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Well, a Labor govt just charged me $400 rego for my little sedan. And greenslip cost another $400. $800 for nothing in return. Roads are still terrible, so what are they doing with the road tax? And with only few ks on the clock per month, why such a high cost for a greenslip? There's no other traffic. Talk about a total rip off. One day they'll cop it.
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They talk all the time about the projection of hard power in regard to foreign policy.
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onetrack, I'm a bit confused by your post and think you've misunderstood that. By hard power thay are not referring to Europe relying on US energy. The hard power refers to American military power, not America supplying energy. Hard power is a term the Americans use often to describe their military capability and the exercising of it's influence. I think he's saying that Europe relies on American protection but doesn't help finance it or respect it.
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Jerry, you dared critisise a Labor government. Go and wash your mouth out.
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An internet search brought up this from the Idaho State Legislature which I couldn't access But there was a report in the Idaho Capital Sun.
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Idaho is a beautiful state. I know people in Idaho as one of my best mates was from there. He was out here last year visiting and we got to catch up after a lot of years, but sadly he died suddenly three weeks after he went home. When he left here we were discussing his next trip back here in a couple of years time and the possibility of me going over there for a visit in the interim, as I haven't been there since the mid 80's. It's a very scenic place with the mountains and rivers and a nice slow, relaxed lifestyle a bit like we had here several decades ago. Not a big popuation, the capital has only 235,000 people. According to the mate, it hasn't changed much since I was there 40 years ago. His family live on the Snake River; attached is one of his photos of a canyon near their place.
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One US commentator noted that there was more strategy in the plot of Top Gun Maverick about a US attack on a uranium enrichment plant located in a deep, heavily defended bunker in a mountainous terrain in a nameless `rogue state' (meaning Iran), than there is in Trump's actual attack on Iran.
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It's a worry, isn't it?
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Did I hit a nerve? Where on earth did I mention corruption about the dropped Commonewealth Games? Again, putting words onto my keyboard, FFS. Why wasn't anyone else taking on the games - Andrews chose it when it was well on its way to not happening? Because there was sod all interest in them and no one was getting a sponsor. Was the intention of doing the communty good a noble one? Yes, but that alone does not make it a good decision. Imagine how much better for the community that money would have been spent. Not corruption - but incompetence - from a government I have also defended.. But hubris did sort of set in on that one. What - because I don't live in Australia, I can't opine on things in Australia? Hmmm. As an Aussie born, Aussie citizen who still pays tax in Australia - I can bleedin' well opine. As I recall it is a free world that we live in, right?
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No one else was offering to run the Commonwealth Games so they thought they Could take it on and benefit the Community at the same time but later changed their opinions about how useful the structures would be after the Games. What the hell is SO wrong with that? They weren't building seaside weekenders for themselves. You are good at suggesting corruption when you live as far away as is Possible from here. Where do you get such detailed info from? Nev
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I am not saying pulling out was the wrong thing. The decision to buy in as a knight in shining armour to the games that were about to be abandoned was a bad decision that almost everyone saw at the time (i.e. no hindsight). At least the SA govenment were trying to make something that hopefully likely had a shot at working for the sustained betterment of the community (disclaimer - I don't know too much about the background of that particualr H2 plant, so it oculs well have been a con job).
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I am no fan of the death penalty, but it doesn't seem a fait a compli that because there would be a death penalty, they will kill the victom, anyway. Rape is more often about exerting control than gratifying a sexual urge; and given the punishment can be severe (usuallky, not enough IMHO), if a parist is partial to killing the evidence, they will do so anyway. The US position on death penalty for non-death offences is far from settled, but it would be more difficult than not to see such a law passed held to be valid under the 8th Amendment: https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-8/non-homicide-offenses-and-death-penalty FWIW, which is not much, my opinion is that the death penalty in these cases is more about trying to remove the perpetratrors from the gene pool than any real deterrent.
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Pure right wing American, MAGA-land, unadulterated BS. This part is especially untrue - "The contradiction being that Europeโs energy systems, industrial bases, and geopolitical sermons ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐-๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ." Europes energy systems don't ALL depend on America. They get energy from Russia, from Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria for pipeline natural gas. They ship in millions of tonnes of Australian canola and turn it into transportation fuel. They ship in Uranium for nuclear power plants from Canada, Kazhakstan and Australia. They have huge hydro, windpower and solar energy projects. They have diversified their energy suppliers since the start of the Ukraine War. And at the end of the day, European consumers of energy use around one-quarter of the average American energy user. They drive fuel-efficient vehicles and EV's, not gigantic V8 fuel guzzling urban assault vehicles, and even their homes only use modest levels of energy because they're well insulated. It is pure American propaganda. The Europeans are primarily seeking a ceasefire, as they see massive global upheaval, a huge global recession, high interest rates, and vastly increased levels of unemployment, if this idiocy of Trump and his sycophants is left unchecked.
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James E Thorne is the one who is misunderstanding Trump's lack of strategy as strategy.
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Make the death Penalty Mandated and the rapist will kill the victims so they can't tell and the Penalty is No Higher anyway, so what have they got to Lose? Nev
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It is largely true, and the legislation has been passed by the Idaho legislature - but it hasn't been signed into law by the Idaho Governor yet. Then, it appears, if the law is signed by the State Governor, there will be a Federal legal challenge to it. https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/03/24/idaho-legislature-widely-approves-child-sex-abuse-death-penalty-bill-sending-to-governor/
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Source? Sounds fake. Even for the US
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Absolute shite. Trump couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.
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He called it sickening. He called it evil. Then he signed the two harshest laws in the country. No hesitation. In March 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed two laws that together created the harshest punishment framework for child sex offenders in the country. HB 380 made sexual abuse of children under 12 a capital crime punishable by death when at least three aggravating factors are present. HB 37 made the firing squad Idaho's primary method of execution, replacing lethal injection as the default. Both laws take effect on July 1, 2026. When signing HB 380, Little said: "The sexual abuse of children is sickening and evil, and perpetrators convicted of these crimes deserve the ultimate punishment." The House passed the death penalty bill 63 to 0. The Senate followed 30 to 5. Before HB 380, Idaho had no mandatory minimum sentences for child sex abuse. The state is spending $950,000 to retrofit its maximum security prison near Kuna for firing squad executions, and construction is already underway.
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Christmas Island had a Lot of Land Crabs and a big drop off the end of the Runway. Nev
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Just WHY would you take a lot of notice of THAT theory .Trump has NO idea of what he is doing and is well out of his depth. Nev
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๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ James E. Thorne (@DrJStrategy) published a piece on X that has racked up ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฌ in hours, and it deserves every one of them โ because it explains the single most misunderstood element of Trumpโs Iran strategy. The conventional criticism is that Trump is too slow to reopen Hormuz. The reality, Thorne argues, is that the delay ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฒ. Trump is deliberately withholding the American security guarantee at the moment of maximum stress โ not because he canโt clear the Strait, but because doing so too quickly would let Europe go back to sleep. For decades, Western allies built their economies and green energy mandates on a silent assumption: ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ณ. They ran down their militaries, underfunded NATO โ the U.S. carries ๐๐% ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ โ and lectured Washington about multilateralism from the comfort of a security blanket they never paid for. Then Trump pulled the blanket. On March 15, he told the world that countries receiving oil through Hormuz should โtake care of that passageโ themselves. The initial response was exactly what Thorneโs thesis predicts: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declared โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑโ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ค๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ and added โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ.โ Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the UK all initially rejected the call. Then the pain arrived. Oil surged from $๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ $๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฅ. Tanker traffic through the Strait dropped ๐๐%. Over ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ anchored outside waiting for safe passage. European energy prices spiked. The โnot our warโ posture became economically untenable. Two weeks later โ on April 2 โ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ launched a coalition to secure the Strait. The UK hosted the inaugural meeting. Europe didnโt just join โ theyโre now scrambling to lead, with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper chairing the talks. The very nations that said it wasnโt their problem are now volunteering ships. Thorne frames it in Hegelian terms: Trump โ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐บ ๐ด๐บ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ.โ The contradiction being that Europeโs energy systems, industrial bases, and geopolitical sermons ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐-๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ. The prize isnโt just reopening a chokepoint. Itโs a reordered system where access to secure oil flows is ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ โ not assumed as a right. A world where the United States sits at the center of the hydrocarbon chessboard. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ. ๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐จ๐ $๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐.
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Personally, I reckon he's gone somewhere else. Nev
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The Minister responsible is the Best one to ask. I would NOT respond to a question out of the Blue from an Unknown enquirer who you would not have a clue what they were asking for and in what context. I've Had people who I would only Make a statement to IF they agreed to NOT fiddle with it. Most questions I have Asked of Pollies did not Provide a satisfactory answer but I have a few I regularly discuss things with. Nev
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Nice, still would have been nice to get an answer from the politicians if you make the effort to contact them.
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