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Definitely agree with the good neighbours thing. We're lucky enough to live on 5 acres, 20 minutes from Hobart, and can't see any neighbours from our place. Mind you, we get on really well with our neighbours - about 5 other families we've known over 10 years, our kids caught the same bus to school together, and we still get together a few times a year for parties. If someone needs something they put it on the group chat and usually within 5 minutes someone is offering to help.

The simple, over-riding feature of getting older is that the old body starts playing up, and needs regular repair and maintenance. And if you're 50 or 100 kms from medical care, docs, specialists, even ambulances - life gets a lot harder than it need be. I lived all through the wheatbelt of W.A. and the W.A. Goldfields all my working life, living in everything from rented farmhouses to dongas to caravans, and even old railway fettlers huts. I've never actually owned a house in my own name, I didn't place enough importance on that feature of life - much to my regret. I have no ability to purchase a house today. I part-owned various industrial properties, a mining lease, a farm, and a couple of houses, that I never ever lived in much, because they were largely occupied by my brother and his wife, while I was out in the boonies, working. But when I got together with SWMBO in my early 40's, she owned a house! - and she lets me live in it, and shares it with me - because she loves me, she likes looking after me - and because I fix anything to do with the house, or the car, or whatever else requires attention. We live in the city only about 5 kays from the CBD in a nice leafy, sought-after, quiet suburb - and we're close to 3 shopping centres, a number of major arterial roads, heaps of docs, dentists, medical centres and medical facilities, all within a few kays - and we've been here since 1990, and we don't look like moving until we get really fragile with age, or the bikies move in next door (highly unlikely). I could easily live anywhere in the country again, but SWMBO is a city girl and likes shops and theatres, and being close to where her daughter lives. Generally, most people select their living location according to how far away, or how close, they want to live to relatives (including children). Most parents want to live within a reasonable distance of children, but some don't want them close at all. Not having any children myself, and getting on O.K. with SWMBO's girl and boy from her previous marriage, makes any living area decision, easier. Of course, if we won lotto, we'd move to a nice mansion by the coast, but that's only a dream. I don't think I'd ever move into a high-rise apartment, even though that's the result for people many today - simply because I don't like living above other people, and not knowing what they're getting up to - by way of drugs, starting fires, and other aggravating risks. Good neighbours generally make people stay where they live. No neighbours often suits a lot of people.

I travelled through Iran to Afghanistan in 1975 before the Shah was deposed. I found most locals polite but border officials etc were not. I even hitch hiked from the Turkish border to a small town & then took a bus to Tehran. The main roads were good having been built by the US but the rest was quite poor then. I was only there for a week & saw some amazing architecture & ancient sites. If the place wasn't run by Islamist fanatics it would be great. The Shah was very wealthy but most people were poor. One of the reasons for the original takeover. Back to the sinking of the Iranian warship. US military sources stated it was the first sinking of a an enemy ship by a submarine launched torpedo since WW2. Well No. There have been 4 since and of course that included the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinking the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in 1982 during the Falklands war. The Yanks don't get much right especially history that they continually re-write to suit their narrative. As for fuel prices it doesn't bother me as they have yet to figure out how to tax the sun.

I got a black eye from trying to slide on a G-string.

The ceremony would have been a lot more respectful if he hadn't shown up at all.

We need more chuckles, the news is all too much gloom and worry today ....

The WLTP range for the MG Excite 51 is 350km not 405km. The WLTP range for my MG Essence 64 is 435km with the lower spec Excite 64 it is 450km. None of the models has a quoted 405km range. This is the old out dated NEDC range which was very inaccurate & was created in laboratory tests in the 1980s based on urban driving. It was last updated in 1997. A friend of mine has an Excite 51 & gets over 300km. In mine the range is about 380 to 400km based on 110km highway driving & some 50 - 80 km driving. Driving around in an urban environment at 50 - 60 kmh gives me much higher range. The range estimator (also known as the guess-O-meter) has given me 505km from a full charge & that would have been close if I hadn't gone over 50kmh. It has a level of intelligence that works out the range based on your driving style & it is surprisingly accurate. It is 182km from my house to Gold Coast Airport & a few weeks ago I left with 100% charge & arrived with 52%. Most of this was at 110kmh on the Pacific Highway. I could have got home without getting a charge but just like with my old petrol car I would never let the fuel get that low. I spent 15 minutes at the BP in Ballina for a comfort stop & coffee & added some charge. Cost me $9.04 but there was plenty left when I got home. Other than long trips it costs nothing to run my EV as I charge from solar, supplemented by my home battery and 3 hours of free power every day. I'll never have to worry about the price of petrol going up because of wars or other reasons for shortage. In any vehicle, electric or internal combustion it all depends on how you drive, the terrain, weather, the total weight of the vehicle and use of accessories like air conditioning etc.

It appears that 'prang' is a relatively new word, created by the RAF. The date might be the mid-1930s, but its first documented use was in 1940/41.

Pete Hegseth torpedoed an UNARMED ship sailing home from a friendly naval exercise, killed 87 sailors, and left the rest floating in the Indian Ocean without lifting a finger to help. On March 4th, a U.S. submarine fired a single Mark 48 torpedo into the hull of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian frigate returning from India's MILAN 2026 multinational naval exercises. The ship had roughly 180 people on board. At least 87 were killed and 61 remain missing. Sri Lanka's navy had to step in and rescue the 32 survivors. Here's what makes this even more sickening. Both the U.S. and Iran were participants in the same Indian-hosted exercise, which required ships to operate without live ammunition. The U.S. sent a P-8A patrol aircraft that flew drills alongside the Dena just days before a submarine destroyed her. Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal called the attack premeditated, noting the U.S. knew exactly where the ship was because it had been invited to the same exercise. Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney put it bluntly: if the Dena was lightly armed or unarmed, the strike resembles a premeditated execution more than combat. And Pete Hegseth? He bragged about it. Called it a "quiet death" at a Pentagon press conference, grinning like a man who just won a prize at the county fair. Trump has openly stated that wiping out Iran's navy is a key war objective. The Second Geneva Convention requires belligerents to take all possible measures to search for and rescue the shipwrecked after an engagement at sea. International law scholars, former Pentagon officials, and members of Congress are now openly debating whether this attack was legal and whether the U.S. violated its obligations by abandoning survivors in the water. Sinking a ship that was someone's guest, that was following peacetime protocols, that couldn't fight back. Then leaving sailors to drown thousands of miles from home. That's not strength, thats a warcrime.

The media are having a wonderful time spreading fear and anxiety, claiming that petrol will be $2.50 a litre within a couple of days. There is zero reason why petrol should go from around $1.50 on Monday to $2.50 next week, we live in a global economy with oil sourced from dozens of sources, and a small jump in the price of oil per barrel, doesn't translate to a $1 a litre increase within 10 days. It's simply motorist-gouging at its finest, and I hope it sends EV sales through the roof.

A Japanese gentleman was visiting the United States for the first time. He’d seen America on television for years and was excited to finally experience it in person. On the last day of his trip, he climbed into a taxi and asked the driver to take him to the airport. As they drove along the highway, a Honda zoomed past the cab. The man leaned toward the window, clapped his hands, and exclaimed: “Ahh! Honda — very fast! Made in Japan!” A few minutes later, a Toyota flew by. Again, he leaned out excitedly and said: “Toyota — very fast! Made in Japan!” Soon after that, a Mitsubishi sped past them. Once again, the man smiled proudly and shouted: “Mitsubishi — very fast! Made in Japan!” By now, the taxi driver was getting a little irritated… but he kept quiet and continued driving. Finally, they arrived at the airport. The driver stopped the car and said, “That’ll be $300.” The Japanese gentleman’s eyes went wide. “Three hundred dollars?! That’s very expensive!” The taxi driver smiled and replied: “Meter — very fast. Made in Japan.”

Oh, they've got a plan, alright - and it all centres around our ol' mate Donny, and the ever-increasing level of his personal financial gains - from any worldly conquests, Presidential decisions, and trade deals jockeying. I must say, I'm surprised he hasn't managed to score a deal with the U.S. military, to use Trump-branded armaments. I bet he's seen the profits of the U.S. military-industrial complex, and is itching to get his major share of them.

Flight Radar 24 is free to use. There is a paid version but I use the free version.

A couple was on their honeymoon, lying in bed, about ready to consummate their marriage, when the new bride says to the husband, "I have a confession to make, I'm not a virgin." The husband replies, "That's no big thing in this day and age." The wife continues, "Yeah, I've been with one guy." "Oh yeah? Who was the guy?" "Tiger Woods." "Tiger Woods, the golfer?" "Yeah." "Well, he's rich, famous and handsome. I can see why you went to bed with him." The husband and wife then make passionate love. When they are done, the husband gets up and walks to the telephone. "What are you doing?" asks the wife. The husband says, "I'm hungry, I was going to call room service and get something to eat." "Tiger wouldn't do that." "Oh yeah? What would Tiger do?" "He'd come back to bed and do it a second time." The husband puts down the phone and goes back to bed to make love a second time. When they finish, he gets up and goes over to the phone. "Now what are you doing?" she asks. The husband says, "I'm still hungry so I was going to get room service to get something to eat." "Tiger wouldn't do that." "Oh yeah? What would Tiger do?" "He'd come back to bed and do it again." The guy slams down the phone, goes back to bed, and makes love one more time. When they finish he's tired and beat. He drags himself over to the phone and starts to dial. The wife asks, "Are you calling room service?" "No! I'm calling Tiger Woods, to find out what the par is for this damn hole."

Yeah ... Predicting the death of a 96 year old. Amazing!

Doesn't seem like much of a prophet. He allows himself plenty of wriggle room to adjust his prophesies to match what actually happens.

You like Facts and Truth? Try using them then. Your Idol, Trump, doesn't either. Nev

Typical house and land prices in Perth have gone through the roof. Up around 40-50% in just the last 2-3 years. I was talking to a real estate agent last week. He sold a house near mine for $1.1m about 18 months ago. He said he would list it today at $1.5m. One of my daughters is renting and there’s no way she can afford to buy now. Three years ago she could probably have managed a mortgage but not now. Our other kids are reasonably secure but I worry about her. Once a parent, always a parent!

Probably the same reason I joined ... to provide some opposition to the excessive far-left viewpoints that distort facts and truth.

I think only Noddy and Big Ears would believe the world could happily tick along without major power dominance. Back to what I said earlier, the three choices to be dominated by are Russia, China and the U.S. Every power has it's pros and cons, but I'd still prefer to be under the domination of the U.S. than the other two. The Americans have their faults, but Putin and Xi don't really demonstrate any sort of society I'd like to live under. The Europeans will never get their act together to compete with the top three for power, not in your dreams.

Mrs and I bought in Central Vic 30 years ago, 40 acres. It was good until I got crook and couldn't look after the olive trees and sheep. Now living in "town" with a pub and post office, 20 minutes from the shops. Its good because she likes going to town most days. On my own I would probably starve.

The good thing about dating a woman our age .......... you don't have to worry about meeting her parents.

To say Albo is the Aussie version of Chump, IMHO, is a bit rich. I agree with @nomadpete - he represents the less ship party, but it so far is not making some of the fundamental changes needed. I sympathise with Albo et al.. and I imagine, given his history in Labnor where we was firmly on the socialist left faction of the party, having to walk the balance of a small but powerful set of vested interests versus what is in his mind better for the community would not be an easy job. And between him and anything that the LNP have served up from Howard onwards, I would prefer him and his team and suggest Australia would poltiically and economically be in a lot better shape - assuming hubris didn't set in like it normally does. While the media play its part, in the second election of Labor, they increased their majority - so Aussies aren't quite as beholden to the media as we like to think. But the reality is for the majority of Australians, life is getting worse in a material sense while for the elite, it seems to be getting disproprotionately better and Labor are perceived as not doing enough to change things for what they promise and/orstand for. There are challenges in making change - defiinitely. And in a global economy, it is very difficult to stand up against vested interests without some real ramifications. If you think QANTAS taking its maintenance facilities to a low cost country is not representative of threats that are made to governments who want to introduce changes to even things up, think again. Many companies here have moved operations overseas because they could get a better deal and the government stared down their threats. If you lose employment as a government, there is a backlash. GBut that still does not mean we should not crticise poor judgment or performace,because it is not as poor as the other mob. That just permits the race to the bottom and people get fed up and the nutty protest parties flourish. The UK has shown this, and now, unbelievably for a country such as Australia, One Nation is getting a look in beyond rabid loonies. Of course, the US has made the protest person their leader on some chumped up promises.. but so detached from the real world are the political elite, that people have had enough. Its sort of what my Iranian employee said, it's sad it has to come to this, but something has to change.

Yes, Nev. And labor signed off the obscene Woodside gas deal, and also passed special laws to enable the foreign owned salmon fish farms to have special pollution exemptions. So I say, 'both major parties.'

BOTH major parties? DO you really think so? The Libs are almost extinct and they were supported by the mega rich. Perilous Pauline is supported by Rinehart and Worships Trump. LITTLE to be PROUD of is supported by Coal and Gas Interests, and represents Bugga All % of the Population. Labor is never supported by the Media or the Rich. Nev

Now Australia has been dragged into this mess. We are sending a surveillance plane to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to help protect the Gulf countries. I wonder who asked us to do that.

The ancient Greeks invented everything, even sex. But it took the Italians to think of involving women.

Maybe he didn't want his combover to blow around.

The next thing to cause worry is not just fuel, but fertiliser and chemicals. As many farmers head into seeding by mid-to-late April, a lack of fuel is just the start of the seeding programme problems, and the unavailability of fertiliser and weedicides (which are nearly all shipped in from overseas, and a lot via the Straits of Hormuz) is going to cause some agricultural users, some stress. Urea is a major fertiliser in big demand, and nearly all of it comes from the petrochemical refineries of the Middle East, such as Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

She obviously doesn't like him much.

The 1.7M barrels of oil purchased in 2020 as part of Australia's storage reserves, and stored in a Texas salt cavern, was severely criticised by opponents after it was purchased, with opponents claiming it would be of little use to us in the event of a war, because of the time lag in accessing/shipping it (2 to 3 weeks), and the risk of loss via enemy attack in shipping channels, when on its way here. The message must have been heeded, because that oil reserve was sold off in 2022. I have no idea whether a financial loss or gain was incurred in the sale - but it may been sold at a profit, as oil prices spiked in 2022, thanks to the Ukraine invasion by Russia. Regardless, the simple fact remains, we still do not have the stipulated 90 days of oil reserves in hand, as required by the IEA. Our fuel reserves are currently around 34 to 36 days, and that should be of great concern to every politician with more than one functioning brain cell. Unfortunately, we have quite a number of politicians who seem to lack any functioning brain cells.

Iran is already nearly out of water, thanks to bungling Islamic Fundamentalist leadership. They have only just very recently opened a desalination plant to provide them with water - I guess this may be the one hit? The water situation was previously so dire, the Ayatollahs were discussing moving Tehran to some place where there was adequate water. Where that place was, is anyones guess. There's going to be a lot of thirsty Iranian war refugees flooding into other countries soon. https://e360.yale.edu/features/iran-water-drought-dams-qanats https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-launches-key-water-transfer-project-from-gulf-of-oman-t (Ignore the news articles on Al Mayadeen, showing massive American losses. Al Mayadeen is a Beirut-based, Lebanese pan-Arabist satellite news channel, a propaganda mouthpiece for Hezbollah).

I just found out Katherine has a "River Cam", pointing at the old rail bridge. The river is lapping the underside of both road and rail bridges at present. https://www.katherine.nt.gov.au/about-katherine/living-in-katherine/river-cam.aspx Some of the lower Katherine suburbs are getting wet feet, right about now. The main bridge is now closed to all traffic. It appears that they have a levee bank with removable gates. The "dry side" of the gates doesn't look too dry, to me!

Hybrids give the engine a hard time and are as requiring of maintenance as any ICE car is. Perhaps even more, long term. It appeals to people who want to have the best of both worlds The actual range on the Battery is very short and the vehicles are expensive. Out of warrantee I wouldn't want to OWN one.. I HAVE driven them and find them unpleasant and the fuel saving varies a lot depending whether its Hilly or higher constant speed on the flat.

I remember my Dad saying that if fuel ever got to 50c a litre, he'd sell the car and buy a horse. He didn't, of course, but shows what it used to cost. Mind you, I was probably about 10 then so that would be in 1982. House prices (and wages) were a lot less than 1/4 of today's, so fuel hasn't risen in price as much as other things.

At risk of thread drift, (getting back to the WARs), allow me to introduce my hero (sadly, deceased).... Col David Hackworth. Korean War & Viet Nam war. His book "About Face" is my go - to war book. Relevance? Simply this, "Has anything changed over the last 90 years when it comes to Americano arrogance and warmongering? I see the same sort of background happening now WRT Iran, as Col Hackworth observed during Viet Nam's war. Have they learned nothing? No exit plan. No "Mission Accomplished" target. No concrete mission plan. Lots of USA military might, but no follow up plan. PS I need to track down my copy of his book, leant it many times returened n-1 times

I'm calling BS on that, Onetrack. I know for sure and for certain that there is no such thing a rain.

By that logic, anyone who gets elected is beyond criticism. Trump is the antithesis of a democratic leader and distorts the Constitution, law and even truth. He is a dictator at heart and egotistical sociopath. Just because he managed to get elected, he is actively trying to destroy society.

Yeah sadly though China's only a small part of it. These absolute morons, have let in a million and a half immigrants in their 4yrs, when we were a million houses short, but eh, so they've plus added 50% and went 1.5. To top that off, only 7% of those 1.5mill, were trades and skills we're actually also short of, the rest, God knows, they reckon family members and extras and all sorts. Butttt, apparently that's only part of it, they've also geared everything to investors and wealthy and literally sabotaged what little progress in new housing we could've made as well as reopened the door to China and their cases full of cash. Apparently, "everything " , they've done, only pushes house prices up and lines wealthy pockets. l can't pretend to even understand half of it but the immigrants and Chinese alone, more than screwed our own people especially our young. Makes me sick to the stomach but so 4yrs later we're in a worser state than ever. There's a dozen other things they've done to in real reports- can't even wrap my head around. But yep you bet rg, always a parent and yaknow, if my d wasn't to get married well she's gonna need help so l'm gonna be doing everything l can on the side. Got a small investment for her to which is suppose to go off well, if l get that lucky really hoping that can help her to by then. But yeah saw Perth rg l think they said is leading the pack this yr, must be bloody mad, feel so bad for young people there , everywhere but gees, crazy shyt over there, qld to. Somem like my place here onetrack , mine was a bit more though and closer to the coast and a really nice town but yeah worth about 130 now so nothing compared to even better town stuff let alone city but it's still 500% plus it's been rented out 18yrs to and that's paid for it 4 times over on top . Just a shame it's such small money for the market now most places better or we'd be sitting pretty eh.

That's what's good about Australia. We managed to conduct elections in 1914, 1917, 1940 and 1943 during world-wide wars. We even held elections during the era of the Vietnam war.

And thanks to the others too not only really helpful hearing about the different situations and what's working for different people as in relation to to my situation here now , but really interesting to. Been browsing property over a very wide net of a few 100km last few wks just to see if l even have a choice and of what but can say one thing. Not that l think l'd even be able to get finance now prettyyyyy doubtful anyway but l'd sure as hell be needing some to get anything better than here. Prices are madness, too late in the day to be taking those on now can say that for sure.

Well they haven't said anything that isn't true. Unlike the prick in the pic

At the trough only

I get the feeling this person is not a fan.

The inmates have been running the asylum since 2016, with a 4 year break

Yer a Bunch of crusty old Pervs. Nev

America gives them plenty of reasons to call Death to America. Look at it from their point of view.. Nev

Did the elastic snap? Maybe you need a bigger size. Next time try sliding on a bigger pair.

My entire point was that the Euro's have been constantly calling the USA warmongers for the past 50 years, but they are always the first ones to call the US President whenever there is a situation in the world that might affect their economies. They have been been neglecting their own militaries knowing that the Americans are stupid enough to keep bailing them out. The Euro's had a royal meltdown when Trump called them out for not keeping their pledge of committing a few percentage points of their GDP to military spending. The EU should be its own power. There are 29 countries in the EU and there is no excuse for them not making a joint effort to protect their economies and sovereignties. The US has done 75% of the heavy lifting in keeping the Persian Gulf open to world trade while Europeans and many other countries reap the benefits. Then the Europeans turn right around and bash Americans to appease their left wing voters. As far as my fellow Americans go, we should not be trusted any longer because there there is no continuity in foreign policy from one election cycle to the next. On top of it all, we are in a non shooting civil war right now. Might sound crazy to some but it's very true. We used to be country first.........but now days we are party first.