THE MEANING OF OZ - All you need to know!

Sorry, george, but I've been studying these issues in depth for years, much more than a decade. You have not.

I've studied and done many things in great depth for over ten years, but have never considered my knowledge or understanding of any of it to be beyond doubt, criticism or disagreement. How did you become infallible?

That's certainly a very good way to preserve any errors or innocence that may remain. Moreover it is a hallmark of a closed mind. Unfortunate.

George. You appreciate that I'm quite fond of you and probably will be able to sense that in what follows, I am striving to be delicate and to avoid using the descriptor "jackass".

I'm not infallible. I don't argue much or make big claims in a broad range of subjects I haven't studied. I continue to read and study in areas of interest and relative expertise precisely because I don't know enough even in those things.

If I were to make some sweeping claims in, say, economics or string theory or the politics of the Ukraine, anyone who has studied that subject seriously would recognize immediately that I'm untutored in the area.

But in those focused areas where I do have knowledge and expertise through serious study (in our case here - modern US conservative movement, media and conservative media, marketing/PR/propaganda techniques) I find it rather easy to spot speakers who haven't engaged in such study with any seriousness.

Further on jackassess...

To try and toss this thread back to the its rightful owners and proprietors, I was about to make a gag segue to the famous Aussie rugby team, the All Blacks. But as I know sweet fuckall about rugby, I thought I'd better do some diligence. Good thing too as if I'd proceeded as planned, anyone who knows anything about the subject would have read this bit and said to themselves, "Bernie, you frigging jackass"

Clearly, the All Blacks are from New Zealand.

Yes, as my diligence revealed. But this morning, we are celebrating jackassiosity and I didn't want to be excluded.

All Blacks - a very touchy subject here and now

Not to me.

If I'm going to be doing any touching, the here and now would be my pick.

Not if it involved the All Blacks

perhaps a more localised here....

A less encompassing here.

Can't we all just get along

You mean like Aussies and Poms during the ashes?

Um...maybe. But I love the term, "the ashes". It might be a contest between, on the one side, a group of clinical depressives and on the other, a team of existentialists. They just lie down on the field. If there's any activity, it might be a spiritless kick towards own goal. I'd watch that for a while.

Apparently, and excruciatingly, not. Just look at the news!

Yes. We're a pretty tawdry species at the macro level. And hell, even marriage relationships are impossible. I think the only half decent formulation is the hunter/gather sized community, given a good supply of fermented berries and womenfolk's rich lore in natural lubricants.

coming up again!

Bogan
A fascinating beast. The majority of the species are hideously repugnant and unintelligent, and yet they manage to breed in ever-increasing numbers and populate an area known as the outer west. It is quite common to find five or six offspring in each family group, often with a different father for each new baby.
Their habitat consists of a weatherboard or brick-veneer dwelling and is characterised by an early-model Holden or Ford in the driveway surrounded by a group of males discussing why the carby is stuffed and the results of last night's footy (a primitive gladiator-like spectator sport enjoyed by most bogans).
The female of the species, while smaller in stature, is far more loud and aggressive than the male. While the males tend to be very friendly and congregate with other males, the females spend most of their time in supermarkets and shopping malls, using a shrill high-pitched call to discipline their children and contact other females.
Males and females rarely interact socially except during breeding season, which is otherwise known as Friday night. During this time, females are allowed to enter the male-dominated area known as "the pub" and display their impressive coloured plumage to a prospective mate.
Herein lies an intersting phenomenon. Males will often fight over a particularly attractive female and she will mate with only one male, while some less attractive females have been known to have several partners simultaneously.