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Aaaah, that explains the state of my love life...

Don't know much about Gina but don't trust anyone in mining anyway can say that much. And any country with some sort of intelligence needs to do more than just dig holes in the ground. Thing l did wanna mention though is that you know who the biggest employer in the country is. It's not all these mining giants and others, it's small business. Small business employs more people than any of them but yettttt- small business and manufacturing is the biggest thing they've been killing off in Australia since Howard days. They're all just a bunch of fkg morons whatever Govs been in. l remember Howard saying ahhh, we don't need manufacturing we can import anything we need. Could you ever dream up a more destructive line ? That's like saying ahhh, we don't need family any more, we can just import whatever people we need.

Sorry, Nev. I missed your post. I bought it with 40,200+ miles on the clock. Today, it sits 3 miles short of 45,000 miles. When you think I had the bike for about a month before I did my first ride to London (from memory), it has clicked up 3.700+ miles in 3 months. The original tyres were at about 1/2 life, so they lasted as expected. I expected a few bits to be needed to be done. And sure enough, they do. I don't have all the tools and the space to DIY, and even if I did, it would take me 3 or 4 times longer than if I got someone good to do it. The latest mechanics were OK, but I noticed a few minor things they didn't get right. The new tyres are excellent. But, they didn't inflate them to the correct pressures. I had since corrected that, and it rides really well. The rear brake/wheel still has a squeak, but I have checked and there seems to be an issue with the piston - somethign I would have hoped they picked up when changing the disc. So, they are going to look at next week. I gave it a good dose of brake cleaner and it seems to have quietened it down a but. The heated grips no longer work. They wired them into the fuse box, and I guess the fuse has blown. I am thinking there is a short somewhere, but I don't have the space to take the fuel tank off to trace the wiring. Since they were playing up before I took them in to be rewired, I am guessing it was the previous mechanic who has probably cut into the insulation or something. At the end of the day, these are minor things. The electrical system initially worried me, but it seems to be functioning well (touch wood). The engine purrs like a kitten, and the clutch and gearbox seem in good shape, if a little notchy at times. For an 18 year old bike, it is still hanging together well. Well, this weekend, it was great riding weather, if a little chilly in the morning. Yesterday was nice and sunny and we hit abour 17 degrees. Today was more on the grey side, with the odd ray if sunshing getting through and it was 16. My son and I went for a ride both days and covered around 130 miles between the two days. We found some nice twisties with excellent rolling countryside views as well as views to the Bristol Channel. We stopped at the local Harley/Indian dealer, and then the Triumph dealer, where a bunch of young fellas made a bee line to the son's bike and they all spun a good yarn. We pootled/bimbled around a bit more and then all of a sudden, on a country road (we aren't short of them around here) he decided to open up the throttle and got the little beast to 70mph, I did ask him to read back his speedo (we have intercoms). Today it was back to the twisties and some riding in town for practice, where he did stuff up navigating a roundabout. He was very disappointed with himself, but as I point out, even the most experienced riders make mistakes, that he wasn't dangerous, and as long as he learns from them, he is in the black. The Biffa (nickname for CBF1000's here) is an absolute joy to ride. Smooth and very positive acceleration, respectable handling int he twistes (knee didn't quite get down - and I don't have sliders, anyway). Only real complaint is that over the potholes it is a bit stiff. Maybe I should take a look at the rear shock. Bikers were out in force both days, and the convention here is a tilt of the head to the middle of the road, with a slight nod at the same time. Most people do it, and some quite pronounced. The alternative is a wave of the left hand with an extended arm. All in all a good day.. Next week, the Halse Angels will head to a beach on the Bristol Channel - most likely Minehead, which is only 14 or so miles away. Then the real test for the lad - a ride into London.. to the Aussie High Coommission for an appointment for his Aussie passport renewal (his old passport isn't one fo the new tech ones, so it is like a new passport application. Looking at doing it Wednesday week.

A friend of mine was the Shire Engineer in a municipality in country Victoria. He complained that every time he attended a Council meeting he had to debate with ten other engineers.

The real problem with councils is the replacement of the shire engineer with ten unqualified administrators.

That's not Logical Siso.. There are Lot's of risks with where Hansons values will take us and also with Trump Who Lies constantly and is totally unpredictable and dangerously Vindictive and a threat to World order with amongst other things, a weird relationship with Putin and Epstein. Pauline affection for Trump is Perilous for Australia. Nev

Money and Power are powerful aphrodisiacs.. Nev

The Brent Crude price is still lower than it was at the height of COVID: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/brent-crude-oil I recall Australia feeling a bit nervous about dunny paper, but not petrol. I guess not being allowed more than 5ks from your home probably had something to do with it. Yes. the Strait of Hormuz was still open, but freight wasn't going terribly quickly between places and it was super expensive to boot. In Australia's case, it would appear our polliies since Howard may have had something to do with our current predicament:

Don't you think that over the past couple of months a lot of countries have been reconsidering their need for close relationships with the USA because of Trump's behaviour? Many countries seem to be looking for trade partnerships with countries of holding similar views. If you think about it, all the alliances wiht the USA seem to be based on the idea that any government system that is not similar to that of the USA is planning to invade, and therefore there is a need for the military protection of the USA.

In most localities your Shy Cancel is the Abominable NO people who won't approve anything different or innovative and want more Money every time. The Less you deal with them the Better your Quality of Life is. We have a Local Ratepayers Association that passes on information to Members and some others , that is of Value. Nev

The Important thing now is the Once Proud UAP -Liberal Party is Near extinct. When Liberal is bad They say they are Both as Bad as each other. It is not that simple. If you think it is you are Not paying much attention. It's TOO easy to just say that. Not all Pollies are Corrupt. It's a pretty thankless job for not a lot of Money and we need the Best suited People Possible, and their tenure is relatively short and in the Federal Parliament they travel a lot and are away from Home. Nev

I think Siso has wet dreams about Gina,

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Large foxhound

I see where the ABC has called the lower house seat of Ngadjuri for One Nation with a TPP estimate of 56.9% over Labor's 43.1%. It was a Liberal seat loss. The ABC are usually fairly conservative on their calls, so they must think the numbers stack up. It's the first time One Nation has won a lower house seat outside of Queensland.

The problem with the council amalgmation was that the smaller councils were generally more efficient and debt free with money in the black. The larger councils were way more inefficient, more corrupt, broke and in massive debt. To balance the debt, the smaller councils were amalgamated into the bigger ones, along with their cash which on the books bailed the bigger ones out. The end result was ratepayers and residents pay more for less service. It was grand theft by any measure. A broke state government coming up with a scheme to bail out the worst of the bigger councils.

We have a big problem with councils here in Queensland and it got a lot worse when they amalgamated them into less but much larger councils. They're the weak link in the government chain and it would be good if the state government could rein them in. Over time they have gone from being servants of the public to thinking they are our masters and a law unto themselves. Our state governments over time have handed them way too much autonomy. In other states, the state government still has a fair bit of control over local government, but here they've just handed councils the keys to the lolly shop and turned a blind eye. They spend more time checking satellite images to try and extort revenue from ratepayers for some silly minor bylaw infringement than they do providing services. You always know when the rate bill is about to come out (every six months) as it's the only time they slash the road verge, twice a year two weeks before you get the rate bill. A lot of people are looking forward to the next local government elections to kick the deadbeats out. We have four year terms here now so it's a long wait. There's a bloke here who ran for mayor last time and just missed out. He's a local, and well known and liked community member and calls a spade a spade, so we're hoping he'll get in next time. I knew him back in the days when he was a pub bouncer. He'll be more value than the rest of the clowns put together.

MY FANCY CLOTHES.

I would hope very much that Albo (or whoever is in government) is going to negotiate hard for Australian interests in any demand from any government. Too many times it appears various countries, inclduing Australia roll over, especially for Chump on threats. If we clearly have an upper hand, we should use it to our advantage. I remember years ago when the US government decided to heavily subsidise and agricultural product to protect their farmers. I think it was sugar. Australia protested to the WTO as I recall, with little effect. I think ti was 3LO that had the US secretary for agriculture of the time on for an interview. The US offical repeatedly stated the US government has to do what is in the best interests of its growers and that the Australian government should do the same. When quizzed about how the US wwas pursuing open markets and it was hurting Australia's growers, he repeated the mantra. When asked about using their disproportionate economic clout to protect their farmers and their markets were also of disproportionate size, the US official repeated the mantra. Well, if Australia has the wood over the US in this, they should definitely negotiate hard to the disadvantage of the USA and claw something back, taking into account the bigger picture.

It started earlier than that Marty. In Australia it appeared in the goldfields in the 1850's. I've got one of Frank Weston's Wizard Oil bottles I found out in the desert. He came out here from the US in 1864 and started a travelling medicine show selling his wizard oil. At one stage he got into strife with the government for having an opioid in it and had to remove it from the recipe.

He's the ultimate snake oil salesman. Back in the early 1900s, travelling salesmen would sell "miracle cures" to naive country folk. Said remedies did absolutely nothing, of course, except leave the victim poorer and still sick. Trump is exactly the same. A liar and braggart. Promised to "drain the swamp" when in fact he's the biggest alligator ever to inhabit any level of government. Promised to "make America great again" and has only made it worse. Promised to make ordinary people's lives better and has only raised prices, lowered healthcare, and made billionaires richer. Promised to start no wars and has invaded multiple countries. A rapist, fraudulent, morally (and multiple financially) bankrupt huckster who has fooled the religious into believing he's god's choice. Someone totally devoid of tact, empathy, diplomacy or character. In fact, if you were to say "Apart from death row inmates, who is the public figure with the least Presidential qualities?", the answer would be "Donald Trump".

I won't speak for Litey, and I probably wouldn't have used the "foolish" word, but my beef is not with the idea of proportional representation. I think it is probably a good idea. I think that the notion that only votes that put a member in parliament are useful votes, and all others are a waste of time. This seems like a naive understanding of how things work. i seldom vote for one of the 2 major parties. I usually vote for a minor party that could never win. Is this a wasted vote? No, because my preferences go to the least worst party. My electorate is a safe Labor seat; however, parties are strongly attuned to swings against them. If a smaller party on the left gets many first preferences and the Labor party gets by on second preferences, they are liable to want to adjust their policies the next time to turn those second preferences into primary votes, and the same applies on the right. I do believe it would have been better if a stronger opposition had been elected; however, the voters by and large, understand the system as it is and voted accordingly.

They don't all Have 37 Billion to buy their way into everything. She will replace them with robots without batting an eye lid. ALL she cares about is Making more Money for Herself. No one want's that kind of thing to be Happening within their Government. It's NOT good for the Country. Gina's on record saying Paying a fine is ok for ALL crimes and Workers are worth 2 Dollars a day. She's No Angel. Nev

Trump shows no regard whatever for Old Alliances. The RICH end of US Society has most of HIS attention. Pity anyone who lives in a Country which HE doesn't like. Nev

Just have SEX then. Nev

Corey Bernardi talks exactly the same. Nev

Yep for sure. They reckon whoever's been in over the last 30yrs , doesn't matter which , they've all still just basically done all the same stuff. Sold off everything, killed our manufacturing, ran house prices to the moon and completely stuffed and sold off our resources gas and oil, given our power companies free reign to just abuse the shyt out of us and forcing house holds into a both working scenario just to be able to cover our costs of living and paying off a house. l remember Howard saying ah, we don't have to make anything here why should we we can import anything we need. l also remember them pushing and pushing mums and dads both into working, they pushed that one none stop and kinda brainwashed the country into believing this is all how it should be. They were the ones that even started trying to blend two wages into a households income and passing it off as one to make housing look more affordable and the norm for both to be working just to be able to afford a house and costs of living. They normalized all that and it's all just flowed on from there. This gov now, sadly the worst and most hopeless l've ever seen with what they're doing to this country. At least some of the population are finally at least slightly aware of what they're doing nowa days though. Don't know if it's gonna be enough to get them out though and who the hell can we even replace them with anyway right now. But given another term it'll be a Howard thing all over again and just send our country so far down the toilet even further for decades to come. Especially with their immigration and housing.