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Scottish Company Stuck With 10,000 Bottles of “Minge Repellent” After Catastrophic Typo A small Scottish outdoor products company has found itself in a rather awkward situation this week after a printing error left them with 10,000 bottles of insect spray labelled “Minge Repellent” instead of “Midge Repellent.” The product, intended to protect walkers, campers, and anyone foolish enough to stand still in the Highlands for more than three seconds from midge attacks, was due to launch this spring as “the most powerful midge repellent in Scotland.” Unfortunately, somewhere between the design team and the printing press, was one unfortunate letter mistakenly inserted. The result? Shelves full of bottles claiming to repel something entirely different. Company founder Dougie MacRae addressed the situation at a press conference yesterday, “Look, we want to make this absolutely clear. These bottles do not repel minges. They repel midges, which are sometimes far worse in most parts of Scotland. Believe me using the spray will not have any impact on your ability to get your leg over." MacRae explained that correcting the mistake would cost thousands in reprinting and relabelling, which for a new company could be catastrophic, so the company is now appealing directly to the Scottish public. “Please understand,” he continued, holding up a bottle while visibly trying not to laugh, “this is still one of the best midge repellents on the market today. The spelling mistake does not affect the formula in any way.” Early reactions online suggest the error may actually boost sales. Several outdoor shops have already reported customers pre ordering multiple bottles “for the laugh,” while one Highland camping store reportedly sold out of future orders within an hour after posting the label on social media.

Now who does that 3 fingered billionaire remind of?

Maybe this should go in the 'What has Putin Done?' Thread....

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

Of Course you have to be in it to win it. Mostly only poor people gamble on them. Nev

I was Comfortable in it. 10'7 squares in the old formula. Lot's better than the Tiny bungalow I had prior. Nev

The odds are against you Mightily in Most of those Lotteries. Nev

It will sell if the Price is right.. It's about 3x the size of the first house I had Built with Just a carport. The street was Gravel with no formed gutters. 1/4 acre block though. That was the standard then 1972. Nev

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

This house near me just got passed in for the fifth time...

l left Melb early 30s and never really started lotto again , always wish l did though. We had fav local newsagents back then though that always gave out a nice vibe and they were always really convenient to but l never really felt that with others when l left so just never got around to restarting.

Back in my 30s , l bought this so called system. It could do much better now with AI but even back then if you understood how it worked, can't even remember it now ha ha but l calculated that it should win within 12mths. lf you bought the tickets every wk. Back in my 20s though my gf and l had this just one 4 square ticket. We picked the numbers together when we 1st met and she'd put it on every wk. That ticket was a freak, we won about 10grand with it over the 2yrs we were together. It'd win something every 2nd or 3rd wk in some division or other. The biggest was about 2k but wasn't a doubt in our minds one day, that thing would've won the biggie. Lost touch with her when we split and the ticket went with it , damn it. But the funniest thing though, there was one number on it l could remember that always seemed to be in our winnings- 24. Well at my work later they started running just a one number draw thing, whoever got the number won the money in the jar. l picked and held onto 24 and guess what, l was the only one that ever won that thing in the 6mths. There was about 7 of us but l was the only one, l shyt u not. So l still went on to win another 5 or 600 with one number from that ticket. They were all getting really pissed at me and l was feeling guilty to, was kinda relieved to leave that job in the end. 😁

lt's just a real shame in this country there's no true visionary anywhere to vote for. A true leader with real vision real ideals, to fix what needs fixing and set us up in a brilliant direction , to truly look after their people and country and hold everything we have here dear. There's no one, hasn't been since ld even know. Hawk maybe could've been such a special leader on the surface , not sure how he went though. Hanson at least has very very strong ideals, to at least point our country to somewhere but ofc she'd also be scary as hell at the helm too in most other ways, Aus wouldn't risk it and l'm not saying l think they should- just before anyone jumps all over that one. My only point is that there's never one truly special, made for the job once in a lifetime someone that's dreamt of the job their whole lives for the right reasons and visions bc of what they want for for our country and people. There's no one, never is, such a shame. Most of the Majors are just politicians, people that just seem to end up falling into the job, like Angus has, Lee. All the other leaders on both often just end up getting voted in bc they have no one else at the time. l think Albo had some sort of real vision but we see where that's landed but he's never been a truly talented leader though anyway.

Personally , there's no one worth a vote in my opinion atm. People have no idea the between lines stuff labors doing not only to our housing but all through. But then , is there anyone better , ldk. What are people thinking about Angus although wrong thread l suppose ? ps, wasn't saying Rump has done that stuff but f you watched his campaigning back when , that's a lot of what he was claiming to do and apparently why a lot of yanks put him in.

That is a matter of opinion, I own my own home and I wouldn't have it any other way. That is a self centered comment.

Then you get Farter on a Pint but you will have a Leak often. Nev

Looeey the fly just dies and that's it. Don't be Mingy with the Mortein. Nev

Owning a Home is not all it's cracked out to Be. You still keep paying for rates repairs and insurance etc people who move a bit will use all their saved money paying charges etc when they Move. Suitable rental is just as important. As I said OUR houses are too big and expensive as they are Labour Intensive and mostly on expensive sought after land in BIG cities. People Used to get a first House that was minimum size and fairly Plain or live is sheds or Bungalows. Nev

Just when you thought that letting your kids spend hours playing X-Box games with a handheld controller would get them a cozy job in the military operating remotely controlled weapons, it looks like AI will take over that task and leave the kids unemployed. Redmember when we thought as parents that we must get our kids involved with computer programming and such? We forgot that there would always be a need for people who knew how to plug a connector into a server unit to connect it to to the outside world, or knew how to diagnose a dead board and replace it. If you surf YouTube you will find that some of teh most popular sites del with fixing things, like clogged drains or broken tools. Like the line in the song 'I shot the Sheriff' says, "You've gotta get a little dirt on your hands, boy".

I think she will be getting a lot of the protest vote about the quality of the 2 major party's and they have no one to blame but themselves. Have a look at some of the videos of the senate estimates. are they really that stupid that they don't realise social media makes how the act in parliament accessible to the masses now days. It use to be that you would only get 30 seconds on nightly news.

Why compare us to Europe, People compare the price of petrol in Europe to Australia price when we say its to expensive here. You can catch a train from Amsterdam to Vilnius for 60 euro. Not much is the same. We should be able to afford houses. I have 2 kids looking and both can't afford and they get pretty upset about it. The ball has really been dropped the ball on this one.

I'll drink to that, except that drinks fizzy beer can give you gas

I have never heard that word before.

Minge repellant. It's either a send up, or someone did it on purpose. And when did "repellant" become "repellent". More Americanisms sneaking into the Queens English??

Yes I did see that this morning. Thankfully I am no longer a developer, but also coming up to retirement, anyway. I had a catch up with a friend of mine who is a developer and he is very concerned. They are required to use Claude (https://claude.com/), whichis a specialist software development platform. If they don't ring upa big enough biill in Claude, they are considered underproductive and not adept to change, and the door will be shown to them. Hi is absoltely gobsmacked at how far the paid for version has come. He can literally do in minutes what was done in days. And itis all highquality code and consider the edge cases without being prompted. We concluded that there will be far, far fewer, but higher quality developers managing the delivery by prompt. I have said for a while now that AI has hit critical mass and jobs are going to go.. Software development is a clear one. As are solicitors and even barristers (not baristas, though), accountants, even financial engineers (quants) are going to find it hard going. Project management, etc.. It is all Not to mention interviews are becoming more grulling as the questions are created by AI. Development interviws give you an AI set and a timelimit and you have to build a fully functioning app in the technology stack using the AI tools within an hour. I have said it before and will say it again.. Unlike other labour disruption technologies in whhich people could redeploy, AI will replace without the redeploy option for most.

Quite so. But mainly so because our PM and party are playing nice in the sand pit. But just look at the Trump fiasco and you can see how a ruthless mob can tilt the playing field with disasterous consequences. We rely on the politicians obeying the checks and balances built into the system. So far that's worked. The yanks had checks and balances, but they stopped playing by the rules and it ceased being 'by the people, of the people or for the people'.

A strength of our system is the fact that the PM can be ditched by the party. There are many examples in recent history where PMs have been ditched (Gorton, Hawke, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull). Whilst people may find this annoying, it is much better than the US system. Republicans know that Trump is a disaster and will cost them at the midterms, but there is nothing they can do about it.

He actually said people would watch PORN.. It would have permitted surgery to be Performed remotely and bring us to a First world system of Fast Fibre-optic Connectivity.. What an outright CRETIN. Nev

For generations in Europe People can NEVER own their Own home and cope with it fine. Because of John Howard's Push for Investment in Houses, which are Not productive, we now have Overcapitalised and Have some of the Biggest Houses in the entire world. IT did Not have to be that way. Steps are being taken that will gradually change that but if it Happened quickly it would not be the desired effect without consequences. Nev

I well remember Abbott saying this: "Abbott claimed that the vast majority of Australians did not need, nor want to pay for, the high-speed fibre network proposed by Labor, suggesting it was simply a tool to allow people to watch movies." In 2020 during Covid fast internet was the saviour of the economy and many, many workers, including me. Today, many people work either full or partially from home, freeing up roads and public transportation and improving people's working lives.

I think we are a long way from a One Party system and that is the last thing anyone should wish for but there should be a decency and common Purpose limit to the sabotage some opposition antics can be. T Abott cost this Country Billions and set us back years when He instructed Malcolm Turnbull to "Destroy the Internet". We are still reeling from the effects of that One. Mate of Pell and Murdock and using Credlin for his Brain and absolute zero for Scientific Know How. People like HIM are scary IGNORANT. Nev

The Constitution and the major parties are in question now because of their excessive international stance on everything. Australia has become a poor second. Islam seems to be an important priority for some strange reason. Traditional Aussie bushies view it as laughable, but serious, and we're coming closer together.

Hopefully they won't blink and will finish what they started. Getting rid of the regime is the only way to provide any hope of it not happening again. The've kicked the can down the road for years and deluded themselves that you can negotiate with terrroists. The regime has been taking the mickey out of the west for years. Putin uses similar tactics, dangle the hope of negotiations and a settlement in front of suckers to string them along so you can evenntually get your own way. There's still a lot of mugs calling for negotiations; I just don't know when they'll realise you can't talk to people like that.

Pete, I haven't read the constitution in a long time but from memory it was designed the way you describe, representation by elected members rather than a party system. I don't think there's much in it at all about parties. Most of what we do in parliament is by convention and not by constitutional rule. As an example, there's nothing in the constitution to stop the Labor party winning an election and nominating Angus Taylor as PM. A lot of the constitution is about day to day rules for pollies.

True words indeed. As OME pointed out, we rely on a majority party to be in power, and a minority party in opposition 'to keep the barstewards honest'. By definition that is a government divided. Dispense with the party and party leaders. The PM can be chosen by a majority vote from the floor. As Nev points out, we are heading toward a one party system. This is not a good path either. In theory, when a party decides a policy, it should be voted by secret ballot in a caucus meeting. But I think there is bullying going on in this process. I do not believe it is really democratic. If a policy is good, then both parties would approve and if the process was transparent, the electorate would see the reasoning behind it. At present clear policy information is not freely accessible, unless we really dig for it. Have you read the official party websites? They all sound the same, with all the right vague catchwords.

That would be interesting. Problem is they'd need a party leader in the lower house. Barnaby is the only lower house member via defection, but he'd have to win the seat again under ON to be there. There was some talk of him running for a senate seat but I don't know what that was about. Early days yet, I guess they'll figure out a battle plan depending on their support as time moves closer to the election. They've always been relatvely strong here in Queensland but are more so lately. A lot of people joining the party, particularly younger people. They appeal in country areas, but where Labor will have to be careful is that a lot of working class, so-called little Aussie battlers are swinging to them. They were always Labor's domain but Labor's losing them. Not enough to harm Labor yet, but it's no time for them gloat; they need to watch their base.

Antony Green in his election blog has listed the seats he thinks ON would have a chance based on the three-candidate preferred result in 2025. It doesn't appear to give them any seats, but he said if they poll 25% at the next election they will sweep up seats all across regional and rural Australia, mainly at the expense of the Nats and Libs. The Farrer byelection will be a big one for them. Some polls have them leading the primary vote but the preferences will make it hard for them. If they do win it, it will have a big momentum value for ON. https://antonygreen.com.au/one-nations-poll-surge-the-first-25-seats-to-watch/

In Queensland the Labor government brought about the abolition of the upper house in 1922 because it was blocking their legislation. One of the Labor MPs went on to be Lieutenant-Governor, then appointed fifteen Labor people to the upper house who then had a majority to vote to disband it. The problem is, once it's gone, no government wants to have it back as they have a free run for passing legislation if they have a majority government. On the bright side, if numbers are close between government and opposition, the government members will make sure they show up to parliament. Sometimes if one is crook and can't be there for a crucial vote they will do a pair arrangement. On the subject of the LNP amalgamation in Queensland, it's the opposite of what a federal amalgamation would look like. In Queensland, the Nationals were always the bigger party of the two and even governed alone without the Libs for six years. One aspect of the amalgamation was to do away with three cornered contests. With the federal Libs being the much bigger party, I doubt the federal Nats would be too keen on amalgamation. I think Pauline and Co. would be happy to see a federal amalgamated LNP as it would possibly deliver them a bigger slice of the vote on the right.

Since the major parties always win government, and have done since 1901, why not just let them alternate every three years. Imagine the money we'd save by not having elections, and all the political fighting would disappear, relieving all the stress of wondering if they'll win government. Each of the majors only need to wait three years and they'd be back in again. Good idea? What do you think of it?

The Party determines policies, not the Leader. The party also selects and removes a Leader. It's a team deal with Party Members involved. A Government divided unto itself shall surely FAIL,UNLESS THE Leader becomes a Dictator Like Putin or Trump (or a Theocracy like IRAN) and all hope is gone. Trumps agents are now Pushing the Concept that God installed Trump to do his Divine work. What hope have WE got??? Nev

Without a political party, the elected individuals are not distracted by leadership struggles. The members all read the proposals instead of their leader interpreting it for them. Then they vote on the issue. A bonus is that the financial backing gets more difficult for the vested influences.

You mean the mean girls, they still haven't apologised for that appalling display

Like - just do this one simple thing every night. And then add whatever, grow your hair back, cure your diabetes, shrink your prostate, grow a big woody, the list is never ending on the marketplace ads.

Like the facebook link that goes to a fake ABC Insiders site. It shows the ABC on Pauline's side well and truly. We'll see aliens land before that ever happens. It was designed to fleece money from suckers in a crypto scam. It's unbelievable how suckerbook marketplace turns a total blind eye to fraud. Almost all the sponsored ads on it are scammers.

Different pollsters ask slightly different questions, but a lot of them lately seem to be polling primary intentions and not preference direction. Gender and age group is usually asked for analysis. A lot of it is probably swayed by immediate events. For example, in the latest morgan poll, the Greens have picked up 3% and Labor is down 4. Morgans think that 3% Green gain at Labor's expense is because of Albo and Co. going all the way with DJT and the Greens taking a stance against the US/Israel strikes. Some of the analysis is interesting. There's been a trend for a while now of the youngest age group, 18-24, moving more to the right. The Greens and Labor have lost support in that group to One Nation, independants and others, but the Greens have gained in all groups 25+, whereas Labor has lost in all age groups and both genders. One Nation gained support in all age groups under 65. Some polls a couple of weeks ago showed ON gaining among young women more than young men. A bit of a reverse from it's historical male dominated support. I think One Nation is the wild card, and come next election, they will have either fallen on their face or put egg on a lot of other faces. The Greens are what they are. What you see is what you'll always get, 10 to 12%. If Labor stuffs up enough, the Greens might get 15% briefly but they just don't appeal to enough of the population to acheive anything higher than balance of power in the Senate. Nev, you're right about the Nats/Libs being in big trouble. At the moment they are well and truly wedged. All Labor has to do is sit tight and win. Of the small amount of Labor primary votes bleeding to the Greens, most would return in preferences. Labor would feel a lot more comfortable having the Greens on the left than the Coalition would feel having One Nation on the right. It's like the Coalition has driven their Ford Ranger into a parking space designed for little noddy cars, and now they're stuck and can't get out. Go to the right, they lose the centre, go to the left and they lose the right. Interesting that the Nats have elected a Victorian moderate as deputy. More than likely for balance. Matt Canavan can talk the talk to try to woo voters back from One Nation, and Chester can try to butter up the Libs. Smoke and mirrors.

The man is gone Jerry, but never will be forgotten. One of the great protest songs of our time. The words still ring true today, three decades later. Our current leaders looked weak and uncomfortable beside his brother at the recent Garma Festival.

The exotic, rich sounds of this track had a big impact on me as an impressionable young fella:

Here ya go!