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I bought a Thesaurus today - but when I got home, I found all the pages were blank!! I just didn't have the words to express how angry I was!!

As Peter just mentioned, Trumps "Big Beautiful Bill" has passed. This bill is beautiful for billionaires, because they benefit hugely from tax cuts. It's very much horrible for most Americans, removing vast amounts of money from health, food assistance programs, education and environment. This is so it can pay for those tax cuts for the wealthy, as well as increasing the size of ICE's budget by a factor of 14 (from $3.5b to $48.5b). Despite these cuts it will still add 3.3 TRILLION dollars of debt over the next decade. This, by any objective view, is a terrible and harmful bill. The people it affects the most are the poorest, and ironically, their "representatives" in the Republican party are the ones who pushed it through - against their own interests, their political interests, and the interests of their constituents. Why? I can only think that Trump and his MAGA freaks, so similar to Hitler and his Brownshirts, have such a grip of fear on house Republicans that they do not have the courage to stand up to him, even on such a disgusting piece of legislation. What else can explain why they would vote for something so wrong? Many of them had publicly spoken out against the bill in the days before they passed it. Seeing this travesty makes me so glad we don't have a "cult of personality" type head of state here in Australia. I'm actually starting to think that remaining a monarchy and being kind of attached to the UK is no bad thing. Let's face it, no one is going to throw themselves on a grenade for Albo or Sussan. They are simply the politician who happens to lead their party, not an emperor-wannabe who wants to impose his twisted desires on the whole country. We have sufficient distance from our "King" that neither he nor his successors have any influence over our country. I kind of think of England as the old parent's place; America is the rebellious older child who left and joined a religious cult, Australia is the younger but more mature kid who lives apart from Mum or Dad but still gets on ok with them.

Don't have to go insulting whores and hookers...

Having a extremely painful dose of shingles across my chest and stomach, it's a serious thing. It lasted on and off for six months and small flare-ups for about a year. No matter your history of health , if you have the antibodies, you are at risk. Especially as we age, the odds drop and so does your bodies ability to fight it's effects and reduce the severity and longevity of the disease. Taking two little jabs in the arm is the best insurance medicine can provide.

Oooh, errr - this is what Google AI says about the level of psychos in the world ...... General Population: Estimates consistently place the prevalence of psychopathy in the general population at around 1%. This means that for every 100 people, one is likely to be classified as a psychopath. Variations in Estimates: Some research suggests that the percentage could be higher, with some studies indicating that up to 4.5% of the general population may exhibit some level of psychopathic traits. Criminal Populations: Psychopathy is significantly more prevalent in criminal and prison populations. Estimates range from 15-25% in adult prison populations. Business World: Some studies have suggested that psychopathic traits may be more common in the business world, with figures around 3-4% cited for senior positions, according to Wikipedia.

Who'd want to visit the USA? Its time is over. We should be forming stronger defence bonds with Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea and NZ, as well as maintaining cordial relationships with China, India, and the rest of Asia. If saying bad things about their dictator is enough to stop visitors, their whole tourism sector is going to go tits up.

Sounds reasonable. Quite a lot is also consumed in bulk

The US system of three supposedly co-equal branches intended to balance each other is really a system designed for conflict. When it gets way out of whack as it is now, it is anything but co-equal. When one of the branches is effectively one person who doesn’t want to play by the rules the system of checks and balances clearly doesn’t work very well.

Jerry? Is that you??

I have only one problem with your analogy.... At this point in time we really don't have a left leaning side in politics.

No he’s not. His making his rich friends richer and the poor poorer and sicker, all while trashing the economy.

Ya live by the sword...ya die by the novachok

An immune system seems to be unique to the individual. Theinformation that health care workers depend on to formulate advice is based on population statistics. What happens to the majority of the population determines the advice given. There will always be outliers from the data. Octave seems to be an outlier. However you have to remember the two parts of statistics - the possibility and the probability. Possibility is our recognition of something happening, while probability is the chance of it actually happening. Immunisation is simply a means of reducing the probability of something happening. It is a form of health insurance. If it's free, grab it. Don't forget that on this forum we learn from the experience of our fellows. Listen to what Red and Litespeed said. If we had all our immunisations, we might end up like a wornout pub dart board, but we would not suffer the consequences of the illnesses to the extent that we would if not immunised.

Octave, that was my understanding, too - but my Doc says I can still get Shingles, despite not having had any indications of acquiring Chickenpox. I have never had any of the "childhood" illnesses - mumps, measles, or chickenpox. I went all through my school years without contracting any of these diseases, and when I lived with my brother and his wife and three boys, in my 20's and 30's - and they all got the 3 diseases - once again, I never contracted them, even though I was living in close daily contact with them. My brother actually acquired mumps when he was about 40, and that was pretty painful for him. I did get whooping cough when I was about 5, but whooping cough is caused by a bacteria, not a virus. However, the Doc is adamant I must get the vaccine shots (2 are required), or I'm going to suffer horribly. SWMBO and I do have friends our age (well over retirement age) who have contracted Shingles, and they certainly did get very sick, and suffered greatly. But they all had Chickenpox as children. The section in your linked article about a reduction in incurring Dementia, is not exactly a substantial research result and the % is not anything to write home about. And I notice an Australian doctor cautioning about reading too much into the results from what was a small research base.

He sleeps the sleep of the just-disturbed, earthquake-region dwellers? 😄

He doesn't need support, if he needs to spend a billion or more campaigning he will use petty cash.

It's ok. He may have overslept... a lot.

The cash rate is 3.85%; hardly bank breaking if everyone listened to advice and didn't max out during the extended period of low interest rates. It is the ling term normal rate

Those thousands of dead NK and Russian soldiers were just people doing their job. Imagine the lives saved if their despotic leaders were killed instead.

Those of us on this forum won't be around to see the demise of humanity. We are only able to watch the beginnings of it with virtually no ability to effect any change. It won't take a nuclear holocaust to destroy everything. The worlds political masters are doing a great job of this right now.

Thge Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) doesn't actually define the crime of murder, so it must be the common law definition, of which the mens rea (guilty mind, in modern times, the fault element) is intention to kill, intention to commit grievous bodily harm, or with reckless indifference to human life. Reckless indifference to human life is subjective (i.e. what was in the mind of the defendant, and not what a reasonable or normal person would think). And basically it means that she knew that her actions were likely/probably going to kill, she knew they were likely to kill, but she went ahead with her actions without necessarily the desire to kill them. I am no lawyer, let alone a prosecutor, but my guess is the prosecution provied beyond reasonable doubt to the jury that a) She had formed the intent either by the time she served the food, or by allowing it to continue to be eaten, during them eating the food (although that could be an interesting ground for appeal); or that she knew the mushrooms were death cap mushrooms and that she intended to serve the mushrooms to those members of the family she killed/attempted to kill, knowing they were likely to cause death, even though, say, she only wanted it to be the most delicious beef wellington they ever tasted. The jury, after examining the evidence would have to form the conclusion beyond reasonable doubt, that either of the two fault elements existed. I read there was an assertion she served herself and others of her family at the dinner a differently made beef wellington, and if that was true, that may well be some of the evindence that she intended to kill or was at least reckless to their lives. Also, remember, that any od the defences that she has available to her, only have to be proved on the balance of probabilities. In some of the NSW criminal cases we looked at, there were very lengthy directions to the jury, augmented with writeen directions. This may work in the defence's favour, because in such a long summation/direction, can result is some mistakes creeping in. If they are big enough, a mistrial will be delcared and the thing has to happen all over again. The facts of this case, from what I have read, would make it a complex case to prove, more than weakness of evidence per se. There appears to be little doubt of the act itself; the problem would be proving the requisite mens rea/guilty mind/fault element because of the subjective nature that is defined for murder.

What an incredible fella! RIP

In my first 5 years hee, I reckon I had spent at least half of it in the USA, working as a "consultant". I wasn't an illegal immigrant as I came back to the UK at least every three months - often shorter periods. But about half of the work I was assigned to was in the USA. It is obviously now different to what it was, but I think the core is the same. Lots of guns, huge disparoty between the haves and the have nots. I don't have the numbers, but I would say the middle class has probably contracted in terms of standard of living and more are in the struggling, if not lower socio-economic class. Despite all the guns and all the mass shootings, etc. I genuinely didn't feel more threatened than in some parts of Australia. I remember stopping at Goondiwindi and thinking better of going out for a walk in the town on a Saturday night. I have been chased for no apparent reason down Chapel Street, Prahran. Melbourne has its fair share of organised crime murders, and sadly, it would seem it is heading the same way as the US in terms of the mental instability and criminal behaviour (tobacco wars, machetes, etc). The areas I stayed for consulting or visiting our local offices were Bismarck, North Daktota (great place - could move there); Philadelphia PA (that was not a nice place - unlike every other city I have been to, there were no real safe areas); Pittsburgh, PA (very safe); Three Mile Island, PA (stayed in Harrisburgh - quite literally the most boring place on earth - sucked the air out one's lungs; then visited Hershey of Hersey Chocolates.. second most boring place on earth); New York; Omaha NB; San Francsico, CA; San Diego CA; Portland, OR; and Dallas TX. Of those, I have flown GA from Dallas, Mandan (sister town of Bismarck); and Palo Alto. I have taken long drives in the US - from Las Vegas (never ever will I go there again) to San Francisco; From Buffalo NY to New Yorlk via Boston. Although it was clear there were problem areas, with the exception of Pholadelphia, it was similar to Australia in that you could see where to and where not to go, and you steered clear from trouble. Of course, it is on a magnitude higher than Aus, but the point is I didn't have a problem walking aroung Times Square at all hours - I even broke up a fight in a bar at some ungodly hour - and I am 5'7" and then weighed about 65kg.. Also, the Americans at home, are generally really nice people and not the loud mouth tourist stereotype. They are very friendly, warm and welcoming; they are generous (when they can be), and show a genuine interest in what is utlimately alien to them. If the percentage of nutters is roughly the same as Australia, yeah, there are more nutters, but they are also spread out over a much larger inhabitable area than Aus. But, I have a firend in the USA who has just been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I want to go and visit him, but I have to be honest, although I am not too worried about the possibility of being locked up, I can't be arsed dealing with the elevated nastiness, which was already a trait of the US immgration service. He is currently at early stages so no rush at the moment, but he has been hassling me to comr over for a few years.. I should have taken the opportunity before Chump was elected. The USA is such an enignma at all levels.. I do love going there.. far better than many other parts of the world..

I'd NEVER go back to wine grapes. The prices are less than 1/5th of what I was getting but the quality has consequently dropped to produce More at less cost. Nev

It's not going to break my heart, and America is well down the list of countries I'd like to visit - especially an America run by the Orange Clown. I consider America an unsafe place to visit, with the massive number of firearms in public possession, with little ownership control, and many owned by permanently angry, foamy-mouthed ferals, who are classic MAGA adherents, and who prefer to shoot anyone they disagree with, or who "disrespect" them, or who "trespass" on their land. They really are a bunch of mentally-disturbed people. Did you see where one of the Jan 6 rioters, who was pardoned by Trump, promptly set about stalking and killing 36 law enforcement officials who had made it onto his "kill" list, as regards his previous Jan 6 prosecution? I mean, what kind of sicko keeps a "kill" list? A lot of MAGA adherents, no doubt. This bloke is another Timothy McVeigh, the instigator of the Oklahoma bombing, in the making. Fortunately, U.S. law enforcement managed to nail him, and prove his murderous intent, and this obviously alarmed the entire judiciary, as he was jailed for life this time. Let's see if Trump pardons him again, seeing as he appears to be a Trump Golden Boy. I wonder how many more of these malevolently murderous Trump worshippers are out there, from the Jan 6 rioters? Of course, they're all terrific Patriots, so it must be, they're being unfairly targeted by those evil Govt thugs. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/us/politics/jan6-assassination-plot-sentence.html

I was talking to a bloke recently who is good friends with a former part-time employee of mine. Ron was a shearer during shearing season, but came and drove my grader and dozers, out of shearing season. I haven't seen him for about 35 years, and the last I knew, Ron had moved to Geraldton. However, this bloke I met up with, who was born and bred in the little country town where I lived and did contract earthmoving in the 70's and 80's, has kept in touch with Ron. He said Ron had moved to Barmera in S.A. and had bought a vineyard (it must have been 25 or more years ago). But the wine industry fell in a hole, so Ron has apparently turned to growing vegies, with more profitable results. He said Ron grew pumpkins and other easy-growing surface vegies, but had recently found a good market in Adelaide for garlic - so he now grows a considerable amount of garlic, and says it pays far better than grapes ever did. It's like anything I guess, if you find a market for a product, and develop that market, and become a reliable supplier/grower, then you have it made. An Italian kid I went to school with (who was dumb as a rock), became a big veggie grower N of Perth, but I see in recent times he concentrates on celery, and is a big local name in celery. A deceased friend grew vegetables on 50 acres E of Bunbury, and he reckoned that sweet corn was the easiest and simplest crop to grow, and always provided a good income. The main problem he had was Coles and Woolworths buyers, they were scumbags, screwing growers senseless. Then there were the big local vegie growers telling Coles and Woolworths buyers, that if they continued to buy off the smaller growers, they would stop supplying Coles and Woolworths. Real Mafia tactics. I can recall one year he was growing onions, and the price went through the floor, so he ploughed all 50 acres of onions in, saying it was cheaper than picking them.

For all his faults, Fraser ended up been a great ex pm, he used his position for social causes and excelled. Unlike every Liberal ex pm since.

I just had a thought! If you compare the US system of government with Canada and Australia which are of similar political age as the USA, you get the feeling that the USA's is stuck with the political concepts of the late 18th Century and has not evolved to deal with the influences acting upon its people. We might think that Australia's Constitution is rigid, but we have, on occasion, been able to update it to meet the desires of the people. It seems that the political evolution of the government of the USA reached an evolutionary dead-end in the early 19th Century. That is probably why emerging Nations don't want anything to do with the type of democracy that the USA espouses.

If we can have a positive about trump, it would be every day that passes is closer to the end of his days. you can’t beat the reaper no matter how much money you have.

The sad thing is, many of those worse affected who voted him in, will still support him as their lives worsen.

The great Roman dictator had his name immortalised. Caesar became Kaiser, Czar, Tsar, Shah and a salad.

Aaaargh! Where is WH&S? Not wearing hi viz Not wearing hard hat Not wearing gloves Not wearing safety glasses Not wearing SPF50 long sleeves, No seatbelts No seats No Prework Risk Assessment..... Probably wearing thongs. Probably more passengers in the vehicle than vehicle is licenced to carry.... And yet, impossible though it seems, you are still alive.

Getting back to your point @pmccarthy, it isn't communism that is the issue for Australia; it is the structure of the economy and dumb policy decisions made by both governments and large corporations. I think this is an interesting video of Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba. Its where the economy invests. Australia, like America makes poor choices when it comes to investments, driven by shorter term greed rather than longer term returns.. It isn't a race to the bottom. Yeah, cheap labour and other inputs makes you competitive, but Chinese average earnigns are starting to increase: That latest numbers equates to about $17k USD, which is still low, but look at the trajectory. And like Japan, as the economy really matures (it is considered emerging still)), its currency will appreciate and it will lose its competitive edge. But what has China beein doing? Investing in developing new technology in many secotrs, including engineering and tooling to automate manufacture and make it cheaper to deliver with increasing labour costs. What did Australia and the USA do with their massive profits? You can have a well functioning economy with decent wages for employees to maintain a connected, healthy and motivated workforce, who may bring some ingenuity to the table, too. China isn't perfect by any stretch and they have advantages of a central (communist, I believe) power regime to not totally vested interests get the better of its objectives.

Free for over 65s and the immunocompromised. For me, it would be $250 per shot. So far, both of us $1000 or free in just under 2 years. Probably will do it, but it is a disincentive. What if I do not qualify for the free vaccine? If you do not qualify for the free vaccine, you can choose to have the vaccine privately. This is especially beneficial for patients from 50 years and over. HHMP carries private stock of the vaccine, the cost is about $300 per injection and 2 injections are needed between 2-6 months apart.

And here'e the fun part. They landed in a pile of manure which softened their landings.

Not only Poo-ten. Even Bill Gates made a fortune from windows. But he did it without teminating his advisors so spectacularly.

I was told there are two vaccines, a single shot and a two shot. When I had the single shot about two years ago I was told I would not need any boosters in future.

I see it like insurance. Had the flu vaccine and covid booster about three weeks ago. No reactions. No flu or covid yet either so it must be working.

Wrong. You definitely can. Edit. Sorry Octave. Misread your statement. You are correct. You need to have been exposed to the herpes zoster virus

I had chickenpox as a child. A few years ago, my wife had shingles, and in January 2024, I had shingles on my neck and face. The photo below shows the effect, and I think mine was a mild case. It went from my left ear almost to the the corner of my left eye, and down my neck. If it had got into the eye, I may have lost sight in that eye. I still have soreness and itch in my left ear, making it difficult to wear hearing aids. I constantly want to poke my finger in my ear to scratch it. I had the vaccine about six weeks ago, and have been told I should have every two years. I would definitely recommend you have it, the disease is not pleasant.

Don’t bother with all that. Just swap plates with the hostess when she isn’t looking.

And sadly, I'd bet they don't have opening windows there!

Volcanoes and earthquakes have been with us for a long time and don't have anger and are a natural Phenomenon where earths Plates overlap and is not caused by atmospheric factors to any significant extent. Nev

In fact, I will ge priority boarding as they want me out of the UK ASAP wearing that stuff.

Plucked it from the air. My intention was to suggest that the percentage of psychos in a population is very low. I was just operating under the protection of my poetic licence.

I'd like to take a trip to the USA solely for the purpose of viewing some of the magnificent scenery. I'd love to drive Route 66. However, as has been said, it is a dangerous place due to the human inhabitants. One could say that only 0.001% or less of the population is pshcyo, but when you have 300 million people, 0.001% still is a lot. And that's the diagnosable psychos. There are also heaps of people who just don't like strangers.

Trump Just ignores the Rules whatever they might be . He's ABOVE all that. Neice Mary Trump reckons it's the way he was Brought up but I reckon it was at a Party. Nev

He is manly a blender (or was). Reasonable value for Money. Re the KeyBoard I ate topb suffer alone. Nev

Well, he got his wish. The Big Beautiful Bill was passed 218 for, to 214 against, in time for him to sign it into law on July 4. Pity help poorer Americans.

Its just another dating service.