Paul Howes, what a piece of..........

"Faceless man" Paul Howes, one of the arseholes of the ALP/union clique who stole a Prime Minister from the nation in his first term of office and thus condemned his pals to a return to the political wilderness, always was and always will be a creep, and it appears he is a creep in every aspect of his life, a skid-mark on the fabric of Australian society. 
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/private-sydney/paul-howes-drama-takes-centre-stage-at-opera-house-ball-20141015-116h5t.html

Labor, Liberal; all members of the same elite social sets

http://redflag.org.au/article/don%E2%80%99t-worry-we%E2%80%99re-all-good-friends-here

A political quote to ponder from a wise ALP elder

"I've even, Paul, fought more Greens and Liberals and Nationals than you've done media interviews."  (cheers, applause and smiles from the audience at a left-wing conference) "Why don't you just put a sock in it for once?" 

That was a highlight of ALP Senator John Falkner's reply to union leader and ALP faceless man Paul Howe's attack on the Greens over voting preferences. A short excerpt of Howes' and Falkner's speeches can be viewed on the ABC TV show Insiders. In my opinion, the idea of attacking the Greens has many risks for the ALP, and Paul Howes has demonstrated a level of zero expertise in courting the voter.

Aston, Heath (2012) Put a sock in it, Falkner tells Howes. Sydney Morning Herald. July 15th 2012. 

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/put-a-sock-in-it-faulkner-tells-howes-20120714-222tr.html

Always amusing - Clarke and Dawe on the telly

What is the name of Paul Howes' electorate?

Is it the magic faraway tree?

John Clarke and Bryan Dawe
7.30
ABCTV
broadcast August 18th 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3296985.htm

Rudd at the National Press Club

It felt a bit like old times watching the Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd's recent address to the National Press Club. I don't have the interest or the background to be able give any type of serious review of the talk, but I do know that the former PM looked smart and confident, very much the way he performed in public speaking before his term as PM started to go pear-shaped. I thought he handled the questioning about "faceless men" with care and intelligence. Over the last five months or so there have been a few times when this interesting man has looked rather lost, but he's back now, for sure. If you wish to record this broadcast, I believe ABC 1 will be repeating it at some ungodly hour of the morning coming up.

http://www.npc.org.au/speakers/kevin-rudd.html

Wishing You an Unhappy Birthday

This evening our pathetic excuse for a national news TV channel ABC News 24 broadcast Prime Minister Julia Gillard giving a jocular speech in which she acknowledged the presence of a number of federal ALP colleagues at the celebration of the AWU's 125th anniversary at the Gold Coast. The list of ALP guests listed by Gillard consisted mostly of Wayne Swan and all of the infamous "faceless men", of which two have been leaders of the AWU, an influential union. Gillard made a joke about AWU leader Paul Howe's role in the coup that removed then-PM Kevin Rudd in June of 2010, an incredible lapse of taste in my opinion. It is no surprise at all that one major figure in the ALP was not mentioned in Gillard's list of party guests.

I'm guessing that Gillard might be keen to crack jokes with and slap the backs of her faceless pals, as there has been a persistent rumour repeated by a number of different sources lately that one of these unpleasant friends, Bill Shorten, is planning some type of coup to intall himself in Gillard's place. No, seriously, I am not making this up, this is not a joke, yes, apparently Shorten sees himself as our Prime Minister, not in 20 years time, but now. Yes, that bloke with the psycho-eyes. What's with the eyes? He must be as mad as he looks. Bill Shorten as PM? Imagine that. I can see rioting in the streets, Egypt style.

After all of the natural disasters that have been visited upon our great nation in the last few months, why couldn't a flaming fireball of a rogue asteroid plunge through the Earth's atmosphere just above the venue for this gathering and blast a hole of fiery destruction just big enough to wipe out these thoroughly dislikeable people? Why not?

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8210517/awu-national-conference-opens-in-qld

http://www.awu.net.au/712743.html

Paul Howes' book not really a disappointment, because I didn't expect much anyway

I have been reading the recent book by the "faceless man" Paul Howes titled Confessions of a faceless man. Originality is clearly not a trait that defines Mr Howes. This claustrophobic book gives the reader the viewpoint of Howes during the 2010 election, and it is a visit to a world of power, but also a limited and personal world. Mr Howes displays a lack of self awareness and social awareness in that he does not seem to realise that the whole world doesn't care who he likes or doesn't like, and doesn't attach the same importance to social ties and group membership that he does.

This book has done nothing to dispel my fear that petty personal antipathies were an important factor behind what they did to Rudd. Howes makes quite a few unsupported derogatory claims about Rudd's character in this book. It is alarming that Howes has shown in this book how willing he has been to assume that Rudd was the source of the infamous leaks that damaged the ALP during the 2010 election, assuming the worst about a man. I have found no account in the book of Howes attempting himself to investigate the truth of this matter.

I find it interesting that a man who has assumed so many adult responsibilities at an early age (Howes is a married father of three and the head of a major union at the age of 30, and left home to live independently at the end of year 9, forsaking an education), is so fond of using the term "grown-ups" when taking a snipe at people. I think Mr Howes might have unresolved issues of some type with early origins, and I wonder how much trouble those issues might have caused for everyone to date. Howes is an unusual man - every bit as unusual as Rudd, and I am surely not the only person who has noticed that Howes and Rudd seem to be opposite types - Rudd the socially clunky academic star and Howes with his street-smarts but no education. David Marr should have done a job on Mr Howes, but who would bother to write an essay about a faceless man?

I think it is also interesting that Howes tends to favour using terms such as "bizarre", "odd" and "strange" in reference to things or utterances of others that seem to be mistakes or questionable. Howes seems to be a man who would rather drop innuendos about possible mental heath issues of others instead of stating plain judgements. In this book Howes shows his herd-mentality with his fondness of the mental health diagnosis du jour of Australian commentators - he speculates about narcissistic personality disorder in relation to Latham and Rudd. This says so much more about Howes than it does about anyone else.

I find it interesting how little there is written in this book about those troublesome people beyond the world of the ALP, the media and the union movement. I'm talking about voters, the public. They don't get much of a mention in this book, except for references to undefined people who sent Howes abusive messages through his Twitter account. Howes' term for Twitter is "the shit room" for an obvious reason. I've read much of the book but I still haven't found any bit where Howes tackles the big question about Rudd's relationship with the ALP - the question of why the voters were so very willing to vote for Rudd in 2007, but in other actual elections haven't shown nearly the same electoral enthusiasm for the rest of the ALP for a very long time. Mr Howes seems to be so very wrapped up in his tight and collegiate but limited and sharply defined world that he has forgotten that the business of political parties is courting and winning votes, and then governing.

Another thing that is noticeably almost absent from this book is mention of the other "faceless men". I find it hard to believe that this absence is a reflection of the reality of the time that was supposedly chronicled in this election diary. I guess Howes did not want to paint a picture that looks like an evil conspiracy.

In December 2010 the Australian newspaper reported that Paul Howes is one of the protected sources / US embassy informants named in WikiLeaks cable number 08CANBERRA609. Mention of this matter is yet another thing that is absent from this book, but this is hardly surprising.

I'm sure many people reading this book will be wondering how the people in politics and the media described in this book get anything much done while they spend so much time drinking or recovering from drinking, but I'm sure this will surprise no one, considering the long association that the ALP has had with alcoholics and drunken bonding. It's another world.

If you are really interested in Paul Howes this book is worth a read, because it gives an insight into the psychology of the man, who is probably typical of other ALP figures. Howes' passion for defending the rights of refugees is displayed prominently in this book. But if you are hoping to discover any major new information about the events of June 2010, you will be disappointed.

Isn't this news? Isn't this BIG news?

This story was on the front page of the Australian newspaper today, Friday December 17th 2010. When I saw the paper at the Woolies supermarket today I thought "Gosh! She lies like a rug! What a scheming cow! Is it news that a pollie lies like a rug? Maybe not, but still the issue is rather important. I think it is news, but this evening I didn't notice the story on the TV news. I can't find the story on the ABC's news website and it is buried deep within the bowels of the Australian's website. WTF?

I'm also wondering why I can't find the cable that the story was based upon, cable number 09CANBERRA545, at the WikiLeaks website. The website of the Australian newspaper have published it, which can be found here:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/australian-wikileaks-cables/story-fn59niix-1225971723172

"Julia Gillard 'after top job a year before coup': WikiLeaks"
By Patricia Karvelas
The Australian
December 17, 2010
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-after-top-job-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-fn59niix-1225972416553
http://www.news.com.au/national/julia-gillard-after-top-job-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-e6frfkvr-1225972601117?from=public_rss