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A lot of people can't see the woods for the trees. Some who are unhappy with the rise in popularity of One Nation delude themselves that the problem is all One Nation and it's supporters who their critics perceive as a bunch of ignorant, redneck idiots. Fact one: One Nation wouldn't be having this rise in popularity if the major parties were doing a half decent job. Fact two: The major parties have been complacent for too long, and as long as they have their comfortable two party system of your turn/my turn without any major threat to their voter base, they will never get any better. For sure, a lot of the rise in One Nation is a protest vote against that laziness, complacency, and disregard for ordinary Australians that a lot of people see in the major parties. The voter erosion to One Nation is the kick in the pants that the status quo needed and still needs. They won't voluntarily get any better, so they need a boot up the rear end like this to to make them get off their backsides and start performing better to provide Australians with what they want and need from a government. If the threat of losing voters in possible election losing numbers keeps the major parties on their toes, in my opinion that has to be a good thing and an incentive to provide good government. I'm not defending One Nation or any other party, but just trying to point out the small minded nature of just blaming One Nation and their supporters and dismissing them as fools. Throwing rocks at them is not going to make them go away. You need to ask yourself why. Why are so many people abandoning parties they have supported for years. The problem the major parties have is not One Nation. The problem is within themselves. They need to ask themselves why do so many people not want to vote for them any more. To be honest, nothing much in politics surprises me, but I have been surprised lately by the sheer numbers of people I run into who say they are changing their vote to One Nation at the next federal election. A lot of these people are the last people in the world where I would have expected to see that. There's a problem for the One nation critics who are stuck in that rut of name-calling, ridicule and stone throwing in their stereotyping of supporters. While they're so distracted doing that, they're not seeing what's really happening. There's a big groundswell of a protest vote building, and I think it will keep rolling. I don't personally think what's happening now is just a flash in the pan. The way I see it, the Greens are immune from it. The Coalition has already taken significant hits and a lot of it by their own hand. And Labor, well I wouldn't be too complacent about if I was one of their supporters. At the moment, they are almost guaranteed to win the next election, and that's about as far ahead as most pollies can think, but they are already starting to bleed blue collar votes and that loss will continue to grow. For anyone who doesn't want to see One Nation grow in size, the challenge is how to create an environment where those lost voters will return. That's where they need to spend their energy. Ridiculing and blaming those lost voters for leaving in the first place is unproductive, and as I said earlier, small minded.

A prodigee of Abbott? Be careful what you ask for.

The Moon Photos from Artimus II

Absolute shite. Trump couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

When the war finished they had a lot of Japanese held in pow type camps awaiting repatriation back to Japan. In a lot of them they didn't have allied soldiers guarding them, they were doing it themselves. One night my dad and his mate were returning back to camp from a local watering hole and walked past one of the camps. All hell broke loose, the sentry called the alarm and the camp commandant roused the whole camp of Japanese out of bed to form up on the parade ground. He got my dad and his mate who were full as a boot to inspect the troops. The old man said it was one of the craziest experiences he had over there, two private ranked Australians with the wobbly boot on walking up and down the Japanese ranks inspecting them. He told me they hammed it up a bit and did a fairly dodgy officer impersonation to give the commandant a bit of face.

It's been hanging over him for years. Kerry Stokes tried to assist him and I don't blame Kerry for that. We Train soldiers to Be effective killing Machines and expect them to still Be NORMAL. I see that as a quandary. What HE did was awful but WAR is not a Normal situation, A lot of returned Soldiers are Ruined by what they have seen and done. It used to be called Shellshock. The People who start the Wars are the REAL criminals. Nev

For sure that is what he says. But the easily found facts do not show any signs of USA improving the lives of ordinary people. However, the (minority) wealthiest are doing just fine, and Trumpy's family are achieving great wealth. So I choose to see him as a liar, motivated solely by self interest. No, I have neither rage nor agression. Only disappointment. Ours is a similar path to that which has led USA to it's present situation. One which Trump seems to be accelerating. We should take that as a warning. But then along came synthetics (oil based) and we fell off the sheep's back. Then failed to monetise our mining industry, which only benefits a minority. I hold both major political parties for this, as do a lot of USAnians for their situation. Thank you. I am not trying to convince you. I am only trying to explain why I feel the way I do, about current politics. My only proviso is that I believe if someone important tells lies or bullies others, it should be called out. Anyone, whatever race, gender, political party. It seems to me that Trump consistently makes himself an easy target, and I see no proof of him "Making America Great".

The problem with Trump is that beyond quoting a slogan, he has no vision that he can articulate as to how to achieve what he allegedly wants for the country. On the other hand, it's very clear what he wants for himself - power, respect or fear (doesn't matter which), and money. His personality is that of a liar and cheat, and the energy and drive he has is all aimed at his own political survival and personal enrichment. As for Australia, if we had an outstanding and far-sighted politician who had a clear vision for improving the country and making it more self-sufficient that made sense to the voting population, he/she would likely be given a chance to implement their agenda.

Well all I see is people losing their minds over a guy who only wants for his country to be the best. How you get there of course is the methods you use. Why dont you point all your agression and comments and pontifications to the dickheads who lead our country down into the shi#t chute we are heading into. We are a Island..we dont have nutjobs on any of our borders than can just walk in. We have done our best over the past 30 plus years ( thanks to keatings globalization push) to defang and deindustrialize to a point now where we are a joke. We used to be self sufficient in power and oil and manufacturing pretty much anything we wanted. Exported all around the world and had a balance of trade far in excess of the situation we have in this country currently. Now we are a weak pissy shadow of our former selves. Both political parties are responsible for this terrible decline the problem is they are still in that mindset. We need someone to come in and reshape us. I am not saying thats Trump but we need someone with a big set of khunas or boobies..I dont care who it is just someone with the conviction that Trump seems to have. Not his runaway mouth but his drive and vision for a better country. If that makes me a racist or a woke hater in your eyes then so be it.Thats your opinion !...I have a thick skin and sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Oh and I am aloowed to still have a opinion dont I...I mean if I offend you with what I have said..then good...its not illegal to offend anyone...yet. well the current govt seems to want to try to even take that away from us. What ever happened to common sense and critical thinking to run your country. We have the resources here to be one of the wealthies countrys in the world and give the population here a lifestyle that could rival anywhere in the world. Wether you are born here or immigrated here I dont care. If you have immigrated here dont bring your shit here or try to convert what we are or the way we want to live. We are Australians..well we used to be...sometimes I really wonder who or what we will become in the future as I can not currently see any path forward to a better country under our current and ever former numbskulls Now you have a opinion in my view and I ont or probably wont be offended by whatyou say. I will listen and make up my own mind of what I keep on board what you say or discard it into the rubbish bin of ideas..be they sane or insane

Starter motor for wills Merlin powered bike

Pure right wing American, MAGA-land, unadulterated BS. This part is especially untrue - "The contradiction being that Europe’s energy systems, industrial bases, and geopolitical sermons 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭." Europes energy systems don't ALL depend on America. They get energy from Russia, from Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria for pipeline natural gas. They ship in millions of tonnes of Australian canola and turn it into transportation fuel. They ship in Uranium for nuclear power plants from Canada, Kazhakstan and Australia. They have huge hydro, windpower and solar energy projects. They have diversified their energy suppliers since the start of the Ukraine War. And at the end of the day, European consumers of energy use around one-quarter of the average American energy user. They drive fuel-efficient vehicles and EV's, not gigantic V8 fuel guzzling urban assault vehicles, and even their homes only use modest levels of energy because they're well insulated. It is pure American propaganda. The Europeans are primarily seeking a ceasefire, as they see massive global upheaval, a huge global recession, high interest rates, and vastly increased levels of unemployment, if this idiocy of Trump and his sycophants is left unchecked.

Remember.... Never interrupt your enemy whilst they are shooting themselves in the foot. (Or summat like that)

I think they should be banned & all political advertising taken down on election day. I was in NZ for a wedding last month & there were differing opinions of Jacinda Adern. She won a landslide victory in her second term but had become a victim of the very left and resigned early. She handled the Christchurch massacre and Covid very well and became well known around the world. She was a great leader when NZ needed one. The current PM is not a leader at all & the NZ economy is not doing well. Of course it is all Jacindas fault.

And for all the Trump and Netanyahu fanbois... Tell me again what "the master of the deal" has done for America? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-08/donald-trump-cedes-ground-to-iran-before-negotiations-even-begin/106541368 After being fooled into this war by a war criminal, Trump has: - caused devastation to life and infrastructure in Iran - spent billions of US taxpayers money on a war they didn't want or need - depleted the US armory - caused mayhem around the middle east - raised prices around the world due to fuel and transportation costs, along with associated shrinking of tourism etc - trashed America's reputation even more - put money back in Putin's coffers enabling him to continue the Ukraine invasion. And in return for all this pain, felt worldwide, what has he accomplished? Nothing. If anything, the Iranian regime will come out of this with more than they started with. Not only will sanctions be removed, they will be making money, Mafia-style, from any ship using the Strait of Hormuz. No regime change. No democracy. No stopping of their nuclear program. And you think this pathetic creature is doing right for the US? Don't make me laugh.

Here's something really random. My son works from home 3 days a week and goes to the office on the other two. When he works in the office, he usually gets home between 7.15 and 7.30 pm. The dog starts barking at the door from 7.15, and yaps till Andrew walks through the door. Andrew is currently on 10 days holiday in Thailand with a couple of mates. The dog still barks at the door from 7.15 till we reprimand him.

They're not rants, just long posts putting forward a lot of points that can't be squeezed into a one-liner like a lot of replies on the forum are. I've seen rants on this forum in the past but none with Jerry's signature. And to clear one thing up, I'm not defending Jerry because I'm pro Israel, I'm not. I'm not pro either side and personally couldn't give two hoots if both sides battled it out to the end, as long as they don't bring their hatred here to our country.

The Greens never knew about the tailings dam at Mary Kathleen Uranium until I told them. That dam was on bare ground and was covered with a yellow foam, leaching into the ground and exposed to the atmosphere. The Qld State govt minister told the Greens it was monitored. Nothing happened after that, that I know of. I felt disappointed the Greens didn't fight to get it cleaned up. I walked in it as part of my job to fetch a pump, had gum boots on of course. The foreman stayed well back on the bank.

I wouldn't go quite that far but I do agree they often let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The prime example is when they knocked back Labor on the emissions trading scheme. We could have had a working ETS for almost 20 years now if they'd given a little ground.

Ahh.. but he is the master of the art of the deal... In his own mind

Actually, the swing to One Nation is probbly the best thing that could happen to the traditional governing Parties. They only have to ask Why?, and do a bit of soul-searching. Why is the electorate doing this? Why have we lost their support? Answering those questions should lead to a reassessment of their platforms and with reformed platforms they can hope to win back lost support. We would end up with our traditional parliamentary system - Labor -v- Conservatives.

Couldn't disagree more, Nev. It takes a special kind of skill to consistently and thoroughly screw up a country. Didn't someone recently say that:- "If, hypothetically, D J Trump was a Russian operative sent to destroy USA, is there anything he would do differently? I think not."

Yeah - I have to restart drinking... 😉

Jeezus Jerry, I'm almost afraid to say anything now in case it brings forth another 50,000 words of reply! 😄 Look. If you want to ignore the almost daily reports of civilian killings, starvation, refusing to allow food and medical delivery by truck or ship, lack of any legal consequence for extrajudicial killings, targeting of noncombatants, etc - that's up to you. And no one is trying to hold Israel to any higher standard than anyone else. Is Hamas a terrorist organisation that should be disarmed? Of course it is. Do you keep killing a country's civilians until that terrorist organisation is disarmed? No you bloody don't. And as for throwing around the anti-semitic label at anyone who dares to speak out against Israel's invasions - Lebanon too now, as well as Iran - that's just lazy. I'm totally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump's invasions of Venezuela and Iran, Hamas's October 7th invasion of Israel, and anyone else who takes uninvited military action in a country that isn't theirs. But because I'm also against Netanyahu's invasions of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, I'm somehow anti semitic?

𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀’𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐓𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝟐. 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍’𝐓 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖. Former Australian broadcaster Allen Jones asked Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek the simplest possible question about the policy her party wants to restructure the entire economy around. “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘦?” “𝘠𝘦𝘴”, Plibersek replied. “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩’𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘦?” “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸”. Jones’ response: “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?” The answer is 𝟎.𝟎𝟒%. Not 4%. Not 0.4%. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. Of that 0.04%, human activity accounts for roughly 𝟑%. And of that 3%, Australia contributes about 𝟏.𝟑%. Jones put it in terms anyone could understand: “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺”. And for that granule of sugar, Australia and every Western nation pursuing net zero is “𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺”. This is the core problem with climate policy globally. The people demanding trillions in economic restructuring 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 about the science they claim to follow. They don’t know the numbers. They don’t know the proportions. They just know the conclusion — and they’ll rearrange society to match it. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Shy Cancels are a good example of the failure of the Democratic Process. . Nev

Here's the Moon in 1969. I have a set of slides given to me by a photo lab for professional photographers in Sydney CBD. I've kept them all this time and only scanned them in Sep 2024. I can post more If you want to see them, there's 19 all up, different scenes.

Trump is an economic moron with zero maths skills, zero personal skills, zero diplomacy skills, and no training or education in economics. His primary aim is to get fabulously rich, get his rich supporters even richer and become King of the World. He's so full of BS and hot air, it's a wonder they don't have to tie him to the ground to stop him from floating away. He promised to Make America Great Again. He's done nothing like it. The U.S. national debt has soared under his Presidency. Inflation is taking off again in America, thanks to all of Trumps "economic policies", and his major decision-making directional changes that change by the minute, not by the day. Fuel prices have doubled in the U.S. (despite the fact he reckons "America doesn't need ME oil", the price is governed by oil futures traders and pure speculation). So much for stability in energy prices. He says, "Drill baby, drill", like that is going to yield a "GREAT" benefit to America. He's so thick, that he doesn't even understand that oil companies only live to make HUGE PROFITS for themselves, and f*** everyone else! When was the last time America had an "oil-company-led, economic miracle"? There never has been one. America got rich on dirt cheap oil in unlimited quantities in the 1920's and 1930's, and even at that, the oil companies were making huge profits. Nowadays, there's no cheap, plentiful oil - and even fracking is high cost - and lots of fracking wells are currently on care and maintenance. Look at Trumps tariffs - on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again - like a teenage girl changing outfits. His tariffs have only caused reciprocal tariffs, so Americans can't sell half the stuff they used to. He buggered American farmers more effectively than any President in history before. The Chinese simply refused to buy American soybeans and went and got what they wanted from Brazil. Now American silos are bursting with soybeans they can't give away. So he had to bail out American farmers with American TAXPAYER-PAID subsidies, to the tune of $37 BILLION!! "As of December 2025, the Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid package to assist American farmers affected by low crop prices and trade-related tariffs. This includes $11 billion in direct payments for row crops and $1 billion for other crops to provide financial relief for operating costs. Key details regarding the aid: Purpose: The aid is designed as a "bridge" to assist with financial losses stemming from ongoing trade disputes and tariffs. Funding Source: The administration stated the funds are generated from tariff revenues. Distribution: The funds are expected to be available by early 2026 to help farmers prepare for the next season. Additionally, it was reported that farmers had previously received $23 billion in separate assistance to manage trade tensions with China" And this is the MORON you want running your economy?? Give me a break, the bloke would go broke running a lolly shop outside a girls school. He'd put all his clients off buying anything, by abusing the s**t out of them first, then suing them for not buying anything off him!! This imbecile is the greatest embarrassment the world has ever seen, running the worlds primary superpower. He selects all his people by demanding absolute loyalty to him and no-one else, with no requirement to show any credentials for the job. He demands all foreign dignitaries stay in Trump-owned hotels, thus making him one of the most corrupt Presidents ever. He's turned graft into an art form. He ignores Congress at every opportunity, claims every decision he makes is based on some fabricated outstanding emergency, and only appoints judges to the Supreme Court that will make decisions in his favour every time. He is the biggest oxygen thief on the planet. Trump is going to go down in history as the President who brought America to its knees, economically, and morally and ethically.

We had a reverse mortgage for quite a while. I think the maximum we went to was about 20k. The thing is, most of this was used to make home improvements, which more than paid for itself when we sold the house. The other thing that worked in our favour was the fact that during the 10 years we had the reverse mortgage, the value of the house increased at a greater rate. Of course, for those undisciplined, you could conceivably burn through the value of your house. I know of elderly people who are struggling but live in a huge house, which is both too much for them to maintain and just too big for 1 or 2 people. At 80 or 90 you would have to be pretty irresponsible to blow through $500 000. We sold our 44-acre property and now live in a nice unit. The profit from selling the property allowed us to retire in our mid 50s whilst we are still fit enough to travel, bushwalk, kayak and cycle. Too many people (in my opinion) hang on to an overly large house whilst spending their remaining years in poverty. Although we do not need one at this point, I would not rule out another reverse mortgage. Here is an interesting article. This little‑known government scheme can help retirees tap into $3 trillion of housing wealth

Litespeed, just a suggestion, maybe tone down on the insults to posters you don't agree with and try posting on your position without playing the man. It's a bit disrespectful, and I've really noticed this forum getting quite toxic lately. Forumites can be polite and still disagree.

I am not shamed to say I am pro Israel. I admire their strength and tenacity in a region of evil and terror. I wish them complete success in defeating those who cry death to Israel.

Murdoch Equals Fear and Hate in a fact free Package, There should be a Law against Printing falsehoods for Personal Benefit , Bring on a Functioning Factchecker and we get Better Democracy. Nev

The only similar experience I've had was not with the Greens, but with our local environment council which is an independent organisation. Back before the tree clearing laws came in, a landowner near me with a 20 acre block on the side of a hill got a dozer and cleared the lot, then got an excavator to terrace the whole block like rice paddies. It looked awful, like a giant rock quarry and could be seen for miles. Probably the worst eyesore I've ever seen in the district. I decided to let the environment council know without naming names, just to inform them of the type of thing the shire council was approving. I thought it might be in their interest. They were barely interested, and all they seemed interested in was shoving brochures and membership application forms in my face. I walked out of there fairly disgusted that all they seemed to want was membership money. I think it was probably individual staff on the day to blame rather than the whole organisation.

I'll address this in the What's Albo Done Now thread, but, if you'll pardon the pun, in short, Shorten went to the 2019 election with policies that would cool the market by making it harder for investors to open up the market for home owners. The Australian electorate decided on Morrison over Shorten - and let's be honest, most people would have known what they are in for by voting for Morrison at that stage. Given the pollies are supposed to represent the people,, Labor changed its policy to represent the people. Aussies really have no one to blame but themselves for that one. Making the housing market an investment rather than a, well, housing market is the Lib's motto. People bought into it.. Problem is, now they are realising the folly of that approach (see the What's Albo Done Now thread though). I agree - he is definitely more Australia focused than the Libs. Problem for me is he could do a lot better in this. Although something is better than nothing. Absolutely agree. Also, one of the problems we have is that a lot of senior parliamentarians have, as part of their investment portfolio, rental dwellings. And some MPs have a sizeable number of them. I like what appear to be the Green's idea - allow one or two, but not unlimited dwellings to be put through negative gearing. The UK conservatives - under BoJo, if not earlier, entirely removed the concept of negative gearing and deducting mroe than a small amount for costs from income received from renting dwellings. The exception is where a company is involved, but thhere is full capital gains tax payable - wherewas there was also relief on CGT for private investors. The result - a more affordable housing market.

. To be a POW of the Japanese was No Fun. My Flying instructor was in Changi. Nev . Nev

Getting off topic a bit here, but this photo of my dad and his platoon making their way up through Balikpapan was taken on the first day of the landings. The same day, another platoon in their company got strafed by a trigger happy American plane. Lucky nobody was killed but some were wounded. They were right out in the open as well, in clearly visible land just off the beach.

It was Willie that said far left, not Peter.

Agree, except..... it's ok as long as the wake-up call actually wakes up the slumbering major party policy makers. In the USA extreme, twice now, the rebel voters created a One Party situation which permitted a political leadership disaster. Now they are stuck with a shadow of an opposition party that is unable to provide any balance to the excesses of the incumbents. We seem to agree that our two major parties need to get back in touch with the electorate, and prioitise the masses. But I fear our two parties are both too conservative to move forward.

That's my thoughts too @rgmwa. Everything this administration says is a lie, why would they start telling the truth now.

Actually I support centre left.

Did they really get a C130 so bogged they couldn’t take off again and then had to fly in other aircraft to get everyone out? Sounds a bit chaotic. Surely the pilots would have seen and avoided soft sand and picked a better place to pull up. I assume they didn’t shut down the engines while they were there. I don’t think we’re necessarily getting the full story. Maybe the Iranians damaged them? No mention of any casualties either except for the rescued weapons officer.

Facts won't help Here OME. . Nev

Have you thought about running yourself, GON?

You do realise that's something made up by Trump because his fragile ego can't accept that the majority of people on earth think he's an absolute c**t?

But it is not compulsory to drive. The fact is that people get injured in traffic accidents sometimes catastrophically. How, as a society, do we handle this? Do we deny people the means to live, perhaps as a paraplegic? If this insurance were not compulsory, would you not have it? If you were to cause an accident, would you be happy to be sued for every cent you have in order to provide for the person you may injure? If you yourself had life-changing injuries, would you want to be provided the financial means to help you live? You say you get nothing from this insurance, but what you get is protection from losing your house if you injure someone, and protection for yourself should the worst happen. In life, there are rights and responsibilities. To want the rights without the responsibilities is childish. Operating a car does involve responsibilities and expenses. I am compelled to have tyres on my car that are roadworthy, the brakes must be serviceable, etc. (oohhh it's so unfair sob sob). I have not had a significant accident in 46 years of driving; however, obviously, it could happen. I am not willing to lose my house if I injure someone. I also am not willing to be injured by another motorist, which could cause me to have to sell my house for my medical treatment. Sorry, but this is just another one of your endless list of "whinges"

Picked up this little air cooled 7.75 hp Lister SR1 today for bugger all. Most of it is there except for the fuel tank, air cleaner, fuel filter and some missing fuel lines. It's the clockwise running version. The 7.75 hp is the rating at full revs, 2,500rpm. At 1,000rpm I think they make 4 or 5. Hopefully it won't take too much to make it a runner. There's a place about 100 klm away that sells unaffordable genuine parts and reasonably priced non genuine parts. Everything is still available for them.

James E Thorne is the one who is misunderstanding Trump's lack of strategy as strategy.

I was in Israel for a short time in 1973. The Israelis were very hospitable and were under constant threat then. The 6 day war in 67 was the last one then but the world was in the middle of the aircraft hijacking phase at the time. I fully supported Israels position and role then, after the holocaust & persecution they'd been through, to building a state and home for their people. Times, actions and attitudes have changed. Netanyahu is a War Criminal & needs to be prosecuted and jailed. He already would be if the Hamas terrorist attack had never happened. 75,000 Palestinians have been killed and Gaza destroyed. Palestinians are being evicted from the West bank and illegal Jewish settlements set up there. Israel has killed numerous aid workers & press personnel in Gaza with excuses or denials every time that they were targeting Hamas. They has excellent intelligence & the most sophisticated of weaponry but somehow can't get their targets and through the whole conflict still couldn't find Hamas or their hostages. They broke the ceasefire numerous times always with excuses and have now claimed part of Gaza for themselves. Now they are taking part of Lebanon. Without Trumps support this would not have happened who also wants Netanyahu pardoned. Trump has turned the US into a dictatorship with him as president assuming absolute power, achieved by appointing unqualified sycophants to top roles and ignoring all rules of order and decency. He is ignorant, poorly educated & supported by 60 million fundamentalist evangellical christians now called MAGA. He even thinks he was appointed by some GOD he professes to believe in. I have not read any of JAs long rants and don't intend to.