woohoo!!!

Mornin’ eg. Zed?

Not this time, retirin’. :)

Is this a new thread, or am I really still asleep?

I bet persi is celebrating.

In other news, Congressional Democrats fly emergency response team to Australia to examine the results! Says Rahm Emmanuel, “we must learn the right lessons from this, lest we too fall into the terrible trap of becoming more electable by distancing ourselves from Bush with policies that reflect the domestic and foreign policy will of the electorate!”

A toast to the Aussies!! Can we be next please?

Congrats, Lindy. And congrats to the Aussies.

Aussie,Aussie,Aussie – oy,oy,oy!!!

egregious @ 7

A toast to the Aussies!! Can we be next please?

I’ll drink to that.

retirin’ in five @ 8

Congrats, Lindy. And congrats to the Aussies.

Thanks retirin’ and yes! Congratulations to the aussies!

The vote–the best term limits.

Good morning everyone. Good news to waks up to.

Persiflage, a few minutes ago:

I am so happy I’m dancing around here in my jammies. Now I’m going to go and record Howard’s concession speech so I can watch it over and over and over and well, you get the idea!

I gotta go make coffee. Who wants bagels and fig preserves with that?

Coffee…good idea. Then I can look around and see what’s in the news :)

egregious @ 15

Coffee…good idea. Then I can look around and see what’s in the news :)

Good post, I’m glad that you highlighted this important news. I imagine the president must be taking antacids this mornings.

While we’re trying to get Persi up here from EPU land, here’s the word:

Aww Rats! John Howard’s concession speech was gracious. Not only did he concede defeat generally, he accepted that he was likely to lose his own seat. Currently, with just over 77% of the vote counted, he trails the Labor candidate, a highly-respected former public broadcaster, by 51.14% to 48.86%.

See, if you just hold on long enough, nightmares eventually end.

Promise?

“Hello, John? This is George. I’m just callin’ to congratulate ya on yer – you WHAT!?!”

egregious @ 17

While we’re trying to get Persi up here from EPU land, here’s the word:

Aww Rats! John Howard’s concession speech was gracious. Not only did he concede defeat generally, he accepted that he was likely to lose his own seat. Currently, with just over 77% of the vote counted, he trails the Labor candidate, a highly-respected former public broadcaster, by 51.14% to 48.86%.

See, if you just hold on long enough, nightmares eventually end.

Promise?

I promise.

WOW egregious, that is SOME news to wake up with

THANX FOR THE EARLY POST!

what can the republicans in this country POSSIBLY be doing when they continue to support the most hated, most inept, most corrupt and most failed president in the history of this country

I have been saying from the time we first won the majority;

we can deal with the republicans, we can get them to impeach the morons running this country

it’s the only way they can stay in power they will not be reelected unless they take a stand against the despots in our government

it’s the only way they can save their party…and the sooner we get someone in office that has a brain this country will go further and further into the night making it more and more impossible to recover what has been destroyed

thanx again for the early post egregious

Wow – still early double digits just before dawn.
NPR (whose spin has been suspect since the Clinton era) described Rudd less a s progressive than ‘not a friggin nutter’.
Sort of what I would expect from Hil.

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that Australia will now be a progressive paradise. Kevin Rudd, our new Prime Minister, isn’t an inspirational visionary. What I think he is an efficient manager, the type of person you’d feel comfortable completing your taxes. He’s a bit bland and boring, a devout Catholic, devoted family man. There will be no Vitter-type scandals here.

And the “Coalition of the Willing Coerced” shrinks by one…

Next!!

Spain, Italy, England, and now Australia have all lost their pro Iraq war leaders…maybe freedom is on the march:) SNOOPY DANCE TIME!
Does yearly Kos have a band play at the bar, assuming they have a bar if I go I’ll dance to the Snoopy Dance song even if I’m the only one!
We are doing good people! Our friends are just doing better!

jayt @ 23

And the “Coalition of the Willing Coerced” shrinks by one…

Next!!

poland left yesterday or the day before

what I would REALLY like to see is these heads of state renounce the occupation for what it was, an asset grab, stealing of treasure for private industry at the expense of the lives of patriots

Sorry I forgot Poland!

persiflage @ 22

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that Australia will now be a progressive paradise. Kevin Rudd, our new Prime Minister, isn’t an inspirational visionary. What I think he is an efficient manager, the type of person you’d feel comfortable completing your taxes. He’s a bit bland and boring, a devout Catholic, devoted family man. There will be no Vitter-type scandals here.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Things Come Undone @ 26

Sorry I forgot Poland!

seems like your handle suits today oh might things come undone

perris @ 25

jayt @ 23

And the “Coalition of the Willing Coerced” shrinks by one…

Next!!

poland left yesterday or the day before

what I would REALLY like to see is these heads of state renounce the occupation for what it was, an asset grab, stealing of treasure for private industry at the expense of the lives of patriots

So what’s the deal with Sarkozy? Who would ever want to tie his fortunes to W’s at this stage of the game. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking.

Poland left? Good on them.

I kinda hate having to delete “Don’t forget Poland” from my repertoire though.

Australia now has it’s first woman deputy prime minister. And this guy (the singer) is now the Minister for the Environment. I hope he wears that shirt and hat to the swearing-in ceremony.

Lindy says:
November 24th, 2007 at 4:13 am

I gotta go make coffee. Who wants bagels and fig preserves with that?

Shouldn’t that be Vegimite?

This great news!
Then there’s hope for us yet.

.
Can’t wait to rid ourselves of these cockroaches, like the ones responsible for this travesty:
20,000 vets’ brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally

Things Come Undone @ 26

Sorry I forgot Poland!

707!

eCAHNomics @ 29

perris @ 25

poland left yesterday or the day before

what I would REALLY like to see is these heads of state renounce the occupation for what it was, an asset grab, stealing of treasure for private industry at the expense of the lives of patriots

So what’s the deal with Sarkozy? Who would ever want to tie his fortunes to W’s at this stage of the game. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking.

say eCAHNomics…some economic info that is not on the radar screen yet though it should be

I have friends that are salesmen for bmw

they cannot get industry, bmw isn’t giving them cars due to the value of the dollar

the dealership I am familiar with usually has a couple of hundred cars in inventory they are down to about 50

the collapse has begun…no media yet…I don’t blame the media though, we will have panic if things like this get public broadcast

jayt @ 30

Poland left? Good on them.

I kinda hate having to delete “Don’t forget Poland” from my repertoire though.

you can change it to
“Don’t forget Poland………..oh wait…”

DrJohn @ 32

Lindy says:
November 24th, 2007 at 4:13 am

I gotta go make coffee. Who wants bagels and fig preserves with that?

Shouldn’t that be Vegimite?

Not even in honor of this great victory would it be vegimite. I’ve had it. Not my choice. I’ll sing a few bars of Waltzing Matilda, though…make you wish you’d taken the fig preserves *grin*

Elliott @ 33

This great news!
Then there’s hope for us yet.

.
Can’t wait to rid ourselves of these cockroaches, like the ones responsible for this travesty:
20,000 vets’ brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally

how about their bizzare “bookeeping” methods to decide what is a combat wound, what is a political attack and what is social

I don’t have the link but they’ve found a way to make all the figures look like they are unrelated to this president’s attack on their country

Perris,

Of all the things I worry about—and it’s quite a list—shrinking BMW lot inventory is not high on the list. This is a sensible move by the dealers to react to the tanking dollar, but I don’t believe this alone to be alarming. Maybe to the dealers.

You want to talk about pancaking credit tiers, I’m yours.

In honor of Australia and Poland – the Walls came down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kX8lqXAONg

egregious @ 39

Perris,

Of all the things I worry about—and it’s quite a list—shrinking BMW lot inventory is not high on the list. This is a sensible move by the dealers to react to the tanking dollar, but I don’t believe this alone to be alarming. Maybe to the dealers.

You want to talk about pancaking credit tiers, I’m yours.

I’m not worried about bmw dealers egregious, and of course it’s sensible

not on the dealers part, it’s sensible on bmw’s part

the point I’m making is that the collapse has begun, import cars mean nothing to me, the fact that we can’t buy anything

that’s the important part

Perris
I saw your BMW comment yesterday.

Autos is the most sensitive sector to economic fluctuations afer housing, so BMW is probably suffering from both high euro was well as bad times in U.S.

Set against that, I expect a steady stream of Fed easings ahead. Not sure how it will balance out, but after 9/11, they managed to keep the downturn shallow which was a remarkable achievement, considering that the aftereffects of the tech bubble burst were still in the mix.

Anyone have a link to Jane’s WJ appearance? Latest WJ I can find on C-SPAN’s website is 11/21.

eCAHNomics @ 42

Perris
I saw your BMW comment yesterday.

Autos is the most sensitive sector to economic fluctuations afer housing, so BMW is probably suffering from both high euro was well as bad times in U.S.

Set against that, I expect a steady stream of Fed easings ahead. Not sure how it will balance out, but after 9/11, they managed to keep the downturn shallow which was a remarkable achievement, considering that the aftereffects of the tech bubble burst were still in the mix.

the only thing the fed can do to ease in this case is try to raise the value of the dollar

that would bring a buy off of assets and inflation would insue anyway

the problem is as follows;

the us has printed paper, more paper then imagineable, china and saudi arabia has been buying this paper or “taking our debt”

they haven’t begun to spend those dollars yet, when they do they will overpay for everything just to get assets in exchange, if a building or bussiness is worth a billion they will pay a billion five, they will unload paper

the won’t give us assets for dollars either, that’s why we can’t buy imports, they want assets for dollars, they don’t want to sell assets for dollars

I don’t know what the fed can do about this

stop printing papger maybe

an adendum to my above post;

the m3 index is what was once used to indicate how hard our printing presses were running, it told us how much paper is being printed

the president removed the index from being reported

they did this because the amount of money being made was dangerously obscene

eCAHNomics @ 43

Anyone have a link to Jane’s WJ appearance? Latest WJ I can find on C-SPAN’s website is 11/21.

One of the firepups put together the videos.

Here’s Jane on Washington Journal:

Newtonusr’s vids

Now that I’ve gotten myself in the mood for The Call – Let the Day Begin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXywSZ-Zdmg

(my neighbors *so* love my ass every Saturday and Sunday morning)

perris @ 28

Things Come Undone @ 26

Sorry I forgot Poland!

seems like your handle suits today oh might things come undone

Snark! LOL Everything falls apart Perris admitting your mistakes is the first step in correcting them. I supported the war against Al Quieda yes I was a war monger.
I never understood the war against Iraq after we couldn’t find any WMD or Iraqi ties to Al Quieda so now I’m here still trying to correct my first mistake!

persiflage @ 22

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that Australia will now be a progressive paradise. Kevin Rudd, our new Prime Minister, isn’t an inspirational visionary. What I think he is an efficient manager, the type of person you’d feel comfortable completing your taxes. He’s a bit bland and boring, a devout Catholic, devoted family man. There will be no Vitter-type scandals here.

Sounds a bit like UK’s Gordon Brown. Whatever it takes to hem in BushCo and render it impotent (politically speaking, of course).

perris,
The falling value of the $$ helps U.S. exports. Important domestic ‘constituents’ for strong currency, like Wal-Mart, are not much influenced as their goods come from countries where the currency hasn’t changed much.

Fed easing will exascerbate $ weakness against euro & yen, not help it. Forex value of the $ not on policy radar screen now, as long as it doesn’t start to look ‘disorderly.’

You can bet there’s lots of back room converstaions among central bankers going on about it, though.

This news was the first thing I saw after waking up. Snoopy dance, indeed. About a year ago when talking healthcare, an Aussie piped in to say that Australia’s prescription drugs used to be quite inexpensive but had skyrocketed in price the last few years due to some trade pact that was signed, Can’t remember the details but it sounded like good old American healthcare gouging.

eCAHNomics @ 50

perris,
The falling value of the $$ helps U.S. exports. Important domestic ‘constituents’ for strong currency, like Wal-Mart, are not much influenced as their goods come from countries where the currency hasn’t changed much.

Fed easing will exascerbate $ weakness against euro & yen, not help it. Forex value of the $ not on policy radar screen now, as long as it doesn’t start to look ‘disorderly.’

You can bet there’s lots of back room converstaions among central bankers going on about it, though.

I knew you would have insight I have not considered

I know a weak dollar helps exports, and I don’t much care about imports

what I am worried about is asset buying if they decide to unload the dollar

perris @ 28

Things Come Undone @ 26

Sorry I forgot Poland!

seems like your handle suits today oh might things come undone

oh might things come undone? Or was it oh mighty things come undone the Snark works better that way! :)

Things Come Undone @ 53

perris @ 28

seems like your handle suits today oh might things come undone

oh might things come undone? Or was it oh mighty things come undone the Snark works better that way! :)

twas a typo and I couldn’t go back and edit

you are indeed the mighty

here some more smiley news
MSNBC Hedges on Tucker’s Future

what I am worried about is asset buying if they decide to unload the dollar

Not to minimize the danger, but it is not in the self-interest of oil producers or China or India to dump $$ assets, as their protfolios of them are gigantic and would drop in value. U.S. in this context is the “too-big-to-fail” character (like Donald Trump of Citicorp to name a couple of other examples of the principle).

The problem is that these things aren’t always controllable, back room chats notwithstanding. And if the $$ rout starts to get out of control, there’s no good policy options to salvage it.

Focus will continue to be on domestic economy.

Thanks for the early posting of this good news, egregious. BBC news online comments are a treat to read @ times like this. From Anne in Brisbane:

“It is now 10.40pm Brisbane time. I have been watching the election results unfold since 5pm, and all I can say is – oh,what a night! After too many years I can finally hold my head up and be proud to call myself Australian again. Mr Howard achieved some good things in his time, it’s true – however, in that same time he changed the Australia that I grew up with into a divided, narrow-minded, self-serving “me-first” nation. But tonight’s result has restored my faith in my fellow Australians. YES!”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asi…..109692.stm

eCAHNomics @ 56

what I am worried about is asset buying if they decide to unload the dollar

Not to minimize the danger, but it is not in the self-interest of oil producers or China or India to dump $$ assets, as their protfolios of them are gigantic and would drop in value. U.S. in this context is the “too-big-to-fail” character (like Donald Trump of Citicorp to name a couple of other examples of the principle).

The problem is that these things aren’t always controllable, back room chats notwithstanding. And if the $$ rout starts to get out of control, there’s no good policy options to salvage it.

Focus will continue to be on domestic economy.

thanx for the lesson, as I said, I knew you would have insight I haven’t considered

we have gone too far off of agregious’s thread and it’s my fault

so back on topic

wooHOO

Will celebrate here with a 4xxxx or Fosters but wish it could be a Tooheys Old. Big Oz fans in this house. Especially miss the Barrier Reef and Heron Island.
Good on ya mates!

Off topic cheerfully welcomed, in exchange for starting my name with an e. Deal?

Elliott @ 55

here some more smiley news
MSNBC Hedges on Tucker’s Future

Smiley news indeed – there may be another Snoopy dance in the near future?

egregious @ 59

Off topic cheerfully welcomed, in exchange for starting my name with an e. Deal?

E it is then since I do go off topic so often, tiz the very least of requests for the priviledge

bluejeansntshirt @ 59

Will celebrate here with a 4xxxx or Fosters but wish it could be a Tooheys Old. Big Oz fans in this house. Especially miss the Barrier Reef and Heron Island.
Good on ya mates!

Hey bluejeansntshirt!

I remember you said you missed hearing Jane’s answer when you called in to Washington Journal.

Here are the vids:

Newtonusr’s videos

I’ve decided to nickname the leaders that have gone down due to association with bush:

SOBs (Suckers of Bush)

jayt @ 61

Elliott @ 55

here some more smiley news
MSNBC Hedges on Tucker’s Future

Smiley news indeed – there may be another Snoopy dance in the near future?

I’ve noticed he looks a little more sober & less triumphalist of late. Too little too late. Hopeflly it’ll be good riddance to bad rubbish.

Good morning all.

Good morning Millineryman, happy news yes?

egregious @ 67

Good morning Millineryman, happy news yes?

Indeed it is!

Millineryman @ 66

Good morning all.

Hi MM, what’s good at the bakery this morning?

eCAHNomics @ 65

jayt @ 61

Elliott @ 55

Smiley news indeed – there may be another Snoopy dance in the near future?

I’ve noticed he looks a little more sober & less triumphalist of late. Too little too late. Hopeflly it’ll be good riddance to bad rubbish.

I’d like to see it go to Willie Geist (sp?). He’s hosted Morning Joe a few times and he makes it fun. And I like David Shuster right where he is; out there actually *getting* the news and then reporting the truth back to the other hosts.

jmo. ymmv.

perris @ 54

Things Come Undone @ 53

oh might things come undone? Or was it oh mighty things come undone the Snark works better that way! :)

twas a typo and I couldn’t go back and edit

you are indeed the mighty

Nothing new can happen until the mistakes of the past are acknowledged by both sides. I deserve an a@@kicking for my earlier mistake about John Edwards on the last thread.
I can’t in good conscious hold Bush to a higher standard than I hold myself, unless I admit when i’m wrong and accept punishment.
Admit your mistakes and try if you can to make them better is the first step in trying to learn!
Again I am sorry about accusing Edwards!

Elliott @ 69

Millineryman @ 66

Good morning all.

Hi MM, what’s good at the bakery this morning?

Hey Elliot, I don’t know, I’m still working on the Thanksgiving pie leftovers. Since I’m almost sans love handles I’m limiting myself to one kind of sweet indulgence at a time.

GREAT NEWS…ya’think our spineless Dem leadership will take note?

TheraP @ 64

I’ve decided to nickname the leaders that have gone down due to association with bush:

SOBs (Suckers of Bush)

How do we get this as a Wikipedia entry?

Franco @ 73

GREAT NEWS…ya’think our spineless Dem leadership will take note?

“John *who*”?.

Spineless, yes. But ya gotta give ‘em proper credit for not being very bright either.

Frederick of Hollywood to NYC:

New York Is Atypical City.

You know, the West Village.
And all those foreigners who don’t even pay lobbying fees.

Franco @ 73

GREAT NEWS…ya’think our spineless Dem leadership will take note?

We might need to bring it to their attention.

Come and Pull Up A Chair

Current banner headline for the Sydney Morning Herald online edition:

For All Australians

And since the header may change later, here’s the Page 1 lead article:

Howard Concedes Defeat

pull up a chair

takes a bow

Good going, perris!

Typed Sidney instead of Sydney in #79. Aussies, please forgive. It’s only 5:30 a.m. in L.A. More coffee needed…

Things Come Undone @ 74

TheraP @ 64

I’ve decided to nickname the leaders that have gone down due to association with bush:

How do we get this as a Wikipedia entry?

I have no idea. But it’s an Open Source phrase. I’m giving it away free!

Marie Roget @ 79

Current banner headline for the Sydney Morning Herald online edition:

For All Australians

And since the header may change later, here’s the Page 1 lead article:

Howard Concedes Defeat

Fantasy ‘08 headline:

Republicans Concede Defeat of Historic Proportions

Gotta dream big!

egregious @ 63
Thanks so much. Still cringing here. Now I understand the check remark. Jane doesn’t owe me, but I’ll be sending her one today.

bluejeansntshirt @ 85

egregious @ 63
Thanks so much. Still cringing here. Now I understand the check remark. Jane doesn’t owe me, but I’ll be sending her one today.

No need to cringe, it was good!

You’ve got guts to call in on a national television show. Way to go!

egregious @ 84

Marie Roget @ 79

Current banner headline for the Sydney Morning Herald online edition:

For All Australians

And since the header may change later, here’s the Page 1 lead article:

Howard Concedes Defeat

Fantasy ‘08 headline:

Republicans Concede Defeat of Historic Proportions

Gotta dream big!

Ohhhh, let it be so.

it smells really good upstairs

Sorry… the editor stole my phrase when @83 printed.

It’s:

SOBs (Suckers of Bush)

Open Source idea. Use it freely!

Thanks for fixing my “typing in haste” typo up there :)

TheraP @ 83

Things Come Undone @ 74

How do we get this as a Wikipedia entry?

I have no idea. But it’s an Open Source phrase. I’m giving it away free!

Just so long as you get the credit.

Well, the ’sheriff of the Pacific’, a.k.a. ‘man of steel’ has fallen on his sword, more or less.

I almost felt sorry for him >

Things Come Undone @ 71

perris @ 54

twas a typo and I couldn’t go back and edit

you are indeed the mighty

Nothing new can happen until the mistakes of the past are acknowledged by both sides. I deserve an a@@kicking for my earlier mistake about John Edwards on the last thread.
I can’t in good conscious hold Bush to a higher standard than I hold myself, unless I admit when i’m wrong and accept punishment.
Admit your mistakes and try if you can to make them better is the first step in trying to learn!
Again I am sorry about accusing Edwards!

Things,

If you never make any mistakes, it means you’re not trying enough new stuff. I think it’s called welcome to the human race.

Blair, gone. Howard, gone. Next up: Harper in Canada. Poland changed too. Then it is over to you guys.

The rest of the world (France excepted) will have pretty much taken out anyone who might have supported any incoming Republican on anything.

Thanks Egregious! Still if you make a mistake you should both admit it and accept punishment.
Perris is just being SNARKY.

Things Come Undone @ 91

TheraP @ 83

I have no idea. But it’s an Open Source phrase. I’m giving it away free!

Just so long as you get the credit.

I’m not looking for credit. I’m looking for an end to the nightmare.

Use it as you wish.

Robert Paehlke @ 94

Blair, gone. Howard, gone. Next up: Harper in Canada. Poland changed too. Then it is over to you guys.

The rest of the world (France excepted) will have pretty much taken out anyone who might have supported any incoming Republican on anything.

So what’s the word on Harper?

We all deserve credit for trying TheraP when you have a good idea accept the praise! Because tomorrow as I am learning today you might have to accept the blame!
To everything a season. The quote escapes me now.

Isn’t Harper a conservative?

Things Come Undone @ 98

We all deserve credit for trying TheraP when you have a good idea accept the praise! Because tomorrow as I am learning today you might have to accept the blame!
To everything a season. The quote escapes me now.

Thank you for these words of wisdom. Ok, I’ll take the credit today… and the blame when it’s due.

Things Come Undone:

To Everything a Season

From the Old Testament. Book of Wisdom, I believe.

Excellent thing to keep in mind.

Peace.

TheraP @ 101

Things Come Undone:

To Everything a Season

From the Old Testament. Book of Wisdom, I believe.

Excellent thing to keep in mind.

Peace.

Ecclesiastes 3

Linky “A time to love, a time to hate, a time of war, a time of peace”

Byrds:

Youtube, Turn Turn Turn “A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late”

Change in Poland too.
jo6pac

Things Come Undone @ 24

Spain, Italy, England, and now Australia have all lost their pro Iraq war leaders…maybe freedom is on the march:) SNOOPY DANCE TIME!
Does yearly Kos have a band play at the bar, assuming they have a bar if I go I’ll dance to the Snoopy Dance song even if I’m the only one!
We are doing good people! Our friends are just doing better!

Don’t forget Poland!!! ;-)

perris @ 35

eCAHNomics @ 29

So what’s the deal with Sarkozy? Who would ever want to tie his fortunes to W’s at this stage of the game. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking.

say eCAHNomics…some economic info that is not on the radar screen yet though it should be

I have friends that are salesmen for bmw

they cannot get industry, bmw isn’t giving them cars due to the value of the dollar

the dealership I am familiar with usually has a couple of hundred cars in inventory they are down to about 50

the collapse has begun…no media yet…I don’t blame the media though, we will have panic if things like this get public broadcast

Airbus is also sinking. Boeing is now priced at almost 40% less than the equivalent Airbus model. So in some respects there is great jubilation at what is happening. Those in the military-industrial complex, agri-business, and other large industries that export abroad (including oil, which gets a DOUBLE benefit).

Hi all and a belated happy thanksgiving – my excuse – been too busy to get the bastards out here – got there and we’re out of Iraq and should be out of Afghanistan bc the only way we can ever be there is to kill, kill, kill, kill people like you and me and your children and my daughters and just humans.

I am not ecstatic – I don’t trust Rudd – I got no problem with his xtian religiosity but I don’t appreciate it being shoved in my civic face. I appreciate that was a political stratagem, nevertheless, it was alienating.

I have always been a diehard supporter of organised labour but am so disappointed to hear nothing about rescinding draconian refugee/immigration edicts from the the incoming Labour/Rudd government. I want to be proud to be an Aussie rather than feeling ashamed at continuing the tradition of racism.

Perhaps he would apologise as a Prime Minister to the indigenous peoples for all the dreadfully unforgivable wrongs done in past times as a true believer. I can only hope ….

Persiflage, where are you? I am in Melbourne now after 25 years in the bush capital but many years out of the country.

I have posted the first couple of paragraphs in the next thread – I am getting drunk bc I’ve waited so long to see that bigot out but I’m not too confident but I dig the deputy.

Congrats, sona.

Hope we’re next.

Good for Australia!!!

Not as dumb, incompetent or dangerous as George, Howard was nevertheless a fascist loser in his own right.

persiflage @ 22

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that Australia will now be a progressive paradise. Kevin Rudd, our new Prime Minister, isn’t an inspirational visionary. What I think he is an efficient manager, the type of person you’d feel comfortable completing your taxes. He’s a bit bland and boring, a devout Catholic, devoted family man. There will be no Vitter-type scandals here.

Fine by me. Get the country to trust that Labour’s not a bunch of nutters that will wreck things straight out of the gate, and then we can work on the big stuff.

If nothing else, he’s good on Kyoto and Iraq, and those are the two biggies right now.

Good morning Phoenix Woman!

perris @ 45

an adendum to my above post;

the m3 index is what was once used to indicate how hard our printing presses were running, it told us how much paper is being printed

the president removed the index from being reported

they did this because the amount of money being made was dangerously obscene

Sorry, I’m not going down Conspiracy Theory Street with you on this one. I find the Fed’s stated reason for discontinuing the reporting of M3 data to be completely plausible. Why do you see it differently? Put another way, what did the M3 data tell us that M1 and M2 data don’t?

Hey burns,

You’re up mighty early today. Can you explain more about the M3 please?

egregious @ 107

Congrats, sona.

Hope we’re next.

We’re probably not next. Hopefully Stephane Dion (the leader of the Liberal party in Canada)is paying attention.

egregious @ 112

Hey burns,

You’re up mighty early today.

Hi, eg. I’m usually up this early on Saturday, but have things to do that preclude me from stopping by. This is going to be just a quick drive-by; I have to get Man-Cub up and moving, so we can go to Brooks Brothers and get him his first suit (which he needs to wear to a friend’s bar mitzvah in two weeks). After that, I have an opinion letter to write for a securitization that is supposed to close on Wednesday. Holiday weekend? Umm, what’s that?

I’ve heard of this “holiday weekend.” Some foreign custom. Days are for working, yes?

Oh, burns, maybe you didn’t see my edit. Can you tell us more about M3?

egregious @ 115

I’ve heard of this “holiday weekend.” Some foreign custom. Days are for working, yes?

Oh, burns, maybe you didn’t see my edit. Can you tell us more about M3?

Here is a good explanation of the three standard measures of the money supply.

Thanks burns.

Hi All,

Here is an interesting blog on Australian politics:
http://www.newmatilda.com.au

I heard that hey get around 75,000 hits per day.
A particularly interesting article on the relationship
of Howard and the australian fundies. The religous right in Australia
are right wing on social matters, but not neccessarily
on economic matters. They have their own party with a senator
in the upper house who:

“…accused both major Parties of ‘embracing market fundamentalism at the expense of Australian families’ and called for economic policies to be reframed to focus on ‘what’s best for the family and what’s best for children,
not what’s best for the market and employers.’”

http://www.newmatilda.com.au/h…..pageID=231

I’m not sure how anybody can consider this a victory for anybody. The labor party is not the “good guys” over there. It amazes me that nobody learned a lesson from the failure here in America. Voting in liberals who promise to fill selfish agendas didn’t work here and has resulted in nothing but a bunch of broken promises and inaction. Hopefully the Aussies won’t suffer the same sort of headaches as we have here at the hands of the libs, but history has shown the world over that nothing good comes from voting in agenda-driven liberals.

arclightzero @ 119

I’m not sure how anybody can consider this a victory for anybody. The labor party is not the “good guys” over there. It amazes me that nobody learned a lesson from the failure here in America. Voting in liberals who promise to fill selfish agendas didn’t work here and has resulted in nothing but a bunch of broken promises and inaction. Hopefully the Aussies won’t suffer the same sort of headaches as we have here at the hands of the libs, but history has shown the world over that nothing good comes from voting in agenda-driven liberals.

From your comments, you apparently failed History. Clinton was anything but liberal, instead favoring corporations over citizens “liberal” rights, and Republicans controlled both houses from 1994. Then came Bush and his rubber stamp conservative Congress. It wasn’t until 2006 (that would be last year; you can look it up) that Congress changed hands. BTW, for your edumacation, the Constitution of the United States is a LIBERAL document, the same document conservatives are doing their damndest to bury. Go read a book!

Yipee! We are doing the snoopy dance at my place. Persiflage is correct about Rudd not being perfect, but I would take human over Howard. Rudd is not Catholic, I think he is a member of the Uniting Church (Presbyterians/methodists/congregationalists) the evangelical side. So long as he doesn’t mix it with politics I’m ok. Regarding our PBS(prescription benefit scheme), with the last free(?)trade agreement the US wanted AUS to increase our costs, but the govt knew that would be a big no no. We pay approx $14 per script for medications on the PBS list. (cheaper for pensioners, unemployed and those who spent up to a certain limit). We are very fortunate by comparison to you guys.

Sorry, meant to add, thanks for the congratulations. Now we must hold the Labor parties feet to the fire and ensure we, as a country truly follow up on promises made.

A harbinger of things to come in 2008 here in America.

Bushies and bushie sympathizers beware, the sleeping giant has awakened!

Impeachment is necessary, to save this country.

once again labor precedes capital.
good. it’s only natural.

peas!

Hooray, we replaced far-right dullard with not-quite-so-far-right dullard. In no way is Rudd a progressive. At best he’s a “Third Way” centre-rightist. Picturing Australia’s political divide as progressive/conservative is a mistake: it’s more a coalition of yokels and greedheads versus a bunch of low-watt middle-management types who think they know what’s best for you. We have a reasonably strong Green party, which is progressive, and the electoral system allows people to vote first for their heart and second for their head: by having preferences they can express their love for their ideal party but also ensure their vote goes to whichever of the big two they favour.

I noted about Rudd’s speech that he thanked everyone who’s ever lived but he didn’t thank God. Given that he’s an evangelical, and a pretty hardcore one at that, that says a lot about what sort of selfcontrol he has (I don’t think in-your-face religiosity is a votewinner here).

The issues, in case you’re interested, were in order of importance: desire for change, industrial relations, education, healthcare, climate change, Iraq.

btw, seattlepi.nwsource.com has a sunday front page piece on impeachment by linda boyd.
the photoshop illustration is appropriate.

peas!

Wow. Wonder what the issues were? [egr bold]

And you should still be wondering.
The main issue in this election – industrial relations – wasn’t mentioned, and Iraq simply wasn’t an issue, as signifified by no candidate or interviewer mentioning it as an issue during the entire campaign.

Seriously, is there anything that happens in the world that isn’t about you?

Tony V @ 127

Wow. Wonder what the issues were? [egr bold]

And you should still be wondering.
The main issue in this election – industrial relations – wasn’t mentioned, and Iraq simply wasn’t an issue, as signifified by no candidate or interviewer mentioning it as an issue during the entire campaign.

Seriously, is there anything that happens in the world that isn’t about you?

Thank you for your kind feedback. I would have thought that this section covered the industrial relations bit:

The election was fought mainly on domestic issues, with Labor cashing in on anger at workplace laws…

But please, carry on if I have missed the boat entirely here.

Is everything about us? Have mercy. As our country is quietly sliding into dictatorship, we have become more focused on national politics and what can be done here. The election victory in Australia is important in its own right, but also serves as inspiration for our own national elections in a year.

You have elected a better government. We wonder if we can turn things around in time for our elections. Thank you Australia for showing us it can be done.

egregious @ 17

While we’re trying to get Persi up here from EPU land, here’s the word:

Aww Rats! John Howard’s concession speech was gracious. Not only did he concede defeat generally, he accepted that he was likely to lose his own seat. Currently, with just over 77% of the vote counted, he trails the Labor candidate, a highly-respected former public broadcaster, by 51.14% to 48.86%.

See, if you just hold on long enough, nightmares eventually end.

Promise?

Gracious it was. As I said to my wife while watching the speech: “This is how power is supposed to be transfered in a democracy. You watch and see if Bush does the same.”

Howard’s Thatcher-esque labor law changes “Work Choices” sunk him. I’ve lived in Oz for about 16 years now, I have never seen ordinary Aussies so mad about anything else.

Howard is not as transparently phony and mendacious as Bush. As a native Aussie colleague of mine put it (paraphrased): “There is absolutely no doubt that Howard is genuine and honest, and saying what he believes. It’s just that he’s a f*cking idiot.”

persiflage @ 31

Australia now has it’s first woman deputy prime minister. And this guy (the singer) is now the Minister for the Environment. I hope he wears that shirt and hat to the swearing-in ceremony.

He wore a better t-shirt when he sang at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

It had the single word “Sorry” on it.

That was an allusion to John Howard’s continuing refusal to apologize to the Aboriginal community for the way that they had been treated by ethnic European Aussies in the past (including taking babies away from parents and raising them in “white” Aussie families as recently as the 60s, if I have my Aussie history straight for the dates). Howard _still_ refuses to apologize, BTW.

Peter Garret (the singer mentioned above) has been taking a lot of flack from environmentalists for having “sold out” of late, due to his grudging political support of the Labor party’s support of a controversial pulp mill to be built in Tasmania. IMHO, if the Greens actually secure the balance of power in the Aussie Senate (still a distinct possibility, with the relevant vote count too close to call the last I looked), the pulp mill is dead anyway. Labor’s strong support for ratifying Kyoto, and whatever comes out of the Bali round in the near future will be principally riding on this man’s shoulders.

I’m not one for supporting entertainers turned politicians blindly. (Witness Ronald Regan.) But, so far, on balance, Garret has impressed me with his sincerity, even if he has had to adapt to Aussie political realities.

I’m personally still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Like some others I agree that Rudd isn’t the type of Labour Party leader I’d put together myself. However, he’s definitely better than the alternative.

As for reasons – the best thing I read the whole election was from the blog of a Melbourne barrister. Here’s an excerpt, you can read the whole thing here http://anonymouslefty.blogspot.com/. And just so you know. WorkChoices (named a la Clean Air Act) was the “union killer” industrial legislation introduced by Howard.

“”WorkChoices” is an appalling bit of legislation aimed solely at enabling employers to cut employees’ conditions. The abandonment of “unfair dismissal” protections means that YOU CAN BE DISMISSED UNFAIRLY. (Raise a concern about a dangerous bit of equipment at work? “Oh, sorry, we don’t need your services any more.”)
* Instead of “unions”, the Liberals are largely controlled by the lobbying power of the Business Council of Australia – representatives of BIG Business, not small business. And certainly not of ordinary Australian workers. Do you really think that what’s in the interests of Big Business is by definition in your interests? That’s what those expensive advertising campaigns have been trying to make you believe; have you bought it?
* The Liberals have absolute contempt for the taxpayer: they’ve taken more hundreds of millions of your dollars to spend on advertising campaigns for themselves than any government ever before.
* As a government, they never accept responsibility. For anything. Whenever anything goes wrong, it’s “I wasn’t told” and “I had no knowledge of that”. They never acknowledge fault, find what went wrong and make sure it won’t happen again.
* They have contempt for justice, of the rule of law – because it was politically convenient, they were happy for an Australian citizen to be held for five years without charge (think seriously about what that means: it means that you don’t have to have done anything – other than be unpopular in the Herald Sun – to be jailed indefinitely). And then they were happy for him to be corralled into pleading guilty to a charge that DIDN’T EVEN EXIST WHEN HE WAS ALLEGED TO HAVE BROKEN IT. (Sure you’re not breaking any future laws? How can you be so sure?)
* They’ve accepted Australians in Australia being subject to US law: the US decides to impose ever-harsher copyright laws on its own citizens, and, apparently they apply to us as well. Regulation without representation.
* They sent Australian troops to a poorly-planned and ill-considered war; a war to pacify a country we’d failed to pacify ten years earlier, and a war when we were already in Afghanistan tracking down Osama Bin Laden. (Oops, now we’ve let him escape.) They didn’t wait to see if Afghanistan could become a stable democracy before charging off to smash up Iraq; and in the process, unsurprisingly, they actually made the place worse, difficult though that is to imagine.
* Their “good economic management” boils down to (a) presiding over a resources boom where China and India are desperate for anything we can dig out of the ground; (b) inheriting the economic reforms left to them by Hawke and Keating, (c) flogging off public assets and (d) imposing a GST which mainly hits the poor. And, (E), most of all, their perfection of the art of cynical political spending: they cut services for the first two and a half years of every term, so they can save some cash to splurge before each election. If you vote for them on that basis, you are telling them that you don’t care what they do between elections, just so long as they bribe you more than the other party. In which case, don’t whinge at the appallingly harsh budget they’ll bring down next year to start saving for the 2010 campaign.
* They are tired, and out of touch, and god knows WHAT they’ll do if they scrape over the line again – you had no idea in 2004 they were going to give you WorkChoices; likewise you have no idea what they’ll give you next.”

@126, saturday, not sunday.

peas!

Things Come Undone,

Welcome to our world. I hope you didn’t feel too foolish when your realization occurred. Now we can work together to make America better.

Re: Economics

If there are far too many dollars out there “chasing” too few goods, then there’s an inflation hovering over the horizon just waiting to appear the day a Dem president takes office. Can you say flaming bag ‘o shit on the doorstep as a “house warming” present?

What to do about it? Start producing more goods we can export to people who have dollars to spend. To achieve this I suggest we get the health care reform done quickly and then improve our tax rate structure to allow corp. America produce more and reinvest without so much (or any) taxation.

Raise prices, so Americans spend somewhat less on imported goods. This is already happening with oil & gasoline. Expect it at WalMart too.

Keep interest rates steady and don’t over-react with higher rates which would kill the capital investment side of the economy. Fat chance of that with a Repub like Bernanke running the Fed.

Renegotiate any trade deals which are outstandingly bad for our exports.

Hope that these things don’t slow the economy too much.

it’s the only way they can stay in power they will not be reelected unless they take a stand against the despots in our government

Support for US military coalitions wasn’t an issue in this election. In fact it is a bipartisan policy to support US military actions under our joint military treaties.

Australia has participated in the last 8 major conflicts and always supported the US. That will continue regardless of who is in office.

Howard was defeated because he was running on a platform of retiring within 3 years, because of industrial relations policies and because the opposition party finally decided to run a candidate that wasn’t a complete embarrassment.