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1.6b would be worth it. Staying in will result in orders of magnitude more loss and still nothing to show for it. The USA is simply not a trustworthy military ally.

I've got it, it was a bit hard to work it out and it took me a while but I finally figured it out. The line in the middle of the road is continious saying you can't overtake but it is obvious and clear enough that you can...Phew, that was a hard one

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.

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.

Some anti fascist people are already working to identify and make public the identity of ICE officers, especially those proven to have used excessive force. It's exactly like the nazi brown shirts. You shouldn't expect to remain anonymous while following unlawful and inhumane orders.

We may have burned that bridge. I'd like us to learn the lessons from Ukraine and give up on manned subs altogether. Remotely operated seems far better in every respect.

Not only do you admit, but you show it with what you think is fake news from the ABC. If renewables are the reason for price rises, why is NSW, SA, and SE QLD getting free electricity because of solar? The reason for electricity price rises globally is the massive increase in gas price increases due to peak in demand of electricity post pandemic, severe supply chain issues, and the Russian invasion. I still don't know why, but that drove up coal prices, and guess what? John Howrards criminally short sighted policies of selling gas to the Chinese at even then knock-down prices and hold them for god knows how long at that price without indexation (must have been a very big brown paper bag involved somewhere) and successive governments allowing coal being liberalised to be traded on the open global market wthout reserving necessary supply domestically at cost of extraction plus decent profit margin (admittedly, when the price of coal is down, that would work against the consumer - but at least there would be certainty of what you have to pay), and - voilla! There you have your increasing electricity prices.. As with any new technology, there is a short term capital investment recovery built into the price, but in a fully competitive or well regulated market where structural impediments of entry and exit exist (take your pick), once that is recovered, the prices tend to stabilise near the cost of production + a margin for ongoing returns. We are starting to see it in solar. Renewables are cheaper longer term than any other form of generation. Remeber the price of colour TVs when they came out. More expesnive in absolute terms than you can buy them now. Imagine the real cost difference? Yeah, ABC don't get it right all the time and they do sometimes show bias, especially on one issue - in my opinion. But I have found when you dig into the facts, more often than not, they are far closer to objectivity than the others, willing to admit they make mistakes better than the others, and even on the area I think they are biased, they are no more so than most of the others (whether it fits my agenda or doesn't).

Not about Viet Nam, but still relevant. Back in 2000, I encountered a civvie who was working in the Australian Army compound in Dili (East Timor). He mentioned the following:- The Australians regularly patrolled the border (No, it wasn't Viet type thick jungle). They were concerned by Indos following and taking pot shots to harrass. I believe no casualties, just harrassment. So one day, the SAS followed a safe distance behind our patrol. The problem was removed. SAS still knew how to be invisible. The problem never reocurred. The incident was never reported. Aside from Youtoob BS, there are believable reports by American vets, to support those Vietnam stories. Mainly they highlight the arrogance & poor training of the US military.

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)

The man who would be king is a good old movie. He was good in the hunt for red october as well.

Roger Moore (sounds like a porn star name) was the least "action hero" type of any Bond. I think the best was the last, Daniel Craig. Some of the fight scenes, especially in the first of his, were excellent.

Keep the beautiful heritage sites for public use not seel cheap and make billions for untaxed private profit . Start taxing properly and it would not be a problem.

For the hotrodders, Ed Iskenderian, of the "Isky Racing Cams" fame, passed away yesterday at the tremendous old age of 104. He was a real character, like so many hot-rodders. https://carbuzz.com/remembering-edward-isky-iskenderian/

It was well known amongst "ordinary" Australian soldiers, that the SAS were called "super-grunts", and they considered all other ordinary soldiers, as far below them in skills. Just the psychological effects of SAS training were severe, and huge numbers of SAS applicants fell out of the SAS courses, because they failed to make the grade. Their training is brutal.

That was interesting. At the end of the video they make the point that as effective as they Australian’s methods were in the field, they resulted in high levels of PTSD and long term difficulties adjusting to civilian life after the war.

True, we'll never see that money again. Whether we actually get the hoped for subs or not. Further, I question the wisdom of continuing the massive money drain, purely in the hopes of getting some outdated weaponry sometime in the distant future. What new war toys might our military wish to buy in 2040 (or later, when you allow for expected late delivery) for all those taxpayer dollars? Probably not those old-before-new subs. And what manufacturing capability & quality can we expect from the New America? Their industrial abilities are not what they used to be.

There's plenty who whinge more than you Jerry, and not even in England.

I know the military and the department of defence are always reviewing their property portfolio to optimise it for modern day use. A war machine costs money and requires modern amenities. However, I can't help but think there are brown paper bags passing about in the halls of our decision makers. Not for sall of the properties. But Victoria Barracks in both Melbourne and Sydney, for example, are historically significant and an essential part of the fabric of their area; they are architecurally and environmentally a part of the culture and provide a welcome relief from the many bland building around them. Of course, they and the land they are upon are a developer's nirvana. And developers have little regard for the quality of the environment of what they develop to the communities they affect. Yes, they will be expensive to maintain. But sometimes things are important enought to warrant the cost. Otherwise we end up with bland, faceless streetscapes with no acknowledgment of our past, nor the variety and space that can bring enjoyment to dull days.

Holy thread resurrection! I see it was started and up until today finished a day before I joined the forums! You fellas are into your 10th year suffering my rants and raves - more rants.. England has that effect on one.. Am I now a whinging pom?

This bike build project will have to progress in tandem to the shed renovation project. Until the 6x6 metre workshop space is properly sorted not much mechanical work can go on. There's a fair bit of structural alterations needed in there. A few more steel diagonal braces will have their brackets relocated so shelving and benches will sit against the wall better. One set of braces will be removed and the timber frame wall between the steel upright shed poles will be upgraded to a bracing wall to compensate for the loss of the diagonal braces. That section already has a timber wall frame attached to the poles, which also serves as a wall for an attached 3x3 metre room, so it's just a matter of fitting some more tie down and adding bracing ply. If I put bracing ply on both sides of the wall, the kN of bracing should exceed the original diagonals. In the short term, I've been clearing out the attached 3x3 metre room to put some shelving in to hold components for the bike project. As per the attached photo, the inside wall is unlined, so I'll insulate that and cover it with bracing ply, paint the wall, then put the shelves in. Before the shelving goes in, the adjoining wall at right angles to it (the one mentioned above) will have the corrugated iron cladding removed and be replaced with bracing ply (it's the rear side of the wall where the steel diagonals will be removed). In a fit of madness years ago, I fastened that corrugated iron internal cladding with roofing nails instead of roofing screws, so that's added a lot of extra work to removing it.

That colourised photo definitely shows water in the background. It would either be the coast near Gaza or possibly the Sea of Galilee where they stationed after the fighting to rest and reorganise. This photo is one of the ones at the Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias. The horses look like they could do with a rest to fatten those ribs up a bit.

If the ABC said anything that could be construed by the rabid right as even slightly left of centre, regardless of how factual it is, they get hounded by the Murdoch press and face political pressure. There is no comparison with Sky. If you think that the ABC is reporting factually incorrect news, provide examples.

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

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.

That's a low bar.

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

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

I used the example of Glenbrook because, to me at least, it seems pretty clear-cut. Glenbrook during my time always seemed to be being refurbished. I think the most recent was in 2022 to the tune of $7.6 Million. My first-hand experience is 35 years old, but at that time, it was much more like a gentleman's club. This is a building that, for the most part, the public is not able to visit. My point is not that there should be a fire sale of just about everything, but that these things should be rationally weighed up, and yes, emotion can be part of that equation. Staged refurbishment of a prized heritage building in a live operational environment

Don't dare criticize anything Labor does. Nev said so. If Labor sold off the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, that would be OK with Nev.

He's not cheating. He's simply the best. (Which, replacing "He's" with "you're", is the next answer)

The military buildings in question are all heritage listed, and hold enormous emotional attachment for many, due to their links to all major wars. Plus, their architecture and construction quality is excellent, as it is with all military buildings.

I wonder what price they have put on Fort Denison? Really great harbour location.

But, but.... If Government is NOT a business, why do they have to constantly fiddle the books? (Edit).... er, I meant 'balance the books'

If you have to ask.....Yes

Looks suitable for mad Max chariot

I'll bet he's got just the right war surplus Russian ejector seat for it, too ...... ready to go!

I have a question.. Once it is done, which of your helmets are you going to wear when riding it? 🙂 OK.. I'll get my hat and coat as well.. I'll shut the door quietly.

Let's be fair about the ABC. It is the only broadcasting organisation that actually produces Australian worthwhile (actual theatrically worthwhile) content for television. In fact, it only seems to be the news and current affairs department that shows bias.

Re the Australian SAS and the American soldiers in Vietnam, this documentary (link below) is quite good, and pretty accurate. A lot of the war and military scenes are irrelevant, repetitive and often unrelated - but the narration is accurate. I'm not sure the Americans have learn anything since Vietnam, their arrogance and gung-ho attitude still persists. Even Gen Westmoreland was quoted as saying, "If you want to see how it's done, go to Phuoc Tuy province and see how the Australians do it". The American military was totally obsessed with one thing - enemy kill numbers. They prioritised that over anything else, this attitude simply led to American soldier lying about kills and simply throwing more and more heavy weaponry into any battle with the enemy. The VC and NVA knew this and specialised in hit and run ambushes on American troops that were very effective. Kill a good handful of Americans in the first 30 seconds, then withdraw rapidly before the Americans could even determine where the enemy were - and the VC and NVA were well away before the U.S. gunships and artillery arrived to fill the entire region with lead and explosive armaments - and half the time killing more American troops than the numbers of VC or NVA that attacked them. Many Australian SAS members had serious reservations about working with U.S. soldiers, simply because it was well known the Americans stood as high a chance of killing you, as the VC or NVA did. The technique of gathering up and studying every piece of enemy information that could be obtained, was reinforced by an Australian Army Engineer, Capt Sandy McGregor. McGregor was OC of our Engineer Squadron while I was in Vietnam - 17 Construction Sqdn. He was formerly OC of 1st Field Squadron, where he developed the Tunnel Rats teams - Engineer Sappers that went down into VC and NVA tunnels and bunkers, armed only with a torch and a pistol, to determine tunnel layouts and size - and especially, to try and capture enemy documentation and equipment. It took real guts to be a Tunnel Rat, and they had to cope with hidden booby traps in tunnels and bunkers (even poisonous snakes and scorpions), coming across enemy, and being flooded and drowned by VC/NVA traps. But the intelligence gathered by Tunnel Rats, especially documents and equipment, was utterly invaluable to Australian Intelligence. The Americans would just bomb or destroy bunkers and tunnels with explosives, and gain no enemy information. In one intelligence-gathering raid, the Australian Engineers captured a large list of NVA soldiers names, and top VC operational commanders names - but the list was ignored, and filed away by the Americans.

Nice photo. Lots of detail visible if you zoom in.

I've just got back to Australia after visiting Vietnam, sitting in Sydney airport waiting for the Hobart flight. They call it the American war over there. I don't know why we went, or what the Yanks thought they'd achieve. Every Vietnamese person I talked to (apart from the hucksters trying to sell you stuff) was polite, friendly and with a great sense of humour. An interesting fact is that they burn cardboard shaped into shoes, clothes etc for their dead ancestors. They even burn fake money so the spirits can buy stuff in the afterlife. Now this next bit shows how lovely these people are. The fake money they burn is obviously Vietnamese dong. They then started worrying about the American and European dead in their country, not recognising the currency and going without. So now they also burn fake US dollars and Euros as well, so the foreign spirits are looked after. (Probably the more entrepreneurial Vietnamese spirits also grab the foreign currency because of the exchange rate!) But just think - regardless of how nonsensical the whole thing may be, they are concerned about the welfare of the dead soldiers who invaded their country.