Vaudeville returns to Parliament

Thanks to Malcolm Turnbull's Broadband turn... a glimpse of  theatrical humour  might return to the floor of the house to end the last decade plus of mixed gloom and outright nastiness?

Swans v. Cats (AFL)

Something very odd seems to be happening to AFL football this season. Every round so far has been notable for both astounding upsets and/or monstrous thrashings. This weekend's round started last bight with the Sydney Swans' annihilation of Geelong Cats in what was billed as a contest between two evenly matched top four contenders.

Go figure. Good for Swan supporters... but, bad for football?

Nutcase

Like... it takes one to know one?

The RIGHT things?

Getting elected is alRIGHT. Implementing RIGHT things is apparently wrong.

What's LEFT?

Marching to a different beat?

Victoria Police Commissioner Ken Lay has announced a plan to substantially reduce the number of 'beat' police stationed throughout the state. Instead, he envisions more reliance on Regional 'Task Forces' to provide coverage of all the skill areas encompassed by modern policing. This flies in the face of a current campaign by the police association to question the whereabouts of 1700 extra members promised by the government to cover an extant manpower short-fall.

Seems to me, Mr. Lay's idea would render the police more re-active than ever. Whilst nobody seriously expects to have a 'cop on every corner', I've always thought  one of the basic pillars of general law enforcement (and perceived public safety in particular) was to have police presence as visible as practically possible in public areas. Whilst the new concept may decentralize technical skills availability to the regions ... it still sounds like a 'fortress' policy totally at odds with the pro-active element of 'being seen... to be believed'?

Leaky boat?

The coalition adrift in an increasingly isolated ocean of their own making?

Putin respect?

So... the Russian President will 'sit on his hands' what-ever  the outcome of Ukraine's Presidential election?

And, the moon IS made of cheese!

Legerdemain?

Joe Hockey says descriptions of his late budget as 'unfair' is just political rhetoric at work. Opponents can use any word they like... going on to list examples including 'rabbit'.

Struth Joe! You and your boss are making it too damned easy for cartoonists and satirists.

Born clowns?

Wink, wink...

I think Tony Abbott and I may share one question in common... how the hell did he get to be Prime Minister of Australia?! He is a gross travesty of everything we might hope to look up to in a leader.

And... I think it must soon become clear to his party elders that the man is a political liability in almost every situation in which he finds himself. Exhibiting a 'yobbo' facade whilst in opposition may be attractive in the search for control of the 'levers of power'. But, it certainly doesn't go with being a figure-head national leader trying to elicit the admiration and trust of 'thinking' constituents.

Play OUTSIDE!

I.T. technology gives us a marvelous advance in entertainment and learning opportunities... but, NOT if over-indulgence leads to illness and debility for our children as they grow older.

The 3 'Rs'.

Reedin', ritin' 'n' 'rif...er...'ryth... er, sums (even without the proposed budget cuts)?

Good Ol' Macca emerges?

In the turmoil surrounding the federal budget cock-up, another of the 'collision' government's fierce old coots has emerged from an apparent hole in the floor of the Senate to add his wisdom to damage control proposals.

Hands up anyone who has ever heard of Sen. Ian Macdonald of Queensland... prior to this morning's news headline story?

Winter.

For a number of reasons this time of year has proven particularly hard for me to maintain an optimistic view of anything... be it weather, life matters, outlook or well-being. I almost hit rock-bottom in 2010 when the general malaise coagulated into a bout of depression which presented physically as an inability to clamber unaided from an adjustable family room chair. I lost a lot of weight and body tone before our local GP finally 'yanked' me out of the chair to set me on the road to recovery with a dose of pain killers, a schedule of rehabilitation exercise and, not a few well-placed caustic words of advice.

Good onya Jeff.

I've been able to successfully overcome Autumn/Winter blues ever since... but, the ingredients are still about. I awoke early this morning to leaden skies, a strongish cold wind in the mix with the troublesome political atmosphere of fear and uncertainty gurgling around among ongoing family stresses.

Hence the darkish nature of today's 'toon. As I write tho', the sun is out in a reasonably clear sky for mid to late May... and I enjoyed a brisk 45 min. walk before posting this.

Missing Ball thingy

Neil Matterson is a pro cartoonist with a regular op/ed gig in Brisbane's Sunday Mail. His beautifully constructed weekly cartoon nearly always includes an object I call a 'Ball thingy' (actually a used tennis ball?) which other 'tooning colleagues and I often 'rag' him about when it either fails to appear or is really difficult for ageing eyes to readily detect. Today's effort omits the ball, but includes a small wall hanging that has a tiny rendition of the yellow object together with the single word 'LOST'!

This subterfuge shall not go unchallenged. I envisage multitudes of despairing readers clubbing together to relieve their favorite 'toony's anguish by gathering and donating every used ball they can find in the vicinity of their dwellings!

GST 2?

If Federal-State relationships remain sour over funding short-falls in the recent budget... an obvious 'out' for the feds would be to coerce the states into agreeing to a hike in the rate of GST from 10% to goodness knows what.

Whatever happens, the only certain losers are bound to be US!

Dust-up in the wind?

Ah well... they say it takes a lot of grit to run a country in these complex economic times...

Fudget...err Budget aftermath begins...

Ooo... some non-happy campers starting to emerge.

Pig-swill

In a nutshell, it seems the little people in the equation will do the lion's share of the budget heavy lifting ... while the party at the big end of town goes on untroubled?

Waiting, waiting...

With all the 'smoke and mirrors' associated with this federal budget... I can't help feeling it's a bit like awaiting the election of a Pope (we already have the 'Abbot').

Autumn's last effort?

Today and the next two are predicted by the B.O.M. to be beautiful examples of the best Autumn has to offer.

Pity another agency is predicting a big shadow is likely to engulf our feelings of well-being tomorrow!?

Mother's day.

Hard to imagine perhaps... but, even T-Rex's had mothers.

Ya gotta love 'em all. 

Lame ducks?

Broken promises littered everywhere.

Testimony to the new leader's depth of character after 6 years of lambasting previous prime ministers for their dreadful failure to keep respective promises?

Shows they're all tarred with the same brush... and, we probably do ourselves a dis-service giving credence to anything any political leaders say.

Excised!

When is a tax not a tax? Only when you're voting for certain people, apparently?

Autumn leaves?

Carelessly said and carelessly shed. And, who is left to pick up the pieces?

Voltaire on Government.

Translated by most modern administrations into the reverse of the 'Robin-Hood' modus operandi.

Let's see if Mr. Rabbit breaks the mould with his great big new 'levy'?

Numbers game

Numbers are flexible. Numbers can fluctuate wildly if not watched closely. When juxtaposed with other groupings, numbers can be adversely affected... un-noticed until the rot has set-in beyond any hope of recovery.

Control all of your numbers very, very carefully. They can turn feral!

Making Real money?

One of NCoA recommendations is to privatize the Royal Australian Mint and presumably, its Note Printing subsidiary as well!

An investment that's akin to 'printing money'? WOO HOO!

Pork wings for xmas?

Victorian Premier Dense Napthalene and his government have suddenly awoken from their apparent three year hibernation and are furiously committing huge funds (they've always claimed do not exist) to a wish list of weird and wonderful projects obviously aimed at impressing someone.

Could there be an election pending?

N.C.o.A. cont/d...

If adopted in its raw form, the so-called 'audit' recommendations on health expenditure will mean the death of Medicare as we have known it. It has been said that the aim of the report is not to replicate the dis-credited U.S. national health system.

Something worse perhaps?

Audacity?

What a joke? The hand-picked National Commission of Audit has delivered a report which sounds like nothing more than a right wing wish-list.

Surprise, surprise!

Sudden sink-holes

These things seem to be happening in lots of places without any warning. One appeared in a main Queensland thoroughfare only yesterday...