Prominent Canadian author and activist Naomi Kein calls Prime Minister Tony Abbott a "climate villain" in advance of her Australian visit later this month.Lauren McCauley from Common Dreams reports.

IN A PAIR OF INTERVIEWS given ahead of her upcoming visit to Australia, author and activist Naomi Klein branded Prime Minister Tony Abbott as a "climate villain", and said that Canadians and Australians can relate because they are both run by governments bent on destroying the planet.

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/ahead-of-australia-visit-naomi-klein-brands-pm-abbott-a-climate-villain,8066

 

See also: 

a woman at the vatican...

 

Government descending into 'improv night'

Labor MP Michelle Rowland says the attacks on 'lawfare' shows the government is making it up as they go.

Tony Abbott was far from Canberra on Wednesday morning, up to his ankles in bulldust, and wishing, without doubt, he could stay there.

Back in Parliament House, his ministers were pondering a confidential briefing note that instructed them to put their recent festival of leaks behind them and to tell anyone who asked that "our cabinet is functioning extremely well".

The entire briefing note was promptly leaked to the press gallery. We are not making this up.

And lest anyone doubt that the leaking of details about unpleasant disputes between ministers was accurate, one of the ministers, Eric Abetz, demonstrated he hadn't read the memo.

Senator Abetz confirmed on radio that, yes indeed, there were those - not him, you understand - who were "gutless" enough to put themselves in breach of the rules and whisper stories that would appear unattributed in the media.

Marvellously, he suggested journalists shouldn't listen to such scoundrels.

"If somebody is gutless and in breach of the rules, one really wonders why a journalist even bothers to repeat comments from such an individual," he said, displaying an endearing guilelessness concerning the way things work in the political-media relationship.

Here is a hint: politicians who know stuff tell reporters who merrily splash it all over the internet, the front pages of newspapers and the radio and TV bulletins, thus making their editors very happy indeed, which is how reporters stay employed. This process also endears certain journalists to certain unnamed politicians and vice versa. Everyone's happy.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/up-to-his-ankles-in-bulldust-tony-abbott-hoofs-it-leak-follows-20150819-gj2pdw.html#ixzz3jF5gqEXd 
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Another thing that happened in Federal Court yesterday relates to the astounding parliamentary apology put to parliament by Manager of Government Business Christopher Pyne and backed by the Coalition over the apparent defamation committed upon Jackson and her HSU cronies by the words of Craig Thomson in a 2012 parliamentary address. Today's outcome makes a mockery of this outrageous apology, which was done to further smear Thomson and the Labor Party, while dumping utterly undeserved plaudits on someone who was far less than squeeky clean or worthy. Indeed, the words of Craig Thomson in his address barely scratched the surface of Jackson's crimes; maybe it is Thomson who should apologise for going too soft on Jackson and her faction?

The Federal Court decision today makes Tony Abbott’s judgement look even less than average. The woman the court today found had seemingly defrauded some of the countries lowest paid workers of $1.4 Million, Tony Abbott praised in parliament as being courageous and decent. Now we wait to see if Tony Abbott’s brave bandit can avoid paying up by transferring her multi-million dollar property into the name of the man Tony Abbott appointed as Vice President of Fair Work Commission, Michael Lawler. An appointment he refuses to terminate despite Lawler taking more than six months off work as “leave” fully paid at the rate of $435K per annum by a bunch of suckers better known as the taxpaying public. A rort that makes Bronwyn Bishop look like an amateur.

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/kathy-the-crook-we-hate-to-say-we-told-you-so,8078

 

 

Don’t ever ridicule the Liberal Party (or parts thereof) — it makes them ever so cross.

They just don’t like it. So stop!

Twitter handles poking fun at Tony Abbott are not acceptable and certainly not to be published on the ABC — even late at night. The Liberals are the party of free speech, obviously, but only for bigots and certainly not for the ABC. The ABC is a public broadcaster and so its job is to publish Government propaganda (when the government happens to be from the Liberal Party) along with grainy re-runs of the Two Ronnies and Dad’s Army.

On Monday night, the ABC started pretty well when it ran an attack version of Australian Story on nasty union thug and rorter Bill Shorten. Sure, it was deathly dull and there wasn’t anything new in it, but that video of Shorten in the '90s in those terrible jeans and Hogwarts glasses must be worth a few points in the opinion polls, surely?

Then, after Q&A also beginning rather promisingly, like a limp, political version of the ABC Book Club, it decided to publish a dull tweet with an unfortunate handle:

‘ABBOTTLOVESANAL’.

Tsk tsk.

 

Yes, although the personal lexicon of Prime Minister Tony “Shit happens”/”Shit-eating grin”/“Suppository of all wisdom” Abbott may have a pronounced scatological bent that Freudian analysis would suggest displays an unhealthy fixation with the anal stage of psychosexual development, only a bum would point that out. And whether the prime minister loves anal, likes it, is ambivalent about it, hates it, or simply endures it manfully in the Spartan confines of his dorm room at the Federal Police barracks, it's not the ABC’s job to encourage needless public speculation.

Indeed, for the good of the community, it is time for the ABC to repudiate Twitter entirely. A restive and growing group of people, disrespectful of traditional media gatekeepers and openly scornful of Tony Abbott and other Liberal Party figures, has been indulging in rather too much jocular comment recently. And a great deal of that has been coming from Twitter.

For instance, in the forthcoming by-election for the seat of Canning in Western Australia, Twitter has been busily and maliciously mocking the Liberal Party’s Boy’s Own Annual candidate. A candidate, moreover, who not only looks like GI Joe, but is the god-fearing son of a good climate change denying, creationist Presbyterian minister. A fine Australian who, until just a few days ago, was a serving officer in the elite SAS.

The disrespectful trolls on Twitter – many of whom probably don’t even wear a tie on a daily basis, let alone the uniform of our beloved Fatherland – had the audacity to criticise this outstanding young man about the fact he had never lived in the electorate. They even said his only work experience outside the Defence Force was a short stint as a barista at Gloria Jeans as a university student. Maybe so, Twitter nerds, but at least he'll be able to make Tony a good cup of coffee!

Most shamefully, despite Andrew Hastie's decision to sign up for military service after 9/11 to save the free world from Islamic extremism, the Twitter traitors have taken the opportunity to deride this valiant man's military record. To mock a commando, for goodness sake! Is nothing sacred?

Yes, Twitter went into a frenzy just because it was revealed that some members of his force had decided to snip the odd hand or two off a few dead Taliban fighters and were under investigation for war crimes. Much of the Twitter static was merely harmless buffoonery, sure, but some of it did cut very close to the bone. Most shamefully, as he said in his stump speech, there is no suggestion the handsome Canning candidate had any hand at all in the alleged crimes.

No, at the time his troops were cutting off foreign fighters' appendages, Hastie was:

“… above and away in a helicopter, orbiting overhead.”

#Canningvotes above / away / overhead ? which one "“I was above and away in a helicopter, orbiting overhead,” " http://t.co/RK7Ca5MGHb

— Rowan (@Rowans_Graffiti) August 22, 2015

Do you have any idea how high up you need to get to be orbiting? Pretty damned high! Too high to stop soldiers from cutting the hands off dead enemies, that's for certain, whether said "armery" was gathered for later handprinting purposes or simply collected as harmless war trophies.

So, Twitter, cut it out. Hands off. It’s time to cut the man some slack. To show a little respect for Handrew Astie Andrew Hastie.

And social media in general, lay off the Liberals. Even if a Liberal Party former asbestos lawyer decries people for being nasty to a candidate and then calls his opposing candidate − a married family man − a “hipster Labor lawyer”, it's not your place to point out the slight contradiction. 

Even if the Liberal’s Party’s favourite hanging judge needs to take a few more days off to consider whether or not he is biased because he has such a mountain of evidence to trawl through, no-one is remotely interested in your opinion, Twitterati.

Remind me: Why did we ditch Labor's NBN? http://t.co/P7u488Ataq and why is Turnbull not being rigorously questioned about this?

— Cranky Pants Noely (@YaThinkN) August 25, 2015

Even if the Liberal Party announce their copper wire and chewing gum replacement for Labor’s broadband network will take at least $15 billion more than forecast to complete and take years longer – precisely what it had said the far superior Labor plan would do – don’t waste your precious, meagre bandwidth bitching on Facebook about it. It's just electronic graffiti, anyway.

Because no matter how much like a cast of villains out of the 1960's TV version of Batman the Liberal Party front bench may appear, and no matter how absurd, stupid or criminal their behaviour may seem, just remember that these people were born to rule, and you weren’t, so show them the appropriate courtesy.

And certainly don’t laugh at them. They don’t like it.

The Liberals love a good joke, as long as it's tasteful. http://t.co/eYX8V5HXbJ

— Dave Donovan (@davrosz) August 26, 2015

You can follow managing editor David Donovan on Twitter @davrosz.

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/dont-make-fun-of-the-liberals,8096

 

"I think I've already answered that question and I've said I think there's enough commentary around without me adding to anything," Ms Bishop told reporters in Canberra.

Asked if she was refusing to support Mr Abbott, Ms Bishop said: "As I said, I don't think I need to add to the commentary."

Mr Abbott, who once described himself as the "ideological love child of John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop" indicated his mentor would have to step aside as speaker last month after controversy over her use of taxpayer-funded entitlements engulfed the Parliament.

The member for Mackellar moved to the backbench.

On Monday, Ms Bishop said she was not buying into leadership speculation but did not publicly declare her support for Mr Abbott.

"I simply say to you, the commentary is what it is. I don't think I need to add to it," she said.

Mrs Bishop's refusal to state support for Mr Abbott is a different approach to her actions during the February attempt to oust him from the leadership. At that time, Mrs Bishop strongly endorsed Mr Abbott to retain the top job.

Mr Abbott moved on Monday to reassure internal dissidents that he was not planning to call a snap election as early as this month.

Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister ahead of a byelection on Saturday in the West Australian seat of Canning, which a Fairfax-Ipsos suggests the government is likely to win but with a swing against it of as much as 10 per cent.

Such a swing would not see the Coalition lose the seat but could trigger a fresh attempt to install Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as leader.

As the sitting week began in Canberra on Monday, MPs were hosing down rumblings about the leadership.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-leadership-bronwyn-bishop-twice-refuses-to-say-whether-she-still-backs-tony-abbott-20150914-gjlv6m.html#ixzz3lg1UfT2D
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