Barack Obama’s roast at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
WHCD is the annual dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association, and is always one of the best nights on the political calendar each year. Well worth a watch.
Jimmy Kimmel at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Best Washington event of the year, without a doubt. Always hilarious
Breath of Life - Florence + the Machine
Bank of America Just Dumped A Client Because They Manufacture Guns
9:04 Apr 22nd, 2012 | 0 notesTotally freaking awesome!
This isn’t the first time BoA have tussled with their gun-toating customers. They got the NRA angry in 2010, and ticked off an Arizona-based company in 2001.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Bank of America.
The Economist’s Writing Style Guide
6:29 Apr 22nd, 2012 | 1 note
A good read for any budding journalist. I also know of someone (@dominicmay) who will find it helpful when writing essays.
The first requirement of The Economist is that it should be readily understandable. Clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought. So think what you want to say, then say it as simply as possible. Keep in mind George Orwell’s six elementary rules (“Politics and the English Language”, 1946):
- Never use a Metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out.
- Never use the Passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a Jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
(Source: economist.com)
"To say that most American political discourse takes place at the intellectual level of baboons would be an insult to baboons."
-6:31 Apr 21st, 2012 | 1 noteThe Economist—abhorring recent Republican budget cuts to food stamps by $33.2 billion while the F-35 program just went another $17 billion over budget.
Our cost-benefit calculations here are obviously ridiculously out of whack. We are talking about forcing large numbers of actual Americans into poverty to qualify for food stamps, in order to guard against an imperceptible increase in the risk that at some point America’s overwhelming dominance in air superiority in every corner of the globe might marginally degrade, leading to…what? What is the risk? What is the threat? How much actual food are we willing to take out of the mouths of poor Americans right now, to ensure that we have a couple of hundred more American fighter jets that are even more dominant over Chinese or Russian fighter jets decades from now in a hypothetical war of a variety that is almost certainly never, ever going to happen again? How many poor families’ dinners do you have to take away to pay for our 2,443rd F-35? In a non-monetary sense, how many poor families’ dinners is our 2,443rd F-35 worth? Because I have trouble seeing how it’s even worth one.
Take it from me: The Economist’s columnists are not normally anywhere near this impassioned about an issue.
(Source: economist.com)
The mining industry is in full political mode at the moment, running ads in The Australian and The Australian Financial Review in the lead-up to next month’s budget. The Global Mail runs through these ads, and finds many of their claims wanting.
A central claim in the ads is that Australian mining already pays 500 per cent more in taxes and royalties than it did 10 years ago. Yet not a word is said about the tear-away profits of the industry. And nothing of where those profits go. The ads are also silent on the estimated $10 billion a year which Australian taxpayers hand to mining companies by way of tax breaks and subsidies.
The Australia Institute (a left-leaning think tank) found that 83% of the Australian mining industry is foreign owned.
That, according to the Australia Institute study, means that some $42 billion worth of pre-tax mining industry profits flowed out of Australia to foreign investors over the last financial year. And, over the next 10 years, pre-tax profits for mining will be around $600 billion, which means that $500 billion of those profits will be shipped offshore.
Additionally, the study found that on average, only 4% of superannuation funds’ portfolios are mining related. And if you thought miners are right to complain about their taxes: the industry pays an effective tax rate of less than 15%, half that of the nominal 30% business tax rate.
The point is not to bash the mining industry, but that their tirade against increased taxation might be misplaced given that the Australian tax-payer gives them $10 billion dollars a year.
Check out the report here, which contains many more eyebrow-raising findings.
(Source: theglobalmail.org)
A closer look at US Federal Government mandatory spending from the Congressional Budget Office
Zooey Deschanel is in a iPhone ad! And it’s adorable!
Clearly, this story was never meant to be about Christine Forster and her views on marriage equality.
It was designed to neutralise Tony Abbott’s opposition to marriage equality by showing him in the best possible light – moderates will give him the nod him for accepting his sister, and religious conservatives will be happy he has loved the sinner without condoning the sin.
The theme has been picked up in letters to the editor across the nation. But in case it’s not obvious enough, Christopher Pearson has spelt it out:
“The story of Abbott’s gay sister and her partner…won’t do him any damage at all. On the contrary, I’m sure most people can empathise with him.
Deciding not to behave in a judgmental way in such circumstances doesn’t mean that you’re obliged to abandon a considered position on sexual ethics or on marriage … Nor does it prove you’re a hypocrite. It just means that the Christian imperative to love one another trumps all other considerations.”
Rarely in Australia has a coming out story been spun so shamelessly to excuse anti-gay prejudice.
—Rodney Croome
It’s just lovely to know that we can ‘empathise’ with Tony Abbott in this day and age. How unfortunate that he has a gay sister, yet he still loves her! What an amazing brother! What a generous heart he has! So filled with compassion, understanding, and tolerance! It is wonderful that Tony has chosen to stand by his sister even though she is encumbered by this ailment. Such a principled stand! What a brave and strong individual he is!
…
Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were playing as characters from the 1920s.
What do you mean this is a real thing!?
So Tony Abbott’s sister is actually gay, and that hasn’t changed his mind on marriage equality? So he’s ‘compassionate’ for sticking by his sister? What, did we think he’d publicly disown her or something? We’re praising Tony for the fact that he didn’t kick his sister out of the family after finding out she’s in a committed relationship? Biggest load of bull I’ve ever heard in my life.
What kind of brother actively promotes discrimination against his sister, and stands in the way of her being happy? Heartless bastard.
(Source: abc.net.au)
