not more generalities.
Point out what you mean.
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“indeed, his waxy pallor during his Howard years caused me to note on more than one occasion that he looked as if he’d just crawled out of his coffin as the sun went down.”
“cloth eared”
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Where is the problem, this is a factual description?
Will you have him condemned for writing the truth?
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OK, whatever, and Jennifer is a female…
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Rundler, there have been rumours to this effect.
Wilson has maintained a dignified silence, informing us that though we mayhaps surmise on this proposition, she wouldn’t possibly comment.
What has you comment to do with the observation that Ruddock always looked like something that crawled out of a coffin after sunset?
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My comments are clear and simple to understand, there is no need for further discourse, I’m moving on.
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Certainly simple. Close the door behind you.
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Yes, and his mate Kevin Andrews with him. Take out the words “he looked as if” and you have an accurate description. LOL
“Cloth eared” refers to not hearing or understanding what is said to you. Again, accurate.
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I get irritated with posters who turn up to cavil or derail without even an attempt to address a thread topic.
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But often good for light relief. 🙂
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I know. It’s easy to smirk at first, but a troll pathology as evidenced and identified in a rant, is something you can’t gaze upon for too long without starting to feel a bit jaded.
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On the other hand, not every ranter is a troll. Take me, for example…
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If you don’t possess the courage of your convictions you very quickly become jaded.
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Yes, I agree, ad hominem is not the best way to go. It’s an expression of disgust at the actions, but not a good one.
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FN. Heartening story on ABC teev just now that a major hospital is refusing to release a kid injured at a detention centre, due to return to the Island Paradise.
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Yes, just heard that. The swell of disapproval and revulsion is growing.
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A sort of psychosis, loss of a sense of proportion, reactive and not attuned to reality…will come before a fall, lurching toward a culvert with eyes blinded by a spotlight..
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send him back
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Spot on Jennifer. I had high hopes for MT simply because he wasn’t that vile Abbott goon.
What a disappointment he is turning out to be. 😦
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Tim Wilson has resigned as well – good riddance.
To run for Robb’s seat as a Looters Party man, of course.
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Really does read like speculative fiction, the politics of this age.
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They study ‘1984’ ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Brave New World’ and take them as a ‘how to’ instead of as a warning. They lap up Machiavelli, the Ayn Rand crap and the Friedmanite voodoo economics. What else can we expect from them?
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