Reference:- We have a problem here at The Sky Reply .

Reference:-   None of the Sky Reply team can stomach watching Sky News .  They are too awful. 

 

What to do what to do what to do ?     There is so much of importance going on in the world , and  Sky News doesn't cover actual real news . .   We are finding it impossible to watch Sky News these days . It would be  like watching a spoiled child in a cowboy suit shouting  " Look at me ! Look at Me ! " while the house is burning down . 

Besides , the Robodebt Royal Commission is so fascinating that we can watch little else .  

Anyway , more out of a sense of guilt than anything else , we decided to check on the progress of the war in Ukraine .  It seems that the Russians face crushing defeat , and ultimate humiliation . 

I guess that is why Mr Zelensky has just sacked his Commander of Joint Forces  , Eduard Moskaliov . 

No reason for the termination of his employment has been given , but I doubt it has anything to do with corruption .   Mr Zelensky sacked all the criminals in his military forces last year (and quite numerous they were too, by all accounts ) . 

I reckon it is just a well deserved retirement , after a job well done . 

With Putin soon to be defeated , the rebuild of Ukraine can begin .  It will cost billions , but the IMF can lend Ukraine  the cash . All they need do is add it on to the 150 billion quid Ukraine now owes the USA , because of the  Lend -Lease deal they signed for military equipment .  

  The United Kingdom only took 66 years to pay the USA back after WW2 , so it shouldn't be too onerous . After all , a sovereign nation should not feel obligated to another sovereign nation for too long .  That might encourage  tiresome meddling in domestic affairs . 

Ken junior reckons the war is far from over  , and I have been deceived by propaganda . 

He wrote a poem about it , which I include here in the hope that somebody can explain it to me . 

                                                The Unprovoked War     (  by Ken Junior )

                                  There once was a leader called Putin , 

                                   Whose goals were deemed highfalutin ,

                                   Then a war in Ukraine , 

                                   Allowed Wall St to gain , 

                                   Quite a lot , if you do the computin . 

Que ? 

Your comrade, Ken

 

                                                                                     

 

Reference :- Liberal Party Member for Aston , Alan Tudge , has decided to quit politics .

 Reference:-   The Liberal Party will soon face a by-election in a marginal seat . 

 

Gosh , the Coalition  really are on the ropes at present . Not a good time to be losing one of their golden boys .  Mr Tudge was one of the better qualified  Liberal parliamentarians , although despite his Law degree he did make a few legal blunders during his short political career .   The Federal Court may have accused him of " possible contempt of court " , and conduct that " can only be described as criminal " , but what would Judges in the Federal Court know about the Law?     Thank heavens the Coalition was able to stack the Administrative Appeals Tribunal  with a few sympathetic souls before things got out of hand .

Personally I thought he had the makings of a future Prime Minister.  He was brave enough to take a stand against gay marriage , reminding us of the "sanctity of traditional marriage " , something which he must understand extremely well following his unfortunate divorce over a love affair with his media advisor . 

The press went crazy over that " love affair " , but as he said , he may have spent time in bed naked with his media advisor but is that really an affair if , as he claimed , intercourse never took place ?  My son , Ken junior , finds the whole story quite implausible  .

" It's a brave man who admits to the world that he suffers from impotence due to performance anxiety  " , Ken junior said . 

" Don't be ridiculous . There are other reasons that could explain why intercourse never took place . ", I said 

" Too much tax payer funded Grange Hermitage  ? ",  Ken junior said .

  At any rate , we will never know what happened , because the woman in question sued over alleged verbal abuse ( or lovers tiffs ) and received more than half a million quid's worth of those taxpayer funds to keep her mouth zipped . 

It's a shame she couldn't keep her mouth zipped about the 27 year old who committed suicide following an incorrect 28,000 quid Robodebt  demand .   The leftist media fairly went to town over that one  . 

Sadly , Mr Tudge  then copped a verbal beating himself during his appearance at the Robodebt Royal Commission , and it seems that was the straw that finally broke his political back . 

 I am sure he will be greatly missed .

Your comrade , Ken

 

Reference :- Young Andy Bolt told us that the hysteria surrounding climate change reminds him of a religious cult .

Reference :-  Perhaps he has a point . 

Dear Andy , 

                       As usual you are spot on regarding climate change being just like a religion , and possibly the first to make such an astute observation .  Of course a few days ago the sad passing of Cardinal Pell had the Sky News team extolling the virtues of religion .   But that doesn't mean all religions are admirable .  The followers of each of the 2000 religions that bless the planet are quite certain that 1999 of them are rubbish.   And the climate change cult is obviously one of those irrational 1999. 

Ken junior asked me how belief in climate change could be like a religion , since the climate change model relies on scientific evidence , and the specifics of the model are subject to revision  as research progresses. 

" Religions cling to their dogma in spite of scientific evidence to the contrary . " ,  Ken junior said . 

Clearly the schools are no longer teaching religious instruction as they once did , so I had to set him straight , Andy . 

"  The parallels between religion and climate change are there if you care to look in the bible ." , I said . 

" How so ? " ,   Ken junior said . 

"Well for starters , do remember the bush fires ? ", I said 

" Of course .  Most of the bush around Kooralya burned . " , Ken junior said . 

"Exactly , and a burning bush features in the bible too ...can you see the similarity ? " , I said . 

Ken junior rolled his eyes. 

" And another thing , do remember the floods ? " ,  I said 

" Go on . " , Ken junior said . 

" Well there is a big flood in the bible too  . God allowed Noah and his kin to survive the deluge . " , I said . 

Ken junior  slumped  off , defeated by my logic . 

 " You ought to read about it  . Noah had to build an Ark ",  I shouted  . 

" Build an Arc yourself . "  , Ken junior shouted  . 

 For the love of God,  Andy , it is high time they starting teaching some logic  in our schools  . 

Your comrade , Ken

 

 

Reference :- Sky anchor , Peta Credlin , informed us of a dreadful new tax .

 Reference :-   It seems that tradies are being victimized by a new tax on their work trucks . 

Dear Peta , 

                   I was interested to hear your views on this dreadful new tax .  It's clearly just another tactic to remove cash  from the hardworking folk who are building the country , and hand it to woke dole bludgers who wouldn't even know how to drive a 500 horsepower SUV . 

Personally , I still run my old Kingswood ute , so I had to ask somebody down at the Kooralya pub to fill me in about this outrage . 

My mate Trevor has a big twin cab work ute . It has to be a work ute , because he has a tax deductible sign on the door with his phone number on it .  Mind you , I have only seen it when he has been towing his Jet Skis  to the lake, or his camper van to the national park . 

Trevor reckons he's glad he bought it before the purchase tax hike .  But at least he is still able to tax deduct the tyres , petrol ,rego , insurance , signwriting , mag wheels, ten ton recovery winch , long range tanks , bull bar ,  huge spotlights , and servicing costs .   Although I guess that is not much comfort . 

I asked Trevor why he chose that particular model of work ute , and he said as soon as he saw the ad on the tele showing one leaping over sand dunes and roaring through a creek in a rainforest he knew that was what he needed to carry his toolbox to work . 

It annoys me to think that people who drive little 4 cylinder hatchbacks don't pay as much sales tax . Admittedly Trevor' s  leasing  cost is tax deductible , but that is not the point . 

If some idiots want to drive an economical car , that is their lifestyle choice and I don't see why they shouldn't cop a tax for that .  Why should the rest of the community support their lifestyle choice ?

Anyway Peta , thanks for the heads up.  It wasn't quite as thought provoking as that " Bill Shorten wants to ruin the aussie weekend " headline from awhile ago , but that is a hard one to beat . 

Your comrade , Ken .

Reference :- Interest rates are going up again .

References :-   Will a raise in interest rates do anything helpful ? 

 

 Here at the Sky Reply we try to cover important issues in the hope of shedding some light where it is needed .  But on this occasion we feel unable to comment .  Economics is an extremely complex field , and it requires well qualified people as administrators . .   The causes of inflation are many , and the interaction between the causes and the supposed remedies very difficult to predict .

  Inflation  has been influenced by the war in Ukraine , Covid , supply chain difficulties , tensions with China , sanctions , political maneuvering , problems with the world fleet of container ships , greedy profiteering by monopoly companies , climate change , oil and gas prices , supply of microchips and raw materials , poorly regulated bank lending , de-industrialization , job losses caused by technical innovation .....and on and on . 

Fortunately all these factors in the economic equation can be balanced with fine adjustments to Reserve Bank interest rates , for which we must be very thankful .   

That is all we can say on the subject , so to fill the page , here is some  news from Kooralya . 

Young Monte has decided to restore his motorbike .  It certainly is well overdue for a freshen up , especially since the local cop made his recommendation . 

" That bike is an unroadworthy deathtrap . If I see it on the road again in that condition I will confiscate it and send it to be crushed straight after throwing you in the slammer .  "    the cop said . 

" Thank you for your kind recommendation , officer . " , Monte said . 

So the restoration is about to commence . There is not one part of the bike that doesn't need attention . 

Monte is broke , as usual , and has nothing in the way of tools . 

" You can borrow my shifting spanner . ",  I said . 

" That won't be enough. ",  Monte said . 

" Of course it will . It's adjustable . You can make it bigger or smaller so it will fit anything . ", I said . 

" What about the allen screws , and the phillips screws , and the slotted screws ,  and the spark plug socket, and the feeler gauges , and the ring compressor , and the voltmeter , and the tension wrench ? " ,  Monte said . 

" That's a lot to lend you at once . You can start with the shifting spanner and lets see how you go for a few days before we decide if you need anything else . " , I said . 

Monte grabbed the shifting spanner and slumped off. 

" And make sure you don't round off any bolt heads with it . " , I shouted . 

Your comrade , Ken .

Reference :- The Sky Reply has returned from holidays .

Reference :-  But what have we returned to ?  Sky News barely exists now, it seems. 

 Dear Sky News Team , 

 How is the new annum shaping up for you at the Murdoch studios ? 

  Is Chris Smith back with your outfit yet ? 

Surely after announcing that he has been off the grog  since the staff Christmas soiree  , all is forgiven .  I mean , how many " grovelling apologies " does a chap have to make before he gets his comfortably remunerated job back ?  Mind you , if he does return , it might be wise to give him an office as far away from young Andy Bolt's as possible ..... one whiff of whiskey fumes might trigger a relapse . 

 But gosh , it seems like the Sky News Team is a bit slow off the blocks this year .  Where are all your viewers ?  Admittedly , since the LNP  has been reduced to a handful of disheartened and jumpy crossbenchers , lead by a chap whose demeanor scares little children  , your opportunities for cutting edge non-partisan analyses of political events is greatly limited .  You can't always rely on the further irritating  adventures of Harry and Meghan for a story.  Nor will your insightful commentary on the  funeral of a formerly imprisoned Cardinal ,  hounded to an untimely death at the age of  81  ,  boost your ratings .  Furthermore , and  irritatingly , the new socialist government looks to be doing a fair enough job so far , making them hard to criticize .  

Maybe you could focus on the Robodebt Royal  Commission  ?  That sure has Ken junior glued to the tube each day .  It's all a bit too slow moving for me , but Ken junior reckons it is like watching the demise of Macbeth ... whoever he was .   I guess it's a good opportunity to assess the character of those who have had a go at running the country , by watching how they perform  in the witness box .   Even the former Prime Minister , Mr Morrison has enjoyed an appearance .  

I asked Ken junior how our former government ministers have handled themselves during the inquiry . 

" How have our former government ministers handled themselves during the inquiry? , I said . 

" They demonstrated nothing but blatant incompetence and smug obfuscation . " , Ken junior said . 

That shocked me . A callow youth like Ken junior should not be so cynical .   He clearly needed to view the proceedings again without being judgmental . 

" You need to view those proceeding again without being judgmental. " , I said 

" What for ? " , Ken junior said 

" You might  find that you change your mind . " , I said . 

Much to my surprise Ken junior did view them again , staying up all night .  Around 1am and 3am and 5am I got up to answer a call of nature ( although I didn't really have a pressing need ) and there was Ken junior in the lounge watching the replays , deep in thought . 

Over breakfast I couldn't wait to ask Ken junior if a second viewing had changed his opinion. 

" Has a second viewing changed your opinion ? " ,  I said . 

" It fairly has .  My opinion has been completely turned around . " , Ken junior said .  

" Completely turned around you say . I told you that would happen . So if you no longer think they revealed nothing but blatant incompetence and smug obfuscation , what do you think now ? , I said 

 " I think the opposite is true . It was the obfuscation that was blatant , and the incompetence that was smug . " , Ken junior said . 

 " Pass me the Weet -Bix  . " , I said . 

 Anyway , although Sky News would be a latecomer to the story , covering the Robodebt inquiry might be good practice for when the Independent Commission Against Corruption gets fired up.   You sure will need your pencils sharpened for that one .  

Don't forget that I thought of it first .

Your comrade , Ken .