We’re back, Ladies & Gents. I’ve just emailed Tim Dunlop of ‘The Road to Surfdom’ to let him know that the previous blog is now a dead duck, but that this one is up & running. I expect we’ll see the usual initial flood of lame-brained name-callers from the Tim Blair’s sycophant stable dropping by shortly to crap on anything and everything within their fecal range. Fear not though, dear reader. This blog is deliberately intended to be different to its previous incarnation in that it will NOT be quoting or promoting any other Oz blog in this tome. You see, I’ve come to the belief that this is how the Oz ‘Sphere survives. It literally feeds off itself. The Australian clique is so small and sharply defined that no-one from without the Oceania region of the ‘net is likely to be interested in what goes on downunda, so there’s a constant brawl going on for premiership. I’m not in the least interested in such carry-on.

Here’s the rules of this author’s game:

• I write for me;
• If you read it, lector caveo;
• If you comment, on your head be it;
• I retain all rights and privileges to what appears in this domain, just as Andrea Harris does on hers.
• all opinions expressed here are those of the author and are copyright. I am not a member of any political party, nor desire to be.

Don’t forget…..if you have an opinion to express and want somewhere to do it, where it won’t be censored, banned or otherwise smothered no matter what it might be, there’s always the ThinkTank.

Ignore this post, reader. It's simply a spider-gatherer for my Technorati Profile.

Here's a little narcissicism.

Your Bannerman has been carousing the OzBlogosphere after a long absence, even to the extent of venturing into the Dark Side.

It’s been a disjointed day for your Bannerman. Firstly a network failure at the coal face followed by a very late start to the working day, which thanks to a faster than November broadband plan passed…..well, faster than expected.

Bannerman reads a few blogs, but only a few. In fact…..very few. History has not been kind to the Oz ‘sphere and neither has time. The same authors persist, some with different faces, but most with the same tired approach to representation of what passes for political analysis of the domestic and international scene. From the little of what Bannerman has decided to partake, blogging in Australia is still as non-objective and cynical as it ever was.

Bannerman uses SharpReader for all of his RSS needs. It’s a sweet little program and it’s free. Certainly a major selling point. On the subject of selling, this brief but pointed post takes aim at something which has come to the B-man’s attention, courtesy of SharpReader. Several posts in one or two blogs promoting what a small sector of the OzBlogosphere thinks it’s doing for said ‘sphere.

Many things to many people. That’s Christmas. To the Bannerman, it’s nothing more than a whole lot of the post title. Humbug! Capitalistic, commodity-driven, materialism excited by wave after wave of pumped up media-promoted schmooze. Bannerman abhors carols, unless they’re female, 35 years of age with an hour-glass figure sporting bubble-butt hips & massive mammaries. The repetition as well! Silent night indeed……..if only it were. Then there are the trees, the decorations, the endless streams of tiny, flashing lights, wrapping paper which costs and is never given a thought to as it’s shredded uncaringly. Huge sessions of over-eating over-rich foods which cost much, much more than at any other time of year. Add in the screaming children who have been let out of school for six weeks and the picture is complete.

Wiki says Humbug is an archaic term meaning "hoax", or "jest". It also says that in indigenous patois it means “to pester or annoy”. Bannerman reckons Wiki is precisely on target. There is no more annoyingly false faux ceremonial than Christmas. Humbug! and a very merry Bah! to you all, from the Bannerman.

Bannerman is heading bush for the next fourteen days to get as far from the Xmas stupidity as possible. Take good care of yourselves. As the B-man so often says, no-one can or will look after you like you will. If you survive Christmas and make the sensible decision to go to bed at a reasonable hour December 31st without over-indulging in alcohol, loud music or attempting to fuck someone who is uglier than your usual low standards, Bannerman will be here to further educate you in 2007. Until 4th January 2007……….HUMBUG!

Bannerman and his squeeze have returned! The wilds of Queensland’s Granite Belt were delightful…..for the first five days. Then came Boxing Day and the clammering hordes from coastal and interstate suburbia.

Next week marks the fifth anniversary of David Hicks's imprisonment without trial in the notorious detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. He got there after being sold for $1000 to American special forces in Afghanistan by a Northern Alliance warlord.

The federal government is becoming increasingly out of touch when it comes to the child care needs of working families, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says.

Yahoo!7 News.

It may be too late, it may be too little, but Bush has given US strategy at least a fighting chance of success.

That’s a big improvement on the situation even two months ago.

Greg Sheridan.

Bannerman is extremely reticent to link to other bloggers, primarily due to the less than desirable quality of polemic which ‘partisan hacks’ tend to offer. However, some cases require highlighting, and so, Bannerman says, Thank you, Antony Loewenstein.

There’s yet another “Find Your Political Bent” quiz alive and thriving within the OzBlogosphere. It’s living here.

The Bannerman scans a few blog sites……very few, reader……by RSS reader. One of those few being Clubtroppo. Both in this incarnation and in a previous one, the troppodillian attraction for the B-man has been a tad stronger than some other Aussie blogs.

Bannerman is a sucker for a quiz, meme, inquiry or other brand of comparo advertised on the ‘net meant to define the contestant as being one or the other type of bigot. This one, promoted by Antony Loewenstein, makes especially amusing participation. More so, if you’re a non-American.

"Come on sports bloggers. When the going gets tough the tough get going. Surely someone can crank out a few well chosen cliches and some penetrating analysis, even from the depths of mortification."

LP comments policy at Larvatus Prodeo

Bannerman chuckled, chortled and guffawed his way through the entirety of this Labia Prodders post. Clearly one or more of the rabid end in the blog spectrum - notice, ideology is not a factor in this post - has imitated the neighbourhood tomcat and sprayed up the walls at LP.

Bannerman briefly flirted with the idea of maybe, perhaps, outlaying the necessaries for a Crikey_dot_com subscription. He is ever so glad he didn’t waste the exorbitant sum of $115.00 per annum for this sort of trash which rolls up daily in his email box by way of tasty snifters, encouraging subscription.

Bannerman would like to invite all and sundry to yet another playground for the inanely stupid, in terms of internet forums.

Debate and Relate, it calls itself. Never was a name more poorly chosen. This forum is one in format only because it uses PHP2 BBS software and templates. It’s moderated, apparently, but you’ll never see any moderation performed. The various sub-forums all deal with the subject of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll get the occasional thread dealing with domestic politics. Mind you....this board is Australian in creation and presentation. The underlying theme of the forum, you ask? Well there’s one self-declared white supremacist, several lesser radical, but openly bigoted anti-non-white Caucasian ’enthusiasts’, half of which are - surprisingly - female. No thread escapes the influence of the anti-muslim influence of the overall board’s ethos. The moderators are American and Australian. Male and female respectively, apparently. It’s difficult to tell on the ’net, as the reader will surely appreciate. Bannerman suspects one has the hots for the other but how that is determined remains a mystery. Perhaps they have the hots for themselves?

You know, reader, Bannerman thought PA was a crook show. He was sorely mistaken.

Further to the last post, which apparently excited the owners of the ineptly named ’Debate and Relate’ forum something chronic, I thought I’d treat readers to a slice of what passes for rationality among some of the inmates.

Well, reader, Bannerman has been a tad busy of late, what with switching jobs, buying cars and teaching right-wing rabble how to conduct themselves in public. It’s been an amusing experience, but sadly, one which said RWR just couldn’t hack any more of. A brief word of advisory to those of you looking for a place to exchange opinions and discuss issues of import in a rational environment. Don’t bother with Debate & Relate. There’s none of either going there. There is, however, a whole lot of bigoted racial intolerance and cultural vilification, especially against Muslims, and general white supremacy ranting and raving from various of the so-called members. Almost all of whom are RWR, completely dismissive of any opinion but their collective own.

Why is it that those of a right-wing ideology always wind up exhibiting the most hypocritical of on-line personas?

Bannerman has decided, probably against his better judgement, to resurrect the ThinkTank Forum which he initially created in December 2006, but locked off due to time constraints. ThinkTank is intended to be a discussion forum for mature adults who look for online interaction with like minds in the analysis of important issues which impact everyone daily. If you’re of a mind, and can’t find a suitable place to express your opinions and discuss issues of import without the almost inevitable personal abuse, innuendo and logical fallacy which seems to pervade almost every online forum, then Bannerman extends an invitation to you to sample ThinkTank.

Get in on the ground floor and help to create a place where freedom of expression in a proper, mature environment is the norm.

"It’s Good"

Well, no, it’s not good. In fact it’s downright disgraceful and disgusting. Not especially surprising in any particular aspect, but extremely distasteful none the less.

One of these men is a “terrorist”.

Spot the Terrorist » The Road to Surfdom

Bannerman doesn’t often do this, but does believe in credit where it’s due. The above linked post is an absolute cracker-jack. Now get over there and pay homage.

"We're not about winning elections in a year, we're about winning debates over a decade. The conservative ideas experiment has been tried and it's failed. They've left Australia with fragile prosperity based on a boom, far too many kids left behind, a changing climate, a divided culture and knee-jerk responses to real security threats." - Michael Cooney, Policy Director, Per Capita Thinktank

And now Bannerman is wondering just what he's done. And why?

Blog bullies propel state of the internet into the spotlight - The Independent

Yes, Virginia, cyber-bullies are real. At the end of the day, they'll always be there and not just in the ether either, now get back to that keyboard and let 'em have it!

Just when Bannerman thought it was safe to open the comments door - after it was mended - it seems this blog has been attacked by a swarm of spambots. The host has aborted any connection to Moveable Type comment scripts, but has offered some salient advice on how to fix the problem. To those of you who so badly want to click that comment button, (yes, there are one or two) fear not! A remedy will be in place tout de suite.

Hicks father may defy gag order

Well, excuse the exclamation, reader, but WHAT FUCKING GAG ORDER!??

To the best of Bannerman’s knowledge, it was David Hicks, not Terry Hicks who wound up being shang-hai’d into holding up his hand when the Yanks asked who wanted to go home in exchange for calling ’terrorist’. Gag order, indeed! Any hold the Yanks think they might have over David Hicks is nothing more than a smoke-shrouded mirror anyway. Phillip ’I-may-look-dead-but-I-don’t-smell-that-way’ Ruddock even confirmed it for us earlier this month.

Apparently, this lecture thingo at University of Melbourne’s Law School tomorrow is being streamed. Bannerman has contacted the convenor with a view to obtaining the relevant URL. If he get’s a reply in time, it’ll be advised here.

"My name’s Kevin, I’m from Queensland, I’m here to help,"

Seriously, if I’ve^* heard that opening line from Kevin Rudd once today, I must have heard it twenty times.

I'm launching today something I've been wanting to do for a long time now. A combination wine review site and personal tasting diary. Yes, I'm a wine buff, but only insofar as I know what I like and what I don't. I'm no Len Evans, that much is certain.

At last!! My very own piece of virtuality.

F3 5F 8E 45 F8 E1 F8 45 D1 A6 A1 3F CE 75 4C 31

Yes indeedy, a pseudorandom 128 bit integer expressed as a hexadecimal and it’s MINE, ALL MINE!!! No matter how many times you try, you’ll never duplicate my piece of nothing.

I’m never surprised at the stupidity of the so-called elite classes.

Here’s a quick one aimed at a particular member of the audience, and you’ll know who you are.

It seems that of all the bastards incorporated, the chief can’t handle being chatted by those he chats. Registration required indeed! Yesterday was so different, then the Banner-bogey-man dropped by.

Thank you, you’ve been a wonderful audience. It’s just a shame we can’t debate and relate, but I’d hate to feel responsible for your sleepless nights. 2375506 - I won’t hold my breath waiting.

Do you know where your towel is? Better get it together in time for next Friday. Celebrate the life and wit of Douglas Adams by ensuring you take your towel with you, Friday 25th May, 2007.

SCORP10N BOWL: George Lucas, American Orwell

Happiness is paradoxical. What we think will give it to us - invariably doesn’t. When we think we’ve got it - we invariably haven’t. We’re not even good at predicting what will make us happy people. From languishing to flourishing - can even the most troubled mind be primed for happiness? A panel of international trailblazers in the study of emotion, positive psychology and Buddhism get earnest about pleasure.

All In The Mind

The text from Radio National’s ’All in the Mind’ program which aired this afternoon. I happened to catch most of it while we were on out way to the cinema. I thought it quite pertinent and some of what the speakers had to say relevant to the ethereal nature of what we call happiness. Essentially, my own belief that happiness cannot be measured, quantified in any specific manner or nailed down to a certain thing or set of circumstances appeared to be borne out in this program. As Buddah tells us, learn to deal with what you have, not what you desire.

So, if you’re a John Quiggan or James Farrell type, do have a listen or download the podcast.

Couple married after meeting on Flickr
The power of the internet rests not just in delivery of information, but mainly in the ability for human interaction.

Tim Blair features large in Ken Parish’s latest poke at the blogospheric corpse. I make it a rule to not soil my blogging sensibilities by frequenting Blairville, but having seen the Media Watch spray at Blair last Monday, I felt almost compelled to follow the links.

Ever wondered, dear reader, whether the solo blogger is a dying breed?

Sorry, but your comment has been flagged by the spam filter running on this blog: this might be an error, in which case all apologies. Your comment will be presented to the blog admin who will be able to restore it immediately. You may want to contact the blog admin via e-mail to notify him.

It’s curious that we might get a referendum on this, but people don’t get a say on whether or not they want their local government authority amalgamated with other ones.

Daylight Saving debate won’t go away » The Bartlett Diaries

Andrew Bartlett draws attention to the re-born Daylight Saving issue in Queensland.

Tim Dunlop recommends better disclosure under Freedom of Information legislation, and less of the 'national interest' folderoll.

"We can expect that part of the debate to get rather heated over the rest of the day, and well into the weekend and this will inevitably distract a lot of people from the poll results themselves..." Gummo Trotsky

It’s a silly name, but some might say the same about ’Bannerman’. To each their own. What is truly silly, and gives an appearance of getting sillier because it makes good blog-fodder, is some supposed ’stoush’ between a mainstream media conglomerate with a decidedly conservative and pro-government bent, and some bloggers in the Ozsphere intent on calling out said conservative conglomerate because said conglomerate dared call a non-conservative(?), non-government leaning(?) blogger names.

Seriously folks.... bloggers, non-blogging readers and just general internet high-tide mark surfers....who gives a shit what Dennis Shanahan or whatsisface Sheridan think about any particular issue. If you think they’re wrong, then say so, but don’t go getting all antsy when they use the power of the media, which they have instant access to, for their own benefit simply because you don’t think that’s fair play. Wake up, Ozsphere! Blogging, much like MSM, means you’re exposed in the desert of apathy to the elements of discontent. Free expression and any sense of fair play you perceive are simply mirages on the horizon of your expectations.

Now hear this! I'm getting folks telling me their comments are vanishing into the ether. Some first time, others long after the fact. I've experienced some weirdness myself so have decided to - as I stated on a comment thread - apply the mirror theory and look into it.

Bear with the Bannerman, you all. He's not all that clever when it comes to MoveableType, but he does have some excellent backup.

The political report card for politicians looking to appear as if they're a part of the 'now' generation, by putting a picture & a few bland words on MySpace, can only read 'Could Do Better'.

"Such is the hatred of John Howard and his government, that the Left would prefer to support alleged terrorists against their own democratically elected government."

- Peter Faris QC
(via ABC Online)

I'm still wondering why I chose to spend the last few minutes of my Friday at Chez Blair. I never go there, yet something directed my address bar in that direction.
I'd noticed this entry, a typical Blairistic turd shat out into the ether for no better reason than to incite the howler monkeys which inhabit his comment box. I noted that not one commenter realised the difference grammatically between the words 'note' and 'notice'. At least I attempted to note that inconsistency, but couldn't because of this advice from the content management software:

Notice New membership accounts are not accepted at this time.

Tim Blair

So, it seems that in Blairville, it's SOP to slag off your ideological anti-thesis, but not allow them - Tim Dunlop in this case - any right of reply. In fact, no-one, it seems, who isn't already a member of the troop can have a say.

Wasn't Tim Blair the man who reckoned that locking out a comment box was bad form?

"Not a huge turnout, but perhaps that was partly the midweek thing and partly the lack of an ongoing Brissie grogblogging culture. But we could certainly do with more!"

I don’t often have the opportunity to sit in front of the ’puter and read blogs over a quiet ale, but today seems to be one of those oh-so rare Saturday’s.

I'll do the right thing, and aid promotion of the Australian Blogging Conference soon to be held in Brisbane. I have some advice for the organisers, however.

"...a new role for Australian troops and a new challenge for the Labor Party ahead of the election"
Changing role in Iraq | Dennis Shanahan Blog | The Australian

A certain desperation seems to be exuding from some elements of the Mainstream Media in regard to just exactly what the much awaited report from the US Commander of multinational forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, might say. Dennis Shanahan is one dedicated conservative apologist and right-wing pundit who continues to hold the line that invading Iraq was always a good thing, and now has a sniff of some vague sense that a victory of sorts might be in the offing, if Petraeus’s report says what Shanahan hopes it will.

Thanks to Nicholas Gruen for chewing away a goodly portion of my evening yesterday. I'm a sucker for these on-line pretend money-making, gambling gigs. I just couldn't resist a gander and wound up creating my own predictive market for the upcoming Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Do me a favour and have a punt on who you think, of the 31 entrants, will take out the event.

Remember, earlier this week, I warned about the strange absence of the so-called fuel cycle? Fuel prices in Queensland leapt $0.20/l on Wednesday and haven't budged a cent since then. How absolutely coincidental that third semester school vacations start tomorrow.

ACCC? Who or what is that, exactly?

I'd urge you, dear reader, to have a gander at Ken Parish's spittle-flecked rant about the ABC's Media Watch program treatment of someone who just happens to scribble on Club Troppo occasionally.

Apparently, you can't Google images and hope to derive an accurate answer. The above logo belongs to the People's Action Party of Singapore. Took me less than five minutes to Google the proof of what it represented.

An interesting half-hour this morning on Radio Nation was The Media Report, by Anthony Funnell.

Just a short note on an observation made during today's 'Insiders'. Piers Akerman, hardly the most veracious of political commentators and definitely not a shining light in the realms of 'citizen journalism', or blogging had what I regard as the absolute gall to disdain bloggers from certain ideological camps for their presentations which may have appeared anti-conservative. One need only cop a read of Akerman's blog on a semi-frequent basis to become well aware of his own ideological bias, and his less than professional means of displaying it.

Frankly, while I don't think his slandering of the blogging fraternity in general casts any derogatory shadow across anyone but himself, it is the height of hypocrisy to dismiss one sector of the comment-sphere simply because of it's collective viewpoint. Let's not forget, reader, that it was Akerman who robbed the grave of the Heiner Inquiry in a desperate attempt to cast some, indeed any form of doubt on Kevin Rudd.

Am I obsessed with Piers Akerman? I'll tell you, reader, what I am obsessed with and that is the blatantly ignorant and partisan approach to this election campaign from certain elements on the commentariat right. Akerman is simply the largest target, in more than one way.

...is absolutely and completely unlike the others. Click on the thumbnail & see if you can guess what it is. Here's a tip..... it's a blog nomination for Best Australian or New Zealand Blog, which isn't a 'real' blog. Instead it's more akin to the power pole outside your house. You know....the one that all the strays come to piss on in a bid to out-piss the pisser before it. See if you can pick the pungency of the pre-arranged punditically-oriented poll.

What was Caroline Overington to do? Would silence be as damning as her joking denial of Media Watch claims of political interference? Somehow, I don't think so. I wonder if Caroline will send her emails to me upon request, as she has so openly offered in her mea culpa? I'd ask her directly, but sadly, her email address isn't included in her column. Perhaps a reader here might be able to help me?

Sadly, it seems obstructionism and personal assault have seen to the end of Monica Attard's time in front of the cameras at Media Watch. Sadly, because it's common knowledge that Attard couldn't take the heat. No great loss, but for those of us who avidly watch the watcher, we're now faced with assessing a new presenter to see if Media Watch can regain the teeth it once had.

A quick run around the blogosphere today reveals that Labor nay-sayers in the sphere are especially quiet. Tim Blair hasn't updated today as I write this and many other 'righties' haven't bothered either. Resident right-wing nutter, Andrew Landeryou has a swag of blather in his usual shotgun style, which I note is somewhat prophetically adored by now deceased Kevin 'Big Kev' McQuay and a flip-flopping George Brandis.

Mind you, I haven't checked in on every single RWDB declared blog that exists, but those who are linked to from Clubtroppo, for example, are usually representative. On this occasion, by their decided lack of comment on the changes of play in Oz Politick, that is.

As one of my career mentors often stated, 'Winners are grinners and losers can please themselves' Never a truer word uttered.

I know I shouldn't bother, but in this present day of political ideologies dying rapid and electorally decreed deaths, I continue to be amazed at those who persist in dwelling on that shrinking dichotomic island where attitudes to opinion differences are defined in terms of 'left' or 'right'. Tim Blair is a rusted on example of this unwillingness to accept realities of the modern world, and given past performances in the 'sphere, I'm not all that surprised.

I've asked this question before and still can't seem to get a clear answer. Just what is a 'leftist', and conversely, what makes a 'rightist' more politically correct? Are 'leftists' genuinely leader-fixated as Blair determines? If so, does that make 'rightists' by direct inference, more open to the directionless anarchy of the leaderless rabble?

Just questions, you understand, but important ones especially now that we're seeing the rise of a government more centrist than socialist-left and hopefully the rebuilding of an opposition more centrist than its hard-right past. Never the twain shall meet, of course, but surely the days of 'left-v-right' are long past, and serve only as a refuge for those who prefer to live there.

Darryl Mason of The Orstrahyun has an interesting read today, which focuses on the power of the media, or rather, the man behind the media. After I read his piece, I had to wonder at whether Piers Akerman bucks the line at the DT, or if he's simply been allowed to play devil's advocate because his rants make good colour. If editors really do take their publishing orders from Rupert, it must be selectively, as he's admitted he does in the UK.

Still....it's revealing stuff, eh?

.... and both eyes open, some real writing which is worth having a read of can be achieved. Well done, Piers. Now let's see if you can string two such articles together.

I've categorised this entry under 'Blogworld', which is to say it's about blogs and bloggers, per se, just not the ones we usually equate with the Oz Blogosphere.

I'd urge all non-RWDB types in the 'sphere to go take a read of Janet Albrechtsen's bloggery in today's Oz.

While we're on the subject of the poor, hard-done-by so-called right in Australian journalism, here's Akerman

It goes on, still. We're now three weeks into the new, non-conservative, non-Howardian Australia, and still the conservative media commentariat refuses to let go of the past. So much so that I note Dennis Shanahan in today's Oz claiming that Kevin Rudd's stand on climate change negotiations in Bali is an echo of John Howard's.

Hello Blogosphere....hope you all had a great Xmas and are looking forward to an exciting but peaceful New Year's celebrations. Mrs Bannerman an I have taken to the supposed serenity of the Aussie bush. Never again at this time of year as everyone else does the same thing. Maybe a 4WD is the way to go. Why do people take toddlers camping anyway.

See you all in the 'sphere in a few days. Have a safe NY and let's look forward to an even better 2008.

It seems Jeremy Sears still holds true to some misguided blogospheric allegiance in the face of bigoted bias. I'm afraid I can't offer the same sentiments.

Karma will always out, I find.

"And who the fuck is this Garnaut dude anyway. He’s an economist, or at least purports to be. Since when did he become a climate scientist?"

This appears in the open forum blab on Catallaxy. No linkage as it's not worth a punt in my view, but surely, given his performance on Insiders this morning, this comment just has to have come from Andrew Bolt!

Come out, JC, and admit to just who you really are!!!

There's a group of chaps indulging in a little harmless academic study into why bloggers blog, the left -v- right dichotomy, pissing contests fuelled by hit counts and all the usual paraphenalia one finds in the 'sphere if one hang's around long enough. I'd encourage having a read, following the links, not taking any of it at all seriously, and generally educating one's self about blogger's per se. An interesting breed, in general. In certain cases, excellent fodder for a psychiatric convention.

Proof positive of the existence of an afterlife. The blogger colloquially known as "EP" is back in the ether. Aaaaah, the stoushes, the intellectual tit-for-tat (okay, there never was a lot of that) and the mindless ethereal name-calling with intent to maim.

It's good to see that nothing changes, EP. Clearly, you're the same thoughtful, individualistic, libertarian label-maker you always were.

Whilst I don't - as a rule - promote other bloggers, I feel that as a community service it's well and truly worth promoting the efforts of Jeremy Sear and The Editor in exposing the collective farce which is Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair.

If ever two reprobates deserved exposure for scandalous and seamy speculation based on their own spurious sensibilities, it has to be Bolt and Blair. Liars Anonymous doesn't go half-way towards defining these two.

This is starting to become a habit, and one I'll have to break, but for now, it's fun. Besides, there's a purpose.

Blogging's worst tongue-in-cheeker has been held out for examination yet again for more of his Flying Monkey training practices. Amusingly, it's only taken him four days to surface on Club Troppo and only because Mr Parish as seen fit to call him out. Then starts a game of textual badminton with Timmy as the bird and strangely, not a flying monkey in sight. Do go have a gander at the comments. It's hilarious!

Clearly Timmy doesn't have any new material either. It's all recycled stuff, which with Earth Hour coming up, it's good to see some on the 'right' doing their bit for the planet. Even if it is only bloggy stoush stuff.

Oh, while I think on it......I dunno whose house ur outside of, Timmy, but whatever Camry ur scratchin.....it ain't mine.

There's quite a few things which could be said about this.

If I, as a male, find this issue to be as tasteless and unfunny as the blogger in question does, am I, by default, a humourless feminist?

I found this on LiveJournal and thought it too good to leave there.

Y'know, I'm actually beginning to enjoy reading Gerard Henderson's columns.

Interesting revelation from Andrew Bolt at the end of this morning's Insiders program on the ABC. The all too common reiteration that global warming/climate change is a non-event was there, but thrown into his irrational approach to realities everyone else accepts was a claim that the 'stolen generations' have never existed. Rudd's apology to these indigenous Australians earlier this year, which apparently helped to raise our PM into the ranks of the world's top 100 most influential persons - thanks to Cate Blanchett, according to the Dolt - comes about as a direct result of an apology for events which never happened, to a generation of indigenous Australians which have never existed.

I'd be interested to know just how many indigenous Australians were watching, and what their reactions might be to hearing that the PM is riding to fame & glory on the back of an issue which even John Howard accepted, but Andrew Bolt thinks is a complete fabrication.

A man ahead of his time, is how those right-wing ideologues far from these shores undoubtedly think of Timmy Blair. It seems that Timmy may well have taken faint praise too much to heart. Evidence his 'blog' entry dated Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 9.50pm

I've steered clear of the Bill Henson/pedophilia hysteria to date, simply because I'm not, or wasn't until last night, well enough acquainted with the man's work or artistic focus.

I come home in the evenings looking forward to a quiet sit, a beer and a browse through my favourite blog, ClubTroppo

I've just completed the Sunday morning ritual. Breakfast in front of 'Insiders'

This is one of those "I can't resist" moments. I was looking for another article on a completely different, and much more serious subject, when I stumbled across this:

Have a look at the 'by' line. Andrew Bolte. To my knowledge, and I'll stand to be corrected, there is no Andrew Bolte writing for the Herald Sun. There is, however, the much maligned and rightly so, Andrew Bolt.

Wikipedia says these two have no gene match, but we all know Wikipedia can be, and has been prone to selective editing by vested interests. The mind-sets, ideologies and general demeanour are remarkably similar.

The internet is a wonderful thing. Once something is submitted to it, that something can exist practically forever on some server, somewhere.

I watched the ABC's latest foray into public affairs last week, Q & A, or as it's portrayed in it's website link, QANDA.

I heard a fleeting mention of this story on this morning's Radio National early morning news. Initial reactions ranged from "Kaysar Trad? .... Islamic idiot!" to "Australian law doesn't permit polygamy, nor does our culture. You want legal polygamy, then fuck off to where it's legal". Sentiments echoed by a couple of workmates as we discussed various issues over lunch.

I googled for a news reference to include in this post. Second link from the top, after the Triple-J RSS link, was this one. I recognise the nom de plume from mentions on Troppo, and y'know what? I think I agree with him. I'm not sure what he's trying to say in his cut 'n' paste post, but I get the impression he'd like to have written the same.

Who said 'lefties' and 'righties' can't agree?

The mob I work for at the moment isn't really up the pointy end of marketing and promotion in the age of high technology. The people I work with, amazingly, have no concept of the blogosphere. Rather, they didn't, until I showed them today.

Not being a fan of general lunacy or right-wing radicalism, I'm not an avid reader of Andrew Bolt.

I heard this yesterday evening while on the way home.

I rarely read foreign blogs and even more rarely, American bloggers, but one I've found pretty much on the mark is Sean-Paul Kelley. The Agonist. He's written a very sanguine piece on the current financial crisis gripping his country, and his own experiences of what happens when we live beyond our means. It makes a good read and I commend the sentiments to all. We all tend to live beyond our means, and no-one is going to bail us out when the crunch comes. It will come.

I'm bored, so I opened the Daily Telegraph. I know I shouldn't bother, but when needs must....

You see, reader, website hits are a clear indication of your site's popularity, readability, pertinence and validity. Oh, and did you know that website hits include spambots, googlebots, research spiders and all manner of automated software intrusions? Did you know that more than 60% of all website hits are not real people purposely clicking on or clicking through your site? Clearly, the 'Hun' doesn't, or if it does, the editor-in-chief is comfortable with the most outrageous of porky-pies.

Pity those hits weren't the real physical type. One million smacks around the scone for Andrew Bolt. I'd pay to see that!

Listening to PM on the way home this evening, the lead article happened to be a report on the finding of 'not guilty' in the Jack Thomas terrorism re-trial. Thomas was found - by a jury of peers, as ought to be the case - not guilty on the charge of receiving monies from a terrorist organisation. The context of the verdict may be read here.

Especially for you, out there, on the so-called suburban Left. David Hicks is a terrorist and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is his apologist. Things Piers Akerman seems to believe we all need reminding of.

Ideological wars never really end, do they?

Indeed it must be, if Timmy Blair has nothing to offer outside of a blow-by-blow report of Obama trivia from in front of his idiot box. Piers Akerman makes the now seemingly standard claim that Barack Obama has to deliver ASAP now that he's President. Janet Albrechtsen does the same. I guess it's to be expected from the so-called 'right' as slag du jour, irrational demand and self-sanctification appear to be the only approach some in that sphere are capable of, on a day when the rest of the world hails a change sorely needed and long awaited.

Time will reveal whether Barack Obama is the man the United States needs right now. Just as time is supposed to be the cure-all salve, awarding a kinder historical view of George W. Bush than he deserves.

I'm not going to dignify serial hater Piers Akerman's scribblings today, other than to say he is perfectly correct in his opening sentence. He is uncharitable. He is also grossly disingenuous in what he writes, which springs from pure and simple right-wing ideology.

I get really bored at work, somedays. So bored I'll even cruise through the Daily Telegraph, perve at the celeb galleries, wonder at the attraction of the raunchy slant on most of the local yarns, have a gawk & guffaw at Blair, Akerman et al.

Today is such a day. I've abandoned the cruise at the Blair point. Seriously....can this fool write anything of real substance, or is he restricted by chronic writers block to scribbling witless one-liners aimed only at his cheer squad? Someone should be pointing Rupert to the DT. There's money to be saved in the Opinion columns.

I notice this article in the Oz. Promoting the prominence of blogging to the uninitiated news paper reader. Nice, but as one might expect, it's a promo for Murdoch News Limited outlets. Not to be unexpected, right at the top of the best Aussie Blogs we find...

HOME PAGES: The Australian Online at theaustralian.news.com.au/opinion/blogs has a swag of bloggers covering everything from social statistics (George Megalogenis’ Meganomics) to literature (Stephen Romei’s A Pair of Ragged Claws) to House Rules, the new political blog straight from Parliament House in Canberra. There are also blogs from writers, correspondents and columnists – Janet Albrechtsen, Geoff Elliott, Amanda Meade and Caroline Overington, Jack the Insider – and a new economics blog called Current Account.

Seriously.....George Megalogenis' blog is the only one worth spending time on. There's an awful lot of blogspot offerings, most of which I doubt still survive, and then we get to Politics and Policy.

POLITICS & POLICY: If conservative provocateurs turn you on, Tim Blair (blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair) has long rated strongly among Oz blogs. Those more likely to be appalled by his views can have theirs affirmed at blairboltwatch.wordpress.com or head to johnquiggin.com to catch one of the elder statesmen of the Oz blogosphere. Another option is larvatusprodeo.net. Crikey (blogs.crikey.com.au) is home to a strong stable, including Poll Bludger, Pure Poison, Plane Talking and LiteraryMinded.

Naturally, Timmy Blair has to lead off because we are reading the Oz and being a Murdoch rag, it's important to promote Murdoch employees. Interestingly is the tacit admission by the Oz that Blair is an offensive arsehole, and they do have links to more rational providers. One blithering 'rightard' on eight 'leftards'. Either Timmy's being shafted by his bosses, or the Oz is going soft in the editorial department.

...establishing a Creative Commons License over the use of the phrase, "Stench Of Reality".

The following won't mean anything to anyone but me, however for reasons of my own, I have established a Creative Commons Licence applicable to any content which appears on this weblog. That licence - established under the Australian jurisdiction of Creative Commons is BY ATTRIBUTION only.

Well, that's that for another little while.

I'm left wondering of late, what the attraction is that I have with online discussion groups, forums and the like.

I'm singularly unimpressed by the PM's entry into the 'sphere, with this post in The Punch.

I'm not one for commenting on, or even taking a great interest in American politics or the left -v- right dichotomy which exists in that country.

Remember the Birthers? That all-American (only ever in America!) group of Republican fruit-loop types who pretend that protection of the US Constitution is their goal, and they're not a mob of racists?

Hey, who's seen Andrew Denton's new production, "Hungry Beast"? I'm undecided at this point, but it's certainly contentious. It's also sadly inaccurate. Tim Blair is NOT, in any way, shape or form, even close to being anything even remotely approaching the description of humourist. Bigoted, mindless arsehole, maybe.

I've been waiting a few weeks now for Joe Hockey to 'friend' me on FaceBook.

Just about to doze off last night, with Radio National playing on the clock radio on a timer, when the midnight news came on.

Today is - apparently - International Womens Day, otherwise known as IWD. Sounds eerily like a birth control device, doesn't it? I digress...