A Date With Jesus

If you look closely, you can see him....

Man Flu gives you time to think

I have man flu. Well, to be honest, I'm actually feeling very sick and sorry for myself and have been home from work today with headaches, a runny nose and Europe's most boring cough.

This wallowing in mud like a hapless water buffalo has given me time to plow through the federal election footage and comment on the web. It's interesting that in every state and territory bar South Australia and the ACT, the Labor premier has resigned (or died, RIP Jim Bacon) giving way for generational change half way through a term and allowing the electorate time to get to know the new leader before the next election. If only Howard had done the same, and the Lib's had elected Turnbull as their leader. I think things may have been very different.

Simply put, Howard got greedy. I have no doubt that the lure of presidential dinners and fairy tale balls for his wife Janette was just too great. Check out this photo with Cheney and Bush - if the wives were wearing sashes they could have been the royal family of "insert small Scandinavian country here with a GDP smaller than Heinz's yearly turnover". The "statesman syndrome" went to his head as well as Janette's. He should have taken a leaf out of his Labor state counterparts and resigned.

Check out Joe Hockey in tears and Alexander Downer being a precious twat.

I really don't think they get it. Downer refused to do any media interviews on election night.

Here's a giggle from Kerry O'Brien:

and sweet poetic justice:

It's Bennelong time.....

It's a Ruddslide!

YAY..Ruddbot wins! The Veuve Clicquot was flowing freely at the ALP Abroad pub with a group of expat mates, Sky News and three hundred other Aussies. I really missed Antony Green, but it didn't matter - Maxine McKew is a star and so is every Kevin07 shirt-wearing Aussie who took to the footpaths to door knock till their knuckles bled.

I am very very happy!

The Election - Ali's Call as at 8.30 am EST

Take the glass half empty, glass half full invisible inkblot quiz!
Glass half full:
The polls and punters are correct. It's a uniform 56-44 two party preferred win to Labor who are 20 seats in the clear. Nice.

Glass half empty:
It's a one seat win to Labor with a challenge from the Liberal Party regarding when the Wentworth Labor candidate resigned from his Government post.

Perish the thought! I think Howard is looking more and more desperate. Saying that once Australians vote for a Labor government you can't take it back like an unwanted Christmas present at the boxing day sales is clearly a sign that he's run out of anything interesting to say. I'm tired of hearing about the economy stupid. I hope others are too and don't fall into that "yar man, I really like Labor's education, health, environment and social policies so much more betterer than the Liberals but the Libs do a better job with the economy so I'm going to vote for Howard".

Howard has gone back to the ol' voter pitch of national security, reds under the beds, burkas under the beds, economy, economy, economy, don't change horses in mid stream except if it's my horse election speech. Nuthin' new, nuthin' forward thinking.

Well, we're going to London on the weekend to watch the vote count on Sky TV at a pub near the head office of the Transport and General Workers Union. I hope this is a good sign! I'm a member of ALP Abroad, so we'll be with lots of comrade supporters. A bit weird watching the election count in the morning.

Here's a pic of us voting! Lucky it's a secret ballot and put in a sealed envelope so you don't know who we voted for....

Royal Loathe

It's Prince Charles' birthday today. The reason I know this is because on Radio 4 (Radio National equivalent) a posh voice came on just before the 7am news saying "Today is the birthday of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales". And on came God Save the Current Monarch and her Offspring. Jock stood up but only to get some coffee.

Today, a little reminder that we live in one of those funny countries with odd ways and strange rituals.

Find a penny pick it up

My friend Iza and her partner Kuba have a wonderful way of saving up for having a lovely dinner out at night. There is often money left on the street in Glasgow - usually 1 or 2p pieces. I don't bother to pick them up, partly because I think - "it's not worth it" and partly because I leave it to the wee bairns to do. Well, Iza and Kuba do pick up the odd bits of change here and there and keep them separate from the rest of the money they're carrying. Today Iza found 2p on her way to work.

They now have £28 to spend on their "free" dinner. I'm inspired!

Iza is from Poland and it's great being her friend because we talk non stop about our different cultures and share the odd laugh about being foreigners living in Glasgow. I marvel at her knowledge of the English language and the occasional cultural heurisms that happen when a word is misunderstood (like today when I said she could take a "day in lieu" for overtime she had worked..Why would I sit on the toilet?"). She is fluent after living in Glasgow for a year and every day I'm embarrassed about not knowing another language. And it makes me appreciate my mother's ability to speak three languages even more. Why are parents always right? They said I would regret not continuing to learn French and now of course, seeing as I live in Europe I regret it big time.

Not as much as I regret shaving my legs as a teenager....that's another example of not listening to my mother and another story entirely!

Iza says she will go to a Mexican restaurant because she misses Taco Bell...I'll keep you posted!

Rich Old White Guys

Why do we keep voting them in????

Michael Moore pointed this out in his book Stupid White Men. That we keep voting for them, so we get what we deserve. I wish more people from interesting backgrounds did stand for public office. They probably try and just don't get past the battle of preselection!...Sounds familiar! ;P

Breaking the Bankers

First it was, Stanley O'Neil, head of Merrill Lynch and today it's Charles Prince, head of the world's largest bank - the CitiGroup. Both have resigned due the billions of dollars lost to lending money to people who can't afford to pay it back, plunging the US housing market into crisis.

Prediction:
This could not have come at a better time for John Howard, and is possibly his rabbit out of the hat. If (and more likely when) the interest rate rise happens this week, no doubt Howard will argue that the world economy is on the impending doom track, and who best to drive this train out of the tunnel of darkness but the Liberal party. He'll quote the USA mortgage crisis and possibly the resignation of these CEOs and more than likely he'll use the W word - no, not "Wabbit", but "World Recession". Wanker.

And another thing....
The polling is a bit all over the place recently. Interestingly, the last 3 Galaxy polls are consistent in their prediction on a Maxine McKew victory in Bennelong. But the latest Newspoll suggest that the Coalition is winning the ground on key marginals.

No one seems to be talking about the mobile phone factor. Polls are conducted via telephoning on land lines. Now the Lib's took a leaf out of the Republican book by trying to knock people off the electoral roll (some 140,000 voters have been knocked off because AEC workers visited their addresses and they no longer lived there) and by passing new laws closing the rolls early. The early rolls backfired somewhat with the campaign by radio station Triple J and by campaign group GetUp! to enroll young voters. Ten percent more young people are on the roll compared to last time.

So, I am hoping, that as young voters are more likely to vote for Kevin07, and not have a landline, the polls are slightly skewed to the Coalition - giving Labor and even bigger lead!!!!

Ipsophiliacs Anonomoustache

This is a group I belong to on Facebook. It's a group for making up words:
"This group is dedicated to the creation and furthering of Perlatations... Perlatation is the made up word for made up words. The art of creating words is called Perlating... Get involved - you might find you have ipsophiliac tendencies!"

I recently added:

Plutocrap: Taken from plutocrat meaning bourgeois and crap, meaning crap. When a wave of wealthy capitalist consumers do something collectively stupid...like the thousand or so Japanese people who wondered why their labradoodles didn't bark, because they were all sold sheep.

Other gems posted by fellow Ipsophiliacs include:

Lycratte: the art of consuming a latte whilst wearing lycra under the delusion that other patrons will envy your obvious athletic vigor.

Sleep Tetrivation: The lack of adequate sleep due to the constant playing of Tetris. This also applies to the lack of sleep from thinking of how best to place those odd shaped 'bricks' in order to prevent the game from ending and/or enhancing your highest score.

Enthusispasm: when enthusiasm crosses the boundary of healthy excitement into straight up retardedness.

Hypothetical Salad: The complimentary salad that the waiter asks you to select from the menu, in compensation for bad service, but then forgets to bring.

I also added:
Phallumphing: (1) The act of turning your pillow over in summer to fluff it up and sleep on the cool side. (2) The act of briskly moving your top sheet upwards and letting it fill with air and fall gently back down enjoying the sensation of it landing on your legs and body...also in summer. Note: It doesn't work with a doona.

This was then countered by a fellow Ipsophiliac called Chris:

Flatullumphing:
(1) The act of breaking wind then briskly moving your top sheet upwards and letting it fill with noxious air and fall gently back down enjoying the sensation of it landing on your legs and body whilst sinking breathable air levels...

Oh how I love Facebook!