I agonised about the toon above... Could I refer to "Team Abbott" as a bunch of dopes... They are people, aren't they?

I hate hurting people's feelings... Not much anyway... But then I remembered we had their rabid behaviour during the Craig Thomson affair and their disgraceful attacks during the Peter Slipper affair and their stupid general comments all through 2012 and that was pretty dopey from this team of disingenuous pollies... 

So my agony was very short lived...

Last week, while a catastrophic fire warning was in place for southern NSW, Tony Abbott announced on Twitter that he was going on standby with a volunteer fire brigade. Federal Labor MP Brendan O’Connor was quick to retweet the opposition leader’s statement, but not before adding the snarky hashtag “#standbystunt”. Abbott was deployed to Nowra, where he assisted his local brigade, of which he has been a member since 2000, in back-burning and hazard reduction. Meanwhile, O’Connor hastily deleted his tweet and issued an apology, putting out his own spot fire.

Of course, there are plenty of volunteers who assist their communities without first issuing press releases, but the real stunt here was pulled not by Abbott but by The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper’s online coverage of the fires was led by a photo montage of Abbott in full firefighting regalia, superimposed over images of burnt-out houses and firemen at the front line of the blazes. Before long, a Tumblr appeared, ‘Tony Abbott as seen in The Daily Telegraph’, with Fireman Tony photoshopped into various historical scenes. The Daily Telegraph’s imaginative reporting hasn’t been the only inspiration for Tumblr. Among others, there is ‘Tony Abbott Looking at Things’, in which he is shown looking at eggs, looking at apples and oranges, looking at workers in high-vis gear, looking at water, looking at you.

http://www.themonthly.com.au/blog-tony-telegraph-michaela-mcguire-7325

I also agonised about having the bubble say "Tony's the dope..." But I used the other one instead for resonating with Lance's confession...

Sadly for Armstrong, in a kind of cosmic karma, that statement has come true. And his interview with Oprah Winfrey last week was his first attempt to claw back some of that support.

The opening was gripping, with Armstrong straightforwardly making the admissions we all wanted to hear. Yes, he had taken banned substances to enhance his cycling performance. Yes, one of those banned substances was EPO. Yes, he used blood transfusions to enhance his cycling performance. Yes, he used other banned substances such as testosterone, cortisone and human growth hormone. Yes, he had doped in all seven of his Tour de France victories.

You could almost hear David Walsh from the Sunday Times, Paul Kimmage from Ireland, and Damien Ressiot from L'Equipe in Paris, clenching their fists and yelling 'Yes!' or 'Oui!' as Armstrong delivered his succession of staccato answers.

But then, frustratingly, it fizzled out. Oprah allowed Armstrong - the master controller - to control the doping agenda through the rest of the interview, and to stay within his personal comfort zone which meant, no details, no fresh revelations and no naming names

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-21/mcdermott-the-new-world-according-to-lance/4473234?WT.svl=theDrum

Meanwhile Tonicchio Abbott, though the swagging cyclo has not won the "Tour d"Orstralya" yet, should fess up on his role and the role of his team — Brough, Pyne, Joe, Bishop, you name them — in regard to the puncturing of Peter Slipper's tyres... Tonicchio should also reveal names and his involvement in sending Craig Thomson's bike to the brothels... We know, just follow the trail of tacks:

We also need to know who provided him the dope for creating his dishonest politician slush fund... Please explain...

Clearly the announcement of the early election was derailed by Thomson and Obeid and then coloured by the reception to the announcement of two ministers jumping ship. It was a classic case that the political baggage already accumulated by the Gillard team impaired its ability to even announce the date for an election.

The second example could be more serious.

I am now wondering if the timing and presentation of the ACC report may also have been, albeit even to a limited degree, determined by the Government. If so, was the timing wise given the Government's obvious need for a fresh agenda at the time of the continuing Obeid and Thomson matters?

The Government wants to parade Jason Clare as Labor's minister to pull back some votes in Western Sydney. What Minister Clare can't afford is to be seen as pursuing the Coalition instead of the doping issues. In my view, for that reason, it would be wise, from now on, for Gillard and Clare to keep out of the sports issue lest they politicise the issues and thus undermine the ACC.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4512706.html?WT.svl=theDrum

-----------------------

Yes Peter, two bags full Peter... We know (yawn) that sport isn't a religion and is a business... It has been since the days Test cricket in Pommyland was relayed by telegraph and commentary read locally by telegrams with a pencil hitting the desk as if a ball hit the bat to give it an air of currency... Menzies and Bradman on equal footing?... Sure more people remember Donald than Bob — except in exclusive rich gentlemen's clubs where the queen's mug is praised daily next to a portrait of Menzies.

The idea of sport being "popular" is to do with the illusion of health... "A sane mind in a healthy body" which these days takes a battering with fast food and TV couch potatoes... But even the fast food and TV companies have realise they have to be on the act... Billion dollar sport-ish deals are not small potaoes to advertise burgers with lot.  This, I suppose the government can cope with to a certain extend while trying to minimise the "obesity syndrome" which leads to a higher medical bill. Thus the sport image of a six-pack tummy is better than the image of a six-pack of beer.... But when sports are now being run on dope or products that are presently deemed illegal, it taints the image not of the "religion" of sport  — we know it's not a religion but perhaps it should be and the sinners should be piloried — but of the health aspect of sport... Mums and dads are going to be sceptical about their sport's code.

And no... You write garbage when you start mentioning that the government is trying to divert the news from ICAC and Thomson... For all we know so far Thomson is innocent and only haunted with innuendoes and crap from your sad lot... and ICAC, in my book, is only a small sideshow of "chance" to the Packer private philanthropic casino to be built on PUBLIC land. That one takes the cake. And of all people who know how to manipulate news overboard, you, Peter Keaston Reith, are a grand master of deceit...

Rack off the ABC, please... Take a long sabatical till hell freezes over... See toon at top...

One legendary Belgian cyclist of the 1950s, Rik van Steenbergen, said after his career that "there are no such things as supermen. Doping is necessary in cycling."

Throughout the 20th century many riders have argued that professional cycling is so punishing it would be virtually impossible without performance enhancement.

Any sport can make whatever rules it likes about drug use. But let's get off the high horse. We insist that athletes stop at nothing for our entertainment. Why the horror when they do exactly that?

The pharmaceutical industry is engaging vast numbers of lobbyists and donating millions to both political parties, creating a level of influence that a former health department secretary has linked to Australia’s high medicine prices.

A Guardian Australia analysis of donations and lobbyist records has revealed the true extent of the industry’s influence.

About 72 separate pharmaceutical businesses engage paid lobbyists to influence government decisions and policy. They are represented by 29 separate lobbying firms, many of which have former ministerial or political advisers as staff.

read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/25/pharmaceutical-industry...

Read from top.

See also:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/9266

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/27375

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/29362

During the northern beaches lockdown, former prime minister Tony Abbott was spotted riding a bike from the south zone to the north zone.

NSW senator Kristina Kenneally posted on Twitter that her neighbours were unhappy that Mr Abbott has not stayed in his designated zone.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing confirmed officers had spoken to Mr Abbott but said he didn't breach any rules because of the exemption for exercise.

However, he said Mr Abbott should've applied "some common sense".

"That matter was investigated," he said.

"[We] spoke to the former prime minister and formed the view he was not in breach of the health order as it applied at that time.

"But, you need to apply some common sense here … stay within your areas."

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/covid-19-nsw-10-cases-three-linked-to-croydon-cluster/13022394

Tony Abbott and common sense are strangers in their own beds. Or if you like to quote quantum mechanics, there has never been any entanglement between Tony Abbott and common sense. 

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