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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Invasion was based on a Lie. Hussein had NO WMD's. Hans Blix was right. Bush was ready to go and DID. Haliburton, Cheney's wife's Company, Made Millions. Nev

They should have edited out 90% and even then it would have been too long. It’s almost inconceivable that this incoherent clown is the US president.

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

This shows Trump's character perfectly. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/trump-says-uk-royals-suffered-with-pressure-over-epstein-scandal/105966134 In short he says Andrew's loss of royal titles is a "terrible thing for the (royal) family" and he feels sorry for them. Notice he doesn't feel sorry for the woman who was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 and he was 40, and has since taken her own life. Probably because he himself has things to fear from the Epstein files. After all, when you're famous like him you can just grab women on the pussy, can't you! So it's a terrible thing when another rich entitled prick actually faces some consequences for his behaviour, even if they are too little and far too late. And this is the man you admire GON? "Trump good"?

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

Experts analysed K.RUDDS water sipping and facial expressions . HE was in a bad way as in "scared $#!tless". ALBO laughed to try to reduce the damage of Trumps Gross lack of Decorum which unchecked Could have stuffed the whole thing UP. Your TAKE on IT, GON is aligned with your Bias. Nev

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

Whilst I am sure there are people on the fringe who want to remove humans from the equation, this is not common, and these people are inconsequential in the debate. Advocating for clean and renewable energy is about ensuring our future while allowing us to enjoy the benefits of modern technology. Advocating for EVs is not about restricting people's freedom to personal transport; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Wanting clean and renewable energy is about ensuring energy without some of the downsides.

We're whingers? You've done nothing but whinge since you joined the forum.

The problem with the housing market is that it's been taken over by investors. There needs to be a fundamental shift in how houses are viewed. They should be a home rather than an investment or part of a superannuation portfolio. I know supply is the big thing but I do think removing capital gains discounts and negative gearing would do a lot to make it less attractive to investors.

I see you've picked the eyes out of it.

The sad fact is, investors will pay for people who make them money. And the more money they make the investors, the more the will pay the people that make them the money. The only exception are those that will preserve their life a bit more. And, capitalism's major flaw is that there is no such thing as a perfect - or fully competitive market. Left to its down devices, the market will become skewed to those who own more assets than others. So, if you control some of the larger amoutns skewed amount of resources, you will pay big for those who preserve and increase it more than would otherwise happen. Why do you think lawyers and accountants are some of the best paid professionals in the western world? The other sad fact about life is most of will work for money, regardless of what that industry does. Why do I work in banking? Not that I have a love for finance and financial services; it pays a hell of a lot more for much the same cerebral work as I was doing in power station. Banking is full of really clever people (sometimes I am genuinely embarressed interviewing some people given what they have achieved outside banking). And we get them doing very mundane things. And they do it because we pay them 100% plus miore than they get doing what they love. Banking can do this because they have traditionally been money making machines. When I joined banking from nuclear, I was excited because it was so hard to get into as an experienced candidate, but not experienced in banking. I thought the technoloigy and methodology must be out of this world. The reality was they were so very far behind at the time, because if there were porblems, they could just chuck more money and people at it, and preserve the chaos rather than take the cerebral time to think about the most optimal way of doing things. The reason - imagine you're a fast moving consumer goods company where volumes are high and margins are low; or a power generator where it is much the same thing (except for their trading arms, of course). Every penny you can add to the bottom line is massive as they work on net margins often less than 10%. When I entered banking, their net risk adjusted margins (i.e. taking a charge to cover risks that may or may not materialise) was over 60%! No incentive to be really innovative. Since the crash, things have changed. Actually, as banking now realises how climate change is affecting the world, and more importantly, the risk posed to its business model, I am now beginning to feel some pride in working in banking - or at aleast who I am working for - as we are starting to aggressively move away from some of our exposures to high polluting and high-emitting industries and fund climate and earth improving industries.

I sort of saw Musk as Gyro Gearloose.

In someone's garage becasue it is a photo of a scale railroad layout.

Big batteries are becoming an increasingly important part of Australia’s power mix, and on Saturday morning smashed all previous records by providing more than one third of South Australia’s power demand in some trading intervals in the early morning peak.

Yeah - I remember a picture of a grinning George Dubya Bush in 2016, with the caption "When you realize you're no longer the worst US President in history"

Rudd's not the Village IDIOT. He's doing alright, personally. His Missus has Plenty of dough. Yeah HE WAS scared. That the whole thing Might be blown up by one of Trump's orchestrated GAZUMP efforts and AUSTRALIA suffer. You are ALL OVER the PLACE, GON. You HERO has feet of CLAY. He's a crooked FAKE Despot Hooked on POWER. The TRUTH will OUT but meantime a lot of damage real and reputational will result for the USA .Nev

For someone who "hates the major parties", you spend a lot of time hating on Labor and a lot of time loving Trump.

Are they just flying a KITE? The Chinese get things done while We just argue amongst ourselves. Nev

Anyone can check what I wrote. about Rudd. PLENTY Criticise TRUMP more than I do. GON won't accept ANY criticism of Trump. I'll stick with what I wrote as fair and useful comment. Nev

We may currently be reliant on fossil fuel oils but synthetic oils we now produce from various plants etc are far superior and we are also able to produce bio-fuels which are far less polluting than what we are digging up.

Last nights South Park said it all, I know it’s crass humour.,but it’s right on the money. must of hurt some feelings as Pam had a hissy fit about her appearance on it. they are not scared to say what they think.

And guess what? He's still in the job. Because he's doing a good job and Albo didn't fire him just to make the orange baby-king feel better. Even Sussssan backed off. Yes Kev isn't perfect but he's working hard for this country.

I guess Rudd counted on Trump Not getting back in. THAT turned out to be a Mistake. Kevin is NOT Pure. He's thrown People under the bus when it was his doing. He's NOT a Great Team Player which you need to Be in Politics. . Nev

So are you suggesting that those people don't count because their endorsementof the Gropenfuhrer reflects a lower less desirable mental competency? I remind you that those retweeting twits probably vote, which gives them SOME relevence. So, based on your judgement, are MGAnuts back on the menu for you?

Just looking at a flaw in the US system. I borrowed this from elsewhere, and I like the concept...... "The political system in the Netherlands is very different from the USA, but I'll attempt to draw a comparison on what has happened. Mike Johnson had to shut down the government. In the USA it is used to try to force 'partners' into submission and basically blackmail them. In the Netherlands a shut down means everybody is fired and new elections are to be held. The Dutch congress is still seated in the sense that if essential decisions need to be made they are required to do so. However, no new legislation can be passed, discussed or presented and legislation cannot be altered or updated unless it is a matter of national security." Yeah, and the decisionmakers should not be paid until government becomes fully functional again.

Elderly man dies after being pulled unconscious.

Contrast Trump with this final speech by Ronald Reagan as president. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1745797756810381

I didn't notice this little gem on our MSM news, but it shoild have made headlines a while back. Funny how things change quietly after the media has finished using it.

When the FAN stops they SWEAT. They also get scared when Medicals come up and when the Captain's doing the Landing in IMC. Nev

He reckons He's a very STABLE genius. THAT has to be a lot of Horse$#!t. Nev.

You might be right. Not sure why there's a clutch lever too.

This is only a concept at the moment, but I find it strangely compelling... What do you think? https://www.designboom.com/technology/curved-electric-motorcycle-ev-outlier-concept-bucket-seat-honda-japan-mobility-show-2025-11-03-2025/

I think SA is it 77% but it hangs of interconnectors from Victoria that can handle its whole demands a lot of the time. Bit like Germany hanging off France and Sweden. SA probably has the smallest demand in the country(maybe Tassie) 1/4 of the size of Vic, NSW and Qld. I think Australia is about 40%. We are just seeing market notices for NSW from AEMO directing plant to start for grid stability (https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2025/10/20oct-nsw-systemstrength/) SA has had that for a few years. Guess who pays for that. The generator doesn't do this for free. Another hidden cost for the cheapest form of electricity. Massive coal mines are normally in one place for several GW's of generation not visible in every direction as far as the eye can see. I agree, the odd windfarm here and there looks ok but it is getting out of control. Went to the Ignalina nuclear plant for a look when I was overseas. You didn't even know it was there except for the large pipes on the side of the road (probably used for district heating until you were at the front gate.(no cooling tower) This plant was designed for 4.5 GW's of electricity. (only 3 was finished) It was nestled in the trees. 3 GW is about 600 5 MW wind turbines(136m tower, 150m + rotor) x 2.5 for the capacity factor. (1400) plus whatever you need for the wind droughts etc.

Do you reckon that also applies to teh situation in Israel?

Nah, they've always been with us - it's just that as soon as we've almost forgotten about their major ferocity, because we haven't seen one for a long time, we get hammered with a ripper, or sometimes a string of them over a relatively short period. Go back into Trove and check out the past major disastrous weather events - there were plenty, even back to the early days of the colony. Anytime you get hot air being drawn down from the North to meet cold moist air from the South, you're going to get some real violent thunderstorm fireworks. I've never encountered thunderstorms as fierce as the ones in the North of W.A. Truly frightening, especially after a few 44 or 45 deg days. The weather photos on the latest BOM calendar are quite impressive. Number 12 is an aerial view of thunderheads in W.A. that would make you turn around and go home in a light aircraft! https://www.perthnow.com.au/wa/weather/bureau-of-meteorology-calendar-features-amazing-photo-of-wa-thunderstorms-c-20552542

You are Probably RIGHT but WTF? Nev

It amuses me that in the 21st century, a vocal percentage of the population rages on about the "visual pollution" attributable to wind turbines - but no-one ever raged on about the "visual pollution" of windmills, which have existed since the 9th century. No-one complained because the windmills were highly beneficial, bringing much-needed water to the surface for use, or ground grains for food. Wind turbines bring us cheap power, a very necessary requirement today. You have to expect periods of light winds or even no wind, it doesn't stay that way for long. Funny how people make a big noise about wind turbines not turning, the same thing happens with windmills, and no-one says anything!

Where they Live is HOT enough anyhow. Nev

I hate the Lining up in a Queue BIT. I always get the FAR one. Nev

I think we should definitely adopt the "smoot" unit of measurement. Smoot (unit of measurement) Origin: The unit was created in October 1958 by Oliver R. Smoot and his Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brothers at MIT. Method: They measured the length of the Harvard Bridge by having Oliver Smoot lie down repeatedly, using his height as a human measuring stick. The bridge was measured to be 364.4 smoots, plus or minus an ear. Legacy: The markings are still repainted annually and are even recognized by local authorities. The term was added to the American Heritage Dictionary in 2011, and Oliver R. Smoot went on to have a distinguished career in standards and measurement.