23 May 2012

Things to do to Canberra? Bring on the Bolt reforms!

| johnboy
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Andrew Bolt is running a particularly mean spirited post on things he would like to do to Canberra.

Some tests that this haven of Leftism could be required to undergo:
– convert to 100 per cent renewable energy, with all the costs to be born by the locals.

– impose the carbon tax ahead of the rest of the country.

– make do without its share of coal-derived income.

– legalisation of all recreation drugs, with all addicts and traffickers involved to be dealt with at Canberra’s cost..

– a double of the immigration and refugee intake, with all arrivals to be required to live in Canberra. All boat people to be transferred to Canberra for home-stay accommodation.

The idea that people who hold a differing ideological view to Bolt should in some way be punished is quite vile. Especially when placing collective responsibility on an entire community simply for harbouring those guilty of thought crimes.

Having said that. How awesome would Canberra be if this was implemented?

The drug law reform could conceivably pay for the renewables cost and foregone coal revenue.

And the influx of enterprising boat people would do wonders for the town. Half of Sydney would be coming down here for the weekend every weekend!

(Thanks to Thumper for the tip!)

[Photo by Martyo of Foreshore with no specific reference to drugs at that event]

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Nylex said :

Jim Jones said :

HenryBG said :

Bolt is a moron, and so is anybody who agrees with more than about 10% of what he says.

How did you arrive at that figure?

Broken clock rate of accuracy?

Sweet. 🙂

Jim Jones said :

HenryBG said :

Bolt is a moron, and so is anybody who agrees with more than about 10% of what he says.

How did you arrive at that figure?

Broken clock rate of accuracy?

HenryBG said :

Bolt is a moron, and so is anybody who agrees with more than about 10% of what he says.

How did you arrive at that figure?

shauno said :

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left.

From comments above.

“The brain-dead have outsourced their opinion-forming to Bolt and his ilk”

“Another misinformed and lazy attack on canberra pandering the vast uneducated d*ckheads out there in Alan Jonesland.”

“No more or less than you’d expect from a moron like Bolt.”

“or feature correct grammar and spelling” Insinuating only the left have the brains to be able to do that.

” The problem is that stupid people tend to agree with Mr Bolt.”

I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior. Its a pity the failed socialist experiment over the last 4 or so years has caused so much damage to Australia. Its going to take many years to fix the mess after the union hacks of left office.

But what is missing here is that the idea didnt come from Bolt. “Canberra’s status as a rich, smart and intellectually vibrant city state makes it an ideal social laboratory for the rest of Australia and the world, an ANU academic believes”.

What “socialist experiment”? Did you read that on the bloogsite of a uni-drop out who has been found by a court of law as being an incompetent journalist as well as a dishonest human being?

It is an objective fact that Bolt’s blog panders to a bunch of frothing-mouthed lunatics with low IQ. Read what they post there.

When I hear somebody parroting crap from people like Bolt or Jones (like suggestions that the ALP is socialist), I know I’m dealing with a brain-dead moron. The fact few of them can spell, punctuate or correctly use apostrophes is only additional confirmation.

Yes, I am superior to such worthless people. Am I righteous? I don’t even know what that means. I think you’re thinking of vegetarians.
Am I socialist? Ha!

Bolt is a moron, and so is anybody who agrees with more than about 10% of what he says.

Tetranitrate said :

Is this real or well constructed satire?

I wouldn’t call it “well constructed”, unless the poor written expression is part of the satire.

shauno said :

I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior.

Yes, and therein lies an important clue for you.

shauno said :

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left. blahblahblah.

So the sh*t can only be flung one way? Typical oppressive superiority of the fascist right.

Maybe time to explore beyond the tired, one-dimensional, first-year political models, Shauno?

devils_advocate10:12 am 24 May 12

shauno said :

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left.

The man has been proven in court to be a racist. I freely admit to having righteous superiority over racists.

He doesn’t deserve any oxygen (neither in the sense of his views being given public airing, nor in the more conventional sense).

EvanJames said :

Erg0 said :

Quite the echo chamber he’s set up in his comments section there.

They probably delete any that don’t agree with him (or feature correct grammar and spelling).

Anrew Bolt’s wife is the moderater for his blog. The Monthly reported on it a while ago, which had Bolt nearly soiling himself. I think Media Watch also covered it ..

apparently Fairfax grew a pair and as of late last year subjected his comments to official moderation; maybe they were afraid of being sued …

http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/power-move/andrew-bolt-rails-against-blog-moderation/20111107676

shauno said :

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left.

From comments above.

“The brain-dead have outsourced their opinion-forming to Bolt and his ilk”

“Another misinformed and lazy attack on canberra pandering the vast uneducated d*ckheads out there in Alan Jonesland.”

“No more or less than you’d expect from a moron like Bolt.”

“or feature correct grammar and spelling” Insinuating only the left have the brains to be able to do that.

” The problem is that stupid people tend to agree with Mr Bolt.”

I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior. Its a pity the failed socialist experiment over the last 4 or so years has caused so much damage to Australia. Its going to take many years to fix the mess after the union hacks of left office.

But what is missing here is that the idea didnt come from Bolt. “Canberra’s status as a rich, smart and intellectually vibrant city state makes it an ideal social laboratory for the rest of Australia and the world, an ANU academic believes”.

I won’t take issue with the lack of apostrophes (preferable to superfluous apostrophes, I suppose), but “after the union hacks OF left office”?

And putting aside the issue of whether or not Labor is ‘socialist’, using the phrase “the socialist left” – seems a bit tautological. What other kind of left would there be?

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not calling anyone stupid! Being quick to call others stupid does tend to make oneself appear quite stupid.

Reprobate said :

And did anyone get a creepy chill down their spine by seeing the words “the Abbott Government”?

I had to change my underwear.

shauno said :

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left.
…blab blah…
I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior. ….

But what is missing here is that the idea didnt come from Bolt. “Canberra’s status as a rich, smart and intellectually vibrant city state makes it an ideal social laboratory for the rest of Australia and the world, an ANU academic believes”.

I don’t get it…. So, are you saying *you’re* statements that the RA posters are ‘superior’ actually came originally from an ANU academic??

Tetranitrate12:29 am 24 May 12

shauno said :

I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior. Its a pity the failed socialist experiment over the last 4 or so years has caused so much damage to Australia. Its going to take many years to fix the mess after the union hacks of left office.

Is this real or well constructed satire?

The typical righteous superiority of the socialist left.

From comments above. “The brain-dead have outsourced their opinion-forming to Bolt and his ilk”

“Another misinformed and lazy attack on canberra pandering the vast uneducated d*ckheads out there in Alan Jonesland.”

“No more or less than you’d expect from a moron like Bolt.”

“or feature correct grammar and spelling” Insinuating only the left have the brains to be able to do that.

” The problem is that stupid people tend to agree with Mr Bolt.”

I could go on but the responses are very typical and you all sound so very much superior. Its a pity the failed socialist experiment over the last 4 or so years has caused so much damage to Australia. Its going to take many years to fix the mess after the union hacks of left office.

But what is missing here is that the idea didnt come from Bolt. “Canberra’s status as a rich, smart and intellectually vibrant city state makes it an ideal social laboratory for the rest of Australia and the world, an ANU academic believes”.

LSWCHP said :

dungfungus said :

The Glassworks is our only manufacturing industry –

Dunno about that. Australian Scientific Instruments. Electro Optic Systems (based in Quangers, admittedly). CEA Technologies. Locata. And that’s just off the top of my head in the high tech world.

The tip(s)

Anyway, I’m on the bandwagon with Johnboy. I reckon all of this would be great, so lets bring it on.

The ironic stupidity of this Bold person/creature/unit not realising how cool his supposed punishments are is colossal beyond belief.

dungfungus said :

The Glassworks is our only manufacturing industry –

Dunno about that. Australian Scientific Instruments. Electro Optic Systems (based in Quangers, admittedly). CEA Technologies. Locata. And that’s just off the top of my head in the high tech world.

whitelaughter said :

how is it “mean spirited” to suggest that policies that you consider “awesome” get implemented in Canberra?

Implementing untried policies OZ wide is a dumb idea; pilot programs in locations that support them would be far more rational. Further, the policies are more likely to succeed in regions where they have popular support, so we get a fairer idea of the value of the policies.

So, point to Bolt.

From his tone it’s obvious he wishes to afflict all the people of canberra for the crime of not sharing his ideology.

That is mean spirited.

The hilarity of his punishment being things that would actually be great is incidental.

whitelaughter said :

how is it “mean spirited” to suggest that policies that you consider “awesome” get implemented in Canberra?

Implementing untried policies OZ wide is a dumb idea; pilot programs in locations that support them would be far more rational. Further, the policies are more likely to succeed in regions where they have popular support, so we get a fairer idea of the value of the policies.

So, point to Bolt.

I actually think a legal cannabis trial would suit the ACT.

Thank you johnboy. You’ve given me a fresh perspective on Andrew Bolt. I had always thought he was a wanker, but now realise that he is in fact a policy genius! Even if only by accident.

Andrew Bolt for Chief Minister!

(Can you send him an invite?)

whitelaughter10:08 pm 23 May 12

how is it “mean spirited” to suggest that policies that you consider “awesome” get implemented in Canberra?

Implementing untried policies OZ wide is a dumb idea; pilot programs in locations that support them would be far more rational. Further, the policies are more likely to succeed in regions where they have popular support, so we get a fairer idea of the value of the policies.

So, point to Bolt.

pink little birdie said :

Who is Andrew Bolt?

Craig Ferguson without humour.

pink little birdie9:34 pm 23 May 12

housebound said :

I think it was Thumper who said the ALP could preselect a dead slug and people would vote it in.

Somehow I think ideology rather than well thought through choice has anything to do with it, as is the case for all safe seats of any flavour.

The best favour we could do for ourselves is to become a marginal seat. Replacing Humphries with a Green wouldn’t count, by the way. that would give the two majors nothing to fight over.

Or maybe they are voting to lose the least amount of jobs in Canberra… Even when they are Nation wide PS cuts Canberra bears the brunt of the cuts both those in the Public Service and the follow on jobs…

SnapperJack said :

Actually I like where Bolt is coming from. For many years some of us have been trying to cleanse this place of its robotic Labor/Greens true believers status and make the ACT federal electorates marginal like Eden-Monaro in order to get a better deal and not be taken for granted. All those efforts have been in vain, in fact there is a high danger that when the election is held Gary Humphries might lose his seat and we will have no representation whatsoever in the Abbott Government.

Can you really blame people like Bolt ridiculing us? Jack Waterford in the Crimes wrote a comment piece a few days ago about how Larry Pickering stood as a Liberal candidate, was slaughtered in the 1974 election then commented that if a chimpanzee stood for election in the ACT wearing an ALP badge, people here would still vote for it.

LadyxBec said :

If the Liberals want more people in Canberra to vote for them, they should put up policies that are more attractive to more people than Labors/The Greens. That’s kind of how democracy works. Maybe in 1974, Larry Pickering and his fellow Liberals should have been more appealing if they wanted to win.
TBH I’m a bit sick of people like you winging about lefties in Canberra – people vote the way they do for a reason, if you’re on the losing team you would do well to think about how your actions contributed, instead of blaming everyone else.

I think it was Thumper who said the ALP could preselect a dead slug and people would vote it in.

Somehow I think ideology rather than well thought through choice has anything to do with it, as is the case for all safe seats of any flavour.

The best favour we could do for ourselves is to become a marginal seat. Replacing Humphries with a Green wouldn’t count, by the way. that would give the two majors nothing to fight over.

greyswandir said :

dungfungus said :

greyswandir said :

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

The biggest carbon polluter in the ACT would be the Glassworks at Kingston. Those electric kilns chew a shitload of KW. I wonder what their monthly electricity bill is?

it would be pretty lulzworthy if the carbon-tax was imposed on Canberra early and the only thing that happened was the price of vases increasing.

Though it might have a roll-on effect to Brodburger’s overheads… perhaps that’s the impending tax-precipitated doom which has its opponents clutching their pearls and wailing?

…not going to lie, that would be pretty horrible

The Glassworks is our only manufacturing industry – probably they will claim carbon pricing concessions for their status as an exporter – they cannot use “gruntless” green electricty to power those kilns.

greyswandir said :

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

There is indeed an ACT company on the big polluters list.

SnapperJack said :

Actually I like where Bolt is coming from. For many years some of us have been trying to cleanse this place of its robotic Labor/Greens true believers status and make the ACT federal electorates marginal like Eden-Monaro in order to get a better deal and not be taken for granted. All those efforts have been in vain, in fact there is a high danger that when the election is held Gary Humphries might lose his seat and we will have no representation whatsoever in the Abbott Government.

Can you really blame people like Bolt ridiculing us? Jack Waterford in the Crimes wrote a comment piece a few days ago about how Larry Pickering stood as a Liberal candidate, was slaughtered in the 1974 election then commented that if a chimpanzee stood for election in the ACT wearing an ALP badge, people here would still vote for it.

While we continue to behave and vote like an alien species out of touch with grassroots Australia we will remain an easy target for people like Bolt.

If the Liberals want more people in Canberra to vote for them, they should put up policies that are more attractive to more people than Labors/The Greens. That’s kind of how democracy works. Maybe in 1974, Larry Pickering and his fellow Liberals should have been more appealing if they wanted to win.
TBH I’m a bit sick of people like you winging about lefties in Canberra – people vote the way they do for a reason, if you’re on the losing team you would do well to think about how your actions contributed, instead of blaming everyone else.

dungfungus said :

greyswandir said :

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

The biggest carbon polluter in the ACT would be the Glassworks at Kingston. Those electric kilns chew a shitload of KW. I wonder what their monthly electricity bill is?

Nah, Parliament House is number 1 for electricity users. So we can pass through the carbon cost to individual MPs electorates.

SnapperJack said :

in fact there is a high danger that when the election is held Gary Humphries might lose his seat and we will have no representation whatsoever in the Abbott Government.

Like Humph would make a difference anyway. Just daring to live in Canberra he’s ignored as a hand-wringing Merlot-drinking lefty hippie by his own party and leader, let alone the Murdoch press.

And did anyone get a creepy chill down their spine by seeing the words “the Abbott Government”?

SnapperJack said :

While we continue to behave and vote like an alien species out of touch with grassroots Australia we will remain an easy target for people like Bolt.

Grass roots Australia can suck my ????.

I certainly look forward to the response of our elected representatives Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh to this ideological attack on all good citizens of our fair city.

I will be closely monitoring Andrew’s blog closely.
http://www.andrewleigh.com/blog/

Yay! I made it on to page 5! Anyone pick the movie quote?

devils_advocate3:43 pm 23 May 12

I support all these reforms on the basis of no take-backs. i.e. I don’t want to invest massive amounts of money/time/capital in any of these new industries and then have my efforts expropriated by the gubment.

I’m assuming this tongue-in-cheek comment by Mr Bolt is a sort of a follow up to the trial of the pokie mandatory pre-commitment technology that will be introduced in ACT shortly.

If these pre-commitment technology can be “switched” easily between mandatory and voluntary, I wonder if we can adopt a similar model to some of Bolt’s suggesting. (this switch being the compromise reached between Wilkie and Gillard)

e.g. Recreational drug day.
On several days of the year consumption and trading of recreational dugs will not be subjected to any fine or penalty. Laws pertaining to DUI and consumption of drugs and/or alcohol in a public place will still apply.

cegee said :

Can we also bring back voluntary euthanasia?

And involuntary please.

dungfungus said :

greyswandir said :

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

The biggest carbon polluter in the ACT would be the Glassworks at Kingston. Those electric kilns chew a shitload of KW. I wonder what their monthly electricity bill is?

it would be pretty lulzworthy if the carbon-tax was imposed on Canberra early and the only thing that happened was the price of vases increasing.

Though it might have a roll-on effect to Brodburger’s overheads… perhaps that’s the impending tax-precipitated doom which has its opponents clutching their pearls and wailing?

…not going to lie, that would be pretty horrible

Actually I like where Bolt is coming from. For many years some of us have been trying to cleanse this place of its robotic Labor/Greens true believers status and make the ACT federal electorates marginal like Eden-Monaro in order to get a better deal and not be taken for granted. All those efforts have been in vain, in fact there is a high danger that when the election is held Gary Humphries might lose his seat and we will have no representation whatsoever in the Abbott Government.

Can you really blame people like Bolt ridiculing us? Jack Waterford in the Crimes wrote a comment piece a few days ago about how Larry Pickering stood as a Liberal candidate, was slaughtered in the 1974 election then commented that if a chimpanzee stood for election in the ACT wearing an ALP badge, people here would still vote for it.

While we continue to behave and vote like an alien species out of touch with grassroots Australia we will remain an easy target for people like Bolt.

arescarti42 said :

Your mistake JB was engaging seriously in something that Andrew Bolt said.

+1

He is about as relevant to me as those two fatties on The Late Show

Your mistake JB was engaging seriously in something that Andrew Bolt said.

EvanJames said :

pink little birdie said :

Who is Andrew Bolt?

A wanker.

You are being too nice. Really.

He wants ‘ – a double of the immigration and refugee intake…’ I think he means a doubling of. Or just; ‘ – double the immigration and refugee intake…’ But you don’t just say a double of, unless you’re referring to a doppelg?nger. I hate sloppiness when someone’s being smug and superior.

And if the accent on the ‘a’ stuffs up, that’s not me, that’s my kompooter.

p1 said :

And the influx of enterprising boat people would do wonders for the town.

Especially if they all brought a couple of keys of smack in with them…

I kind of like the idea of Canberra turning into Amsterdam.

Can we re-legalise fireworks while we are at it?

Drugs, canals, fireworks and refugees … what could possibly go wrong?

pink little birdie said :

Who is Andrew Bolt?

A wanker.

As for “taking the piss out of ourselves”, er, why should we? They’re not taking the piss, they’re expressing what looks a lot like hatred. There’s a difference.

And it’s these people that Mr Rabbit is trying to pander-to, to get into power. I can hardly wait.

pink little birdie said :

Who is Andrew Bolt?

Angry Dutch guy – he’s probably got the s***s because there aren’t segregated cycle lanes everywhere and it’s hilly.

greyswandir said :

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

The biggest carbon polluter in the ACT would be the Glassworks at Kingston. Those electric kilns chew a shitload of KW. I wonder what their monthly electricity bill is?

pink little birdie12:53 pm 23 May 12

Who is Andrew Bolt?

I happen to agree with some of the stuff Bolt says but this is just stupid. Although I did ride my bike to work this morning – so it’s a fairly natural assumption I’m a wealthy, educated greenie with no idea how the rest of Australia lives. It’s a good life!

And the influx of enterprising boat people would do wonders for the town.

Especially if they all brought a couple of keys of smack in with them…

I kind of like the idea of Canberra turning into Amsterdam.

Can we re-legalise fireworks while we are at it?

Holden Caulfield12:18 pm 23 May 12

Erg0 said :

Quite the echo chamber he’s set up in his comments section there.

I like this typically ill-informed “suggestion”:

MD of Tasmania: My suggestion: A fully Canberran funded junket by the residents and particularly pollies, to the rest of Australia to find out what it is actually like to live in the regions and experience a touch of life in the actual, real world.

“How awesome would Canberra be if this was implemented?
The drug law reform could conceivably pay for the renewables cost and foregone coal revenue.
And the influx of enterprising boat people would do wonders for the town. Half of Sydney would be coming down here for the weekend every weekend!”

YES. LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN PEOPLE!

Can we also bring back voluntary euthanasia?

Wow, some of those comments/suggestions are hilarious.

If we can’t take the p*ss out of ourselves, then I suppose we are a bit insecure.

This is a bloke whose conduct the Victorian court of appeal described as: “at worst dishonest and misleading and at best, grossly careless. It reflects upon him as a journalist.” And he is a bloke who has been found guilty of racial discrimination – that is pretty serious unlawful behavior. And it wasn’t because of his opinion, but because he didn’t get his facts right. The court said his articles “contained errors of fact, distortions of the truth…”.

So it’s a bit annoying, but I don’t think anyone takes him seriously.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2003/161.html
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2011/1103.html

Also i kind of love the carbon-tax suggestion… correct me if I’m wrong Rioters, but unless Canberra plays host to at least one of the top polluters surely there’s no-one here to carbon-tax?

Tetranitrate11:47 am 23 May 12

*yawn*

Another misinformed and lazy attack on canberra pandering the vast uneducated d*ckheads out there in Alan Jonesland.

Bingo.

A brief look at the 2008 ACT election results reveals that a whopping 53% of Canberrans voted for Labor or the Greens on first preference.
Aren’t we just the most radical leftist city in the country?

2pp at the last federal election was more strongly Labor for the two Canberra seats, but so what? Bolt isn’t out there attacking the people living in seats like Lalor, Gellibrand, Gorton, Port Adelaide, Scullin or Wills, despite those electorates being far more “leftist” than Canberra.

Geezus, there are some nutjobs out there with a lot of bile in them.

Considering the majority of politicians come from outside the ACT I’d say that reflects more poorly on their respective states in the “real world” than ours. :\

The problem is that stupid people tend to agree with Mr Bolt.

Although I suppose that means they won’t come here, which is a good outcome.

legalisation of all recreation drugs

Heck yes!

The first thing I would do is invite Bolt over for a massive smoke-up using my solar-powered vaporizer.

Erg0 said :

Quite the echo chamber he’s set up in his comments section there.

They probably delete any that don’t agree with him (or feature correct grammar and spelling).

No more or less than you’d expect from a moron like Bolt.

TERRRRK ERRRR JERRRRRRRRRRBS

I love it. I want all of these things to happen. We will need a canal from the coast, with a lot of locks, to be able to get the boat people here.

*yawn*

Another misinformed and lazy attack on canberra pandering the vast uneducated d*ckheads out there in Alan Jonesland.

Amen.

Can you traffic something that is legal? Do Harvey Normans traffic HDTVs?

What a tool. Where’s Justin Monfries when you need him?

Quite the echo chamber he’s set up in his comments section there.

EvanJames said :

We have a para-military force, the AFP with their helicopters and riot-control assault tank thing

I read that as ‘riot-control assault think tank’. Now that would be truly Canberran!

The brain-dead have outsourced their opinion-forming to Bolt and his ilk. I’m surprised he writes this stuff down though, writing and words are not these peoples’ preferred medium, they like radio.

However. We could make a good bash at being renewable. Retro-fit a hydro scheme with all our mountain dams. And, re-capture the Lake George wind farm and get the electricity for us. It was built to power Sydney’s de-sal plant, but it’s in our backyard. Salvage rights and all that. We have a para-military force, the AFP with their helicopters and riot-control assault tank thing, we could give Bolt and his zombies something to really feel angry about.

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