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I got a fright tonight when I dropped one of my favourite lanterns (in the top four) onto the verandah floor from well above waist height. One of those times when you're not game to look down and see the damage. Luckily it's a strong, well built lantern and survived without a scratch. An el cheapo Chinese one I have would have been busted up badly in a fall like that due to it's paper thin constrction. The dropped lantern is a Sunlight brand cold blast lantern made in Indonesia. It's a large size, basically styled on a Dietz No.80, so a bit of weight to fall from that height with a full tank of kero. I think there's a couple of reasons it's such good quality, one is that the company's main business is making 44 gallon drums and the same gauge steel is used in the lanterns. They are also very well built and a factor in that is that I think they're mainly produced for the domestic market in Indonesia which requires a sturdy, useable product. A lot of contempory Chinese lanterns on the other hand, are made especially for the junk export market and are of low quality. The older lanterns made in China and Hong Kong were fairly good quality. I have a very old Hong Kong made Globe brand (aka The World Light Factory) hot blast lantern and it's of good quality. Of all the lanterns I have, a mix of hot blast and cold blast lanterns including brands from the USA, Germany, India and the UK, in my opinion the best of them all is the old humble Australian made Lanora hot blast lantern. They're not flash, but solid as a rock, burn beautifully and function mechanically way better than any of the others. I have two of them, the attached photo shows the yellow one burning away on the verandah. The Lanoras were circa 1940's/1950's, very common lantern and widely used by the military, railways and government as well as household use.

His new avatar:

There's a rise of far-right populist parties everywhere. Reform in UK. AfD in Germany. Fidesz in Hungary. National Rally in France. The MAGAfication of the GOP in the US. PHONey here in Australia. If you want reasons, how long have you got? Growing inequality. Billionaires profiteering while simultaneously disenfranchising workers. Overpopulation, destruction of the natural world while those same billionaires resist any limitations on resource extraction. Journalism hollowed out by concentration of media ownership to the same billionaires and their mates who own the fossil fuel and tech industries. Loss of traditional industies to automation, robotics and AI, and the necessary transition of energy systems. Difficult and existential questions which require actual thought, wisdom and cooperative planning, at a time when our attention span is the shortest it's ever been. Into this complicated reality, populist parties provide simplistic answers and attract followers who like simple answers. Climate change isn't real so let's drill, baby, drill. Everything will be ok if we send all the immigrants back to where they came from. It's all the fault of the Somalis/Muslims/Jews/Pakistanis/pick your group. Cut taxes while simultaneously increasing services. Sound familiar? If you really think that Pauline is a deep thinking, compassionate and forward-looking leader, then by all means vote for her. Personally I think she's an opportunistic, racist rabble-rouser who appeals to the worst bits of human nature, so her party will always be last on my ballot.

Doesn't that just 'roll off the tongue!'

Finally! Afer a bit of rain on Satruday, which resulted in the cancellatoion of teh local jockey club meeting, the rain started to fall just before dawn this morning. It is the type of rain you raelly want after months of dry. It is gentle, soaking rain that does not result in rushing torrents across bare ground. After only a few hours I see that my drinking water tanks are replenished. Now I will wait to see if any seed that has been in the soil will germinate to give some late summer feed, or at least hold the topsoil together.

Well said Jerry. Firstly I'm breaking my golden rule here. I had a lengthy break from the forum and set a rule for coming back on a regular basis that I would avoid the politics section, so this is a relapse. I think it's a turbulent time in politics for a lot of the reasons mentioned by you in the above post. It's a good way to analyze the issue, otherwise it just turns into an us against them mudslinging match. Devotees of the major parties often like to think those on the fringe should come into their fold because it's the only way to provide stable government. Here's the catch - a lot of those people only have one small part in the power structure, and that's their vote every three (or four in some states) years. A lot of them use that vote to send a message to the majors, and let's face it, without a reality check, complacency will rule. While it's a sound two party system where we have this eternal your turn, my turn setup, performance of governments and major oppositions will always be pedestrian. A lot of the disgruntled people don't want to reward that. I don't think the shift to the right is a blip, and it certainly won't be halted by simply denigrating those people. At the moment here in Australia, Labor has a declining primary vote in the polls, but with the number of seats held, should be right for a while without having to go to a Labor/Green coalition. The immediate problem is for the conservatives with their primary votes bleeding to minor parties, mainly ON. There's a possibility if voter disillusionment with the major parties is not addressed, we'll see a shift to more European style government where it's rare for parties to form government without cobbling together a coalition of parties. Be prepared for the possibility that might be the new normal in Australia in the not too distant future. Liberal/National/One Nation coalition or a Labor/Green coalition with a few independants thrown in here and there.

Edit: [Poor comment from a moderator. Cut it out. You set a bad example. The subject needs to be delved into a bit deeper. Nev] Nev, as an example of the point I'm trying to make, the above quote has been edited to normal text. Yes, I know you do it for emphasis, but your posts don't need emphasis. They are short enough to be clearly understood without caps. The fact is they are less understandable with the cap emphasis you put in the posts, and can visually look like a rant. Have a good look at the two versions above and try to imagine them through the eyes of others; it's not hard to see which one looks more polite. You don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

This coulda gone in the trump thread, but I laughed. Maybe there is hope? Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi in an oversight hearing Wednesday

Unbelievable! America failed to win gold for shooting, at the Olympics! (Well, it wasn't held in a school)

Even though they can't spell, it's true. One Nation is a protest party. They have no workable policies and no chance of successfully governing, in the catastrophic event that a majority of voters lost their minds and voted them in. If you want a government that hates the environment, loves guns and bibles and is paid for by (and works for) billionaires, move to the USA.

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday. 55 minute wait beyond appointment time. He gave me a referral to a mob to check out my loss of balance and very bad hearing. The place was called Dizzyology. I called to make an appointment. Got a recording saying "Our reception operates 9 to 5:30 Monday to Friday." then nothing. As It was only 3 pm, I rang again, got the same. Twice more, the same. I thought, I'll go down there, because I have difficulty hearing on the phone, even with plug in ear phones. Looked at my watch, it was flat (rechargable). Plugged it in to recharge. Opened the front door, the dog shot past my leg and across the street. Rounded him up and got under way. School leaving time, Mum's taxis everywhere, plus 2 buses in a narrow street. Driving in the left lane, a line of cars stopped to turn left. Eventually got into the right lane, a line of cars stopped to turn right. Twenty metres from just about every set of lights, they turn amber. Finally got there at 4 o'clock. It was 12 km. Walked into the place, a room with 6 chairs, no reception counter. A table with a sign "Have a seat, someone will be out at your appointment time." I was there to make an appointment. Took a seat and waited. The walls were frosted glass with about 18" clear at the bottom. I could see a man's legs moving around a treatment table, and voices like he was talking to a patient. I waited....and waited. After about an hour and 20 minutes I saw the hydraulic thing under the treatment table lowering it so the patient could get off. The door opened and the man came out followed by the patient, whom he directed to the toilet. He said, "I'm sorry, we don't have a receptionist. I'll be with you when I finish this appointment, It may be about half an hour." The patient returned, and they went into another consulting room. After about 10 minutes, they came out, the patient left and the man took my referral letter, went into an office and organised the appointment for March 20. He explained that there were only clinicians at this location, the receptionist worked from home because only people with an appointment went to that location. So, after well over an hour and a half wating I finally left just after 6 pm. I wasn't driving all that way and leaving without the appointment. I got to explain the back story to my problem, and learned more about cochlear implants, which he thinks I have a good chance of qualifying for. Guess today's date.

It all depends on how much money you've got, what your dream is, and how much determination you've got, to achieve that dream. One of the most amazing restorations I've seen is a split window Kombi, salvaged from the Higginsville Pumping station - where the entire front of it had been cut off, the body stood on its front, a huge chunk cut out of the side of it, and then it was used as a dunny!! But a bloke set his heart on having a fully restored split window Kombi, and he recovered every part of that "dunny Kombi" and restored it to superb driving condition!! It reportedly cost him $100,000! Why anyone would do this, to end up driving a gutless old pile of VW crap, is beyond me! But that's just my opinion! This is the Kombi when it was used as a dunny, I can't find photos of it when restored, I did see them on Instagram, but can't find them now.

I am getting through my copy of Peter’s book, nice to have a break from fiction for a bit. Some real interesting stuff in there. the amount of golden ounces pulled out of that ground is staggering. £3 an ounce might have been a fortune then, but t the ridiculous prices seen lately the numbers are staggering.

Driest start to the year since 2009 in Melbourne with some gauges not recording 1 mm since mid November.

It wasn't actually sold, it was a 99 yr lease. A pretty cunning way of getting around FIRB examination. But an undesirable deal, regardless, and basically a bloody outright stupid deal.

OK, you two. We know that you each sit on the otehr side of the fence. We accept that. What is not acceptable is personal attacks. Please play the ball and not the man.

Jerry is either a skilled typist or he has mastered voice-to-text. Good on him!

Yes the article I quotes is behind a paywall. But the seemed to loint out that quantitative easing, when added to the interactions you listed, can bring about some big financial swings. The big question is: will these hit tle voters pockets before their midterms? Will Chump force the interest rate down? Etc. Thanks @Jerry for taking the time to explain. (Ten out of ten for good typing, too)

I can't read the article, so my response is in generic terms. In terms forward looking at the economy, to be honest, I am probably one of the last you would want an asnwer from. I am not going to get into virtue politics and try and keep this to economics. Chump is using two main levers - tariffs and stimulus, the latter being code word for increasing debt and government spending to stimulate the economy. It is sort of applying the foot brake and the throttle of a motorcycle simultaneously to get a balanced and steady result. He has fiscal policy levers; he is attempting to gain access to monetary policy levers, but let's leave that out of it for now. Economically, he seems to be using the latter to ease the pain of the former. With his political agenda of making America great again, and trying to reclaim the lost economic activity of domestic manufacturing or production, these levers can be weilded as an effective tool in achieving those aims, but only for so long. And there are existing structural issues with the US (and most major western) economies, that length of time before it comes back to bite is shortened. At the heart of it is the theory of price equilibrium (a google sesarch will give a concise but good AI explanation) It explains how prices are correlated to supply and demand. Assume the market for, I dunno, T shirts is in equilibrium - that is the price is set such that the amount of T shirts willing to be consumed by consumers is the same at which suppliers are willing to sell them. You have price equilibrium of supply and demand. If suppliers decide to increase the supply (say to become a dominant player in the market) and the demand does not change, in order to sell the higher volume of T shirts, the sellers will have to start discounting T shirts to a price where consumers are willing to buy the increased volume of T shirts. And of course, vice versa; if demand goes up and supply stays the same, consumers are willing to pay more per T Shirt for that same supply. There are other factors, such as price elastcity, lag, etc.. but let's keep it simple. According to this theory, though, one of two things will happen. If it is a permanent move one way, the price equilibrium will shift. This will usually happen where there is a constraint to one side of the equation. For example, if supply increases, but demand cannot (I dunno - the nuber od train rides one can take in a day??), and suppliers are willing to the increased supply at that price, then the price will stay there. More often what happens is there is a constraint on supply and the price forever changes for the worse (assuming no substitute goods or services are available). The other impact is that where the demand and supply if perfectly correlated (fully elastic), the increase or decrease in price will eventually lead to the supplier or consumer increasing or decreasing supply/demand accordingly which impacts the other's willingness to supply or consume at that price, and prices will eventually revert to their original equilibrium where both sides are willing to supply or consume the same volumes at that price. This is really important, because although we talk about the price of goods and services in this context, money or currency also has a price. And that price is not the exchange rate; it is the inflation rate. Inflation = a lessenign ov the value of money - it is not worth as much as it was. Deflation = increasing value of money - it is more valuable that the goods or services it is being exchanged for than it was, say yesterday. However, inflation is far more prevalent than deflation - so money is forever devaluing, right? Well, yes, and there are two reasons for it. The first is government interventions - monetary policy usually. Governments don't like inflation, because it usually results in a recession or worse. Although in theory, as prices drop, people will buy more of whatever it is, there comes a point where it is not economic for the suppliers to sell at that price. But, a quirk to the price equilibrium theory, when there is deflation, people will put off buying stuff because they know they can get it cheaper in the future. That collapse in demand leads to recessions and depressions. The second reason is simple - there is usually an increasing money supply in an economy. And where you have more of something that you want to exchange for something else that has value to you, you will offer more of that something you have. That is you will increase your supply of money in relation for the other thing you want that has had no increase in supply. The good example is the housing market. Remember when you or your parents could buy an average house in an average suburb for about 3.5 times annual salaries. Today it is something like 7 or more times salary. Why? This may sound mysoginistic, but women entring the workforce enmasse. What that did is put more moeny into to system and into purchasers hands. Supply of housing is relatively stable, especially in established areas, so what happens - you as a family with two working parents instead of one give more money to the seller as you are in competition with other buyers (demand). The net effect in real terms is both parents are now working but still no better off. So, if Chump increases tariffs, the price of the goods/services imported into America are higher and in theory, the consumer will want to buy less of them. But why do that? Because, the price at which they can be sold fom domestic manufacturers economically is higher and to try and even out demand between importers and domestic manufacturers is price (assuming quality/specification is on par). In other words, you are artifically cheapning money against imported goods. As I mentioned, assuming the quality, specification, amenity etc is simiar, responsible citizens would look to buy locally made, but at least through simple distributions, there would be a higher percentage of the domestically made product sold. Of course, there is a lag here, because where there was no manufacturing, it takes time to get it up and running. And that's where the stimulus comes in. It can be freebies to the people - as was the inflation reduction act. And some of Chump's is.. But it can also be setting the barriers to entry into the sector lower to get investment moving quicker and manufacturing churning stuff out quicker, too. That hass a knock on effect of creating employment and when there is a ready supply of labour, that will be a very good thing, because it won't increase costs (salaries) too much. Once construction is over, depending on the automation levels, there will be some permanent, sustained increase in employment over time. But now you have a lot of money now artifically entering the economy. More people are employed, which is a good thing and they can buy more stuff. Demand increases, but because there is more money in the system. Inflation is initially kept in check because there is usually some capacity in an economy to absorb short term changes in demand and supply without material impact on prices. Suppliers can supply more to meet the demand (or maybe there was already an oversupply). Everything is nice. However, once that capacity is used up, things start to change. Suppliers are now in a position where there is excess demand over normal supply volumes - the previous equilibrium price. What happens? People with more money still want the stuff and if suppliers can';t or don't want to increase the supply, they charge more. Consumers enter into comeptition with each other and pay the higher prices. You have inflation - or devaluing money.. because the money supply was increased. The money supply increase can be "natural"; i.e. a product of normal economic activity or it can be through government injection of new money - stimulus. This is usually done through a) printing money (bad - look at Germany in the 30s) or debt (less bad, and used properly as well as contained, can be very good). Either way, if done to excess, it is not sustainable, because, after all, the piper has to be paid (pied piper, not the aircraft company). Just look at quantitative easing, which was increasing the money supply.. it was really good to start with as it stabilised everything by gradually increasing the money supply. But they left the taps on for too long and inflation went ballistic. If they had of started turning off the taps earlier and took longer to do it, there would have been little impact on inflation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. What Chump is doing is short term lever pulling.. He is creating that cosy bubble to protect everyone now. He will be in lag territory as the economy has capacity to absorb it and things will be humming along nicely. It's nice and artificial, but reality will kick in. With his attempt to get the levers of monetary policy, which can artifically increase inflation through interest to keep the lid from blowing off, influencing lower interest rates in the face of an artifically booming economic engine is a recipe for disaster as there will be more money floating in the system because it will be easy to get hold of. Enter the credit multiplier, which even further increases the money supply. What happens is I earn say $100. I put $50 in the bank. Multiply that by say a million people. Three is $50m in the bank. Now I want to start a business. So I borrow $1m. Others want to biy a house, a car, a holiday of a lifetime, etc. In the end, $45m of that money is lent out. The economy is now $95m. Now, the people/businesses we have spent the money on bank some of that money, after expenses, etc. Say, $20m is banked back as deposits, the other is spend on their expenses, and those that were paid bank say $10m of that.. The system now has the original $50m + the $45m lent but still has $30m in the bank and ready to lend out. And so the cycle goes until it essentially runs to a crtical reduction at which the economy can't sustain itself, and people start defaulting and the whole thing unravels (of course that is an overdramatisation). Say the borrowing rate is on average 10%. It makes it reasonably difficult to service large loans. Now Chump comes along and adds $50M to my economy. Whoa.. As a bank I don't want it sitting in my accounts as a liability - it is costing me money. So I want it lent out. But initially, demand hasn't changed, so what do I do? I reduce my interest rates to shift it. And this increases demand for lending, further pumping money into the economy and keeping the cycle going. But, with even more money in the economy, the same population can pay more for the same stuff, and eventually inflation will skyrocket. Then things get more expensive, and eventually people can no longer afford it as the money creation cycle slows. Then demand drops, employment drops, taxes drop, etc, The government has debt and the piper is coming along for its next payment. The proiblem with Chump is he looks to be weilding these levers for very short term political gain and the debt to the piper ever increasing. One day the piper will come calling and the house of cards that has now been built, rather than the solid foundation will fall.

You can change your display name, not that I've heard of it being done, or what impact it will have on your previous posts. Click on your avatar at the top of the left margin. From the dropdown menu, select Account Settings. The first item is Display Name. Click on the Change button. Enter and save your new Display Name.

In this ABC article, election analyst William Bowe has produced this graphic based on averages of polling. It shows voting at the last federal election compared to averaged voter intention now. One Nation is up 20% which is made up of a 5% loss to Labor, 10% loss to the coalition and 5% to those listed as others. The only one that hasn't moved is the Greens steady at 12%. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-15/story-lab-one-nation-polling/106322978

The WHOLE world, even. Nev

I think the light output is a bit like our refrigeration expectations nowadays. When we lived without electricity he light from one of these would have beaten a candle by tons, better than a campfire. Imagine people having to live without electricity, having a coolgardie safe only no to keep their food, and maybe an underground cellar. hey Willie, do your geckos make audible sounds. We ha geckos all over a villa in the Maldives that called to each other all night. Never heard lizards making any thing other than hisses when threatened.

Talking of betting on sports, online bookies are making it difficult for country jockey clubs to keep operating. With the ability to place bets using an app while at the racetrack, less money is going through the TAB, whose profits are fed back into country racing. That means less mon allocated to country clubs so prize money is less while the costs of operating meetings continues to rise.

We had a couple of those on the farm when I was a kid - 75 years ago. Also had the Tilley pressure lamp with the pump to pressurise the tank.

I used to think the tubes running down each side were just part of the framework until I found out they are critical to the way the lanterns work. A bit like intake manifolds, but act as structural integrity as well. I usually burn one or two at night on the verandah. It provides a nice soft light and keeps the geckos happy hoovering up the moths attracted to the light. Another benifit is the nostalgic smell of burning kero; it reminds me of growing up with the kero heater. The kero heater was a stinky old thing and didn't throw out a lot of heat. I can't remember what year we got mains power on and would have changed to an electric heater. Before the mains power we had a 32 volt generator run by a single cylinder Southern Cross diesel. The battery bank was stuffed so as soon as you cut the motor to go to bed, all the lights went off. I've still got that generator but unfortunately not the engine.

My childhood involved Tilly lanterns for camping, which I think must have been like that Aladdin.

Well, Willie's got a new nickname now - the Lantern King! I have zero knowledge of these style of lanterns, I thought they were all junk and pretty useless for light output. But I do have some knowledge of the pressurised petrol/kero lanterns such as the Aladdin - we had no mains power on the farm when I was a child, and all we had for light was Aladdin lanterns - and they were very good lanterns. But they don't stand much of a knock, or the mantle falls to pieces!

The hot blast lantern like the Lanora in that photo has an air gap between the top of the globe and the chimney. In this photo the one on the left is a cold blast lantern and the two on the right are hot blast lanterns. With a hot blast, fresh air enters in the grate down near the burner. Some burnt gases exit the gap at the top of the globe while other burnt gases go into the hood, down the side tubes then into the plenium before mixing with the fresh air. With a cold blast lantern, the burnt gases go straight out the top chimney. Fresh air is taken into the side tubes from openings that are covered by the shroud below the chimney. This then goes down the tubes to the plenium. It's a more efficient design as a cold blast has only fresh air supplied to be burnt, fed from the plenium and the grate around the burner. Less smoke and a brighter light. The hot blast intake is a mix of hot, burnt gases from the plenium and fresh air from the burner grate.

First, I have no issue with Nev's style - yes, Internet etiquette says CAPS is SCREAMING, and I guess that is written etiquette, too. But in the absence of in person or at least voice to coice comms, where infelctions can be made, and in the absence of mid-caps to allow for emphasis (sometimes an exclamation mark won't do), I have come to accept that is Nev's way and I am comfortable with it. We all have our ways whe it comes to written word, so don't go changing at least on my account. @Marty_d's post has put far more eqloquently and completely the point I have been trying to get across.. This lurch to the right is a global thing, because globally, the symptoms and root causes have coincided. Add rabid religions to the mix of billionaires, and a synchophatic press mostly devoid of objectivity, and it is a recipe for disaster. The reality is these issues, which could have been solved by governments of different colours, but they continue. It is easy to throw stones at the pollies, but my guess is there are forces we never see behind the scenes that make it extremely difficult to survive politically, professionally, and dare I say personally (in terms of character assaniation and assasination) if the pollies upset the apple cart too much. The latter bit may seem a bit of a conspiracy theory, but I have seen first hand the extreme rage, anger and threats when someone very wealthy has stood to lose quite a bit of money. It is ugly, and while they have the money to fight, by god they do. To be clear, I haven't seen them take action against the person beyond the threats they have made.. but this person was in such a state, it wouldn't have been a great leap to do so. Also, once in government, the party of power wants to stay there, so there is a conflict of interest already building up with those who have the money (which equals power) to make life more difficult for them. Imagine a CEO sayin we will pull the business from your jurisdiction and move it somewhere else. Imagine all those jobs lost. People will still buy our stuff - you know that - so you better bend to our will or it is you who will carry the can. The issues that Marty raise, sadly transcend colours of both parties. The rabble rousers of whichever colour you want start to get attractive. The sad reality is that most people, even more and more into what was the middle classes are so busy keeping their and their families' heads above the water, they are too exhausted to look into the complex world of politics, have more and more been forgotten by those they vote for, and grab onto anything else that pretends to offer them a lifeline. The the press describe these people are those on the margins, no hopers, blaming the world for their problems. Well, just maybe, that is stereotyping them like stereotyping Muslims as all terrorsts... When you look into it, a lot of these people work hard, but due to the widening economic gap, struggle, and are left out.. maybe society is forgetting them, too? And now, they gravitate to parties that offer them something to blame, and a hollow salvation. The other parties have long ago fogotten them; here are parties that at least recognise them if nothing more. That is why I highlight things like Brereton. It is one thing to say well go live somewhere else, or we still have it good hear, but that does not justify the constant erosion of trust, integrity, and quality. Would we rather stop the rot before we sink to an autocratic dictatorship as the US has done, by which it is probably too late before blood is shed? Oh, wait, it has been shed already in Minneapolis, and no doubt by the Venezualans (but they were all bad, of course), and by the undocumented migrants cast to jurisdictoons with a clear disdain for human rights? At some stage a government is going to have to bite the bullet properly, or else we are headed in the same direction.

Pam Bondi is really BAD News. (Like MOST/ALL Trump Appointees). Nev

My copy arrived today.. Looks like @pmccarthy is (probably once again) contributing positively to Australia's balance of Trade 😉

PHON has NOT got ONE Lower House Seat OR any Policies other that RACIST hate ( which changes according to the Occasion) and Bagging Labor She's Funded By Gina Reinhart who is worth 37 Billion and some of that Assistance ? will (and is ) coming under scrutiny. All the People rushing to Her are Malcontents and mostly Nats who have a complex situation in ARE in Queensland where there is ONLY a SINGLE Party. Hansens Popularity is Highest in Qld. HER approval rating is Only Based on Polling of a relatively small number of People. Murdoch is Pushing her but the Main damage is caused by the Behaviour of the NP to their Partner. in the Unholy alliance, called the Coalition whose Main Purpose, Particularly Lately was to Keep Labor Out. The NP more supports Coal and GAS interests than that OF Farmers and say NO to anything Labor proposed. The NP don't actually represent a LOT of people but a fair bit of area and they are rusted on voters. When Election time Come s scrutiny of what Policies are In Place& How they are likely to work Might Bring some reality into the equation and see How the DIVERSE views of the NEW additions to Pauline's Party will share the Power and Pecking order. STABILITY. Can't see it happening. Nev

Willie, the Australian gold price has been over AU$7,000 for quite some time. The price was above US$5,000 for the whole of the last week in January, and again for the last week.

Crazy prices for split window Kombis. I remember them as an underpowered tin box on wheels. But they had a lot of character.

That's ok Nev, enjoy your junk free retirement. I haven't quite got to that stage yet; achieved the retirement part but still haven't cured the junk addiction.

spielberg the director

To each his own. Nev, you do what you enjoy in life and I'll do the same.

So, how is it pretty much all crap?

Has Trump ever paid what he owes? You have to wonder why anyone would take on a job for him. How does he keep lawyers working for him?

I have no desire to watch "Melania, The Movie". BUT... I am most curious about E. Jean Carroll. Want to hear the story of the woman who took on Trump? The one who beat him in court. Twice. https://askejeanfilm.com/ The thrilling adventurous life of beloved advice columnist and journalist E. Jean Carroll, the only woman to beat Trump in court. Twice. "Ask E. JEAN" is the story of E. Jean Carroll’s life, from her early days as Miss Cheerleader USA to her rise as a journalist, author, and advice columnist. Carroll broke barriers as the first female editor at Esquire, Playboy, and Outside, helping to redefine women’s roles in media with her sharp wit and fearless voice. In recent years, she stirred public discourse by standing up to power, becoming the only woman to beat Donald Trump twice in court.... But I don't think she gas managed to make gropenfuhrer to actually pay her the court ordered compensation.

Did you know that artists are not paid a fee for performing at the Superbowl halftime show? The NFL picks up the bill for staging the show but does not pay the artists a fee. The exposure of being on such a show is considered sufficient compensation.

Makes me proud to live in a little inconsquential no-account place that Chump couldn't even find on a map.

He is a cunning linguist.

I doubt WE really have that Luxury. Trump is NEVER WRONG. (but I think it's MARY Trump they are referring to). America has started all recessions lately and this Fool could do the really BIG one, because HE's Clueless, Vain and Greedy beyond Belief. He's only EVER been in Real Estate where his Exaggerated Reputation was used to the full .Now He uses Stand over Tactics and tears up existing agreements and Treats Former Allies Like $#!t. THIS Damage will take A LONG time to repair if Indeed It is Possible at ALL. Once Shunned, Twice SHY. Who in their right Mind would TRUST PUTIN also? Bare Faced LIES to the United Nations. Nev

Now, all we need, is to get Nomadpete to do proofreading on his posts! 😄

Washington is the backer of the $US, but the Federal Reserve is charged with keeping the U.S. monetary system stable and functioning properly. The Federal Reserve is independent of any political demands and consists of 12 Reserve Banks and a committee that sets U.S. monetary policy, with particular emphasis on interest rates, which are a key monetary driver of any economy. The overwhelming belief amongst U.S. politicians is that the Federal Reserve must operate completely independently of any political interference and be allowed to make monetary policy corrections that it believes are needed to keep the U.S. economy and the $US on an even keel. However, the Tangerine Toddler believes he alone has to totally control the monetary policy of the U.S., and I reckon a lot of financiers and economists lose a lot of sleep over what would happen if the Tangerine Toddler got his way, and took control of the levers of the money machine. https://www.clevelandfed.org/about-us/understanding-the-federal-reserve