"We Can't Use The Lift, Mayor, It's Stuffed Full Of Maggoty Bags Of Soiled Nappies"

The solution to the absurd plans by Penrith Council to only collect rubbish every two weeks is simple.

You don't need to freeze your rotting vegetables and meat scraps, like the Council recommends. Just wait until your garbage bags are full on off-collection week and then deliver them to the offices of Penrith Council.

If you can leave them in the foyer, all the better, but even leaving your uncollected garbage bags on the front stairs will get the message across nice and clear.

This kind of protest needs to be flash-mobbed. I wonder how quickly Penrith Council would change their minds if 1000 locals left their uncollected garbage outside the council chambers every second Monday night?

You Can See The Music

News.com.au commenters share their love of hallucinogens :

"...what's so surprising about LSD being found? It's one of the best and safest drugs out there."

"LSD is actually one of the 'better' drugs out there, alot of people have moved back to it after the Ice and Ecstasy explosions. LSD is extremely easy to create. It cannot be detected in current police enforced drug detection ways, and police sniffer dogs cannot pick a scent as it does not have one. the biggest plus side to the usage of LSD is that you can apply it to almost any type of paper or card and no one would be the wiser, so you could actually walk right past a police oficer with it in your hand"

"Compared to some of the other synthetic chemicals that are finding their ways onto the street LSD is quite easy to create, the hardest part is getting iso-lysergic diethylamide, once you have that its a small sip and a jump to LSD."

The story about drug arrests at the Big Day Out, which drew those comments, was notable also for this brilliant piece of boneheading :



Grumpy old Boltoids propose some solutions to deal with those whose drug of choice is not alcohol or prescription pharmaceuticals :

"We used to shoot feral dogs when they attack sheep, bit harsh I know but what is the difference between them and drug crazed idiots."

"....these “feral dogs"poisoning themselves with drugs all have a vote. Some things are grossly unfair. Those living long term off welfare or have never worked and contributed to the nation should be barred from the ballot box."

Shoot drug users and strip the unemployed off their right to vote.

Yeah. Get off my lawn.


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No wonder those with so much 'free time' to bombard blogs with hundreds of pro-war comments a week hate President Obama so much. He's got a very, very big mouth :

"The Government Accountability Office, the GAO, has looked into 96 major defense projects from the last year, and found cost overruns that totaled $296 billion....indefensible, no-bid contracts that cost taxpayers billions and make contractors rich; special interests and their exotic projects that are years behind schedule and billions over budget; entrenched lobbyists pushing weapons that even our military says it doesn't want and doesn't need -- the impulse in Washington to win political points back home by building things that we don't need at costs we can't afford. This waste would be unacceptable at any time, but at a time when we're fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, it's inexcusable. It's unconscionable. It's an affront to the American people and to our troops, and it has to stop.

"...no longer will we be spending nearly $2 billion to buy more F-22 fighter jets that the Pentagon says they don't need. This bill also terminates troubled and massively over budget programs such as the Future Combat Systems, the Airborne Lasers, the Combat Search and Rescue helicopter, and a new presidential helicopter that costs nearly as much as Air Force One. I won't be flying on that."

We'll see how long Obama's desire to hack into wasteful but very profitable defence spending lasts.

China, Arab States Plan To Grow Food In Australia

Countries running out of water for their farmlands are now looking to buy vast farming properties in Australia to secure their food supply.

From ABC Tasmania :

Greg Mason from Queensland Department of Primary Industries....recently hosted a group of Chinese investors who were interested in seeing farms similar to theirs in terms of climate and crops.

A property adviser who works with an Arab state says his client is interested in buying farms in other countries that are culturally compatible; however Australia is in their sights.

The client wants to spend over one billion dollars on properties to grow grain, fruit, vegetables and live sheep.

...his client prefers to own and grow the food rather than contract Australian growers because it wants control over the food supply.

Read The Full Story Here

Reuters has a follow-up :

China has been buying Australian resource assets to secure supplies to fuel growth in the world's fastest growing major economy, and is now showing interest in agricultural and food companies.

Stories I've Been Reading Instead Of Writing Blog Posts Here :

Rudd's Nephew Throws On A KKK Hood To Protest Federal Government's Support For "Genocidal Regimes"

Martin Amis On The 'Silver Tsunami' : "I Can Imagine A Sort Of Civil War Between The Old And The Young In 10 Or 15 Years' Time."

Guardian Editor Says There Are Already New Media Start-Ups That "Begin Each Day With A Prayer Session For All National Newspapers To Follow Rupert Murdoch Behind A Pay Wall. That's Their Business Model."

The War On Iraq Was Illegal And "An Act Of Mass Murder' , Arrest Tony Blair For War Crimes

Whoever Was Assigned To Infiltrate 'The Tea Partiers' And Undermine Their Movement From Within Is Doing A Heckuva Job

Old Media Prays New Apple Player Will Deliver Rivers Of App Gold

I Think New Scientist Is Trying To Say That Non-GM "Bush Bud" Cannabis, Grown Under The Sun And The Moon, Is Still The Best, And Safest

Oliver Stone : Hitler Was "Enabled By Wester Bankers", Says Theory That JFK Was Killed By Oswald Alone Is "A National Fairy Tale"

Obama Vs The Birthers : "From Where I Am In Canada I Do Not Understand The USA. You People Seem To Be Doing Everything Possible To Undermine Your Own Country."

You must read all of this. I insist.

John Birmingham :

....if Australia Day is about anything other than pinching a whole continent off the black fellas, it has to be about making up for that original dispossession by creating a place where people are free to do as they damn well please, even if that means not buying into a bunch of increasingly commercial nationalistic bullshit.

It used to be patriotic, downright Australian in fact, to not give a shit about Australia Day.

Happy Orstrahyuh Day :



It's a few years old, obviously.

(h/t - @JohnSurname)

Or if you prefer your potential new national anthems slightly less ranty - One movement, One instant, One difference, One lifetime, One understanding, One Country :





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How the rest of the world used to see Australia in the 1970s :



Most of those cliches are dead and buried, and we're a better country for it.

Disguised As A Terrorist

If you've never heard of British satirist Chris Morris, you soon will.

The first clip from his forthcoming bungling jihadist comedy Four Lions :



Chris Morris On 9/11


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Cyclone Olga barrels towards Port Douglas and Cooktown :

If It ODs, It Leads

A Big Day Out news event :

A 27-year-old man is in a critical condition from a suspected drug overdose at the Big Day Out in Sydney.

The more interesting story would be the near total lack of violence across two days, in extreme heat, amongst 100,000 people, mostly youth. Or that there were so few drug casualties considering thousands, if not tens of thousands, gobbled down and gorged on their drugs of choice before they reached the police check points.

In the comments of this collection of Library Porn, someone complains that the State Library of Victoria was not included. Good call. It's a beautiful building.

The Shakespeare window from State Library of Victoria's stained glass collection :

Cat Plunges Nation Into Debt

Yes, the illustrations for Kevin Rudd's first children's book look innocent enough....



But while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is fussing over his cat, outside two children are waving frantically to stop an ice-cream van, or perhaps a debt truck, from running them down :



Does Rudd notice? No he does not.

The book is not about those children, it's about Rudd's cat and dog's secret life as pro-Union Jack flag rescuers :

The Prime Minister's trusty four-footed patriot friends, of course, save the day. ''Quick Abby!'' said Jasper. ''You nab Chewy and I'll save the flag.''

In a curious piece of politically pointed satire, Senator Barnaby Joyce writes his own dialogue for Rudd's dog and cat :

Jasper – Well Abby, if we have to plan for our future we have to build on what provides for us cats now. For instance where do we cats catch mice, rats, frogs and other cat food? Where do us cats hang out and get down and dirty with other cats?

Abby – Generally derelict buildings!

Jasper – Spot on Abby! So I have been building a whole new portfolio of future useless buildings, some buildings that aren’t even needed today, so our kittens will never be short of food again. I have put them in schoolyards so they can fill up with scraps of food and old mats and furniture – and mice!

Abby – You crazy cat, you really are revolutionary. Your kittens will be so fat.

You sort of get where Senator Barnaby Joyce is coming from, and then think '.....What in all fuck? This is the shadow finance minister!' :

Jasper – I am a pretty major cat, Abby. You should see my plane and have a gander at my passport. I hang out with all the major talent and will fly anywhere in the world to do it and for absolutely any reason. No party is complete without me. You should pass by my alley and have a look at the photos.

Abby – But how did you pay for all this you crazy cat?

Jasper – Simple! Just borrow the money. I have borrowed more money than any other cat in the history of this alley, and I have made sure that we have stimulated the growth of the local tip with the purchase of a whole range of crazy cat consumables such as flat screens and toys and other electronics so if the school halls burn down we can head back to the tip.

Abby – You revolutionary cat! By the way what is the debt on the poor suckers account?

Jasper – About $120 billion and rising fast, but this cat is not the one paying for that. There’s no easier, more guilt free way to spend money, than by spending some other cats money on other cats!

Always blame the cat.

"We Asked Ourselves For A Comment But We Refused"

From Twitter :



The ABC contacted the ABC for a comment, but the ABC refused to play ball! True story.

ABC News decided not to reveal the Triple J Hottest 100 Winner (a dance remix of the 7.30 Report theme song) in this story, and links to Crikey instead to reveal all.




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A controversy has erupted in New Zealand over the publication of photos showing a Victoria Cross awarded SAS corporal walking from a building in Kabul, shortly after a gun battle that killed three insurgents and wounded 70 others.



The horror those eyes have seen.






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Do Our Drug Only

So that's why they have so many drug dogs and cops and security guards frisking people upon entry to the Big Day Out, to make sure you only consume the sponsored drug of choice :

Health experts have called for the Big Day Out music festival to drop its sponsorship deals with major alcohol companies or lift the admission age from 15 to 18.

You gotta hook 'em when they're young.



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This website claims the below satellite image was saved from the Bureau of Meteorology site on January 16 :



An explanation from the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Met Office :

It would therefore seem to be due to what is referred to as "anomalous propagation"(false echoes) or even possibly dust in the atmosphere.



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Cue Murdoch Media Outrage

Oracle Tim Blair on ABC director Mark Scott's plans for a 24 hour TV news channel :

Won’t happen.

ABC News launches 24 hour TV news channel :

“No media organisation in the country is better equipped to deliver this channel than the national broadcaster,” said ABC Managing Director Mark Scott.

“We can draw on the investment already made in the ABC, through its major newsrooms in every state and territory, 12 international bureaux and 60 regional newsrooms, to deliver to Australians a top-quality 24-hour news service that is comprehensive, independent and up to the minute.”

New programs are also being developed specifically for the channel, focusing on world news, national politics and business. Many of the ABC’s existing television news and current affairs programs will also be featured.

The Australian ran this up the flagpole to see who would salute it, on January 16 :

THE ABC's plan to launch in the next few months a 24-hour national television news service amounts to a taxpayer-funded declaration of war on commercial media outlets in Australia.

Apparently there's something inherently bad in having a news channel that is not packed with intrusive advertising.

This will not be the ABC's first foray into 24 hour news programming :

The gag at 3.30 is the news reality that all 24 hour news channels have to deal with, as will the ABC.

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An excellent series of sport-explanatory ads for the 2010 Winter Olympics on Foxtel, written by Charles Firth and Stephen Hancock :






Mumbrella Has More


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Stories I'm Reading Instead Of Writing Blog Posts Here :

"Green Disputes" In The Family Home Open Vast New Territory For Nagging And Henpecking

Director Terry Gilliam On The Difficulties Of Raising Money For His Movies

Dumping Bodies In Mass Graves Is "A Violation Of Everything The Haitians Hold Dear" But They Understand They Have No Choice

Oliver Stone Suggests We Should Take A Look At Hitler In The Context Of The History Of The Time (And Who Funded His Rise), Gets Branded A Holocaust Denier In The National Times

Wall Street Journal : "Natural Disasters Are Engines Of Development And Economic Growth"

US Troops Occupied Haiti 1915-1934, Now Obama Deploys 5000 American Soldiers To Patrol The Earthquake Aftermath

The 150 Year History Of The Stray Dogs Of Moscow - Some Have Learned To Ride The Subway "To Broaden Their Territory"

Another True Conspiracy : Years Later, The Washington Post Finally Discovers FBI Did Illegally Spy On Americans Phone Calls

Reddit Debate : Anyone Else Think Obama Isn't Doing That Bad Of A Job?

The American War On Terror Is A Holy War - Bible Codes And "Jesus Rifles"


And here's some thoughts on Digital Option Anxiety, and Why Paywalls Will Dry Out News Junkies



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