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Did his lips move?

The bestest goldest world leader has got it covered. Already, the *resident of the United States now states that the reason for this war (which isn't a WAR) is to destroy the nuclear weapons program that he claims to have already destroyed last year, while simultaneously claiming that the objective of the war is to open the strait of Hormuz that was already open before he started the war, but he is not going to open it. He doesn't need anyone's help to win the war. He already won the war on the first day anyway, and is currently winning the war, but demands help to win the war, and needs no help to win the war. I hope this clears up any confusion, which was all caused by corrupt Democrat fake news outlets.

I know I shouldn't post this, and Nev will drag me over the coals, but this way I can say I had a head job from an Asian lady at the shopping centre for $15, and not be lying.

He's just an uncouth C**t.

So Trump's had a full public meltdown because Australia won't send warships to help him unfuck a war he started without telling anyone. Let that sink in for a second. He launched this thing with Israel 3 weeks ago. Didn't consult NATO. Didn't consult Australia. Didn't consult Japan. Explicitly said at the start he didn't need or want anyone's help. And now he's on Truth Social in all caps screaming that we're all ungrateful. Mate, you can't tell everyone to fuck off and then get angry when they all fuck off. Here's what happened. He blew the shit out of Iran. Destroyed the navy, the air force, the radar, the leadership. Great. Total victory. Mission accomplished. Brought the banner and everything. One small problem. The Strait of Hormuz is still shut. It's full of mines and anti-ship missiles and Iranian drone boats. The tankers won't sail. The insurance companies won't touch it. And 20% of the world's oil is just sitting there going absolutely nowhere. So suddenly Captain America needs help. He spends the whole weekend ringing every country with a boat. China. France. Japan. South Korea. The UK. Canada. Australia. Basically anyone with a dinghy and a flag. The response from most of them? "Get fucked." Germany said, and I'm paraphrasing only slightly: "You didn't ask us before you started the war. You told us you didn't want our help. And now you're upset? Yeah, nah." France said they'd be happy to help escort ships once the bombing stops and Iran agrees to let them. So basically never. Spain said no. Poland said no. Sweden said no. Australia said we haven't even been formally asked and also no. So what does Trump do? Does he reflect? Reassess? Pick up the phone like a grown adult? Of course not. He jumps on Truth Social and goes full toddler. "We don't need NATO! We NEVER needed NATO! We don't need Japan or Australia or South Korea! WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" Mate. You were literally begging 15 countries for ships 48 hours ago. That's like getting turned down for a date and screaming "SHE WAS UGLY ANYWAY" loud enough for the whole pub to hear. You're not fooling anyone, dickhead. Everyone saw you practise your opener in the bathroom mirror. And he specifically named Australia. Which is genuinely fucking insane. We have shown up to every single American war for nearly a century. Korea. Vietnam. Iraq. Twice. Afghanistan for 20 bloody years. Five Eyes. AUKUS. Pine Gap. We are literally the most reliable ally the United States has ever had. And the one time, the ONE time, we look at the situation and go "yeah this one's a bit cooked mate, we'll sit this out," he loses his shit and calls us foolish on the internet. You know what's actually foolish? Starting a war without a plan to reopen the strait that carries a fifth of the world's oil supply. That's foolish. Blowing up someone's entire military and then being surprised when they use asymmetric warfare to shut down global shipping. That's foolish. Spending a year slapping tariffs on your allies, calling them freeloaders, threatening to annex their territory, and then wondering why they won't come running when you need a favour. That's fucking foolish. But here's the bit that should really worry you. He named Australia, Japan, and South Korea. That's the Indo-Pacific alliance. That's AUKUS. That's the Quad. That's the entire strategic architecture built to counter China. And he just told all 3 of them to get stuffed on social media. Xi Jinping is watching this with a bucket of popcorn and the biggest grin on the planet. Meanwhile Australia is getting absolutely smashed. We've got 2 refineries. About 3 weeks of fuel reserves. Diesel heading for $3 a litre. Farmers are already running out of fuel. They can't harvest. They can't plant. Fuel rationing has started in towns across the country. Food prices are through the roof because every step of the supply chain runs on diesel we don't have. The RBA just hiked interest rates because the fuel and food spikes from this war are driving inflation and recession fears are real. Australians are getting hit at the bowser, hit at the checkout, hit on their mortgage, and the bloke who caused all of it is calling US foolish. This isn't strength. This is a narcissist who heard "no" and couldn't cope. This is a bloke flipping the Monopoly board because he landed on someone else's hotel. And every time he does it, every single time, he pushes allies one step further toward making their own arrangements. That's how alliances die. Not with a bang. With a tantrum on Truth Social at 11 in the morning. Australia's not foolish for sitting this one out. 15 countries might be the only countries in this whole mess that are actually thinking clearly and holding this shit fest from spilling into WWIII And seriously, Donald. You're trying to bully Australia? NATO? Mate, we live in a country where everything is actively trying to kill us. Every single day. We've got 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes on the planet. Twenty one. Out of twenty five. The inland taipan, the single most venomous snake on earth, one bite can kill over 100 grown adults, just vibing in the outback like it's nothing. We've got the Sydney funnel web, the deadliest spider in the world, and it lives in people's fucking gardens where our kids keep them as pets. We've got jellyfish that can stop your heart. Sharks. Crocodiles the size of a small truck. An octopus the size of a golf ball that can kill you in minutes. A plant that makes you want to throw yourself off a cliff if you brush against it. A fucking dinosaur bird, that will literally disembowel you with its feet. Stonefish. Cone snails. The sun itself trying to give us cancer by 10am. We share a continent with every venomous nightmare God ever created on a Friday afternoon when he was clearly in a bad mood. And you think we're scared of a bloke in an ill fitting suit who can't spell "hereby" and throws tantrums on his phone? We couldn't give 2 fucks what you think, Donald. We wrestle things with actual teeth. You're not even in the top 50 most dangerous things an Australian deals with on an average Tuesday. Australia will survive this god awful administration. But if you're gunna shoot yourself in the foot, leave us the fuck out of it wanker.

Meanwhile....Israel in razing buildings in Lebanon with impunity and killing masses of innocent civilians. Doing exactly what they have done to Gaza. More of the same war crimes.

Definitely agree with the good neighbours thing. We're lucky enough to live on 5 acres, 20 minutes from Hobart, and can't see any neighbours from our place. Mind you, we get on really well with our neighbours - about 5 other families we've known over 10 years, our kids caught the same bus to school together, and we still get together a few times a year for parties. If someone needs something they put it on the group chat and usually within 5 minutes someone is offering to help.

The simple, over-riding feature of getting older is that the old body starts playing up, and needs regular repair and maintenance. And if you're 50 or 100 kms from medical care, docs, specialists, even ambulances - life gets a lot harder than it need be. I lived all through the wheatbelt of W.A. and the W.A. Goldfields all my working life, living in everything from rented farmhouses to dongas to caravans, and even old railway fettlers huts. I've never actually owned a house in my own name, I didn't place enough importance on that feature of life - much to my regret. I have no ability to purchase a house today. I part-owned various industrial properties, a mining lease, a farm, and a couple of houses, that I never ever lived in much, because they were largely occupied by my brother and his wife, while I was out in the boonies, working. But when I got together with SWMBO in my early 40's, she owned a house! - and she lets me live in it, and shares it with me - because she loves me, she likes looking after me - and because I fix anything to do with the house, or the car, or whatever else requires attention. We live in the city only about 5 kays from the CBD in a nice leafy, sought-after, quiet suburb - and we're close to 3 shopping centres, a number of major arterial roads, heaps of docs, dentists, medical centres and medical facilities, all within a few kays - and we've been here since 1990, and we don't look like moving until we get really fragile with age, or the bikies move in next door (highly unlikely). I could easily live anywhere in the country again, but SWMBO is a city girl and likes shops and theatres, and being close to where her daughter lives. Generally, most people select their living location according to how far away, or how close, they want to live to relatives (including children). Most parents want to live within a reasonable distance of children, but some don't want them close at all. Not having any children myself, and getting on O.K. with SWMBO's girl and boy from her previous marriage, makes any living area decision, easier. Of course, if we won lotto, we'd move to a nice mansion by the coast, but that's only a dream. I don't think I'd ever move into a high-rise apartment, even though that's the result for people many today - simply because I don't like living above other people, and not knowing what they're getting up to - by way of drugs, starting fires, and other aggravating risks. Good neighbours generally make people stay where they live. No neighbours often suits a lot of people.

My entire point was that the Euro's have been constantly calling the USA warmongers for the past 50 years, but they are always the first ones to call the US President whenever there is a situation in the world that might affect their economies. They have been been neglecting their own militaries knowing that the Americans are stupid enough to keep bailing them out. The Euro's had a royal meltdown when Trump called them out for not keeping their pledge of committing a few percentage points of their GDP to military spending. The EU should be its own power. There are 29 countries in the EU and there is no excuse for them not making a joint effort to protect their economies and sovereignties. The US has done 75% of the heavy lifting in keeping the Persian Gulf open to world trade while Europeans and many other countries reap the benefits. Then the Europeans turn right around and bash Americans to appease their left wing voters. As far as my fellow Americans go, we should not be trusted any longer because there there is no continuity in foreign policy from one election cycle to the next. On top of it all, we are in a non shooting civil war right now. Might sound crazy to some but it's very true. We used to be country first.........but now days we are party first.

Remember.... Never interrupt your enemy whilst they are shooting themselves in the foot. (Or summat like that)

Jeezus Jerry, I'm almost afraid to say anything now in case it brings forth another 50,000 words of reply! 😄 Look. If you want to ignore the almost daily reports of civilian killings, starvation, refusing to allow food and medical delivery by truck or ship, lack of any legal consequence for extrajudicial killings, targeting of noncombatants, etc - that's up to you. And no one is trying to hold Israel to any higher standard than anyone else. Is Hamas a terrorist organisation that should be disarmed? Of course it is. Do you keep killing a country's civilians until that terrorist organisation is disarmed? No you bloody don't. And as for throwing around the anti-semitic label at anyone who dares to speak out against Israel's invasions - Lebanon too now, as well as Iran - that's just lazy. I'm totally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump's invasions of Venezuela and Iran, Hamas's October 7th invasion of Israel, and anyone else who takes uninvited military action in a country that isn't theirs. But because I'm also against Netanyahu's invasions of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, I'm somehow anti semitic?

He should have stuck with drinking and philandering. Now he's God's Minister for War.

Be careful underestimating Hegseth. It's easy to bring up things like excessive drinking, adultery and the like, but that is not what he is like now. At some stage after that sort of behaviour, Hegseth found God. He joined a fundamentalist Christian Evangelical church and changed his ways. Was that a good result? No. The church he joined is the worst kind of fundamentalist. White supremist; all other religions are the Devil's creation. If you compared Hesgeth with the Ayotollah, you would find that the only dissimilarity was the god they beleived was the only one. In all other ways they are exactly the same. So for Hegseth, what he is doing to Iran is not to stop nuclear proliferation, but it is the fundamentalist Christian Evangelical version of a jihad.

I am hoping the Facebook friend invitations from Desi Freeman will now stop.

I rarely repost Farcebook pages, but this one is spot on ...... "Senator Claude Malhuret stood up in the French Senate this week and systematically torched every single member of Trump's cabinet. Nobody was spared. Not one. "A year ago, here in France, I compared Trump's presidency to Nero's Court. I was wrong. It's the miracle court," Malhuret began. Then he went through the roster. "An anti-vaxxer, former heroin addict as Minister of Health." (That's RFK Jr) "A climate-skeptic Minister of Economy." (That's Scott Bessent) "An alcoholic TV host, Minister of the Armed Forces." (That's Pete Hegseth) "An old Qatar agent, Minister of Justice." (That's Pam Bondi, whose former firm collected $115,000 a month lobbying for Qatar) "A groupie of Putin, Minister of National Security." (That's Tulsi Gabbard) Then he pulled back and went bigger. "A Turkish proverb says: When a clown settles in a palace, he does not become king. It is the palace that becomes a circus." Malhuret pointed out that since Trump created his so-called Board of Peace, he has launched more military strikes than Biden did in his entire term. He called out the Boeing jet Qatar gifted Trump worth $400 million. He called out the stock market manipulation that only insiders benefit from. He called out the Gulf investment deals enriching Trump and his family. "Any one of these conflicts of interest would have caused an immediate procedure of impeachment here," Malhuret said. "But we are not here. We are in MAGA's America where public business is conducted in favor of private interests." Then came the line that cut deepest. "Every time the Epstein affair resurfaces, bombs explode somewhere in the world and cause a distraction." This is how the world sees us now. Not through Fox News. Not through Truth Social. Through the cold, clear eyes of allied nations watching a great country be hollowed out by crooks. Every American should hear this speech. Share it everywhere."

The news about the U.S. bases damage, is largely correct. The U.S. military themselves have admitted damage has been incurred at 13 U.S. bases in the Middle East, with DoW damage estimations of around US$800M. There are other reports saying the number of bases seriously damaged is actually 17, and the total repair bill for all the Iranian damage is likely to exceed US$3B - and more importantly, take years to rebuild, simply because of the complexity of the equipment in the bases, and the requirement for a lot of electronic replacements, that are still in short supply from COVID-era restrictions. Even many car manufacturers are taking shortcuts in vehicle manufacturing, and leaving out optional equipment that is electronics-heavy, due to the ongoing chip shortage. What our dopey Tangerine Toddler doesn't understand, is that Taiwan may now even make overtures to China to form an alliance, to prevent a Taiwan-China war. This is because Taiwan is starting to realise that their major ally is no longer a reliable ally - and is likely incapable of protecting/supporting Taiwan in the event of a Chinese aggressive military move on them. If that alliance happens, China will then control the majority of the worlds cutting-edge chip manufacturing, and give Trump and his sycophants another dose of heartburn, because America still hasn't got any local chip manufacturing sorted yet. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddq7j48p35o https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/us-bases-uninhabitable-iran-missile-strikes-centcom-force-posture-2026-war/

That's a pretty high ranking.

True. But Oscar was NOT armless, was he! But he didn't have a leg to stand on.

But, it is OK to bag, but I also prefer to offer some solutions. This has previously been discussed on these forums. but a couple from memory: Ban political donations more than a de minimis amount from one controlling person/group (to make it hard to create 100 cmpanies and each of them contribute a seaparate donation to the limit). Maybe restrict it to living people rather than corporations. I would personally advocate a ban on lobbying groups and companies. If you have something to say to the government, it can be done through a public forum where everyone gets to hear it and scrutinise it. And contribute to it. If not point 2, ban parliamentarians from lobbying or representing/being emeployed by firms in any official or real capacity that involves communication - directly or indirectly - with the government. Period. No cooling off periods, etc. Aussie media regulator, ACMA, being given real teeth over both mainstream and social media, which must have independence, legally trained/accomplished people adjudicating, where they can impose real consequences/punishment for intentionally misleading the public. Those impacted can appeal through the court systems if they want. Of course, paid advertorials that are clearly labelled as such would be exempt, however, if the publisher reasonably had facts that rebuke such advertorials, then they have to state this prominently either before or after ther advertorial. A new "offence" is intrroduced of high public misconduct (there is a public misconduct charge which is applying a damp wetted to the wrist very softly). For this, the bar should be recklessness in its criminal definition( foresaw the consequences that are likely to happen, didn't want them to happen, but went ahead with the action anyway) or intention. In other words simple incompetence or even negligence do not count. So, unless the polly clearly states the likely outcome of their policy, and it results in an absurd and large cost to Australians and the benefit promised doesn't materialise, they can be held liable, with the punishment being they and their controilling interests (so, for example, not hiding assets with a partner or company or whatever) can be held finalcially responsible (i.e. having to pay what they can back). The above offence would automatically include acting on prohibited lobbying. I am sure I could think of many more things, but I bet with the above, there would be far more transparent and hopefully logical and rational decisions made in the best interests of the country as a whole.

He's the ultimate snake oil salesman. Back in the early 1900s, travelling salesmen would sell "miracle cures" to naive country folk. Said remedies did absolutely nothing, of course, except leave the victim poorer and still sick. Trump is exactly the same. A liar and braggart. Promised to "drain the swamp" when in fact he's the biggest alligator ever to inhabit any level of government. Promised to "make America great again" and has only made it worse. Promised to make ordinary people's lives better and has only raised prices, lowered healthcare, and made billionaires richer. Promised to start no wars and has invaded multiple countries. A rapist, fraudulent, morally (and multiple financially) bankrupt huckster who has fooled the religious into believing he's god's choice. Someone totally devoid of tact, empathy, diplomacy or character. In fact, if you were to say "Apart from death row inmates, who is the public figure with the least Presidential qualities?", the answer would be "Donald Trump".

Gina and her old man are/were just greed merchants of the highest order. Lang Hancock was a money-grubbing grub who used smart lawyer/accountants to initially write up an iron ore royalty agreement whereby he got 2.5% of all monies earned from a number of iron ore leases that he'd pegged - in perpetuity. The second thing he did was set up a major trust to avoid paying any tax on that massive amount of money. So Rio Tinto pays this family multiple tens of millions each year for no effort whatsoever on their part, and they pay zero tax on it - until the Hancock Trust is dismantled. That's why Gina spent hundreds of millions on lawyers and court cases to stop her children from dismantling the Handcock Trust. She succeeded. She paid her children a few tens of millions to keep them from grabbing more of the billions in the Trust. Gina married an American tax evasion expert, one Frank Rinehart, who narrowly avoided going to jail for tax fraud. He wound up with a suspended jail sentence. He was a crook who taught Gina all about tax evasion and how to manipulate laws to keep winning unfair gains. Frank Rinehart was a total fraud, he lived a double life with another woman while he was married to Gina. Gina believes she's the only one entitled to W.A.'s iron ore wealth, as her family pegged the first iron ore leases - and that everyone in Australia should genuflect to the Hancock dynasty and thank them eternally for the huge efforts the Hancocks have made to build up Australia. The truth is, they're nothing more than 20th and 21st century robber barons. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-man-who-came-between-gina-and-her-father-20120622-20tll.html

The expression on Takaichi’s face and her uncomfortable shifting in her seat shows just how Trump’s unexpected and ignorant jibe landed. She was visibly shocked. He hasn’t got a clue of course. Then Eric Trump’s response on X; “One of the great responses to a reporter in history!” A true chip off the old block. The sooner they are all gone, the better.

My cup runneth over! It began to rain last night as I went to bed, and has continued to do so throughout the night and into the morning. It has not ben the flooding type of rain, just a steady fall which allows the water to soak in. Now all that is needed is for the seeds laying in the soil to sprout for winter feed.

I don't gamble using most common forms. If I happen to go to a club, I might have a little tickle on the pokies, but with the idea that playing them is a form of entertainent and I expect to have to pay for the time I am being entertained. Therfore I set a limit, usually not very much, on how much I am willing to pay for the entertainment. If by chance (and the pokies are pure chance) I should win some money, that makes the entertainment better. Do you gamble with Scratchies? I don't, but they are a convenient way for someone to give you "a little something" along with a birthday card. My sister gave me ten dollars worth of assorted scratchies today for my birthday. That was five Scratchies. My experience with Scratchies is that you scratch them; look at them, utter "Oh, well", and toss them in the bin. My expectations were met with three of them. Any further disappointment I expected was dispelled when I saw that I won $2 on one of them. As I started to scratch the final one, I thought that I was just going through the motions, and I would have four out of five duds. You could have knocked me down with a feather after I completed scratching the last card. I'm no expert in these things, but I think I won $5000.00! If not, I've won something with three of a kind. I won't tell my sister until I have confirmed the win, but I think the right thing to do would be to give her a thousand, at least. Because of her generosity in giving me a place to live, I've been able to build up a bank roll that makes me feel somewhat financially comfortable. If it is a win, it's a windfall. I think I should share the joy. Begging letters will be returned marked: "Receiver to Pay Postage"

I really think the AUKUS deal and the Yank submarine deal needs to be cancelled - from our end. The last thing we need is to deal with, is a tantrum-throwing toddler when he's supposed to be leading the worlds only remaining superpower, and setting statesmanship-like behaviour and standards. On top of that, the subs are vastly overpriced, and will be delivered 30 years too late, and be obsolete when they are delivered.

Just overheard a great line in the tearoom... "The only war Trump had an exit strategy for, was Vietnam!"

The answer is simple. Get an electric car. Solar, and petrol prices are a thing of the past..

I know you're coming from an enlightened place here - so if the best people were a mix of women and cultural minorities, with not a single middle-aged white man in view, you'd be fine with that. That's admirable and in that respect I agree with you. There's a "but" coming. Please bear with me a little as I try to elucidate my thoughts. Firstly I think that a mix of differences in life experience is hugely important in any senior role, especially government. Just like you don't want all Labor politicians to be ex-trade union bosses, and you don't want all Liberal politicians to be ex-IPA, I would argue that EVEN if the "best" candidate (and what does that mean for government?) happened to be, in every electorate, a middle-aged white man, it would not be a good thing for the government to be compiled of them. With the best will and intentions in the world, a group of men cannot make the best decisions regarding the welfare of women, for example. And the reverse is true. They simply do not have the lived experience of the gender to inform their decision-making. Something they consider a good policy, having considered its impact on the other gender, may in fact turn out to have a subtle component which is negative in the long term for the other gender. If there was someone of the other gender on the team they may pick up on it immediately and say "Hey - but what about..." Obviously the same goes for gay/lesbian (not saying you have to have a transgender person in government - but at least someone who knows what it's like to be in that non-traditional bucket), immigrants, cultural background, religion (including lack of). Secondly is visible representation. Australia is a multicultural society. We say that, but I think for many people they still think of Australia as a mainly white "christian" country. According to Wikipedia, northern European accounts for between 55 and 70% (the 15% who put "Australian" in the ancestry census question are probably mostly white). So at least 1/3 of the population is ethnically diverse. As for religion, as at 2021 "Christianity" was 44%, followed closely by "No religion" at 39%, then around 3% each for "Islam" and "Hinduism" and about 2.5 for "Buddhism". (I think I read somewhere that "No religion" had actually overtaken "Christianity" in a later census). Now obviously it would be almost impossible for the government to be a true representation of every ethnicity, gender, sexual preference and religion. There are only so many seats in each house for a start. But, I would argue that if 50% of the population (women) look at the major parties and saw 0 women in cabinet positions, they would probably think that politics is not a healthy place for ambitious women. Same for ethnicity/religion (and disability). If you see only white people in government, no hijabs (not including Pauline), no Jews, no Asian/Indian/Arab/Indigenous faces - then you would probably feel somewhere deep inside that you're not truly being represented. The (relatively) recent same-sex marriage laws would probably not have happened if there weren't gay people in Parliament who initiated, pushed for or supported bills. Of course you have internal fights and factional plotting. You mentioned Plibersek - pushed out because Albo doesn't like her (I think more likely, he correctly sees her as a threat). Same with the Libs. After a series of disastrous leaders (Abbott, Morrison, Dutton) they finally choose their first female leader who was probably the best of a bad lot, only to tear her down in 6 months and put up another useless twat whose biggest claim to fame was posting an applauding comment to his own Facebook page. Anyway - the point is, I think there are subtle benefits to having a variety of personal attributes and backgrounds in leadership groups. Sorry it took such a long post to say this!

I can't think of a single place the US has gone in to to protect their interests where they have been successful. Korea, Panama, Nicaragua, Chile, Vietnam, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan to name a few. The CIA has been involved in overthrows of democratically elected (mostly socialist) governments causing major problems resulting in chaos & confusion with thousands killed when before the US got involved everything was working except those countries shunned the US. Trump managed to pull off the capture of the Venezuelan leader ostensible to get control of their oil under the guise of stopping the drug trade, but the country is still run by the original regime and their military is intact. We have been pulled in to all the American wars due to treaty obligations. If it isn't in Trumps interest would the US come to our aid in a local conflict? Given his rhetoric, threats to pull out of treaties and threats to others I think the answer is a definitive No.

I think this will go on for weeks and months if not longer. Trump has lost control of the war and despite all the destruction in Iran, the regime is now in the driving seat. The US knows roughly how much enriched uranium Iran has but not where it is, so that’s a big problem. Khamenei had issued two fatwahs in the past stating that having a nuclear weapon was not compatible with their religious beliefs, so it’s a moot point as to whether Iran would ever have developed a bomb. Iran achieved its goal with the threat alone, which was enough to get the West’s attention. Now however, with a new leader all bets are off. They apparently have enough uranium for between 11 and 16 Hiroshima type weapons, although not the long range delivery systems. That doesn’t really matter because they just have to set off one or two underground to prove the point. Trump could likely have got a deal had he continued negotiating instead of going to war. Contrary to their ambitions the US and Israel have not wiped out all Iran’s drones and rockets, and they can make more. They don’t have to import them. They have a couple of thousand sea mines and a fleet of fishing boats and midget submarines that can lay them. They have already attacked the neighbouring countries aiming to get them to pressure the Americans to abandon their bases, which may happen as it’s now clear the bases are putting them at risk rather than being a deterrent. The US and Israel are also at risk of running short of expensive missiles themselves pretty soon too. In the meantime Russia has stepped in to help the Iranians giving Putin a bargaining chip to use on Trump - “We’ll stop helping Iran if you stop helping Ukraine”. Iran has successfully bottled up the Strait with severe consequences for world energy supplies and other products such as fertiliser. The US and Israeli attacks on infrastructure and historically important sites is turning the population against the US and Trump in particular. Trump and Hegseth have got most of the US population offside as well. Trump has no off-ramp here and it’s his nature to just make a bad situation worse by never wanting to be seen to be a loser, but he’s already lost this war. All that remains is to go through the process of losing.

I've only got 12klm to drive to vote, but fairly safe from wombat and roo hazards. The biggest hazard is when you get to the polling centre and our dickhead local member tries to grab your hand to shake it.

Theer are visionaries who join Parties with teh hope of making a difference, but the first thing that they learn is that politics is a game of compromise.A person might have the idea to brighten a room by turning on the light with a switch, but then has to compromise on wiring, switch design, lumen output and positioning.

I can understand why young people are turning away from the major parties. Over time Australia has become a country where a whole generation of young Australians will never be able to own their own home. It doesn't matter how hard they work and save, it gets them nowhere. A lot of people make excuses and give various reasons why the country is like that, but the fact remains that it degenerated to this under the stewardship of one of the major parties or the other. Whether or not they are totally to blame, they have that job and the buck has to stop with them and they carry some responsibility for letting it happen.

To say Albo is the Aussie version of Chump, IMHO, is a bit rich. I agree with @nomadpete - he represents the less ship party, but it so far is not making some of the fundamental changes needed. I sympathise with Albo et al.. and I imagine, given his history in Labnor where we was firmly on the socialist left faction of the party, having to walk the balance of a small but powerful set of vested interests versus what is in his mind better for the community would not be an easy job. And between him and anything that the LNP have served up from Howard onwards, I would prefer him and his team and suggest Australia would poltiically and economically be in a lot better shape - assuming hubris didn't set in like it normally does. While the media play its part, in the second election of Labor, they increased their majority - so Aussies aren't quite as beholden to the media as we like to think. But the reality is for the majority of Australians, life is getting worse in a material sense while for the elite, it seems to be getting disproprotionately better and Labor are perceived as not doing enough to change things for what they promise and/orstand for. There are challenges in making change - defiinitely. And in a global economy, it is very difficult to stand up against vested interests without some real ramifications. If you think QANTAS taking its maintenance facilities to a low cost country is not representative of threats that are made to governments who want to introduce changes to even things up, think again. Many companies here have moved operations overseas because they could get a better deal and the government stared down their threats. If you lose employment as a government, there is a backlash. GBut that still does not mean we should not crticise poor judgment or performace,because it is not as poor as the other mob. That just permits the race to the bottom and people get fed up and the nutty protest parties flourish. The UK has shown this, and now, unbelievably for a country such as Australia, One Nation is getting a look in beyond rabid loonies. Of course, the US has made the protest person their leader on some chumped up promises.. but so detached from the real world are the political elite, that people have had enough. Its sort of what my Iranian employee said, it's sad it has to come to this, but something has to change.

The ceremony would have been a lot more respectful if he hadn't shown up at all.

We need more chuckles, the news is all too much gloom and worry today ....

I travelled through Iran to Afghanistan in 1975 before the Shah was deposed. I found most locals polite but border officials etc were not. I even hitch hiked from the Turkish border to a small town & then took a bus to Tehran. The main roads were good having been built by the US but the rest was quite poor then. I was only there for a week & saw some amazing architecture & ancient sites. If the place wasn't run by Islamist fanatics it would be great. The Shah was very wealthy but most people were poor. One of the reasons for the original takeover. Back to the sinking of the Iranian warship. US military sources stated it was the first sinking of a an enemy ship by a submarine launched torpedo since WW2. Well No. There have been 4 since and of course that included the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinking the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in 1982 during the Falklands war. The Yanks don't get much right especially history that they continually re-write to suit their narrative. As for fuel prices it doesn't bother me as they have yet to figure out how to tax the sun.

I got a black eye from trying to slide on a G-string.

I'm guilty of this myself as a retired Navy guy. A very large percentage of other retired military from my era are of the same mindset. The hostage situation happened during my second year mark. Four years later, I was stationed in Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico when the Marine Barracks blew up. The civilian secretary in my office came in one morning crying because CNN had just broadcasted that the Marine Barracks in Lebanon had just blown up. Her husband was a Lieutenant Navy/Marine Liaison living on the second floor of the barracks at the time. Luckily, he wasn't inside when the explosion occurred, but It took 4 days for the poor lady to find out that he was OK due to the confusion. I lost a good friend on the USS Cole. Engineman 2nd Class Marc I. Nieto He always called me "Dr. Diesel" and was constantly pestering me about technical issues with his gear. Great kid! So yeah, I'm still bitter.

Yeah - I have to restart drinking... 😉

Even if the Yanks pull out by the and of April, it is going to take years and years to get things back to where they were at the beginning of March. The Iranian threat of nuclear capability might have been squashed, but the damage done in doing so will take years to recover. Even if the oil started to flow today, the World is still missing the deliveries it expected over the past six weeks. While we have concentrated on the fuel component of crude oil, do not forget that we have develped so many othe products from that stuff that we seem to find essential for modern life.

octave, I built my own place in 1996 when I was in my early 40's and I'm thankful I did it then and not now. Looking at some of those beams I got up there on my own gets me trying to remember what it was like to be young and physically capable. The deepest stump hole was up to almost the top of my head and too tight for a jackhammer, so I levelled out a punching pad in the rock base with a crowbar. I used it like a percussion drill, letting the hand pressure off just as it hit the rock so it would twist a bit like a drill and chip a little bit out at a time. It was a bit claustrophobic down there. I dug all the stump holes with a shovel, crowbar and jackhammer. As far as raising bearers and beams, it's amazing what you can do with pulleys and temporary gin poles. To raise and place the poles in the holes I had pulleys and ropes set up at different points so I could tie the rope onto the 4WD and just drive away and watch the pole stand up in the rear vision mirror. It was hard work but a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. All the 4x2 wall studs, king posts and collar ties, the 6x2 rafters and verandah joists and the 10x2 ridge board are all recycled ironbark from when they pulled down the old Maroochydore RSL. I bought a whole truckload of it from a demolition mate. Great seasoned timber but as hard as your mother in law's heart. You can't drive a clout into it without pre drilling.

Can you see what's wrong with our electoral system? One Nation and independents got well over 1/4 of the primary vote, perhaps a 1/3, and because there was no seats won except for one independent, all those votes end up with zero value. The only votes that have value are the ones that help to win seats. The votes that don't win seats just remain as bits of paper filled out by voters who get ignored for the next four years. This is one of the reasons I stopped voting. Some votes have significant value, while other votes have no value at all. For a system that has mandatory voting, all votes should have value, and proportionate representation in the running of the State, or Nation So the jurassic idea of "winning seats" needs to be changed to: "A party is to get as many votes as it can, and then, a party's voters will get a real say in Parliament". In other words, abolish "seats", and have proportionate representation in Parliament instead. That will mean every vote will have value every election. No voter will be left behind.

Most of the brains of the Soviet Union was centered in Ukraine back in those days. They provided the bulk of engineering and development for the Soviet Union and industrial capacity. It's where the tanks, armoured vehicles, tractors and machinery were designed, developed and manufactured. Aircraft and rocket engines was another area. Right up until the Ukraine/Russia war Russia was still buying their helicopter engines from Ukraine. We tend to think of Russia as the centre of the Soviet Union but Ukraine was where all the talent was. As an analogy, the Russian approach to opening a can would be to bash it with a hammer; Ukrainians would sit down and design a can opener.

Trump shoots his mouth off big time. It's his Crude style and HELPS nothing but his insatiable EGO. He's good at Lighting fires but not Putting them Out. He's utterly TIED to Netanyahu and certainly NOT the brightest Bulb in the Chandelier. Most of the World views Trump as a very dangerous Idiot who is completely Unpredictable. Nev

This morning I was listening to music on my radio. The music was mainly orchestral and the radio is mono. The thought struck me what a wonderful device the radio's speaker is. It can reproduce the wide range of pitch and tone produced by a number if instruments playing at the same time simply by an electrical current causing a fibre cone to vibrate.

Flight Radar 24 is free to use. There is a paid version but I use the free version.

A couple was on their honeymoon, lying in bed, about ready to consummate their marriage, when the new bride says to the husband, "I have a confession to make, I'm not a virgin." The husband replies, "That's no big thing in this day and age." The wife continues, "Yeah, I've been with one guy." "Oh yeah? Who was the guy?" "Tiger Woods." "Tiger Woods, the golfer?" "Yeah." "Well, he's rich, famous and handsome. I can see why you went to bed with him." The husband and wife then make passionate love. When they are done, the husband gets up and walks to the telephone. "What are you doing?" asks the wife. The husband says, "I'm hungry, I was going to call room service and get something to eat." "Tiger wouldn't do that." "Oh yeah? What would Tiger do?" "He'd come back to bed and do it a second time." The husband puts down the phone and goes back to bed to make love a second time. When they finish, he gets up and goes over to the phone. "Now what are you doing?" she asks. The husband says, "I'm still hungry so I was going to get room service to get something to eat." "Tiger wouldn't do that." "Oh yeah? What would Tiger do?" "He'd come back to bed and do it again." The guy slams down the phone, goes back to bed, and makes love one more time. When they finish he's tired and beat. He drags himself over to the phone and starts to dial. The wife asks, "Are you calling room service?" "No! I'm calling Tiger Woods, to find out what the par is for this damn hole."

Well, if the girl trap is successful, you'll be told what to do. Problem solved!