As everyone who followed Larvatus Prodeo knows, we decided in April last year to sound the Last Post.
But, prompted by some urgings on Twitter, we have resolved that we can’t let an election year go past without blogging.
So, refreshed from what has turned out to be a hiatus rather than an end, we’re very pleased to be back!
We intend to continue with some of the features that helped build a lively commenting community, but there will also be some differences.
The decision to return was not an easy one. We don’t want to add to the chatter about the horse race that seemingly dominates coverage in the mainstream media this election year. At least so far.
It was telling, for instance, that Barrie Cassidy this morning on Insiders breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief that Parliament is resuming tomorrow and Newspoll is to be released. The coverage of the Prime Minister’s visit to Western Sydney had been too much, and the ALP had succeeded in shifting the media agenda to 457 visas and infrastructure. With relish, the panel started dissecting leadership scenarios, then moved on to the question of when several current and former Ministers and Kevin Rudd knew about Ben Zygier’s incarceration. That’s a question I suspect is of no relevance to any voter anywhere.
Whatever you think of 457 visas (of which more in coming days) and Julia Gillard, it’s incontestable that the former raises important public policy and philosophical questions and that the PM was engaging with citizens. Whether or not she met enough ‘real’ people, as the media obsession might have it, she was undeniably seeking to engage.
The press gallery, if Insiders is any indication, resents any extension of politics outside the political chatter at which they specialise. Grassroots activism, represented by the surge of Greens support counted in Kimberley last night (which may well indicate that campaigning on issues matters more than the apparently anodyne sloganeering which elsewhere in the Western Australian election saw the Green vote go backwards) is literally off their radar and outside their comprehension.
Yet, as events in Italy and elsewhere where new forms of politics emerge (albeit tensely) in relation to online activism, social movements and concerns about corruption, care for the planet and others, and the pathways of daily life have shaken systems, there is no doubt that the confines of electoralism and media ‘narratives’ are increasingly discordant with what politics actually is in 2013 and beyond.
There are also troubling signs that the MSM disease has spread.
We are fortunate, however, that there is a plethora of independent media online. For instance, there is Crikey and New Matilda, and a host of new blogs and online publications that have in many cases emerged from Twitter and other interesting spaces since we’ve been away.
We hope to contribute to a focus on policy, ethics and accountability in this campaign, supplementing and we hope, adding something to the debate that already exists.
It may be that we’ll be less polemical than we were in previous campaigns. We won’t hold back in expressing our own opinions (the “hivemind” often differs) but we will seek to ground and argue them.
What you can expect from us is analysis around four themes. Those are Policy, Process, Polls and the Politics of the Election. We want to reserve our right to range across anything that happens (without seeking to be a blog of record) but with a core focus on analysis and truth telling.
We don’t see ourselves as ‘citizen journalists’ – though occasionally, as in the Brisbane floods, we may play such a role. We are bloggers, pure and simple, and we recognise that with our commitment to our readers also comes ethical obligations and accountability. We are resolved to continue to be as open and transparent as we have been in the past. For instance, we will be disclosing political affiliations (our collective includes both members of the ALP and The Greens, as well as unaffiliated folk) and in commenting on policy, will note any interests we have. For example, readers have a right to know whether the author of a post on telecommunications policy has telco shares.
If the blog has any overall politics, it is a left orientation to a politics of truth and reason.
We hope that both our regular commenters and a stack of new ones join in, with the intent to discuss the gamut of issues and events with humour, focus and generosity.
We’re also going to write about what we think worth writing about outside the election focus. For instance, I intend to have something to say about the Conclave and the Crisis in the Catholic Church.
We are very glad to be back with you! We hope you enjoy the ride on the Big Purple Blog!
Test
But what of Missy Higgins?
Is there a like button on this thing?
Welcome back!
This is Very Good News.
Good to see Big Purple back again. There have been some interesting developments in the blogosphere, and as far as I’m concerned the more progressive voices and venues around the better.
Welcome back.
I think it is marvellous that you are back!
Fantastic to have LP back
I demand a recount!
I neeeeeeed you Silkworm. Come to me.
Woo hoo! I need a place to bitch and moan about the state of the world. But, seriously Mark; step away from ‘Insiders’. It just ruins a lovely Sunday morning.
I used to be Fine on the old LP, by the way. But, I may as well just use my real first name. Cheers everyone.
[Admin note: typo in email address fixed so that your avatar shows! ~tt]
Whoo hoo! Where is Fyodor and The Devil Drink?
Return of Big Purple very welcome, in a year where there is much to discuss. Now how do you get an avatar back?
Excellent news!
Yay!
Good to see the big purple blog fired up again, Mark. Allons-y!
Thx
Good to see LP back. Used to post as Jovial Monk.
Catallaxy has noticed we’re back:
http://catallaxyfiles.com/2013/03/10/and-in-other-news-2/
Indeed you are back. You have missed an eventful year.
All the better to rub the numerous upcoming electoral drubbings into the Labor-focussed eyes of your constituents.
The tears taste so sweet…
Excellent!
Frist!
Welcome back, in these times of great need.
Avatar check!
Locked and loaded
I predict a few surprises yet for 2013.
Great to see you back. It has been hard being reduced to blogging over at Pollbludger. While there certainly are some good people there, it has fallen victim not merely to the ‘horserace’ but what some there ruefully call ‘Ruddstoration’ — the obsessive campaign pushed by a handful there to oust Gillard and replace him with Rudd, either because the ouster was some sort of karmic failure or because nothing else will save the ALP.
Can I suggest we make an early ruling that such discussion be excluded from this place? It’s absolutely mind-numbingly pointless and boring and everything that can be said about it has been said about it over at PB many times over. One of our regulars here — one Thomas Paine, is a keen advocate of Rudd, so before he returns, I’m getting this request in.
Other than that, thanks Mark and the others for digging deep and doing this. I don’t underestimate the scale of the undertaking.
You can’t deny the appeal of Kevin to many or most politically interested people in Australia though Fran. And if Western Sydney is a problem for the ALP then Queensland is a worse one
Actually, Queensland’s been looking good, at least at the start of the year, with Labor poised to contest a few LNP marginals with a chance of victory. The Newman Factor is big here in shaping the federal vote.
More generally … The ALP has just suffered an absolute drubbing in WA. There is general concern that this indicates that the ALP faces a similar result in September at Federal level. I rather doubt this in practice, but I don’t rule it out.
Out on twitter, and elsewhere, there is, predictably, and ‘anyone but Abbott’ style campaign running, and much public angst about how we must stop him at all costs. For mine ‘at all costs’ is far too high a price to pay.
I’m rather tired of the “but X would be even worse” argument on PMs and parties.
Let me be clear: as a matter of general principle, I favour opting for the least of all harms. It’s one element of rational decision making and I’ve relied on it in practice in my personal and professional life and political advocacy.
When one endorses such a principle though, there is a palpable hazard — that one’s disgust at suffering some short term negative outcome may incline one to privilege the temporally proximate over the temporally distant. When discerning the ‘least of all harms’ it is important to properly weight medium and longer term harms rather than zero- (or near-zero) rate them.
Yes, it would be a dark day indeed in this country’s affairs were Tony Abbott to become PM. It would be an embarrassment to us all. It would be as if the larger part of the population had piled all of its reason and insight onto a bonfire fuelled by fear and loathing and set it alight. We would surely be a laughing stock.
On the other hand, if that is indeed where the larger part of the population is right now and at election time, then apart from trying to talk down these evidently disturbed folk from picking up the flaming torches by appealing to their sense of self, there is little one can do about it. Joining them in their cognitive dissonance, and telling them that Ms Gillard represents something like progress and that she is to be relied upon as an authentic voice for legitimate public policy, when we know this not to be the case taints us all, because it puts us into a similar position ethically as the ALP itself, which has done such a good job of convincing itself that pandering to ignorance and stupidity is ethically defensible in the name of acquiring office that it no longer stands for anything. It may well be that some of them even believe their own party’s cant. The price for this has been a holllowed out party that is no use at all, even in better times than one now sees. Mark McGowan began his disastrous campaign in WA by disavowing carbon pricing. He dared not have even the pandering PM in his bailiwick, and as it turned out the main ‘issue’ in WA became where to put a football stadium. Sadly for McGowan, when a couple of football players from WA backed Barnett’s preferred ground location option, the campaign for ‘progress’ was delivered the coup de grace. To describe McGowan’s campaign as ‘sewer socialism’ greatly dignifies what went on. Sewers are at least useful.
Yes, Tony Abbott would be repulsive — more so even than Ms Gillard as PM. But if the price of trying to prevent him from becoming PM is to reinforce the paradigm that has made him and others to follow that are like him and Ms Gillard the persistent outcome of elections, then IMO, the game is not worth the candle. Perhaps having Tony Abbott as PM is not, in the medium to long run the greatest of all harms. And if ethical people — people who can see that Abbott and Gillard are not qualitatively different, but merely playing to a slightly different but overlapping audience — are forced to perjure themselves and dissemble over matters like war, the environment, welfare and equity, human rights and so forth in the short term, and that in a lost cause — then surely the campaign against Abbott comes at too great a cost.
We on the left must remain true to ourselves and our values, criticising Gillard and Abbott on grounds that are consonant with the empowerment of the working people of the planet and their social allies. This alone can ensure that when people finally understand the dreadful short-term consequences of an Abbott victory, and look at themselves with shame and disgust, that there will be plenty of us with standing to explain how that moment of madness arose, and to account for the ALP’s role in it. The larger part of the population must be able to pledge not merely, Never Again! to Abbott, but Never Again! to the paradigm which seemed to force a choice between two such egregious options.
I was also interested to hear Stephen Smith, who was in a mood to admit that federal Labor had been a “drag” on WA Labor, note that the state results implied that the ALP may pick up another seat at the election. He did of course enter the caveat that transposing results is broad brush, and that a lot could happen between now and September. I think the underlying electoral dynamics are quite fluid.
Compared to Queensland, the WA result is very far from a drubbing, Fran.
I’ll go with whatever the LP hosts want Fran, but for my money, PB has turned into something of a collective therapy group for people in major denial about a few of Gillard’s obvious failings.
I’d prefer it wasnt that either. Just sayin’!
Liam:
You can’t deny the appeal of Kevin to many or most politically interested people in Australia though Fran.
I’m neither going to deny it nor affirm it. I don’t agree such discussion is useful here. There are plenty of other places it can take place. We ought to focus on substantive matters, IMO.
Lefty E
If so, we certainly needn’t replicate that here. We can afford to leave that to others.
Very pleased about this. Maybe I can even contribute, if I have anything 2 add. I’ve always enjoyed following, especially 4those times I’ve been 2 busy with work and family 2 keep up on all the issues.
I don’t think LP can ever have enough Bahnisches contributing, Laura!
Well, except the ones from the bush that vote Nationals or Katter. But they could always start their own blog. That might be interesting!
Mark:
Indeed, but in absolute terms, it is. Being outnumbered two-to-one is a drubbing, especially after one term in government.
Agreed, Fran.
LP: Back in purple!
Welcome back
I often wonder why they bother ‘noticing’ anything. It’s not as if they have anything useful or even novel to add to public discourse. Even their abuse is stale.
Fran, I’m not sure that denigrating them in return accomplishes anything useful.
Tigtog:
Neither am I. Disparaging them was not my primary or even secondary intent, but I regard my observation as fair, even if it does disparage them. So the question was: should I withhold comment I regard as fair, merely because disparaging them might accomplish nothing?
I’d say no.
You guys getting back online has made my day!
Super great to see LP back.
While I’ll mainly be writing for New Matilda during the run-up to the election, I really hope to be able to comment frequently here.
I’m sure you’ll see me linking to some posts by Mark and others while I’m at it. It promises to be a fascinating campaign.
Hi all *waves*. Good to be back behind the transparent cat mask. Haven’t been Pav for some time.
Re WA, I heard Julie Bishop on the radio this morning using the state election result to bag Stephen Smith. Obvs one of their strategies will be to spread the love around.
Now then, internets, is my avatar working?
Could I put in a request that people try to stick with the 3 paragraph rule? It’s generally a useful one.
OK Fran, since a gentle hint wasn’t effective, let me be direct: the way that certain Cat regulars disparage others makes them look petty and small, returning fire from anyone here merely makes us look petty and small as well, and I feel that is a look I’d rather we didn’t have.
Yeah! Very happy that LP is back; just wouldn’t be an election without you!
I assume Jacques is still blog overlord? (Doffs cap.)
Rudd supporter present and collected and ready for round two, this time on LP. Good morning.
To be precisely pedantic, Jacques is still blog-network overlord of Ozblogistan, yes.
If folks want to debate Gillard and Rudd we will be happy to open an overflow thread.
And a hearty welcome to Sara and other new commenters
Hello Mark, TT, all.
Where’s Brian ?
Hi Mark,
Great to see LP up and running again, just saw some polling results in the CM re Costellos’ fire sale, 85% say no, do you think there will be a backlash against the Federal LN/P if this remains part of the QLD LNP agenda
Sussex St. tea leaf readers may be interested to note Paul Howes endorsing Mark Latham’s forthcoming Quarterly Essay, “Not Dead Yet, Labor’s Post-Left Future”, in today’s Sunday Telegraph.
Its been a while since anyone still active in Labor has wanted to publicly endorse anything Mark Latham has said or written. Can we read anything into this (said in best Michelle Grattan conspiratorial intonation)?
Here’s the link referred to by Augustus.
I don’t know if Newman is going to be a one term premier, but I believe he’s going to be a one term representative in Ashgrove.
Peter Murphy,
I recently read there is talk he is surfing for another safe seat as there is a worry her can’t hold onto Ashgrove.
I hope to post on Newman and privatisation soon. Thanks for the comments, Augustus and Peter.
I am sure Brian will be along presently!
Jolly good!
Tigtog:
FTR, I wasn’t ‘returning fire’ but merely evaluating. Still, I’m a respecter or blog protocols, so let it be as you wish Vivian and in any event, having made my observation, I need not repeat it.
I may be drawing a long bow here, but…
* is stoned to death by outraged Twitterers*
Does “FTR” mean ” For The Record” ?
Isn’t every comment on blogs on record, like, 4 eva?
Bit of a redundant expression here IMHO*
(* also a redundant expression FWIW**)
( ** also a ……never mined….
“never mined” there’s truth in that.
Nice to see you back.
*clears throat*
So, you’re getting the band back together?
Like what you’ve done with the place. You look good in purple.
*nods around the room*. Nice to see you, and you, and you — not you.
Imma stick to edu-blogging, for the most part. The privatisation of our schools will not be televised.
Will throw in some cat-herding as and when I can.
*exit stage left, trailing pixel-dust*
More left wing, communistic effulent that spews forth from this once dead (and soon to be again) blog. I’m convinced that followers and staunch disciples of the left definitely have a genetic defect.
Free enterprise will be our future as opposed to the “nanny’ state which is slowing ruining this wonderful country. Bring on the election and lets rid ourselves of the imcompotent, wasteful and untruthful seat warmers.
I hope to live long enough to see a certain redhead in jail and the unions dragged, kicking and screaming, to be held accountable as a company.
Unions hold “share holders “money. They must follow the same rules as any company.
Great to see LP is back! Although I am a tory lawyer who holds no truck with leftism, I can appreciate those, like Fran and Mark who at least make their points in civilised tone.
Re the ALP and Gillard, etc. I must say that it is clear that the current Government is on the nose and will be heavily defeated in September. No amount of wishing it otherwise will change this simple fact. And I have to say Fran’s attempt to denigrate Tony Abbott are not very convincing. This whole “Australia will be a laughing stock if Abbott wins” is really puerile rubbish that demeamns you Fran. Whatwill really happen is that Government will return to being an adult rather than an adolescent, on the run, do as much as you can to interfere with people’s freedom government that we have had since Gillard took over.
Animadversions I can cope with but please: no uninformed opinions and tired left vs. right hermeneutics on the Catholic Church – otherwise you’ll fit right in with the MSM you are so eager to distance yourself from.
@67 – classic trolling!
But maybe don’t bring him back here.
Spelling!
Welcome back Mark. Looking forward to an interesting year!
Gandalf the Green is back too.
Mark@59: You’re welcome. Look forward to Brian’s contributions!
About bloody time!
Lazarus Prodeo?
Rococo Liberal:
Normally, one expects responsible ‘adults’ to exhibit the following behaviours when implementing ideas:
a) research and planning
b) consultation with stakeholders to identify needs and problems and the timelines along which these need to be addressed
c) Modelling of potential solutions with further feedback
d) Development of a suite of measures, with variations in cases where key assumptions fail
e) Composition of human and material resources for the project
f) Implementation and testing to establish the extent to which the solution package worked and guide further program development
We have seen no indication at all over the last three years that the Liberals conceive of governance in these ways, much less that they are capable of adopting such an approach. They don’t know the first thing about being adults. They are rock throwers rather than an alternative regime.
MySQL did not get the memo to be on good behaviour.
(Signing up for notifications…) Welcome back.
Welcome back LP.
I wonder if Qld Labor aren’t going all Ryan/Theodore on us, blocking foreigners and (however unwittingly) manoevering Katter and Hanson so that they take first-prefs from the LNP and funnel preferences back to (a more conservative) Labor, a reverse of the situation in the late ’90s.
However much this might appal urban voters, there are seats to be won potentially and you know Labor isn’t above such a scenario.
[deletes disturbingly violent fantasies towards MySQL] – remembers venerable saying that if you can put an axe through it then it’s hardware, if you want to put an axe through it then it’s software
Hi all, it’s good to be back.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had a quick read of Latham’s QE, and might analyze it in more depth for LP later.
It’s an interesting read, though there are many issues on which I strongly disagree with his conclusions.
However, I’d add that it’s clearly, if implicitly, intended as a contribution to Labor’s long-term course, most likely after an election defeat in 2013, rather than Latham’s recommendations on how to successfully campaign in the short term.
Jumpy@63
You’re overlooking nuance. “FTR” describes something that is said not to further advance an argument, but to correct an antecedent misapprehension before the subject which it informs is set aside.
In meeting procedure, people can rise and say “point of information” — “I’m not the President of Organisation X, but merely its Acting President“. This has a meaning similar to for the record … here.
HTH …
Will this blog close again after the election?
Labor has received more pain from the big loss in WA election on March 9, 2013. The Labor wounds couldn’t heal in short time, then it will cost Labor in the federal election on September 14, 2013. The wounds of Craig Thomson, Peter Slipper and black fund of Slater & Gordon could be opened anytime. The carbon tax, mining tax and the broken promises would harm more. Labor government from state and federal level seem lost the people support since a first female Prime Minister being in top job.
A week being at Western Sydney, PM Julia Gillard couldn’t convince the voter support Labor and save the marginal seats, that likes as a sinking boat, then the Greens ran away, Mr. Kevin Rudd, an internal foe of Julia Gillard, who shouldn’t interest the leadership, he knows Labor won’t change the loss, and the other ministers are such as Craig Combet, Bill Shorten ( nickname: Pie Minister) shouldn’t want to replace Julia Gillard.
However, some Labor politicians are such as senator Stephen Conroy who dismissed the media predicts about the losing some seats, including Labor’s strong hold, he doesn’t see yet the coffin, so he hasn’t cry yet.
jumpy @ 54, I work during the day when it’s not raining, even weekends.
Mark @ 36, I’m sure the bush Bahnisches would be courteous and intelligent! As such they are more than welcome to comment.
Hi Laura.
El Tel @ 56 and Nick Caldwell @ 62, I tended to give Mark Latham a miss, but some of his recent columns in the AFR have hit the button.
Great news LP is back!
Haven’t been doing much posting on politics lately with LP & Pure Poison going in pretty quick succession so glad it’s back up and hopefully for good.
Robert,
Is the Latham QE out yet?
I’m keen to read it, even though he can be a bit of a loose cannon at times I’ve really appreciated his writing in the past and back when I had a Crikey sub he used to write these articles for them pedantically going after Gerard Henderson which were hilarious.
I’m glad you are back.
I notice the MSM narrative is that the WA result has Federal implications.
This is rubbish. Any first term government free of major scandals is going to get reelected.
Good news – welcome back.
Welcome Back!! Excellent news!
That’s certainly one possibility, Terje. The hivemind will wait and see.
Brian @ 87
Good to see that those from the bush are welcomed.
Bit hard to get issues in the bush into the urban media.
I’ve been working on trying to get a fair go for about 100 landowners that Powerlink thinks it can walk all over. The issue has got connections with the electricity price rises that affects everyone but so far haven’t got it into print in a major newspaper.
Sorry (not really) off topic.
Andrew Elder @ 81 interesting point. I think the current 457 visas stand has more to do with Gillard needing to shore up the support of the AWU and the CFMEU, not least because they put a lot of boots on the ground during the actual campaign, as well as campainging dollars in the till.
But it is interesting to reflect on how this has been moving. The Government at present does not sound like the one that put out the Australia in the Asian Century paper last year, where it was lauding the ALP’s commitment to free trade and regional engagement. I am also reminded of CFMEU delegates turning their backs on then Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard in 2008 because she would not abolish the ABCC. Times change, I guess.
On Katter, I would not be at all surprised if there are some in the ALP thinking along the lines you suggest. KAP preferences may matter a lot in the Senate race, and there is a real sense of exhaustion and frustration in Labor ranks about the costs to their support base of dealing with the Greens in the Senate. The Senate balance of power may yet shift to a KAP/Xenophon/DLP combination, which would leave the Greens potentially very isolated. It may be significant that Katter has had nothing to say on the matter. The Hanson endorsement, however, came as a complete shock, and I am sure they find it utterly mortifying.
Great to see the “big purple” back in action!
Well, its a delight to be back. Thanks, Mark and all members of the collective, for bringing it back.
First comment: If I needed any reminder that the Libs were the party of pure evil, Scott Morrison proved it on Insider last Sunday.
Paul, glad to see you posting again.
Which, if true, means that there are still people in the Labor Party who haven’t worked out that a combined Labor-Greens Senate majority is the best it’s ever been for Labor in the Senate and as good as it’s ever going to get.
Thanks, tigtog.
I also think that Lyndon Schneiders of the Wilderness Society is on the money with his view that Labor is consumed by an internal culture war over the Greens and environmentalism more broadly.
Paul, I think there may be a need there to uncouple two concepts. There is dealing with environmentalism and “green” issues, and there is dealing with Christine Milne, Sarah Hanson-Young, Lee Rhiannon etc. It is risky to conflate the two.
Quite true, Terry, but history suggests that those elements of the ALP who have the most difficulty in dealing with the one also seem to have the most difficulty dealing with the other. I’m reminded of the passage in The Latham Diaries where Latho recounts that the same people who were deepest in their hatred of the Greens were also the fiercest critics of his recruitment of Peter Garrett, even thought that was the logical thing that a Labor leader would want to do to offset the Greens.
Hey I’d recommend using disqus for commenting (http://disqus.com/) as not having threaded commenting makes it seem like this website is from 1992. It’s super easy to integrate with wordpress and it integrates with all of the social sites (facebook, twitter, etc) to enable single sign on.
Dan, you’re not trying to restart the Threaded vs Unthreaded wars again, are you? Previously the hivemind has decided against them quite markedly.
@102 *even though*, not *even thought*.
Jacques@88, I’ve received my dead-tree copy in the post, so, yes, it’s most definitely out.
still@downfall @ 93
Have you seen Michael West’s coverage of power grid issues at Fairfax?
Link here: http://www.businessday.com.au/business/by/Michael-West?offset=20
Thanks to all for returning, breath, fresh air…that sort of thing. I was once Eric Sykes….but I passed away…so now I am me.
And Newman is, as many have contended, a bit of a benchmark for the Mad Monk in Fed Gov I reckon; including how unpopular Newman has become, so quickly after the election.
We need some of those Newman voters to tell their tale, that of hating Anna so much and then realising how much worse things could get without her.
Boof is right about this:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/lathams-climate-warning-20130310-2fu82.html#ixzz2NBnnDtHV
He’s talking climate change but same could apply for marriage equality. How many young progressives arent joining the ALP over this?
Thank You! It makes me feel so good. Long time watching and waiting for an alternative to what poses as comment, but comes across as animosity. I stopped watching Insiders and have difficulty with watching Breakfast News and The Drum. Thankfully there is the mute button. All so predictable under the Lib appointed leadership sadly. So thanks again and hi all.
Glad this is back.
If you want some heartening, such as it is, then this: many of my younger internet acquaintances have been so horrified by the Nauru “solution” that it has excited political activism. When the PM announced the election date, my suspicion was that it was to give younger voters time to absorb the fact that yes they were of voting age and to register. It is having its effect and as a result I think we will get a better turnout.
But most of them want to vote Greens, because of this.
I think I’m right in saying that March 20th is the tenth anniversary of the declaration of war re: FoxUSA vs. Iraq. I think it’s going to be very interesting (sickening!) to see how the corporate (and public) msm in this country deal with this anniversary. Are we about to witness one of the greatest whitewashs in Australian media history?
I was first alerted to this anniversary several weeks ago when I read an article in the Adelaide Review ( a free newspaper here in Adel.) about the upcoming tenth anniversary of the march in Adelaide against the war which drew a staggering 100,000 people. In the week that followed as we approached the anniversary I kept an eye out for other media. I’m not a radio listener but as far as I can tell this gobsmacking events anniversary has passed with literally nothing mentioned. A couple of hundred public servants abusing Labor government members or a couple of dozen ‘convoy of the incontinents” and the media is in frenzy mode but 100,000 marching in the streets has just disappeared into the ether. I’m interested to know what it was like in other states.
Lefty E @ 100, “marriage equality”
What a pity the ALP couldn’t have done the right thing on this and ignored the likes of de Bruyn et al? On this issue, they are well behind public opinion if polls are anything to go buy.
And with France, NZ and the UK about to introduce it, we’re going to be the last out of the barriers for years to come especially with the prospect of an LNP government for several terms.
Thanks for kicking over LP one more time Mark. It is greatly appreciated to have such discourse and the regulars in the comments make it more so. Yay!
John Farnham
Pauline Hanson
Larvatus Prodeo
@104 all it takes is one patriot with enough gumption to right the wrongs of an entire generation.
Welcome back purple people.
Nolan, WTF are you doing here?
Brian @87 and Still @93 – I might not have expressed myself well! We certainly do welcome folk from the Bush. I was only seeking to convey, in a light hearted manner, that the Collective itself and guest bloggers come from a left perspective. I hope there’s not been any misunderstanding!
Mystici Corpiris @69:
I’ll be writing as a Mass attending Catholic, who’s played a role in St Mary’s, South Brisbane after Fr Peter Kennedy and Fr Terry Fitzpatrick left, and as someone who’s studied theology. So I hope my contribution isn’t inspired by a tired hermeneutic!
Thanks to everyone who’s welcomed me and LP back! It is really good to be back!
I attempted to submit a wonderfully eloquent thanks for the reprise / reprieve last night, but the internets swallowed it. So, thanks, the Hivemind will keep me sane for the next 6 months.
Mark @ 120
Social Media and the Conclave. Checking it out tomorrow when it all starts, but on the surface it looks interesting. Though I’m not sure if I’ll go for getting the e-mails.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/conclave-2013-electing-pope-social-media-world/story?id=18697577
I’m looking forward to some policy analysis. Also to the ridiculous banter. Especially as I’m about to have some time on my hands…
Thanks for that PB.
I read elsewhere that Their Eminences must hand up their iDevices.
“Habamas Papam NOT WTF”
Twitter Accounts on hold.
Is there no White Smoke app??
Yep. I-Pads, mobile phones. And then spend days without teh internet!!
Back in a minute about apps. Have to check my Vatican City files.
Katz @ 125,
This on the Conclave – all the way from Alaska, I think.
http://www.adn.com/2013/03/09/2818297/catholics-create-virtual-conclave.html
Well, looky here!
/Waves
The Feral Abacus @ 107
Thanks for the link. The cartoon depicts what would be the case if Powerlink were genunine in their request to the minister for a network of transmission lines to be designated community infrastructure that are going through rural cattle farming properties who already have swer lines running to them . These transmission lines are in fact going to coal seam gas company infrastructure. Once Powerlink has the community infrastructure designated they can really shaft the landowners.
Mark @ 119
I thought that it was the case that you were being light hearted.
Great, glad that came across, Still
I needed something like this to cheer me up from my post de-amalgamation blues. Thanks to everyone involved dusting off the purple banner and flicking the big switch. Hivemind rulez! Hard to find another more divergent yet so single minded mob anywhere in the oz blogosphere.
Good to see LP back. Still hate the site design – can’t find anything from the old designs.
Good to see LP back because those of you that continued to blog in your own personal spaces – which you all mentioned in comments at closing time – I could never remember where they were or find them.
Good to see LP back.
On Google if you click onto LP you get Ozblogistan is broken etc. I got in through Facebook.
btw how can I change my website address from the gravatar to my blog. I’ve tried typing it in a fair few times in place of the gravatar address and it doesn’t stay there.
If you flush your browser cache and try again you should be able to do it.
Or else you could edit your gravatar profile so that it links to your blog.
Thanks, tigtog. I’m really revealing my ignorance here, but what is my browser cache, how do I find it and how do I flush it?
The good news is I have a much better computer than I used to have yonks ago, so I presume I can do these things if I am instructed how.
Instructions for all major browsers at wikihow
Thanks, tigtog. But I can’t get onto new tab on my computer. Have Avg bar, can’t get onto Firefox which is my browser deleted all my history but … not to worry. I’ll forget about it and just post links on weekend threads from time to time.
Thanks anyway.
Delighted to see LP back – which I discovered by accident. Explorations of hermeneutics, Catholic or otherwise will definitely be welcome.
Thanks, Doug. Hermeneutics are useful
Can I just say this is the second time I’ve been on Larvatus Prodeo ?
In your absence I found Politically Homeless and The Political Sword gave temporary relief, but LP does it best!
Well yippee. Welcome back LP and all who sail upon her. And what a week so far – NT govt rolls its leader, Conroy displays once again why he was always the last picked for sports teams at school, a thousand heads explode at News Ltd, the world is popeless, the fed govt creeps back up in the polls, Carrie Tiffany has been longlisted for the 2013 Women Prize for Literature and it’s only Wednesday….
So, maybe George Pell was the second most acceptable papabile from the Southern Hemisphere.
Looks like the cardinals still haven’t decided which way forward for the papacy – they’ve chosen another very old pope, so that they’ll have to conclave again within the decade most likely. Maybe that’s what the conservatives would most prefer to do anyway rather than risk another John Paul II.
Francis I is supposedly conservative on abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia [sigh] and contraception. But he is apparently on record as saying condoms are permissible to prevent HIV.
Maybe on social issues connected with poverty and economic inequality he might be a bit radical. Taking the name of Francis gives some hope.
btw John-Paul II was very very conservative. And, in any case between him and Benedict they mostly rid the College of Cardinals of liberals.
This is the age on the Internet. Five minutes after learning about the new pope, I find out he may have been involved in the Dirty War.
Yes, I didn’t mean to imply that he wasn’t conservative. Just that he was there for so long making the College of Cardinals virtually redundant, and they seem to be ensuring that doesn’t happen again for a while.
Anyway, I’m going to be mostly offline for a while. I have decisions to make with my siblings regarding dementia care for one parent and palliative care for the other parent, so I’ll probably just post the occasional fluffy thing over at Hoyden to distract myself every now and then. Behave yourselves.
tigtog @ 143 – I think in a system where once someone is appointed there is no way to remove them it sort of makes sense to appoint someone who isn’t going to last too long anyway to limit the damage that can occur if they really suck at the job.
Sorry to hear that tigtog. What a rotten set of decisions to have to make.
The best news for the year so far. How good is it to see the resurrection of Lavartus Prodeo before Easter!
How much better it is to see familiar names posting to the site as if it never went away.
I hope the blog continues after the election so we can all boast that we knew all along that the Government would be returned!
Ring the bells, clear the decks – some sanity is returned to us.
All the best, tigtog.
Thinking of you, etc. Terrible news for you.
Yes, all the best to you and your family, tigtog.
That is indeed sad news Tigtog. I wish you the very best of circumstances to work through the coming period.
Also, apparently, he only has one lung.
You might think that the Church might get around to choosing someone under 60. If it is good enough for governments and most judiciaries, that shouldn’t be so radical.
@154
And an atheist would care why?
@jumpy
[And an atheist would care why?]
Presumes facts not in evidence …
Best wishes, Tigtog. As Liz said, rotten decisions to have to make. And both at once. Take care for yourself too with the stress you and your siblings will be under.
Oh, your not an atheist any more, I’m sorry for relying on you past comments.
Good for you, I do sincerely apologise.
I’m very sorry to hear this, Tigtog. Will try to generate a bit more content for HAT to take the pressure off a bit.
My Dad’s end of life care was with mainly dementia affected people and I was quite happy with the place he was in. I hope you find a good place.
Don’t be a troll Jumpy … of course I’m an atheist. … Think harder.
Wow, that is harsh talk. I’m a little offended.
I’ll ask again ” And an atheist would care why?”
( I’ll check any response tomorrow, footy’s on and then bed, ta. )
You’ve no business being offended. You were doing petitio principii …
You implied I ‘cared’ when I’d said nothing to imply that.
Also, the catholic church has an impact on all our lives, not just its adherents. I’m not a Liberal voter but it’s of interest to me whether the leader is Abbott or Turnbull if they get in because it will have an impact on what direction they take. And so on.
Fantastic – thanks all.
What Fran said at 26
Great to see old names about.
And best wishes TigTog
logged back in after a hectic few days – probably won’t stick around too long tonight, but many thanks to all of you who’ve left well-wishes.