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Therein lies the rub. Uncle Sam is really in the toilet, probably for another 3 years. After that without any signs of an alternative party or an ethical electable candidate, the toilet gets flushed. Turn the clock back to pre civil war (but with more dangerous weaponry) A depressing thought. Alas there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

I don't think I'll apply. One of the suggested possibilities is Stephen Conroy, and he has been less than complimentary to T.r.u.m.p. https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/labor-stalwart-who-called-donald-trump-a-moron-leads-the-race-to-become-us-ambassador/news-story/37660aa95eea32e13aaac9921a7921d8

Like I said: I think that our next ambassador should be a career diplomat to see out the Trump years. Maybe the Dems will get the Presidency in 2028, but I don't see them developing a suitable candidate right now. At least in Australi we have some Party leaders who are beating drums and attracting attention to themselves (good or bad). The outlook for in the US for the next couple of years might see Vance take the 25th and stand in for Trump, but being operated by Trump's current puppet masters after Trump is set aside.

The Bloke/Lady to do THAT Job would Be Superman or Wonder Woman. Rudd is a "different" sort of Person. Nev

It s really no surprise. Ardent critic of Chump, progressive rather than conservative. I am amazed at how long he lasted and what he achieved. At some stage, though, especially as Chump is more entrenched, it would have not always gone Rudd's way. Better to get out now and have someone without a history ith regard to Chump who can also achieve.

Well, today was a bit of a ship day. I took a couple of hours off work to ride with my son for his first ride on his bike. After a short while, he pulled in for something so I came along side him to see what was the matter. I guess I was a little cavalier because I leant towards him, the bike leant the other way I tried to stop it by putting my right leg down, but my fott slipped on the wet and some stones on the road and the bike edged further down. That 250kgs and my leg were in a war, and eventually the 250kgs won. I finally succumbed and let it down gently enough - technically a drop, but no damage - not even the storm guards or the top box was damaged. But, I now have a torn right hamstring. They didn't scan it, but after some prodding, they think it wil take two weeks before I can get physio, and 4 weeks before it will heal. Thankfully the builder was not too far away and rode mine home, got his van and gave me a lift. All I can say is it was self inflicted by a plonker. Rang the GP, told me to go to A&E/Casualty. Got ther, and bloody hell, it was busy. The little TV screen was saying 1/2 hour to see a triage nurse (which is a total waste of time), an hour to see another nurse, and then 6 hours to see a clinician. While I was waiting there was a lady about 75 - 80 years old, and doubled over in pain. Another member of the public was talking to her and when he was called away, I went over to see if she was OK and if she wanted me to fetch someone. She was in obvious pain. She said she was on morphine but it wasn't doing too much good. I got her a cup of coffee (she had cash and no card, and I wasn't going to worry about £2) and we got talking. She asked what was wrong and how I did it. I explained that it was quite embareesing and told her how I fell off a stationary bike. She laughed a bit and told me off for making her laugh as it hurt, and said "yes, that is embaressing.. I used to be a biker. What bike do you have?" We had a great conversation and recalled some of the stuff she did and accidents she had. It made the time go quicker. It was already 7pm and she had been there since midday, but she did explain she had been seen a few times, had tests, and was waiting for results. The physio called me in, got me to drop my dacks and lay on the bed as she prodded the hammie. A prod here and there was no prblem, then excruciating pain, and there more excruciating pain. "OK, I can see what you have done." She did some lateral and vertical movements, and decided without a scan that it hadn't detached from the bone, arranged for a painkiller injection and told me to come back in 2 weeks - to the physio outpatients - not A&E, thankfully. Before I took off I said goodbyes to the lady and wished her the best. She had told be she bought a used Transit van and had converted it herself to a camper - with only the solar and electrics being done by a pro. Kudos to her, I thought.

Christ's death was a organised by the religious leaders who saw him as a radical undermining their power over the people. The fact that his philosophy was taken up by the masses shows that the general public was in favour of him. I think it does one well to compare the process where Christ was disposed of with similar figures since that time. The usual flow is that those in power get upset by someone calling them out. Then the powerful start spreading untruth and instiling fear in the general populous. Eventually the populous becomes party to the destruction of the person.

Hasn't he given up on Ukraine and is now going for Greenland? Don't tell him Australia has rare eath minerals.

Grateful Dead guitarist and founding member Bob Weir has died at 78, his official Instagram account confirmed on Saturday.

There is no doubt that Australains who have not been directly impacted by the recent fire and flood situations are sympathetic to those who have. Merely say that the impacted are in our thoughts and prayers doesn't seem enough. What can we do? Many victims only have the clothes they stand up in. Should we send clothing? Nice thought, but impractical. I volunteer at a charity shop where we receive bags and bags of donated clothing. It is a daily battle to sort through these donations to classify them and prepare them for display for sale. Even when that is done, we have difficulty in storing them. If we wanted to dontate them, where would we send them, and how? Clothing is not the only thing that these victims need. Where's the bog rolls; the baby nappies, the female hygeine products, the incontinence pads? Did you ever think that these might be more important to some victims than a selection of clothing? The National Emergency Management Agency https://www.nema.gov.au/ is a Commonwealth agency whose goal is to lead and coordinate national action and assistance across the emergency management continuum. To do this the agency works with State and Federl entities, Charitable organisations and leaders of the Public Sector to get aid to victims of disasters in the immediate aftermath and later in the recovery period. The best way for individuals to give help is by donating money to funds properly set up through charitable organisations and the like where monetary donations can be lodge into accounts managed by the major banks. The warning that must be given about donating is to never donate following a request made via a communication medium. If you want to donate, it is best to walk into a bank yourself.

This little trick only works in Excel. If you want to enter the current date into a spreadsheet, press Ctrl + semicolon. To enter the current time, Press Ctrl + Shift + ;

Did you know..... that there are some strong people in the world, prepared to give USA the finger....

Prime Minister Albanese announced today that Kevin Rudd, Australia's Ambassador to the USA intends to stand down from that position. He is standing down twelve months before the end of an ambasador's normal term. Rudd has done a lot of very good work in Australia's relationship with the United States, but one cannot help but think that President Trump's personal attitude to Mr Rudd has been an inhibiting factor in Rudd's ability to carry out his duties on behalf of Australia. Mr Albanese has praised Mr Rudd for his efforts. There has not, at this stage, been any indication that Rudd's decision was in response to pressure from the Australian Government. I suppose one can only act with diplomacy for so long when eduring the personal attacks of a deranged person. Better to withdraw and keep one's respect than to advance on a fool. It is implied in the attached news report that the position of Ambassador will not be a 'job for the boys'. It might be filled by a career Pu8blic Servant who has the wide ranging skills needed to deal with international relations.

Nothing personal Jerry. I couldn't resist. PS one of the reasons I sold my bike was the fear that if it fell off the kickstand I know I can no longer lift it back up. All the best for a quick recovery. Then onya bike laddie!

Sorry OME. I was just being sarcastic. (The lowest form of wit)

I didn't think that it would fit neatly into the several other thrads that have a political theme. I thought that if I made a new thread, the information would not get lost in one of the others. If this thread doesn't attract interest, it will soon die off, no sweat.

Mods Please move Jerry's above post to the appropriate thread.... the "WTF! Maybe I'm getting old!" Thread.

Does this really deserve it's own thread?

Railway lines are IRONIC, AN Oxymoron is someone who welds Badly and there are 2 Queue's. The near one and the Other. Nev

That might annoy Trump enough to register the fact the Putin is just like him.

Being blamed still? Or are reparations being made (have been)? I don't recall anyone in my generation feeling like they were blamed for it.

We're still getting blamed for the Stolen Generation.

I heard (from admittedly not necessarily a scholarly source) that they were blamed for it, but didn't actually carry it out.. and I got the impression from OME's post above, it was alluding to that. Of course, I have very little knowledge in this area so likely to be wrong. But even so, how many hundreds of years ago was it? Do we still blame today's Germans for the transgressions of two world wars? Er.. not quite. Zionism started in the mid 1800s with the Jews legally buying up the land withg the intention of starting a country because of constant persecution in Europe, the Middle Wast and I think Northern Africa - but I have to check the latter. They accelerated their plans after WW2. Note, they started buying up the land.. of a non state (learned that on this forum - previously I thought Palestine was a state.. And I have since learned there is no "P" in teh Arabic language, which is kinda interesting).. not a simple colonisation - but there was some colonisation no doubt. BTW, other countries have been created fromm conflict since WWII, even in Europe, thjrough ejection of peoples.. but nary get a mention and at the time there wan't too much of a protest. So other people were living in these countries, as well. And of course, the Zionists today claim that Judea - the original name of part of the area is the home of the Jews they were forcibly ejected from. We have forcibly ejected Aboriginals from their traditional lands, but we aren't in a hurry to give it back lock stock and barrel. BTW, I have serious doubts this is a territorialk conflict. We talk about international lawm, but the 1947 UN security resolution - you know - international law - was rejected by the Arabs - 5 states in fact. They lost, and lost land, They colntinued to fight - and lost - and as a result lost more land. In I think it was 1996, Israel offered Gaza and 96% of the West Bank. Arafat played along until the last minute and then rejected it. It is not about territory.. This seems more like a religious thing. Check sectiuon 7 of the Hamas Charter or whatever it was called. All will be revealed.

So I asked for plain rice, and this is what I got! .....

Pity the banks don’t pick up all those costs themselves seeing the ATM’s are there so people can get access to their bank accounts. They make enough money as it is.

A young man introduces his fiancee to his parents. While they were having dinner the girl gently farts. Annoyed by the funny smell the father in law yells: – Rocky!! The girl is relieved that the future in-law blamed the dog from under her chair but after a few minutes she lets one more rip. The boy’s father is getting nervous: – Rocky!! be careful now!! Worried no more the girl fires another one. Feeling exasperated, the boy’s father yells: – Rocky! Get out of there fast! She’s gonna sh*t on you!

Back in my (working) day, I had great data security....

Russian forces have reportedly seized full control of the strategic Shevchenko lithium deposit in the Donetsk region, a move that deals a catastrophic blow to the recently negotiated U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals agreement. This specific mine was a centerpiece of President Zelensky's proposal to the Trump administration, intended to help Ukraine reimburse the United States for billions in military aid by granting exclusive access to its vast natural resources. The Shevchenko field is one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe, often referred to as "white gold" for its essential role in electric vehicle batteries and defense technology. Its capture by Russian troops effectively nullifies a key component of the "pay back" deal signed in 2025, which relied on these specific assets to generate revenue for the U.S. Treasury. Analysts view this seizure as a calculated "resource coup" by Vladimir Putin, designed not just for territorial gain but to physically dismantle Ukraine's economic value to the West. By taking the mine before the U.S. could operationalize the agreement, Moscow has secured a critical supply chain asset while leaving Washington with a "paper deal" that no longer has a physical asset to back it up.