Tag Archives: trillions

If Barnaby’s An Idiot, Then What About The Financial Review?

1 Aug

Media Release – Senator Barnaby Joyce, 1 August, 2011:

B the t’s

Long, long ago I remember getting my b’s and t’s confused, and my b solidly kicked by the fourth estate after a National Press Club event, apparently this syntax error was punishable by immediate dismissal.

I must admit when I see the same mistake on the front page of the Financial Review, I do have the expectation that News of the World like the paper should be removed immediately as a literary abomination.

“The US government’s $US14.3 trillion ($13 billion) debt ceiling will further harm the US’s faltering economic recovery”

Of course if the US debt is only $13 billion, then even I would have to say that they don’t have much of a problem, considering now that Australia’s debt ceiling is at $250 billion, which is quarter of a trillion dollars. Australia has to realise that we have extended our debt ceiling and our gross debt amount is currently $194.74 billion.

For all the other problems that the Labor party is responsible for, including the closing down of the live cattle trade, building the education revolution, closing down fishing, closing down forestry and piece de resistance, the carbon tax fiasco, the thing we have to always remember is that the debt keeps growing, just like a cancer, always with excuses of how we are going to cure it later.

Even now, after his prophetic warnings about US debt caused him to be run out of town (and his job), the arrogant and hypocritical fourth estate cannot help but slyly ridicule Senator Joyce.

Here’s Barefoot Investor (and populist self-promoting shill) Scott Pape:

A few weeks ago three older ladies, presumably in their 60s, bailed me up after a speech I’d given. All were still working. None had a choice – they didn’t have enough in superannuation.

My explanation of the miracle of compound interest didn’t wash with these ladies. They were at the end of their working lives and were scared about losing their money again. The Global Financial Crisis was seared into their memory, because they’d seen their life savings cut in half.

Their belief in the system has been shattered. They have little faith that our politicians have a handle on the situation, and it’s little wonder: the party leaders are too busy scoring cheap political points and favouring spin over substance.

“I now listen to that Barnaby Joyce”, said one of the ladies. “He said the US was going broke, and everybody said he was an idiot. But he was right.”

She had a point. Then again, it struck me that we really are in uncharted territory when Barnaby Joyce starts to make sense.

Couldn’t help yourself, ‘eh Scott?

As usual, throughout the history of humanity, it is our silvery-haired elders who are the true repositories of wisdom and common sense.

And yet, our world is steered into hole after hole after hole, by know-it-all, clueless, mainstream-false-theory-peddling, TV-camera-friendly young smart arses like Scott Pape.

Media Confuses Millions, Billions

11 May

Oh the joy of being an unaccountable media scumbag!  Having the power to destroy the credibility (and ministerial career?) of Senator Barnaby Joyce for a mere slip of the tongue over “millions” and “billions”… yet not even being able to get it right yourself.  In print!

Count the number of times two different “esteemed” media services have got it wrong themselves in this news story, from The Australian, via AFP:

Europe agrees to aid package with EU and IMF funds that could top $1bn

From: AFP May 10, 2010 – 11:08AM

  • Europe to give $630m in aid
  • With IMF contributions aid could hit $1bn
  • Struggling euro expected to surge on deal

EUROPE has agreed a package of crisis aid for troubled eurozone countries totaling “more than 500 billion euros,” ($718 million) which will be topped up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a European Union diplomat told AFP.

The fund would be made up of €440 billion from eurozone countries and another €60 billion of loan funds coming from the European Commission, with more again from the IMF, the source said.

Spanish finance minister Elena Salgado suggested the IMF’s involvement could take the package up to €720 billion.

I’m guessing that the total amount they’re talking about – the figure that should be in the headline – is $1 Trillion. And therefore, that the “more than 500 billion euros” mentioned in the first paragraph should have had “($718 billion)” written after it.  And not “($718 million)”.

Cretins.