From the Eulogy to Gough Whitlam.

"And 38 years later we are like John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin's Jewish insurgents ranting against the despotic rule of Rome, defiantly demanding "and what did the Romans ever do for us anyway?"

Apart from Medibank
and the Trade Practices Act,
cutting tariff protections
and no-fault divorce in the Family Law Act,
the Australia Council,
the Federal Court,
the Order of Australia,
federal legal aid,
the Racial Discrimination Act,
needs-based schools funding,
the recognition of China,
the abolition of conscription,
the law reform commission,
student financial assistance,
the Heritage Commission,
nondiscriminatory immigration rules,
community health clinics,
Aboriginal land rights,
paid maternity leave for public servants,
lowering the minimum voting age to 18 years
and fair electoral boundaries
and Senate representation for the territories

Apart from all of this, what did this old Roman ever do for us?"

AusGeoff wrote on Jan 11^th, 2024 at 8:07pm:


The highlighted bits are lies. The rest is very far from 'ultra'. 

MeisterEckhart wrote on Jan 11^th, 2024 at 10:23pm:



HOUSTON, TX — Greg Harrington, 32, decided it was finally time to take control of his adult life and learn some new information, sources confirmed Monday. "Maybe I'll figure out how to buy Bitcoin, or learn what Bitcoin even is," he muttered to himself while getting ready for his part-time evening job serving at Chili's. "It's a new year - time to gain some new skills and really better myself."

Sadly, Harrington's attempt was immediately thwarted as he discovered his brain's storage capacity was filled to its limit with quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Every time Harrington attempted to learn a new fact that would actually help him in life, his brain immediately rejected it, instead retaining useless quotes like "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" and "Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!" Despite hours and hours of intense study in self-help books and YouTube explainer videos, Harrington could retain not a single fact that would help him in his adult life, though he could still quote the Black Knight scene word-for-word.

"Oh well," he said sadly. "So be it. Come, Patsy!" He then rode off on an imaginary horse, with his friend Christopher banging two coconuts together behind him.

Experts say Harrington isn't alone in his plight, with millions of millennials only being able to quote Monty Python sketches, useless Star Wars Expanded Universe facts, or obscure bits of Lord of the Rings trivia rather than retain any useful information whatsoever. "It's a real problem faced by increasing numbers of young adults," said one leading researcher in Monty Python studies. "You might say it's only now we see the violence inherent in the system."

At publishing time, Harrington's girlfriend had asked him if he could explain cryptocurrency to her, but he could sadly only reply, "Ni! Ni!"

Frank wrote on Jan 12^th, 2024 at 9:00am:


Nope.  Facts.

As far as I am concerned, Whitlam only features in the "May God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor General" and those Leggos television commercials. Other than that, I have not heard shhtuff from him. I did not even remember his death notice.

“. . .nothing will save the Governor General. . .”

The contrast between Gough and SA Premier at the time Don Dunstan was comic, Gough being such a big man and Don small beside him.

During Rudd’s Apology speech Gough stood next to Malcolm Fraser, one hand on Malcolm’s shoulder for support.