Pell packing heat

JUST when Strewth thought nothing would dislodge the image of lapsed West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell from our head, he has been overtaken by a mental picture even more potent: Cardinal George Pell, packing heat.

JUST when Strewth thought nothing would dislodge the image of lapsed West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell from our head, he has been overtaken by a mental picture even more potent: Cardinal George Pell, packing heat.

The Catholic Church's heavy hitter has done the eight-week Community Awareness of Policing Program, designed to foster a fuller appreciation of what our hard-working wallopers do. There's marine search and rescue, public order and riot squads (sign us up!), forensic (then again . . .), ballistics and, yes, quality time on the firing range. According to The Catholic Weekly, others taking part at the invitation of NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione included Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen, former Test cricket captain Steve Waugh and NRL chief David Gallop, who may have been tempted in the past few Stormy days to use his new-found firearms skills. As Pell cracked hearty to the paper, "The outstanding experience was [I] finished up with a shooting record as good as Steve Waugh." Sadly, our quest to get Scipione's office to reveal who was the best shot went off like a dud round. What goes on at the firing range . . .

Too many questions

FOR those of us who find ABC1's Q&A a little too toe-curling to actually watch, there's always the transcript the following day, a thoughtful service that comes with its own particular treats. Such as this week, where the transcriber meant to type the name of host Tony Jones but instead accidentally entered the words "Her Honour", a slip as enigmatic as it is whimsical. But in other areas, it falls down a little; we're pretty sure Peter "Yes, we have no bandanas" FitzSimons delivered these words more powerfully than can be conveyed on a computer screen: "And with my son, not long ago, I was playing chess and I was white and he was black and I was winning and he started crying. And I said, `Why?' And he said, `Because this reminds me of what happened to the Aboriginal people.' " Scrabble, then?

Pay per view

CAN News Corporation now market a paywall with the magic words, "As endorsed by Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan"? Writing about the G20 finance ministers' meeting in his "Treasurer's Economic Note" this week, Swan provides a link to an article of his that appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Click on the link and you get the first two paragraphs, followed by the suggestion that if you'd like "to continue reading, subscribe now". It's nice to know even the keeper of the nation's purse strings approves. Sort of.

A bit on the side

EVEN in the realm of supreme tackiness, timing is everything. To wit, this announcement by Gleeden, which bills itself as "the premier extramarital dating website in Europe" and is threatening to set up shop in Australia: "We believe that the key to happiness for these victims of adultery is adultery . . . Gleeden's founders and an ever-growing group of users argue that often, when divorce is not an option, having a little on the side is the answer to making life good again."

Bob needs compass

WHEN Strewth surprised Bob Ellis last week by pointing out that an event he was scheduled to take part in was actually a Liberal Party fundraiser, an event he then pulled out of, it brought back happy memories for ABC presenter Anne Warburton: "Some years ago Ellis came to Tasmania briefly to do a fundraising gig for the Greens. We seized on the chance to get this notable eccentric into the studio for a face-to-face chat. My first question was: why was he doing a speaking gig for the Greens? Was he not a lifelong Labor man? He readily confessed that he'd mucked things up, thinking it was a Labor gig, and by the time he realised his error, his journey was under way (I think he came on the boat) and it was too late to pull out. He went through with it." Which is more than Ellis will be doing for the Libs.

Barnaby's absorbed

IT may have once been little more than bum fodder to him, but the Productivity Commission report these days clearly holds more appeal for federal opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce, who is once again using it as ammunition against the minister he shadows, Penny Wong. Here he is part way through an announcement yesterday: "I do not support how Penny Wong has implemented the buybacks. As the Productivity Commission recently stated, `there appears to have been insufficient forethought given to the design, scale and implementation of these initiatives.' " The Productivity Commission must be relieved its work is being recognised for more than just its softness and absorbency.

Pass me the probe

HARD on the heels of Stephen Hawking's warning to not tangle with extraterrestrials comes this contribution from The Northern Territory News, in which "high-profile Acacia Hills UFO spotter" Alan Ferguson reveals he has been getting visitors again: "They are back, son. It's always the way, right on cue. The dry season starts and there they are. They are like the grey nomads. Once the dry season comes, you can't get rid of them."