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Rudd was duty-bound to attend that meeting since he is Australia's ambassador to the USA, and he went as advisor to his "boss", the Prime Minister. Trump's comments were an insult to the Australian people, but one could not expect any better from that person.

Well he has achieved one of his biggest life goals..... Lasting word fame. People will be talking about him for many years to come.

Excellent, I'll start up the "Earth is flat debate continues" thread, because I don't think that one is quite settled either.

We just bought a new property. It had a big gas cooker in the kitchen which we promptly threw out. We are renovating and the house will be all electric, well it is now except for the solar hot water. Our average daily power consumption is 9-10 kWh. There is a 20 year old 1kW solar system with 8 x 125 watt panels which I am replacing with a new 8.8 kW system with 20 x 440 watt bifacial v panels, a 10kW hybrid inverter and an 18.64 kWh battery. In theory I should be able to go off grid. Total cost $11,600.00. The battery is made up of 4 x 4.66 kWh modules which is scalable to 41.93 kWh by just adding modules on top. It is free standing & will live in my big shed. The house is 20 years old and unbelievably the ceiling is uninsulated. Part of the renos is insulation and draught proofing as even efficient air conditioning is quite power hungry. Charging my EV is power hungry but I have a plan that gives me 3 hours of free power a day (11:00 to 14:00) so that is when it is scheduled to charge. I also get power for 8c/kWh from midnight to 6am. There is now so much power produced by rooftop solar that the spot price is often negative in the middle of the day. New solar farms now going in have to include batteries. Early solar farms without them either have to switch off or invest in batteries as they have to pay to put their power in to the grid when the price is negative. Electricity retailers now have plans for home battery owners. Solar feed in tariffs are very low now. I was getting just 0.5 cents/kWh, now 2.8 cents/kWh. A friend who has just added a 30kWh battery gets 15 cents/kWh feed in tariff during peak usage which will come from his battery.

This thread is supposed to be about celebrating positives. We did not just decide one day to go on a strenuous bush walk. Since retiring 4 years ago we have done about 3 bush walks a week. There are many walks we would not do. Known bush walks are very easy to research in terms of difficulties. As far as age goes one of the greatest threats to health is inactivity. This is a threat both physical health and mental health. Depression is not uncommon amongst the aging. Whilst bush walking we do cross paths with older bush walkers who are older than us and obviously very fit. I do in fact have a cardiac condition. I do yearly stress echocardiograms. The last one whilst noting my abnormalities pronounced me to be much fitter than the average for my age (63). If we're not fit I would be having symptoms, I do not. My cardiologist advises me to keep up the exercise It is important that as we age we don't give up.

If you don't know the relative costs, why are you arguing that renewables are not cheaper? Anyway this thread is about politics. Happy to have a discussion about the relative costs and merits of various types of generation over on the climate change thread. But getting back to politics, these are the facts: The Libs had their arses handed to them by people voting for the Teals, and did not get those seats back when they went to the last election with their uncosted and unrealistic nuclear plans. Compulsory voting in Australia means that overall, people go for the centre. 65+% of people in Australia rate action on climate change as one of the top 2 issues. Older voters are dying off and a massive proportion of younger voters want action on climate change (because guess what, they have to live on this earth a lot longer with the effects). Apart from the few thousand idiots who watch Sky News, voters are not particularly interested in culture wars, DEI, wokeness (whatever that is), the colour of their neighbour's skin or other non-issues. With those political facts, it seems clear that the Libs have decided to commit political suicide. I don't actually want them to. I'm not an LNP voter but I want a strong opposition with sensible, costed policies - backed up by science - to hold the government to account. They can't do that when the conservatives, desperate to keep suckling at the teat of the fossil fuel industry, throw out ridiculous ideas like government funded nuclear power plants, government funded propping up of elderly coal plants, inefficient and expensive carbon capture and storage. The LNP is supposed to be the party of the free market. There are plenty of players looking to provide wind farms, big batteries, solar farms, household solar & batteries. There are zero players looking to build new coal and nuclear without it being funded by YOU the taxpayer. Ask yourself why?

I used to work in a lab with an incredibly ambitious bloke who was obsessed with collecting skulls. Just obsessed!! Like, he would do anything to get ahead.

Trump said the "No Kings protests" were too small and ineffective. The last person to say that was Stormy Daniels.

A controversial figure and hard-line right-winger for many decades, who eventually turned against the Republican Party and denounced Trump as a cowardly liar, and the worst thing to happen to America in many decades. He voted for Kamala Harris in the last election, such was his abhorrence of Trump and his policies. He suffered from heart problems all his life, and suffered from his first heart attack at 37. He went on to have 5 more, and eventually had a heart transplant in 2012. He was the main promoter of the "War on Terror", the ill-fated campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan that cost America dearly in lives and monetary cost, for not a lot of gain. The terrorist groups are still with us, and democracy has failed in both Iraq and Afghanistan, mainly because it was never able to get a foothold due to cultural and tribal hatreds that go back thousands of years. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/dick-cheney-death-obit

They are always on about how fit and healthy he is. It's his mental acuity that's the problem. He may be able to swing a golf club, (I don't see him walking the fairway), but he can barely string two coherent words together. And he can't understand or recall facts.

Rudd had to sit there and take it and Albo had to deflect what could have an even worse situation for Australia's interests, but Rudd was right about Trump the first time.

Better that it was Albo than Ley. I don't think that "best friend" is a good label for Albo. Maybe "diplomatic tightrope walker" might be a better one.

An older, white haired man walked into a jewelry store one Friday evening with a beautiful young gal at his side. He told the jeweler he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend. The jeweler looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring and showed it to him. The old man said, "I don't think you understand, I want something very special." At that statement, the jeweler went to his special stock and brought another ring over. "Here's a stunning ring at only $40,000," the jeweler said. The young lady's eyes sparkled and her whole body trembled with excitement. The old man seeing this said, "We'll take it." The jeweler asked how payment would be made and the old man stated, by check. "I know you need to make sure my check is good, so I'll write it now and you can call the bank Monday to verify the funds and I'll pick the ring up Monday afternoon," he said. Monday morning, a very teed-off jeweler phoned the old man. "There's no money in that account." "I know", said the old man, "but can you imagine the weekend I had?"

Yep. And I remember saying before the election that, despite his denials, "project 25" was what he would push on the US. He's a scumbag, a liar, a greedy freeloading criminal rapist fraudster, a vindictive and small-minded bigot of the worst type. Every voter in the US either knew these facts or was living under a rock, but they still elected him.

Trouble is his sons are as abhorrent as him, especially the two older ones.

Religion:- Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. Catholics drink on the front porch, baptists drink on the back porch. We believe life begins at conception,” says the panel’s Catholic priest. “We believe life begins at birth,” says the liberal Protestant. “We believe that life begins when the kids are out of the house and the dog dies,” says the rabbi.

Sitting at the beach at Middleton enjoying the sun. Nice twisty road to get here.

Happy Birthday. And adfter SpecSavers, let's hope you see a lot more of them.

I guess this was way too subtle for you blokes. The positive I celebrated was that my Mother reached the age of 100 years and is still mentally acute. I have been so lucky to have had the past three years since I came up here to reunite with her after sparse contact for forty or so years. She received greetings from everyone in government from King Charles to the local Shire mayor.

Agreed, sharks are complaining about the poor quality of tourists.

I wonder if different factions within the one party would become a sort of opposition. This might be similar when party's meet now to determine policy

I suspect that he's mainly trying to protect some of his wealthy mates and supporters who would prefer that the files stay hidden. Trump's ballroom may suddenly be short of some funds if he gives in and releases the files.

'Tis better to end a sentence with a proposition than a preposition.

A proper funeral would have been better than swept under the carpet.

I think the life span of EV batteries is proving to be better than expected. This is not just anecdotal And research from fleet management technology Geotab suggests EV batteries on the market today could last 20 years or more. That report found that newer EVs degrade by about 1.8 per cent per year, a significant drop from the 2.3 per cent degradation rate seen in 2019. Meanwhile, a study published in Nature Energy in January this year found that in the UK, EVs were achieving comparable lifespans to ICE vehicles, even under more intensive use. EV batteries may last 40 pct longer than previously thought, new study shows We have debated this before. There are pros but considerable cons to battery swap. The short times quoted at existing battery swap stations sound good, but you have to consider the relatively small number of vehicles using them. Consider these charging centres. Insights About FAQ For business The Largest EV Charging Hubs In the World I would seem a little problematic to replace these purely with battery swap without creating queues and logistical problems. On a trip with my son in NZ in his Tesla, we made 3 charging stops. All of these stops were to just top up whilst having coffee It's a piss stop. The first one was about 40 minutes in the car park of a supermarket, where we picked up some supplies and had a coffee. The other stops were no more than 10 minutes. With the battery swap system, I guess you would have to decide on the optimal swapping point. There would be no point in swapping a battery that still had substantial range. Also, on the particular trip, it would be hard to imagine battery swap facilities in the backblocks of NZ, but plenty of charging centres. Another issue is that my son's Tesla is charged solely from his solar system (except on long trips) Why on earth would he want to go to a battery swap service and pay instead of using his own clean power? In the end, the market will decide. Given that battery swap vehicles can also be charged by conventional means, people will do what is cheapest and most convenient.

Tesla shareholders have approved a $1 trillion pay package for Musk as CEO. I listened to some idiot American justifying this. "But one of the conditions is that he raise the share cap to $7 trillion. So if he increases the value to that and only wants $1 trillion in return, I think it's worth it!" I have real problems with this for a number of reasons. Firstly, no person, however brilliant, is worth $1 billion let alone 1000 times that. This spanker was talking about Musk like he was some kind of genius. "He didn't improve things. He made things out of thin air!" What, like rockets? Yeah I think Werner was doing that in WW2. Electric cars? Not a new thing. Yes he did some good in pushing them into public consciousness but now his product is done better and cheaper by the Chinese. Robotaxis? Well, his don't work very well, whereas Waymo or whoever they are do. So not sure how that's a world leading step by him. Cybertrucks? Please. Pile of shit that he has to sell to his own companies because no one else wants them. Humanoid robots? Again, done much better by the Chinese. Secondly - it's grotesque. He's already a half-trillionaire. He cannot physically spend all his money in the rest of his life. So why? The American idiot was saying it's "recognition". You can recognise someone's achievements without giving them the GDP of an average sized country to do it. Imagine what a trillion US dollars could do in fighting disease, spreading education, health, vaccines in poor countries, improved sanitation, etc etc. Instead it's given to one man who will probably spend vast amounts destroying democracy. Thirdly - what is the message this gives to other CEO's? "Hey, how come he gets that much? My company is bigger than Tesla. I deserve that too!" So now the already bloated CEO class will be crying poor and agitating for bigger salaries. And we already know that they don't just get bonuses when their companies do well. They can make absolutely stupid mistakes, drive the share price down and still walk away with their massive bonuses. Billie Eilish had it right the other day. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/05/billie-eilish-billionaires-super-rich To summarise, she gave away $11m of her own money to help fight hunger and said "Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties." It's a good question. Why are there billionaires? They didn't earn it, they don't need it, they can't spend it all, and it would be far better for everyone if it was given to the poorest people on Earth. And if billionaires shouldn't exist, that goes a thousand times more for trillionaires.

Spacey, if everyone stopped at a roundabout until there was no traffic on the roundabout, there would be gridlock. That's not what they're designed for.

Spacey, you're missing the roundabout laws understanding, same as about 50% of the drivers out there. The law states that vehicles entering a roundabout must give way to vehicles already ON the roundabout - and that "give way" is only if a collision is likely to occur, if you don't give way. You do not have to stop turning left in a roundabout, if any vehicle is entering a roundabout from your left, because there's no likelihood of a collision, due to vehicle paths that are not conflicting. The important part of roundabouts is to merge when you judge a suitable gap. Many people think they have to stop and look both ways at roundabouts and wait for someone on their right to stop, this is a lack of understanding as to how roundabouts work. Roundabouts are to keep traffic moving, you enter a roundabout anytime you judge you can fit into the traffic flow, without making someone on your right, brake.

And that is what a competent diplomat would do. He took a bullet for Australia's interests.

Yep, just tried off someone else's plate. Mainly tasted of the garlic it was cooked in. I wasn't moved enough ever to order them myself.

This thread has gone too quiet. Time to wake it up again..... A Ukrainian migrant goes to the Department of Motor Transport to apply for a driver's license. He has to take an eye test. The clerk shows him a card with the letters: C Z W I X N O S T A C Z "Can you read this?" the clerk asks." "Read it?" the Ukrainian replies, "I went to school with the arsehole."

Sort of a positive.. My typos are becoming legendary... Just yesterday, the salutation on one of my emails started with "Fear all,"... F and D are close, and spell checker didn't pick it up. A few weeks ago, when referencing a big data product, Data Bricks, my typings was "Data Pricks"... B and P are miles away; someone suggested a Fruedian slip given who I was addressing the email to.. This morning, signing off an email. "Kind retards,".. T is above the G.. Could have been a Fruedian as well.. Take solace that fellow forumites do not suffer alone.

GON. There is no way to bring back the good ole daze of USA. It's too late. Besides, neither TRump nor maga, nor the republicans can suddenly make USA productive. Their culture is not going to allow it. TRump is simply fast tracking their fade away from the global stage.

He's making AMERICA GRATE and the Laughing stock of the World. May also cause a depression. Nev.

Get your head out of your a**e.

The LAW is for EVERYONE BUDDY.. NO exemptions or we are all stuffed well and truly. The UNITED States is DIVIDED and a House divided unto itself shall surely Fall. This Bloke is a DICK Tator with a passion for revenge on anyone who won't Kiss his Arse, enthusiastically. The sooner he is GONE, the better, so we can go back to TRUTH Equal Rights and sensible LAWS that make the Society Function for ALL. Not just the filthy RICH. Nev

We will adapt and improve with electricity. Nothing is more certain. IT gets cheaper and better. The REST gets dearer.. Nev

It is thought that at least some of these boats were fishing boats. GON if some of these people were not drug smugglers, and the ones that were were almost certainly not headed for the USA (range of these boats not sufficient to reach the USA) do you care if innocents have been blown to pieces? Undoubtedly, not all of these people blown to pieces were not drug dealers. Two people survived an attack on what was thought to be a fishing boat. These two were not arrested or tried but sent back to their home country. It could have been a little embarrassing if they were questioned in court. Something navies are good at is stopping and boarding boats. Why not board and search these vessels and arrest and interrogate to gain intelligence about drug networks? I suspect part of the reason is to appease Trump's moron followers. Civilised countries do not carry out extrajudicial executions. Certainly, the military is not comfortable with blowing people out of the water who may or may not be drug smugglers. Top admiral steps down abruptly amid drug boat strikes On top of that, the US is building up its military off the coast of Venezuela U.S. deploys aircraft carrier to waters off South America in major military escalation Nation Oct 24, 2025 3:34 PM EDT As well as that, Trump claims that there are CIA agents operating in Venezuela, so much for that Nobel Peace Prize

Not sure if I'm allowed to post flying memes here, but.... for all those doubting Thomas's....

Trump is giving a lot of attention to His New Ballroom, I don't reckon he'd need much. Nev

Different sort of day today. First, off to H & R Block to do my tax returm. Their estimate is a refund of about $1200. Then to Specsavers for new glasses. (My health insurance gives a 100% refund on two pairs of specs, one long rsange, one for reading). Haven't had my eyesight tested in 7 years. Lots of tests, and happy with the results. No macular degeneration, no sign of cataracts, and only minor indications of glaucoma, too insignificant to do anything about at present. A different way to spend your birthday, but I had feck all else to do.