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I have started this topic becauseit it has been taking over the Trump topiv. BREAKING: MAGA world flies into panic mode as the grandmother of Charlie Kirk's suspected assassin Tyler Robinson reveals that his entire family is hardcore MAGA. The Republican narrative has collapsed in record time... “My son, his dad, is a Republican for Trump. Most of my family members are Republican. I don’t know any single one who’s a Democrat," the suspect's grandmother Debbie Robinson told The Daily Mail. “I’m just so confused. [Tyler] is the shyest person. He has never, ever spoke politics to me at all," she added. The Daily Beast reported that both of Robinson's parents are registered Republicans who hold hunting licenses. They appear to be run-of-the-mill conservative gun nuts. In the immediate aftermath of Kirk's assassination, Republicans rushed to blame Democrats. Donald Trump pointed a finger at the "radical left" and MAGA influencers, including Donald Trump Jr., gleefully embraced the false narrative that the shooter was transgender. We now know that the alleged shooter was a 22-year-old white Mormon man from Utah. It seems increasingly likely that he was a far-right supporter of the white nationalist Nick Fuentes. The engravings on the bullets found appear to be references to memes popular within Fuentes's "groyper" movement. Groypers despised Charlie Kirk because he wasn't right-wing enough for their taste and they believe that he sold out the "America First" movement. One bullet was engraved with the phrase “Hey fascist! Catch!" but it does not appear to be a left-wing "antifa" message as Republicans originally claimed. Instead, it seems to be a reference to a satirical slogan in the popular video game Helldivers 2. Video games are a crucial cornerstone of the bizarre groyper worldview, along with misogyny and racism. In the coming days we will no doubt learn more about this twisted shooter and his hateful beliefs but we cannot allow Republicans to slink away without taking responsibility for their lies. Yesterday, they were promising now civil war. Now that it appears the shooter was one of their own, they want to move on. We must hold them accountable. The shooter is not transgender, is not a Democrat, and is not an immigrant. He's an unstable homegrown white man with access to firearms. America's gun violence problem is a Republican problem.

Copied from Facebook: BREAKING: Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump enrages MAGA world by sharing the cold hard truth that her uncle is responsible for the "political violence" that he is desperately trying to blame on Democrats. We won't allow these fascists to gaslight us... "Political violence and the rhetoric that drives it are almost entirely on the side of the Republican Party, and no person is more responsible for it than Donald Trump,” Mary wrote on her Substack. "Facing that truth does not mean rejoicing in what happened to Charlie Kirk. Quite the opposite: It means coming to terms with what is driving the political violence in America today," she wrote. President Trump exploited the assassination of right-wing demagogue Charlie Kirk earlier this week by calling him a "martyr" and blaming the "radical left" even though the identity of the shooter wasn't known at the time. Even now, it's the killer's motive and political beliefs are unknown. Trump doesn't care. He saw an opportunity to sow division and he seized it. Mary pointed out that Democratic lawmakers rushed to condemn Kirk's shooting while Republicans have sought to turn it to their political advantage by blaming Democrats and journalists. Comparatively, when Paul Pelosi was attacked in his home, conservatives celebrated and mocked the horrifying incident, with Donald Trump himself even joining in. Republicans demand an endless supply of empathy from liberals but provide none themselves. "Donald has almost single-handedly created the conditions in which his grievance, his vengeance, and his cruelty extend to anybody that supports him," Mary Trump continued. "Anybody who opposes him or stands up to him or simply doesn’t support him is his enemy and is therefore not worthy of protection. Worse, they are considered legitimate targets of abuse or revenge, cruelty or violence." "He has incited violence against his perceived political enemies as well as against his own government and then pardoned those who committed it on his behalf," she went on. "This is not a 'both sides issue.' This is not a moment when we put aside our differences to come to some agreed upon notion about how to move beyond this. With Donald Trump and those who support, enable, and capitulate to him in power that would be impossible." "We have arrived here in large part because this country has been purposefully and maliciously divided against itself because of the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and the Republican Party," she added. She went on to quote Kirk's own now-viral words. The MAGA demagogue said that the price of an "armed citizenry" is a certain number of guns deaths. "But I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights," said Kirk. "That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe.” Mary Trump empathetically but forcefully addressed his words— "Well, unfortunately, the universe we live in is a universe created by people who actually think that guns in our society are more important than the lives of the people living in it," she wrote. "Unfortunately, we live in a universe in which violence, political or otherwise, has been normalized by one party and one party only. The Democrats should condemn what happened today. Any decent right-thinking person should condemn what happened today." "But we are missing the point, we are, indeed, missing an opportunity if we do not take the tragedy that unfolded today as permission to start a broader conversation about how we got here, who's responsible, and quite frankly what the hell we are going to do about it," she concluded.

I wonder if he'd included himself in those "necessary" gun deaths? What a prize dickhead. The fundamentalist Christian BS is overpowering. They're not "God-given rights", they're rules made up by old men from 234 years ago, when a firearm took two minutes to set up and fire, and the firer was as much at risk from getting killed by the firearm, as the target was. And these morons treat these rules as something that came down from Mt Sinai with Moses. Jesus wept. They're prepared to keep sacrificing their children on the Altar of the Gun, on a par with worshipping Baal.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-07-16/chinas-renewable-energy-boom-breaks-records/104086640

At some Time you are going to Have to GET OVER THIS GON, Or you will be no good to anyone, Including yourself. There's plenty out there who will have had a harder Row to Hoe than you have. It's UP to YOU. Nev

It depends on what state you're in, to be honest. Generally speaking, in the midwest, yes; in the north east and south west, not so much and the laws of self defence are more like those of England and other more moderate commonwealth founded countries. As an example, although they are scrotes, does someone entering your front yard to nick your fountain while you are upstairs and that person is posing no threat to you deserve to be shot and possibly killed? You may think so, and that is fair enough - we have our values and there is nothing to say my values are superior to yours.. But what if that person had an hionest and reasonable belief that the fountain was nicked from their front yard and all they thought they were doing was, rightly or wrongly, claiming back what was theirs? Yeah, what they were doing was still wrong, but what if it was theirs and you had nicked it? If you are under direct threat, the laws in at least NSW and England (and I presume every state in Australia) determine if the level of self defence was excessive based on what you, not the average person, perceived the threat to be. Once the threat was (or ought to have been) perceived by you as passed, you have very little defence. And the action you take to defend yourself that is allowed is very liberal - it has to be manifestly disproportionate to the threat, and even then it remains a partial defence. This, to me is manifestly reasonable and the US system that allows you to kill anyone entering your land that you perceive may be doing something bad leaves a gaping hole in the law that allows you to kill, say a letter dropper who is chasing a couple of leaflets that escaped thanks to the wind onto your front lawn

These Christian Fundamentalists are worse than the Taliban, with their BS religious beliefs and biblical interpretations. They're not Christians, they worship Guns and Money over God. They're continually in the grip of the Gun Lobby, and they continually rave on about the "freedom" of the Second Amendment. Their BS line is the Second Amendment protects them from a "tyrannical" Govt. What a crock of sh**. Armed civilians have no hope of overthrowing a Govt that possesses all of the most sophisticated military equipment that they need to win wars against similarly-equipped enemy nations. It is propaganda on a level that would make Goebbels envious. They are fully prepared to keep worshipping the Gun God and sacrificing their children, friends, family members, and leaders, endlessly in mass shootings - because any crackhead can acquire a hundred firearms of their choice under their f*****-up Constitution, that they refuse to modify, because they insist it came from God on stone tablets. One can only wish that all the sensible people leave America to move to countries where common sense reigns, and Christian Fundamentalist BS has no sway. Moloch the Gun God - https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-price-of-freedom-child-sacrifice-and-the-american-gun-cult/10095320

Daughter moves into University today - studyign what the world needs more of: law. Over here, it is virtually mandatory that first years move into on campus university accomodation and then from second year on, find their own way. It is also common that the students move to the university of their choice across the country. Thankfully, daughter had Exeter as her first choice, then York, then St. Andrews. Exeter University is 35 miles away. York is 270 miles away, and St. Andrews is 483 miles away. The car is packed with all the accroutments she needs, and I am glad it is only a 35 miles away. We are both excited and sad because of the hole her moving out will leave at home. But it is wonderfult o see her thrive, and I am confident she will do well. Although there is a lot of the world she has to learn, she is mature and has a level head; something that I have yet to attain. Life changes, and we are always better mving with the change than trying to stop it; we can learn and continue to develop every day - and the positive for me is that her moving to the next chapter of her life brings my great joy, but also reminds me that we have to continue to learn and develop. She has reminded me that also I should be retired this year and the body has slowed a bit. the mind thankfully hasn't (not that I would notice, of course), and there is still so much to do.

The question is, what comes next? He has become a martyr to the Republican cause and we could well see more violent incidents. Trump is stoking the flames as usual.

He had one job...

Yes, as did the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, and no doubt q few others. Gold reserves were used to back the currency - or more accurately - limit the money supply. I don't know of any country that still uses what was called the gold standard. Up until recent events, some short term swings and a definitive upward trend only started after COVID: I can't easily find a graph from 1997. By comparison, here is the NASDAQ Composite index from 1996: At 2006, the NASDAQ composite is lets say an even 2,000points; Today, it is 22,261, over 10 times its value in 2006. In a straight line,m that is a 1,000 percent increase. Using the chart here: https://onlygold.com/gold-prices/historical-gold-prices/ , in 1996, the price was $369 a troy ounce, today according to the Royal mint, the spot price is $3.652.21, slightly less than 10x the prince in 1996 and the recent increase is because of global risks probably not foreseeable in 1996. But if we look at the NASDAQ curve, it would have given results sooner and then corrected and the rate if increase over time is better. So, yeah.. maybe selling gold was not a good decision, but it depends what they did with the money. If they invested it in NASDAQ following ETFs, they would be slightly ahead. If they invested it in Kodak, they would be quite behind. The reality is they probably invested it in government stuff they normally invest in oir pay for, and how do you measure that? Or maybe they should have invested in bitcoin on its launch in 2009, when it was less than USD $0.01... Google is telling today it is worth USD$85,974.60. That is one hell of a long bubble... Point is, it was not necessarily the wrong decision to dispense with the gold, because we have not provided the net value - there is a cost to keeping gold whether it is your vaults or someone elses. We haven't factored the effect of that on the value of the investment.

I can't see how it is affordable. Not enough people Live there.. How about making Devonport OK for the New Ferry or IT will send you broke. Nev

Lets start putting some CEO's in prison. We were always told they get their good salaries because the buck stops with them. Corporates are always pushing the boundary. Banks have form as we found out from the royal commission a few years ago. I think the worst that was happened was one of them lost his job with a big payout. Qantas is the same, Woolworths ect. If any of us deliberately did what they try to get away with the consequences would be different. They have lawyers to supposedly keep them compliant.

Back in the day, it was common practice each morning to glance over the Births, Deaths and Marriages in the newspaper. It is becoming a habit, on this forum, to check this thread each morning for that sort of information. Births, Deaths and Mrriages was also known as "Hatches, Matches and Dispatches".

You clearly like to keep abreast of things.

They ARE the World's LEADING renewables country Now and are setting 5 year Plans to Increase the % further to avoid dependence on Fossil Fuels. Every reference I looked up that was current says so. USA has Made it ILLEGAL to promote and scrapped all renewable development that Biden Funded and is "Drill Baby drill" and closed the EPA. WHO I ask Is the More responsible there? Nev

Jacinta should tell Gina or Clive there's gold under Melbourne, where the tunnels are planned to run, and give the mining rights to them for the ground, and the tunnels will be dug for free!

Marty , HALF of the NATS think....? Now THAT IS News. AS for the Libs IF they aren't careful, they won't exist at all. Suss Ley is being undermined very effectively By Murdoch and her own Party. Nev

Some people get weird when they get old. Not me, I've always been that way.

If he had shot school children they would have forgotten by now.

This thread needs an update, with positive news. I have positive news to report, on my front. Out of the blue today, I got an SMS saying as a result of ACCC proceedings against the Good Guys, I now have $70 store credit with the Good Guys - and the credit doesn't expire for 12 mths. I was annoyed previously about the shonky way the Good Guys offered store credit (or "store cash") - which credit was offered immediately after you purchased something from them. It worked along the lines of, if you bought a washing machine, say, for $500, the GG's would immediately say you had a further "bonus" credit of, say, $20 or $30, to spend in-store. What the GG's failed to state clearly, was that the credit expired very quickly (usually about 7 to 10 days), or you had to sign up to marketing promotions to get the store credit. The ACCC obviously became aware of a lot of people being effectively scammed out of their store credit, so they took the GG's to court over it, and the GG's got fined $13.5M, and had to redress the customers who lost their store credit. I lost store credit previously, because it had expired when I went to use it. I initially thought the SMS might have been a scam, but it wasn't, and there was link in the SMS that went to the GG's website, which gave out the details. So, that's a nice small win for the little guys, over the shonky sales tactics of the Good Guys, and I'm looking forward to spending that $70 shortly, on something I need. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/the-good-guys-to-pay-135m-penalty-for-misleading-store-credit-promotions

Criticising Netayahu for what HE does is Justified and NOT antisemetic. No one can demand a BLANK Cheque to do what they want. IDF own database shows 83% of DEATHS are civilians. An "Unparalleled level". Nev

Here is a still from a video of Charlie Kirk throwing MAGA hats into the crowd shortly before he was shot. He was a gun fanatic and is on record as saying "So what if a few people get killed, as long as we can keep our guns." Read the signage on the gazebo he was using in his address. I guess someone did. Yes, it's sad that two little girls will grow up without a dad, but play with fire, you're bound to get burned. Despite the adulation being showered on him, he wasn't a good man.

Redacted, I think is the correct term...

He will put his head under the pillow and wait for the next news cycle.

Likes the Booby Prize? Nev

This morning the Age gives the latest IEA forecast that under current policies global oil and gas consumption will continue to increase to 2050 and beyond. Coal consumption will peak in the 2030s. Those are realities that Albo should consider when committing us to immediate sacrifices that the rest of the world are not making.

She's holding a couple of butternut pumpkins, right?

It's in the realm of the finest American conspiracy theories to say that the climate change agenda is run by big, vested interests. It's like saying the fossil fuel industry is controlled by the Arabs, it's not possible, because of the sheer number of players and nations involved in the energy industries - and in the climate change agenda. You can't buy off all the scientists. We get more propaganda from America today than we ever get from China and Russia, the people running America today are in the same mold as the McCarthy mob - which feral mob destroyed a lot of good people with their hunt for largely non-existent "reds" in America, who the McCarthyists decided were ruining America. What a disgusting mob they were - and the mob running America today are little different.

The greed began with Al Gore, at least that is where I first saw it, when he planned to make a fortune trading carbon credits and made a movie to scare us into buying them. The whole climate industry is about dollars, making money for big, vested interests, and about Russian and Iranian and Chinese propaganda and dark ops to destroy the west. I have solar panels on my roof - that is not what this debate is about. Chinese coal consumption increases every year and will continue to do so. They are laughing at us.

The opposite. Our economy depends on transitioning. We have the most sun and coastline of pretty much any country on earth. The only people who gain from not doing anything are people like Gina and Clive. And they'll be dead before the worst impacts of inaction hit.

TOO TROPPO. in Florida. Boston can be COLD. Nev

Jaysus, how much Wolfie have you had?? But having deciphered your post, I think the Nats and half of the Libs think it's a conspiracy theory, but anyone with a brain doesn't.

In Context It means the "written word". Nev

A 5-year-old girl went to visit her grandma one day. While she played with her dolls, Grandma was dusting the furniture. At one point, the little girl looked up and asked: “Grandma, how come you don’t have a boyfriend?” Grandma smiled and said: “Honey, my TV is my boyfriend. I sit in my room and watch it all day. The TV evangelists keep me company and lift my spirits. The comedies make me laugh. I’m perfectly happy with my TV, it's my boyfriend.” Just then, the picture went fuzzy. Grandma began adjusting the knobs and thumping the back of the TV in frustration, trying to fix it. At that moment, the doorbell rang. The little girl ran to answer it. Standing there was Grandma’s minister. “Hello, young lady. Is your grandma home?” The little girl replied: “Yeah, she’s in the bedroom bangin’ her boyfriend.” 😬 The minister fainted.

B

That lying scumbag Musk has directly blamed the Left for Kirks death - even though he was shot by a Trump supporter who came from a fundamentalist MAGA family. Musk has created riots in London with his blatantly false claims. Musk and Trump are directly responsible for the upsurge in political murders and attempted assassinations in the U.S., as both have continually urged political revolt and violence, and targeted anyone who doesn't support MAGA as evil. https://www.watoday.com.au/world/europe/celebrating-murder-far-right-protest-turns-violent-as-musk-blames-the-left-for-charlie-kirk-s-death-20250914-p5muti.html

Many people have already lost their jobs because they posted comments - some of them way out of line, others just logical - about this. The hypocrisy is astounding. I don't remember any right wing nut jobs getting fired for celebrating the deaths of the recent Democrat murders, the politician's husband who was bashed with a hammer, etc etc. Yet one right wing pusher of drivel gets killed and you'd think he was Jesus. Now the mad bastards on the conservative side are out for blood and revenge. I'd hate to be a normal person in the USA right now. If you haven't seen "Civil War", watch it. I reckon it's about to come true.

I'm out of ideas. Nev

I don't watch the 7:30 show period. It was an example i just dug up. Now, if I knew he had flipped from these foreign shores, surely it was big news at the time. I think it even got a mention in the forums. So no, not just headlines.. Do you think I just dreamt it up and went looking for something to back it up. My point was if there enough votes in it, pollies will listen

How would a saddlebag help him?

And all the important bits are blurred out.