Say what you like about Australia Day but it did give us a Prince Philip knighthood

The day after. The Australian’s Strewth column celebrating Prince Philip’s knighthood, January 27, 2015:

Once upon a time, Tony Abbott spoke of scraping the barnacles off the boat. Yesterday, in an about-face, he surprised his colleagues by bringing a barnacle into work — one far, far heftier than anyone had imagined possible. One can imagine his colleagues standing about in flabbergasted ­silence, until one finally channelled Roy Scheider in Jaws and murmured, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Britain’s Telegraph, October 1, 2015:

Asked about his widely ridiculed awarding of a knighthood to Prince Philip — a move which led to an ­initial unsuccessful partyroom challenge — Mr Abbott said: “Obviously it was an injudicious appointment, ­obviously.”

Bill Shorten trying hard not to politicise Australia Day, yesterday:

Doesn’t matter if you’re on the far right or the far left, Australia Day shouldn’t be an idiot magnet for a few yobbos and idiots. Australia Day is a day of national reflection. It’s our national day. But when we look at Australia Day we’ve got to understand, and take the good with the bad and the bad with the good. Today’s a great day for all the new citizens but it also is a day of great pain, in particular for our first Australians. It’s a public holiday, that’s a great chance to celebrate, but what I would say to the idiots who want to politicise Australia Day and cause trouble: You’re not welcome.

Different strokes. Labor MP Ed Husic on Sky News, on Thursday:

I love talking about Labor Party ­reforms — it’s so much fun.

True to his word, Husic continues:

Husic: Thinking about scenarios and potential moves and what might happen is sort of the political equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons. You know, you enter a darkened caucus room and a rules wizard approaches you and offers you these different ­scenarios, and which one do you take — cue the sound of the rolling dice. I mean, please, it’s so far removed from our ­reality that no one’s seriously ­entertaining it.

Kieran Gilbert: Uh-huh, OK, well Ed Husic, thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Corbyn and Trump, together at last. The Times of Israel, on Thursday:

The Anti-Defamation League sharply criticised the leader of (British) ­Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, for failing to mention Jews or anti-Semitism in a Holocaust memorial statement he put out … US President Donald Trump similarly came under fire last year for an International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that didn’t mention Jews.

Just asking the big questions. The Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday:

Does Reese Witherspoon have three legs on the cover of Vanity Fair?

Third time’s the charm. Pedestrian, yesterday:

… in another image from the shoot, a Twitter user noticed that Vanity Fair had somehow managed to give Oprah three hands.

De La Soul on Three Feet High and Rising (1989):

Three, that’s a magic number.

Liberty, egality, insanity. The BBC, yesterday:

A discount on Nutella has led to violent scenes in a chain of French supermarkets, as shoppers jostled to grab a bargain on the sweet spread. Intermarche supermarkets offered a 70 per cent discount on Nutella … But police were called when people began fighting and pushing one another. “They are like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took a box on her head, another had a bloody hand,” one customer told French media ... All of their stock was snapped up within 15 minutes and one customer was given a black eye, the ­report adds.