Mrsdave stays young and beautiful for another year.

Happy Birthday darlin’.

Blogwars 2.0

John Hartigan set off a flurry of comment this week when he took the opportunity to rubbish News Ltd’s competitors during his address to the National Press Club. There were sledges at Crikey, complaints about people stealing News’ valuable content and it led to a bunch of barbs thrown back and forth on websites, blogs and twitter.

Let’s put aside for a second the fact that any website on the planet can easily stop google from accessing their content, which News has chosen not to do, and compare for a second News’ words and actions.

Nazis, wise men and baby Jesus

A few years ago Mrsdave and I decided to find a kid proof nativity scene to try to divert some of the Christmas time attention away from the fat man in the red suit. We eventually settled on a cheery looking wooden set that proved quite popular with Buster Boy and the Troll Princess. So popular was the nativity set that there was an enormous amount of vocal opposition when it was packed away with the Christmas tree at the end of the season.

Over the last few days the nativity scene has had a rare outing, after the Troll Princess saw some Christmas footage in an old home movie. While the Troll Princess is quite happy to play out domestic scenes with Mary, Joseph, the infant Christ and the wooden manger, Buster Boy prefers to mould the nativity into different stories.

At breakfast this morning, Buster Boy treated us to his latest adventure story with the nativity scene, I’d like to share it with you all, but even more than that I’d really like to introduce his cast.

Oh Malcolm

Net Satisfaction Ratings

Courtesy of Possum Comitatus we can see quite clearly how people have reacted to Malcolm Turnbull’s involvement in the OzCar affair.

Brendan Nelson must be feeling pretty bloody smug right about now.

If a picture can say a thousand words

What are our major news sites saying today?

Click for full size image.

Very different feelings evoked by each image.

Time Wasters

I think that the opposition have officially given up.

After spending five hours debating the Ozcar debacle on Monday, today the opposition continually interrupted question time calling for divisions to be called for procedural motions which really should have been carried on the voices. There was no doubt that the Government would lose any of the votes, it was simply an attempt to reduce the amount of time available for them in the house.

Not only did the Opposition try to interrupt question time with their time wasting, they couldn’t even manage do it properly, as their second attempt to launch a censure motion was ruled out of order because it hadn’t been altered from the first one that had already been voted down.

Procedural motions are an important part of managing any substantial meeting, but the opposition’s decision to call for divisions today each time one was put, rather than accepting the outcome on the voices, was the type of nonsense that people find annoying about politics. If Malcolm Tunbull believes that hi-jinx in the house will save him from the Godwin Grech shaped cloud that is hovering over him, then he’s even more politically naive than has been suggested already this week.

Nintendo helping to break the ice.

Worried about how to move a new relationship to the next level? Concerned that asking someone in for ‘coffee’ is a bit outdated? Really want to know if your new squeeze will play the beast with two backs with you? Nintendo is here to help.

Explain this to me.

Tupperware is made from plastic.

So why do they wrap it in plastic?

Why we love a handout

I’ve been thinking a bit about tax today, mostly prompted by listening to a spokesdrone from the Business Council of Australia outline their submission to the Henry Review on Radio National this morning. Unsurprisingly he was arguing that the company tax and capital gains tax rates should be slashed and the GST increased, the same tune that the BCA usually sings, but it was enough to start me thinking.

The Peter Principle

So it’s officially over. All of the speculation has come to nothing as Peter Costello announces that he will not seek to contest his seat at the next federal election. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise for anyone who’s followed Costello’s career, it is nothing more than him taking the soft option one more time.

Over the fold I’ve reposted the article I penned after Costello ran from the leadership in 2007, I think that the conclusions in it still hold up pretty well. I think that Costello’s refusal to take the leadership will cause enormous damage to the Liberal Party in the long term as he was the only one who could have united them after their defeat, their present division and lack of direction is his ultimate legacy to his party.