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The Pope and Trump are on stage in front of a huge crowd. The Pope leans toward Trump and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, like that of your followers, but go deep into their hearts and for the rest of their lives whenever they speak of this day, they will rejoice!" Trump says, "I seriously doubt that. With one little wave of your hand? Show me!" So the Pope slaps him.

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.

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.

Not quite a conversion on the road to Damascus, but it looks like I'll be taking my first ride in an EV next week. My son has bought a BYD Shark 6 for himself and a BYD Sealion for the family car. My son has a business pimping up 4WDs. He worked out plans to do what he wants to his Shark and has had initial talks with the sellers of BYDs, interesting them in his idea. If his talks produce anything, his business will contract to do up these cars as special vehicles, which will add something special to retailer's offerings. From what he says, he thinks he will be starting limited production around Spring. As well as doing this stuff with BYDs, he will still be doing similar work on the usual suspects. It's good to see a young man (geez! He's 36!!) having a go. I can only wish him success. However, no matter how successful he becomes in business, he'll still be my dickhead of a son.

Apparently these buzzwords are used to express power in interpersonal relationships. If a person is on a lower rung in the ladder than the person using the buzzwords, then the one on the higher rung is exerting power over the other. These words are also used to exclude outsiders from inner circles. These words are the trade jargon of the administrative classes. The one I hate is "on my watch". I could see it being used by John F Kennedy and the elder George Bush who both served in the Navy in WWII, but its use by people with no navy service grates on my nerves.

Corporate buzzwords and phrases. It was things like "bringing them along for the journey".. The latest is aligned.. as in "lets all get aligned".. These things are repeat ad nauseum... I am not sure people even know what they mean. P155es me off.

Back on the road Peter! Let me know if you'd like to go for a ride sometime. One of my favourites is to Richmond via Grasstree Hill then back via Tea Tree and Brighton.

His new avatar:

Here is a photo of, l to r, my father, his sister, and my mother's sister-in-law. The photo was taken 55 years ago. The original was black and white, but I used an online site to colourise it a couple of years ago. It took the algorithm about 2 minutes. Last week I found another site online which said they could convert old photos into video clips. I didn't specify a motion style, but this is how they converted it. The power of AI.

Unlikely. The deranged orange one has crapped on its trade 'partners'. The stink will linger long after the crap is gone. Art of the deal? There might be big money changing hands in the background, but joe public won't see any of it.

Loved your cars and bikes eh Nev , good for you. Brother loves bikes he's got bike business. Mum had a Peugeot way back, jesus that thing was nice car , wouldn't know the yr think it was around and 85 or something. l dunno , people don't seem to read much here but have said , plenty to do and have also had hobbies all my life to. Only got back here 3mths ago though as said to haven't had a chance to scratch my arse l'm not even established here. Have gotten a shipload done though at least. Anyway decided l'm doing the cabin up then selling the place if possible. l've started that now should be ready in a few wks and we'll see how she goes.

Forget the policies, she has consistently voted against her policies when her rich mates make a call. Eg. Penalty rates, voted to abolish them Health funding for nurses wages-voted against. Self interest is all she believes in.

To add some credibility to the news of military activity, it has been reported that the two pizza shops near MacDill airforce base reported major sales spike in pizza orders last night. Historically, such reports have previously coincided with major U.S. military planning and activity events. (Sorry, but I cannot find the 'sarcasm' emoticon)

There's one around here that rides a Harley with drag pipes and I must admit, he's not too bright. If he has an audience he will crank the throttle extra hard for maximum racket. I guess he thinks everyone is thinking "Wow!", whereas in reality they're all thinking "Dickhead!".

They DON'T have to be and Islam is not the Only threat. Lack of TRUTH in the Media is a threat to Democracy and while we have a free Vote there is a chance of keeping the thing on the rails. Nev

Better IF he could ZAP him. Nev

You can't revoke the citizenship of an Australian if it would leave them stateless. This is not something Labor or even the LNP can do if they were in government. There is no doubt these women made a monumentally stupid decision (although some were pressured into it by family, and were only girls themselves). And some may remain a security risk. The government will need to eventually let them back, it has no choice. What it can do is charge them with whatever crimes they've committed and lock them up here. The question it's facing now is, does it leave them and their children (who are innocent) in a terrible place where their kids are likely to be radicalised themselves while it dithers with the political pressure, or does it act quickly and provide those children the support services they need?

Just on another EV related topic. BYD recently announced that development of Sodium phosphate batteries has proved successful and that BYD is moving towards full production of this type of enegery storage. I think that the main advantages of sodium phosphate technology is a lower cost of raw materials and the elimination of the fire risks associated with lithium batteries. BYD knows about economies of scale. Sodium phosphate batteries can only become the universal standard if the majority of manufacturers are using them. To get this change started industry-wide, BYD has apparently not patented the process, but is freelky sharing the knowledge with everyone who makes batteries. We shall see what we shall see.

That is the irony of Charity. All Vinnies, LifeLine, Red Cross and Op Shops suffer from the generosity of people. I'm battling the same problem in the OP Shop I work at. Too much stuff donated; not enough staff to sort it, and not enough demand for what is put out for sale. I'm bagging up good clothing to be sent to Africa. Doing that is better than sending it to landfill. Also, our tip operator (local council) does not charge to tip. The Metropolitan charities lose bucket of money paying tip fees. It's bad when you live in a town with an aged population. Boomers are dropping off the perch and their kids are cleaning out theie houses and dropping off what they don't want to charity shops. Just think of the wedding gifts you received at you first wedding. Nowadays, no one has dinner parties so there is no need for fancy dinner sets or glassware. Then over the years people collect stuff like Tupperware and cookware. You can't sell that sort of stuff, but people keep donating it. We can't sell electrical items because we don't have anyone to Test 'n' Tag each item, but we continue to get it donated. You'd be surprised at how many items of clothing still have the original retailer's tags on them. I spent today packing up Mum's stuff to remove it from her room where she lived for the past ten years. I packed away CDs, DVDs and casette tapes, as well as their players. Who would want her out-of-date clothing. I have just poured opened jars full of jam down the sink. And there are all her creams, ointments and soaps that can't be given away. And her shoes and underwear. The only thing we can do is to wait until the end of the bushfire season and have a big burn up.

You Mean it's ALL Bull? Cheeses Crust. Is Nothing sacred? Next you'll tell me there's no Dog, and I'm adopted. Nev

They're only selling it because we're buying it. I'd say the fault lies with us.

They tilt their tails and Have wing slats and they are Ornithopters. No Plane will ever be as good. Nev

in this space.. on the same page... circle back... low-hanging fruit... bring to the table... brain dump... get buy-in... game changer... take it off-line... reinvent the wheel... onboarding... in my wheelhouse... top down... putting out fires... There are heaps of them and they're all irritating.

They made a documentary about that... It's called "Terminator"

Our deep south sounds positively balmy compared to your riding environment. Last year I folded to sensible behaviour and sold my bike. No sensible 70 year old would be so silly as to have a motorbike! I finally gave in to my pining for a ride. Collected a little 250, (a lighter thing to pick up if it falls over). A pleasant enough 8 degree day. It's heated grips worked all the way home. Of course as soon as I hit the highway the clouds closed in and the previously nice winding roads had me nervous because I was still getting used to handling this light responsive bike, on wet roads. Home in one piece. Nice hot shower, hot cuppa and happy. For future adventures, I will include a weather forecast in my flight plan.

This image gives an idea of the airflow direction. Not visible from the outside is the plenium, described here as the air gap, which is an empty compartment above the fuel tank, and receives the air circulating down through the side tubes. The air from the tubes via the plenium to the burner is force fed air, very critical to how they burn. Without that system they'd just be a glorified candle like the wall mount type lamps that are called a dead flame lantern as they don't have any forced air, just drawing it in from the grate at the base of the burner.

Yes they do, and very loud. Not as loud as the butcher bird's but close. They wake you up at night. For years I thought the sound was some weird bird up in the roof ridge cap until I did some googling and found out it was the geckos. I originally thought they were the native gecko, dubious dtella. but with more googling and some close up inspection I'm fairly sure they're one of the introduced Asian species. They moved in here when I built the place in 1996 so are probably into the fifth generation by now.

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.

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.

That's just it. Propose things that appeal the baser instincts in an effort to run on personal popularity. Quick fixes that do not always examine possible consequences.

No idea if it is real or not.. But I would argue only those that want to keep the incumbents in (hint... an Iranian works for me and is not from a minority)

Maybe when they DO see some, they will not turn them into woodchips by clear felling. Poorleen just said "there are NO good Muslims". What $#!t she goes on with to Get Noticed no matter the Consequences and damage done.. Nev

Phillip Island has lost the MotoGP to Adelaide.

Not to Mention some Priests who betrayed the greatest trust. Christ Mentioned Putting "Stumbling Blocks" in the way of Children. There's some "Really Bad $#!t in the Old testament". Science was Opposed all the way by the Church. There's Plenty to Be critcal of. Nev

Little bit of a thread drift, but over here, they do not recognise common law marriage lie in Aus. In practice, if partner and I broke up, we could divide the property as per the legal (or any trust) ownerhip share.. anything that is legally hers stays hers, and anything that is legally mine stays mine. Mind you, the father has no legal access to the kids while they are under 18, but still has to pay for them.

Thy will, be done. On earth as it is in heaven. By then A.I. will be so logical that it will remove the plague of humans and bring lasting peace to Earth. So, it would indeed work very well.

I spent 3 months in the U.K. in 1985, mainly in London. I was there July, August and September and it was beautiful warm sunny weather. I left the first week of November and the last three or four days there had cooled down to the point of wearing a coat. But before that it was three months of T shirt weather. The locals called it an Indian summer and said it would happen only about every 20 years, so I've been there but never experienced the cold rainy weather they often get.

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

I've flown at night using Oil Containers with Rope Wicks down one side of the strip (LHS) and one extra at each end . Dog we had it tough in those days, but Newcastle at Night from a DH82 Cockpit is a Rare and Pleasurable experience. Clean up One of those containers and you'd soon Light up the show. We didn't think of such Possibilities. Nev

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.