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Tell them it's a BAY and a PORT. The Gulf of America is between Trumps EARS. Nev

When it comes to public toilets I can think 2 facilities that are unisex nearby. One is by the water near the pier. It is two long columns of cubicles with a long row of sinks. The other is in the arts centre. This facility is pretty swish. It is a large area of sinks, mirrors hand driers etc and around the outside of the walls are cubicles some marked unisex others marked male or female for those who care. As FH pointed out this is old news in many countries. I remember my father telling me that when he travelled to Japan 40 years ago. He was momentarily surprised when washing his hands at a sink that there was a young woman next to him putting on makeup. He had not realized at first that it was unisex and thought maybe he had gone into the wrong toilets, but he was fine with it. Whilst I can see that change causes issues that will need to be sorted such as sport, I can not see why people get so flustered by this. I have a neighbour who moved in about 5 years ago. This young woman seemed very reluctant to engage in conversation, That was fine, I am naturally inclined to chat to anyone. Gradually I noticed that they were transitioning. It did sadden me that this person probably thought due to our age that we might be hostile, nothing could be further from the truth. Four years later my wife and I are pretty good friends with this person. Their defining characteristics for us are their wit, intelligence and kindness. I don't give a toss what their chromosomes are.

My 93 yr old Italian neighbour, Barney, has a Rheem instantaneous (natural) gas HWS. It stopped working, so he came over to see what could be done about fixing it. His English isn't good, and he has zero knowledge of the "computer world" - and he's deaf as a post, too - so it's all hard work for him. I told him he could call Rheem, they have their own plumbers and repair vans, but it would most likely cost between $400 and $500, even if it was a simple part. If it needed more repair, it might be cheaper to replace it (it's a 2012 model), which he understood pretty well. I told him Rheem take $200 deposit out of your credit card just to initiate a callout - and their minimum charge is $260. Of course, he doesn't have a credit card, he only uses cash at all times! - and when I said they would send him messages via his phone, he decided that wasn't the way he wanted to go (he has a cheap mobile, but hardly knows how to use it, and he only keeps it "for emergency"). So he said he had a plumber mate down at the Italian club, and he'd ask him if he could fix it. A week later, I asked how he was getting on with it. He said his mate looked at the unit, figured out it was "an electric part" that needed replacing, and it would take 2 weeks to get the part, and install it. I was surprised, I told him Rheem parts were easy to get, and Rheem will repair it in a day or two. He said, "I don't think my mate wants to repair it, would it be easier and quicker to get a new one?" (a new replacement gas HWS is $1350 for a basic installation here, and it goes up if any difficulties are encountered). I said, "Rheem will repair it for you quickly, and as I said, it will probably be $400-500, do you want me to organise it?" He looked relieved and said "Yes, I'll pay you what it costs, and pay you as well!" I said, "I don't need any payment Barney, but I'll get it organised for you". I rang Rheem and inquired about parts supply, and they said they can supply almost any part needed for nearly all Rheem HWS's in use, and the worst wait would be 2-3 days. So I got them to put me through to Rheem service, where the (older) lady was very good. She took all my details down carefully and read them back, and advised the $260 minimum and $198 up-front charge (which I knew about), and initiated a call-out. I got a text with the job allocation number within minutes, and the next text was advising the job would be done the following day. The following day I got a couple of texts advising the repairers timing of arrival, and he arrived pretty much on time, in the early afternoon. He quickly diagnosed the problem as a U/S igniter (about a $40 part) and he had one in his van - but the model of HWS Barney had was a bugger to work on, because it was older and the igniter was buried deep in the HWS. He set to, and had to undo about 50 screws and pull off part after part, panel after panel and bracket after bracket. After about 45 minutes, he had the igniter out. He said the current models were a doddle to repair the igniter, and he would've had it done in 10 mins, if it was a current model. When I asked him about the life of a gas HWS, he bluntly stated. "10 years!". So he reckoned this one was past its use-by date! - but it still looked O.K. and didn't show any signs of corrosion. He pulled a new igniter out of his van and had it in and finished about an hour and 15 mins after starting the job. He signed it off and left, and the HWS was working spot-on. I went to my computer and there was the bill! - $339.13 in total - and the money was already gone from my credit card! I went and told a grateful Barney, gave him the invoice (the job was booked in his name and he would need the invoice for any claims), and he insisted on giving me $340 plus $50 for my trouble - despite me insisting I didn't need any payment, I just wanted to make sure he could have a hot shower! I think he got out of it pretty lightly, cost-wise, and he would've almost certainly have been ripped off by private plumbers.

The negative results of his actions haven't hit home yet, they are still living on euphoria. It's only been 7 days. Seeing all the pre-election crap and comments on Farcebook, they are expecting miracles. Give it 3 or 4 months and things don't improve the way they hope, eg. cheaper eggs, gasoline, groceries, etc., and the impact of his policies on the cost of medicines, education, etc. start to hurt, that euphoria will evaporate.

Well, the daughter finished her A Levels (HSC/VCE equivalent) last year. She didn't quite do as well as she expected for one of her subjects, which was her best during the year. In fact, she scored a C (we still use the old letter system here). Bitterly disappointed, her school were fantastic. A little background, the examination boards here are.. privatised.. so any questioning of their results has two impacts - additional cost (less profit) and, if they agree (ie.e conceded, or admit they were wrong), reduced reputation with the government that pays them. She scored a C, and needed a high B or a low A with her other subjects to get into her chosen course. Her teacher was adamant she was at least a low A, and the examination board did concede that they were short staffed (aka didn't pay enough) and for my daughter's region, there was an inexperienced examiner. Our initial "review", which cost us £150 was immediately rejected. So we lodged a formal appeal. I aksed the school if there were others in her class, and she said all of them were poorly marked. I suggested a sort oif class appeal, but because they all got into their chosen courses, or went on to work or for their gap year, no one was interested. So we appealed. It takes some time and was something like £300, with a refind if the appeal is upheld. Designed to keep poorer people from appealing, I guess, we went with the appeal. After reading her paper, and the markers comments, they didn't tally, so I was confident it would get through - just by how much though, and would it be enough? My daughter, rather than travelling and taking a lesser course, decided she would sit a 4th subject. It meant doing a two year subject in one year, but because she was only doing the one subject, it was easy. But, it did cost as it was only available in that format at a private college. She has gone to the first term and then started th second. However, we got the results of her appeal, which I was minded to complain about because it only just took her into the B grade.. And her teacher from the original school is fantastic, called us, and asked if we wanted to challenge the appeal. At this stage, it would go to the local educational authoritym which is the government. My daughter decided to lodge her application for the course she wanted - Law at one of the Russel universities (sort of Ivy leagie of the UK and incudes Oxford and Cambridge - but her chosen university is neither of those). She just got the notice that shed has been accepted unconditionally, and is over the moon, as are all of us! BTW, she cose law all be herself. Both my partner and I agreed to not push or otherwise recommend either child into a vocation/profession - we would advise if they asked. And to top it off, she has just scored herself a temporary job at the local nucelar plant as well (security clearance permitting), paying almost average wage... Good on her.

lol this is going around a few of my local Geelong groups.

What a load of tosh

Still can't answer simple questions of your assertions, eh? Have to deflect to something else? What Vance was advocating was hate speech.. the same stuff that led to the riots in the UK on an unfounded lie that attributed a horrible knife attack to asylum seekers, when it was a local person. The lie was perpetrated by Nigel Farage, and accused the police of covering up to protect asylum seekers, when he knew it was an adolsecent and the police cannot release the identity of the accused of under 18s without a court order. To restore peace, the court allowed the identity of the child to be released. Interesting how the community where the choild was killed totally condemned the action and accused thugs from outside of their areas coming an and laying waste to their community - and it is a mostly white community at that. Nigel Farage, as an MP, claimed publicly he had it on good authority that the accused was an asylum seeker. On whose authority did he have? It was Andrew Tate, a right wing mysoginist in jail in Romania on remand for people trafficing charges for prostitution. Funny how there is little consequence for spewing that BS today, and Vance want's more of it. I am all for free speech, but also for the free speaker to be accountable with real consequences when they are intentionally whipping up hatred. And Vance doesn't think that should be the case. BTW, no one is saying people can't say things that aren't true - just keep vilification out of it. I don't think there is a problem with that. But, in response to you "truth hurts".. No, the truth is the truth. And it doesn't hurt per se. I am despondent that despite centuries of progress, and being the wealthiest humanity has ever been, our old foibles seem to remain. Just because Trump won the election, doesn't mean people were right for electing him, anymore than at a time, most people thought the earth was flat, the universe revolved around the earth, and I could go on. People get sucked in all the time. But I am despondent that despite all the information that is at our fingertips, people are still can be polarised, they are too lazy to look at the facts and are prepared to listen to lies that comfort them. It certainly makes thisd person angry: It appears the farmers are starting to have second thoughts on their MAGA saviours: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-usda-funding-freeze-farmers-tiktok-project-2025-2029137. Corporate Americal is having buyers' remorse: And so it goes on. I would say the truth about Trump, which was easily discovered, is starting to hurt. I am, however, despondent.. at so many levels.. not about Trump.. he is a product of his time and population, but how a country that supposedly holds the constitution so dear and freedom.democracy as sacrsanct could descend into 1930's Germany... so easily, when the altnerative was working so much better for the people. The right seem to be better marketers, and let's face it, the fourth arm of government, which is not what Musk was talking about, the press, is paid for by Corporate America - and therefore, the arm of government that who have the most influence are doing who's bidding?

BREAKING: Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center implodes in humiliating fashion as droves of talented celebrities abandon the legendary performing arts center in protest. Trump is radioactive with the people he wants to impress most... Actress Issa Rae announced on Instagram in a brief statement that she is cancelling her "An Evening With Issa Rae" event slated for next month. Tickets will be refunded. "Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue," she wrote. Trump made himself chairman of the center on Wednesday. Earlier this week he removed Biden appointees from the board and rammed in unqualified cronies including Second Lady Usha Vance and White House Chief of staff Susie Wiles. Mega-successful television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes — the woman behind hit shows like Grey's Anatomy, Bridgerton, and Scandal among others — resigned as treasurer of the center's board yesterday. She posted a quote from JFK on her Instagram: "If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him." Legendary soprano Renée Fleming resigned as artistic advisor to the center and while she avoided naming Trump, she praised David M. Rubenstein — the center's former chairman who was ousted. Singer and songwriter Ben Folds stepped down from his role as advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra, which the Kennedy Center oversees. "Given developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I am resigning as artistic adviser to the N.S.O. Mostly, and above all, I will miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra — just the best!" Folds wrote on Instagram. Adam Weiner of the band Low Cut Connie has also canceled an appearance at the center next month. "Upon learning that this institution that has run nonpartisan for 54 years is now chaired by President Trump himself and his regime, I decided I will not perform there," he wrote on social media, adding that friends and fans were going to be "directly negatively affected by this administration’s policies and messaging." This is the kind of rejection that infuriates Donald Trump more than anything. He has long wanted to be accepted by America's cultural elites. Instead, they see him for the cruel, fascist, incompetent failure he truly is.

You literally just described Trump.

I think you're missing the point. Regardless of who owns the factories, they're employing Australians. If Trump puts tariffs on Australian goods then the price goes up in the US, which means it either gets passed to the consumer or they stop importing as much. In either case demand for Australian products goes down and that could lead to a loss of Australian jobs. That's why Albo will talk to him. Hopefully he understands that when dealing with vindictive bullies of limited intellect, crawling will not work, so he will be respectful but firm and clearly put Australia's case forward.

I don't give a toss whether he's the world's richest man or not, and whether that wealth is tangible, intangible or he shits diamonds. The point is that he is an unelected and uncontrolled private citizen with access to virtually all US government data. He has massive conflicts of interest, zero oversight, and has proven to be untrustworthy in his market manipulation already. He's not a public servant and neither are his employees who he's sending into government offices. Despite having no "need to know" he and the other private citizens are accessing private and restricted data. To be honest I think Musk is actually more of a risk to democracy than Trump.

Rubbish. Whilst this thing may be slowly creeping in there is a history in this country of not purging public servants. I guarantee that whilst some department heads may be moved sideways there have never been full-scale purges like Trump is doing. Whilst I regularly have debates with people who are on the other side of the political spectrum but I have respect for them because they attempt to put forward rational arguments. Unfortunately, you tend to divert from the points being made and you also give one-sentence answers. A point I made was this (in a little more detail) There is a shortage of air traffic controllers in the US A recent fatal accident occurred when there was only one controller on duty when normally there would be two. (we wont know the significance until the investigation is finished) Trump has fired a whole bunch of air traffic controllers New government hires are required to prove their loyalty to Trump/Maga. This is monumentally stupid. His requirement for arse kissers is dangerous. You seem to be OK with this as long as he gets rid of the nasty brown people and gets Ukraine to surrender to his buddy Putin.

Seems like we have made a very fast shift to the right and authoritarian power of the sycophants and billionaire elites to me. Completely stopping all work in any department of government that is a check on power or regulatory body. That includes any scientific agencies, education and health. Knowledge is power and not for the mere masses, they are to get what they are fed. This is the Trump doctrine, all part of a plan he has not read and just makes up depending on who massaged his giant..ego. We are headed for dark times indeed.

Yes because of course Trump doesn't use disparaging language about anyone else. For a man who happily insults others he sure does have a thin skin but this is the hallmark of a malignant narcissist.

Donald Trump earnestly believes that tariffs are a "beautiful tool" to beat other countries over the head with. He believes he can use tariffs to make other countries do his bidding. Unfortunately, he's too dumb to realise that imposing tariffs brings a whole raft of unforeseen problems. If importers see a major sales decline in the goods they've previously been importing, and there's reluctance to "buy local" due to much higher local product costs, then the importer will cease to import the product and shortages will result, causing an increase in pricing as local manufacturers take advantage of the massive demand, and their inability to meet it. Then there's the "backlash effect" that Trump barely grasps. He thinks he has total power, being in "control" of the American economy. But he doesn't have total control, he's got hold of the steering wheel, but many others have control over the brakes and clutch and gearshift. The "backlash effect" is when Trump underestimates how much damage can be done by other countries introducing tariffs on American goods and products. This can be very substantial, as many other countries can produce exactly what America can manufacture, grow or mine. The Chinese thought they could use the "beautiful tool" of tariffs on Australian products to punish us for daring to criticise China's opaqueness over the source of the COVID-19 virus. But they ended up shooting themselves in the foot, as local coal and metal ores and LNG producers rapidly found new markets - and prices often went up, meaning China had to find new sources for their vital Australian imports, and then pay more for them. Little has been revealed about what happened to Chinese consumers when Australian lobster sales to China fell 64% during the China-Australia tariff war. The simple result would have been Chinese diners fighting over a very limited supply of Australian lobster, and for them having to pay a lot higher price for it, resulting in reduced spending power for them overall. Canada is a vital supplier of car parts and energy products to America and it has responded to American tariffs on Canadian products by imposing tariffs on American goods. This will have the immediate result of reducing sales of American manufactured goods to Canada, and Canadians turning to other manufacturers. The tariff was will be a direct kick to the goolies of American car manufacturers, as American car sales slump in Canada, and Canadians end up buying more Chinese cars. This effect will go right across the board, so it will effect ALL American industry. Then there's American farmers, who are the backbone of Trumps support. Last time he messed with tariffs on Chinese goods, the Chinese retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. farm imports. Trump ended up having to pay a lot of Govt support money to U.S. farmers to make up for their reduced export sales and lower prices for their products. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-china-reduced-its-reliance-us-farm-imports-softening-trade-war-risks-2024-11-13/#:~:text=Beijing retaliated with tariffs of,%2C wheat%2C corn and sorghum. If Trump thinks that American consumers will make up the shortfall of export sales by purchasing more local goods, then I've got news for him, there's nowhere in history where that has happened. The bottom line is that the price of everything will go up in a tariff war, and Donald Trump promised all his followers that he'd reduce the cost of everything. Somewhere along the line, soon, MAGA adherents are going to realise they've been sold a pup.

What BS . They have had UNISEX toilets in Europe for ever. IF you want to Perve on near naked people just go to any Beach.. Nev

Err.. Yes they do.. They can reticulate some of that heat... but a reactor creates a lot of darned heat. In any case, the statement is a little bit like sayn the US has x GDP and Fiji has a tiny fraction of it.. There has to be some context, and in the case of power generation, it is thermal efficiency. And both nuclear and fossils are, on average, very similar: https://www.pcienergysolutions.com/2023/04/17/power-plant-efficiency-coal-natural-gas-nuclear-and-more/ I haven't read the whole article, esp. about "non traditional" generation. Also, there are high efficiency coal plants, and improved nuclear plants, where the efficiency is higher, but they move in lock step more or less

Positives.... We just spent 3 days sailing De Entrecausteau Channel. Beautiful weather. Today the wind was so light we were gliding slowly on glassy water and two Orcas popped up near us. One is a long term resident near the famous 'Iron Pot' at the entrance to Derwent River, Hobart. His name is EA0055 but he deserves a nicer name. We chose to resist the urge to take a cooling dip in the briney.

The climate has always changed, but over thousands and millions of years. The change that human intervention has caused is over 300 years. It was very subtle in the first 250 years with only a few thinking there was any cause for alarm before 1980. In 1750 the world population was about 791 million. It is now 8.2 Billion. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution we have dug up about 70% of the fuel that took more than 3.2 billion years to establish and BURNED it. The consequences are now being felt at an ever increasing rate. We now have the means to measure everything in detail and establish changes through the ages through analysis of core samples from ice, rock and sediment. The science is irrefutable but some choose to ignore it. This can be a head in the sand attitude, greed, political advantage or just pure ignorance. Take your pick.

They have a long way to go. The Biden administration sent over 400 plane loads of illegal migrants away during their 4 years. (To Various nations). All done without diplomatic argument such as Trump had in Columbia.

WHO really CARES???? It's the Myriad other things he does and says and the things he's likely to DO that are of far more Import. Nev

Let's just remember that.. And quite what the post this came from had to do with What Trump is doing now, I am not sure, so Mods, if you want to split that and this into a separate thread, it wouldn't insult me. But, I feel the post needs come.. ahem.. clarification. What on earth does this mean? I mean, I understand the words, but when I think about the message, I can't work it out. What does integrating or overlappinhg all of the sub-ideoloogies mean? Should, say all the neo-right parties be forced to integrate into the LNP, and the neo-left be forced to integrate into the ALP? What about the indies, the Greens, and Hanson's party? Given the left and the right, as ideologies don't have too much overlap (at least in rabble rousers' minds), isn't this veering towards what you say won't work - a two party system? Maybe I read ideology when I should have read cultures? Even so, what is overlapping and sub cultures, versus competing? Forcing people into one camp or another sounds a little authoritarian to me. The Aussie icon is the larrakin and derivatiives of it. The work ethic of Australia is no different to many, if not most other countries. Ther are leaders, doers, followers, slackers, etc. I agree that the Australian government should, like the US government and many others, lead the way ion terms of facilitating an environment to develop indigenous indiusrty. The AUKUS deal exemplifies us not building our own industries. This is the brain child of the SFM government, and sadly, continued on by the Albo government. There is no reason we cannot set up manufacturing and servicing facilities in Australia and license the tech.. if it is of such strategic rather than commerical importance to the US adn UK, they would have no problems with it. On the GDP thing, GDP is a measure of net income, and I think you are confusing net income with maket capitalisation. Apple, for the end of FY24 year had c. USD$492bn revenue. Microsoft had c. $215bn for their end of FY24 year. Now, a lot of Apple's income relates to production outside of the USA (mainly China), and Microsoft has production in Europe and India. So, for both companies, revenues include an equivalent of imports. But even if we don't take out their "imports" and assume their revenue = net income, they had c. USD$608bn of revenues. In Australia, 2024 GDP is expected to be between USD$1.7tn and USD $1.8TN: That makes Australia abnout 3 times the net income of the gross income of Apple and MS combined. But, remember, California is the 5th largest economy in the workd (and yes, Microsoft is in Washington state). MS and Apple Revenues: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/msft/revenue/ https://backlinko.com/apple-statistics Don't we already have a non-political head of state? He has the power to dismiss the government and a few other powers that he doesn't even have in the UK (note, under the Aussie constitution, he is the King of Australia, and not the King of England). But, how would the appointment of a president not be political? Who woud do it? Some independent panel? How would that panel be constituted and funded? Elected by the people? Isn't that by definition political, unless they would have to keep shtum and we vote on their looks? And what international stoush has the queen/king got us involved in? I think you will find theyt have all been the PM using his royal prerogative. What you say sounds good in theory, but hardly achievable in practice. I am not sure what the quotes have to do with your point. For some background, I have studied constitutional law both in the UK and Australia, and in both cases, we covered common and civil law jurisdictions, including the US. Australia's constituion is generally regarded to be one of the better ones, where there is a clear delineation of the Judiciary from the executive/legislature. Australia's constitution is similar to many common law countries where there is an overlap between the legislature (parliament) and the executive (ministers and top public servants). However, this is common to civil law jurisdictions as well. By and large, Australia has a fairly safe and democractic constitution, and I would ask you to define where you think it is designed for the pollies rather than the people? And the high court has the power, and does hold both the executive and the legislature to account. The two main criticisms are the one above, and that it is frozen because it is so hard to change. For some reason, that can be also an advantage. Now, compare that to the US constituion, where the executive can appoint judges with little resistance; where the public provide their allegiiance to a political party (you know, the organisations you are against), and a supreme court that can be stacked by political appointees and act beyond the rule of law under the veil of precedent. And tell me which one is better. Yeah, the aussie constituion can be improved - of course it can. But to suggest it is more for the people and less for the pollie is a stretch. WTF? Are you sure you're aware of how the electoral college works? I am relating back to your comment about leaders that are not political. Do you know how electors are selected? Here is how most are selected: "Today, the most common method of choosing electors is by state party convention. Each political party’s state convention nominates a slate of electors, and a vote is held at the convention. In a smaller number of states, electors are chosen by a vote of the state party’s central committee. Either way, political parties usually choose people whom they want to reward for their service to and support of the party. Electors can be elected officials or party leaders in the state, or people who have some kind of personal or professional connection with the party’s candidate. " That doesn't douns too democrtatic to me, if they can override the will of the people, now does it? And it doesn't sound how like the "forefathers" wanted American democracy - or does it? Could it not be that the US constiiution is designed to work for the pollies and not the people? But what you're arguing is that state polticial party nominees should be able to override the will of the people because they want to? This sounds autocratic and, dare I say communism (centrally controlled) to me. If you continue to read the article about faithless electors, a US SC ruleing basically made it illegal, but it is still up to the states; many of which have banned it. But seriously, WTF, for the people, or for putting in people liek Trump, who you clearly suppor regardless of the evidence. Which is fine - that is your freedom.. but don't BS to justify it. BTW, the electors didn't elect Trump because they thought he was better.. they elected him because he won the popular vote in the states that elected him (I am sur some thought he was better and I am sure some thought he wasn't). Quite frankly, I prefer Australia's current system far better than the US.. and I have lived in the US, too.. The US system seems to be what you're pushing... or preferring.. Maybe you should take up your offers and check it out living there and then decide. Be thankful in both the US and Australia, we can speak our mind freely - more or less. I wouldn't want to state which one looks more likely to have that eradicated over time.

SHE, Penny Wong went there BECAUSE SHE respects the Vote of the American People. (which TRUMP would NOT do at the election before this) Trump foreshadowed it by saying "I will only accept the RESULT, IF I WIN" . ??? THEN he encouraged an Insurrection Tried to arm twist Mike Pence to ignore the LAW. He's the ONE the NOOSE was for. Thats the Current POTUS Folks .Nev

You are Oh, so right in that statement. One might describe her as an inscrutable Asian lady. In my opinion, she is the best person in both Houses at doing her job.

The question is, which side are the barbarians on. Look, you guys can hope for the best, and hey, there's nothing wrong with that. But look at the man himself, his character, his ignorance, his lies, his vindictiveness, his avarice, his criminality, his attitude to women... the list goes on and on. Then look at who he aligns himself with and chooses to support. Other criminals (Giuliani, Roger Stone, Jeffrey Epstein etc), white supremacists, fundamentalist christians, absolute nutcases (Marjorie Taylor Greene is one prime example), dictators, tech billionaires, fossil fuel companies. KNOWING ALL THAT, if you think his term in office can result in anything positive for the US or the rest of the world, then I suggest your optimism is outweighing your realism.

I pulled this extract from a New York Times opinion piece by jack Goldsmith. I think it sums Trump up pretty well. It takes extraordinary skill to wield executive power successfully throughout an administration. If past is prologue, Mr. Trump lacks the acumen to carry out his ambitious agenda. The first problem is management style. In his first term, Mr. Trump was a poor administrator because of his mercurial, polarizing style and a general indifference to facts and the hard work of governance. There is no reason to think this will change in his second term. Mr. Trump also lacks the emotional intelligence that the great presidents had in various degrees — the self-awareness, self-control, empathy and ability to manage relationships that are so vital to steering the ship of state on the desired course. Second is the question of whether Mr. Trump knows where he wants to go. “Great presidents possess, or are possessed by, a vision of an ideal America,” Mr. Schlesinger noted. Mr. Trump has a powerful slogan, “America first,” a robust agenda, and many discrete and often insightful political instincts. But he lacks a coherent sense of the public ends for which he exercises power. This will make it hard over time for his administration to prioritize challenges, a vital prerequisite for presidential success. It will also make his administration susceptible to drift and reactiveness, especially once unexpected events start to crowd the presidential agenda. Third, personal gain was neither a priority of the great presidents nor a guide to their exercise of power. There is every reason to believe that Mr. Trump’s personally motivated first-term actions — his insistence on loyalty over other values, his preoccupation with proclaiming and securing his personal power, and his indifference to conflict-of-interest norms — will persist. These inclinations will invariably infect the credibility, and thus the success, of everything his administration does. Fourth, Mr. Trump is unlike any previous president, even Jackson, in broadly delegitimating American institutions — the courts, the military and intelligence communities, the Justice Department, the press, the electoral system and both political parties. This will do him no favors when he needs their support, as he will. Mr. Trump is especially focused on eroding the capacity of federal agencies. At the same time, he has plans to regulate in areas including health, crime, energy and education, and to deport millions of people, all of which require a robust and supportive federal work force. Mr. Trump’s twin aims of incapacitating the bureaucracy and wielding it to serve his ends will very often conflict. Fifth, Mr. Trump’s obsession with hard executive power and an extreme version of the unitary executive theory will be self-defeating. If his stalwart subordinates carry out his every whim, as he hopes, bad policies will result. If the loyalists Mr. Trump is putting at the top of the Justice Department do not give him candid independent advice that he follows, he will violate the law and often lose in court, as happened in his first term. The great presidents used coercive unilateral power when they needed to, but only when they needed to — none more so than Lincoln and Roosevelt, who faced the most serious crises in American history. But these presidents also understood that hard power could go only so far and that persuasion and consent were surer tools to achieving lasting presidential goals in our democracy. This idea is lost on Mr. Trump.

Where is the evidence that this equilibrium and balance that you talk about actually exists to either produce some kind of middle ground or cancel each other out? It seems to me to be just an abstract, meaningless concept.

Was he speaking out of his bot again?

It's pretty clear after just these first few weeks that the post-war world order largely established by the US has now been rescinded by the US, and is well and truly dead. Trump's view is that domination and intimidation are far more effective ways to make America great again than traditional diplomacy, free trade and shared values with other nations. The US no longer has allies or enemies, only competitors that Trump is determined to beat. Only quid pro quo deals matter now, corruption is legal, and he sees himself like Putin, only a bigger and better version. Ukraine is now Europe's problem except that Zelensky owes the US for all the munitions it was given for free by Biden. America is now being run for the benefit of the the occupant of the White House and his pliant GOP entourage. Court orders and the rule of law are largely irrelevant, former insurrectionists are now patriotic heroes, and the national accounts are being managed by the swindlers and thieves. It's a pretty sorry state of affairs. I wonder what the world will look like in 12 months from now.

GOn, do you understand what preferential voting is all about? Let's suppose Joe Bloggs votes for Clive Palmer. Clive is never going to get enough votes to form government. So he votes for the other candidates in his order of preference. If he prefers Labor over LNP, he gives them his second preference. That way, he doesn't get who he preferred, but he gets another opportunity to choose fron those who are left. So his vote is not totally wasted. So the second preference is added to the count of the party selected, then the third preferences are distributed , than the 4th and so on. It's like going to a shop to buy a pineapple ice cream. If they don't have pineapple, you have other choices., the most popular ones. You are not forced to have vanilla, you can choose another flavour. Without preferences, you would have to walk away without an icecream.

So Musk and rumps latest "kill" is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. From its creation until 2017, the CFPB "has curtailed abusive debt collection practices, reformed mortgage lending, publicized and investigated hundreds of thousands of complaints from aggrieved customers of financial institutions, and extracted nearly $12 billion for 29 million consumers in refunds and canceled debts."[41] That figure had risen to $19 billion by 2024.[42] Consumer Financial Protection Bureau I am not saying that it should not be immune from cost-cutting however it seems to me that a billionaire, who can, afford to sue a bank if they are wronged, probably does not appreciate the importance of this organisation to ordinary people who might find themselves wronged by a bank. The running cost of this department seems to be about 500 million a year,(2021) but it has returned 19 billion dollars to consumers in 7 years. Musk is taking a chainsaw to something that he perhaps cannot see the purpose of but this is because of his extreme wealth.

'A lot of garbage': Fmr. Republican USAID administrator slams Musk and Trump for gutting agency The thing that Trump and his followers do not seem to appreciate is that providing aid to a third-world country is not just about a wealthy country lending a hand to a poorer country but also about self-interest. Helping an African country with an Ebola outbreak is better than that disease spreading to the US. Australia provides aid to the South Pacific partly because the Chinese wish to endear themselves to the people of this region. It is called soft power. Trump is entitled to change things however it has to be within the law (which it is not) and it is mind-numbingly dumb to go in with a sledgehammer and destroy everything. If I have a medical problem I want the help of a surgeon wielding a scalpel with care not a moron with a chainsaw.

Netanyahu presented Trump with a golden pager last week, similar to what they gave to Hezbollah. Hope it works.

My wife keeps putting glue on my rifle collection. She denies it, but I'm sticking to my guns.

My understanding is that Canada is not a huge source of drugs compared to Mexico. This surely this should be something that the US has some control over at its border. How much Canadian fentanyl crosses into the U.S.? As the opioid epidemic raged in the United States, killing thousands, Congress in 2020 established a commission to look into ways to reduce the flow of the drugs into the country. The commission found that “Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids or precursor chemicals to the United States, a conclusion primarily drawn from seizure data,” according to its February 2022 report. Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted about 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared with almost 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico, where cartels mass-produce the drug. As far as trade imbalance goes. In 2023, the goods and services trade between the two countries totalled $923 billion. U.S. exports were $441 billion, while imports were $482 billion, resulting in a United States $41 billion trade deficit with Canada.[1 This hardly seems enormous, especially given the differences in population US 345 Million and Canada 41 Million. What is Canada supposed to do, buy stuff it does not need? Trump sees the fact that the US buys more from Canada than Canada does from the US as an injustice but it is just about what one country has to sell and what another country needs to buy.

My 5 YO granddaughter had her first day at school this week. I was going to tell her about my first day at school. Then I did some quick mental arithmetic. If my grandpa had been my age on my first day of school, he would have been telling me about him starting school in the year 1890. So I shut up.

We're already slaves to our pets. We go and work so they can get fed and laze around the house all day. They've won!

Apart from Trump in the USA and Putin in Russia, who are both creating their own chaos but neither of whom are capable of creating a World Government, who else is intentionally creating leftist chaos in some sort of coordinated international fashion? The most controversial political parties in places like France and Germany are right wing, not left wing.

Wonder why he'll release the JFK assassination files, the Martin Luther King files, but not the Epstein files? Wouldn't be because he's taken a flight or two on the Lolita Express himself, would it?

The Trump rain of verbal diarrhoea and pure unadulterated BS continues at his desk interviews. He claims "Iran was broke" when he left office last time. Yeah, so that means that they were unable to keep producing vast numbers of military drones, nuclear weapons and support Hamas and Hezbollah wholesale since he left office. What a load of complete drivel. He claims "he wouldn't let anyone do business with them (Iran)" while he was in power. The reality is that Iran still has vast amounts of oil, and China was quite prepared to buy lots of it, despite Trump saying he could stop China buying Iranian oil. Then he goes on to claim that Americans have done everything and led the world in everything that was world class. He even claimed "America split the atom". The howls of laughter are still ringing around the world and shows how utterly bereft of even basic knowledge this orange clown is. The atom was split in 1917 by New Zealander Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University in the U.K. He seems to ignore the fact that Chinese labour built nearly all the major railroads in America in the 1800's. The Chinese would work anywhere, in any conditions, and for very little money - so it wasn't Americans that built their biggest national infrastructure asset. https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-vexes-new-zealanders-by-claiming-one-of-their-proudest-historical-moments-for-america/703af2a1-bd0a-4445-8977-a70e5343bc4d https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford

Statesmen would be very lonely figures in the extreme political divides currently present in the world. Statesmen can't work within a paradigm of volatile political enemies, what would a statesman say? "Ladies and gentlemen, let's act normal and live in peace." ... then have rotten tomatoes thrown at him. Political divides are now wider than the solar system, they need to be narrowed quite substantially before statesmen can rise to the top. A leader of honour can only rise up within a society of honour. Not until we find common ground will societies be honorable and honest. In my opinion we need something better than the "Two Party" system, it's become so prolonged and so divisive, extreme thought has taken over from rational thought and common sense. Our brains have two hemispheres, let's use both, rather than the leftwing using only one, and rightwing only using the other. One hemisphere is wasted if both are not used, "Halfwittery" I call it. Trump was elected to fix the problems created by Biden and the Democrats. In 2020, Biden was elected to fix the problems Trump was reluctant to fix, like Covid. Both camps use one side of their brain only, Democrats one side, the Republicans the other side. Here, it's the Labor party, and the Liberal Coalition. In each case, the US and Oz, it takes both parties to make a full brain, hence two party system, and if they don't narrow the political divide and stop their "Halfwit" nonsense, they'll go the way of the DoDo, sooner rather than later.