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He's just an uncouth C**t.

So Trump's had a full public meltdown because Australia won't send warships to help him unfuck a war he started without telling anyone. Let that sink in for a second. He launched this thing with Israel 3 weeks ago. Didn't consult NATO. Didn't consult Australia. Didn't consult Japan. Explicitly said at the start he didn't need or want anyone's help. And now he's on Truth Social in all caps screaming that we're all ungrateful. Mate, you can't tell everyone to fuck off and then get angry when they all fuck off. Here's what happened. He blew the shit out of Iran. Destroyed the navy, the air force, the radar, the leadership. Great. Total victory. Mission accomplished. Brought the banner and everything. One small problem. The Strait of Hormuz is still shut. It's full of mines and anti-ship missiles and Iranian drone boats. The tankers won't sail. The insurance companies won't touch it. And 20% of the world's oil is just sitting there going absolutely nowhere. So suddenly Captain America needs help. He spends the whole weekend ringing every country with a boat. China. France. Japan. South Korea. The UK. Canada. Australia. Basically anyone with a dinghy and a flag. The response from most of them? "Get fucked." Germany said, and I'm paraphrasing only slightly: "You didn't ask us before you started the war. You told us you didn't want our help. And now you're upset? Yeah, nah." France said they'd be happy to help escort ships once the bombing stops and Iran agrees to let them. So basically never. Spain said no. Poland said no. Sweden said no. Australia said we haven't even been formally asked and also no. So what does Trump do? Does he reflect? Reassess? Pick up the phone like a grown adult? Of course not. He jumps on Truth Social and goes full toddler. "We don't need NATO! We NEVER needed NATO! We don't need Japan or Australia or South Korea! WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" Mate. You were literally begging 15 countries for ships 48 hours ago. That's like getting turned down for a date and screaming "SHE WAS UGLY ANYWAY" loud enough for the whole pub to hear. You're not fooling anyone, dickhead. Everyone saw you practise your opener in the bathroom mirror. And he specifically named Australia. Which is genuinely fucking insane. We have shown up to every single American war for nearly a century. Korea. Vietnam. Iraq. Twice. Afghanistan for 20 bloody years. Five Eyes. AUKUS. Pine Gap. We are literally the most reliable ally the United States has ever had. And the one time, the ONE time, we look at the situation and go "yeah this one's a bit cooked mate, we'll sit this out," he loses his shit and calls us foolish on the internet. You know what's actually foolish? Starting a war without a plan to reopen the strait that carries a fifth of the world's oil supply. That's foolish. Blowing up someone's entire military and then being surprised when they use asymmetric warfare to shut down global shipping. That's foolish. Spending a year slapping tariffs on your allies, calling them freeloaders, threatening to annex their territory, and then wondering why they won't come running when you need a favour. That's fucking foolish. But here's the bit that should really worry you. He named Australia, Japan, and South Korea. That's the Indo-Pacific alliance. That's AUKUS. That's the Quad. That's the entire strategic architecture built to counter China. And he just told all 3 of them to get stuffed on social media. Xi Jinping is watching this with a bucket of popcorn and the biggest grin on the planet. Meanwhile Australia is getting absolutely smashed. We've got 2 refineries. About 3 weeks of fuel reserves. Diesel heading for $3 a litre. Farmers are already running out of fuel. They can't harvest. They can't plant. Fuel rationing has started in towns across the country. Food prices are through the roof because every step of the supply chain runs on diesel we don't have. The RBA just hiked interest rates because the fuel and food spikes from this war are driving inflation and recession fears are real. Australians are getting hit at the bowser, hit at the checkout, hit on their mortgage, and the bloke who caused all of it is calling US foolish. This isn't strength. This is a narcissist who heard "no" and couldn't cope. This is a bloke flipping the Monopoly board because he landed on someone else's hotel. And every time he does it, every single time, he pushes allies one step further toward making their own arrangements. That's how alliances die. Not with a bang. With a tantrum on Truth Social at 11 in the morning. Australia's not foolish for sitting this one out. 15 countries might be the only countries in this whole mess that are actually thinking clearly and holding this shit fest from spilling into WWIII And seriously, Donald. You're trying to bully Australia? NATO? Mate, we live in a country where everything is actively trying to kill us. Every single day. We've got 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes on the planet. Twenty one. Out of twenty five. The inland taipan, the single most venomous snake on earth, one bite can kill over 100 grown adults, just vibing in the outback like it's nothing. We've got the Sydney funnel web, the deadliest spider in the world, and it lives in people's fucking gardens where our kids keep them as pets. We've got jellyfish that can stop your heart. Sharks. Crocodiles the size of a small truck. An octopus the size of a golf ball that can kill you in minutes. A plant that makes you want to throw yourself off a cliff if you brush against it. A fucking dinosaur bird, that will literally disembowel you with its feet. Stonefish. Cone snails. The sun itself trying to give us cancer by 10am. We share a continent with every venomous nightmare God ever created on a Friday afternoon when he was clearly in a bad mood. And you think we're scared of a bloke in an ill fitting suit who can't spell "hereby" and throws tantrums on his phone? We couldn't give 2 fucks what you think, Donald. We wrestle things with actual teeth. You're not even in the top 50 most dangerous things an Australian deals with on an average Tuesday. Australia will survive this god awful administration. But if you're gunna shoot yourself in the foot, leave us the fuck out of it wanker.

But, it is OK to bag, but I also prefer to offer some solutions. This has previously been discussed on these forums. but a couple from memory: Ban political donations more than a de minimis amount from one controlling person/group (to make it hard to create 100 cmpanies and each of them contribute a seaparate donation to the limit). Maybe restrict it to living people rather than corporations. I would personally advocate a ban on lobbying groups and companies. If you have something to say to the government, it can be done through a public forum where everyone gets to hear it and scrutinise it. And contribute to it. If not point 2, ban parliamentarians from lobbying or representing/being emeployed by firms in any official or real capacity that involves communication - directly or indirectly - with the government. Period. No cooling off periods, etc. Aussie media regulator, ACMA, being given real teeth over both mainstream and social media, which must have independence, legally trained/accomplished people adjudicating, where they can impose real consequences/punishment for intentionally misleading the public. Those impacted can appeal through the court systems if they want. Of course, paid advertorials that are clearly labelled as such would be exempt, however, if the publisher reasonably had facts that rebuke such advertorials, then they have to state this prominently either before or after ther advertorial. A new "offence" is intrroduced of high public misconduct (there is a public misconduct charge which is applying a damp wetted to the wrist very softly). For this, the bar should be recklessness in its criminal definition( foresaw the consequences that are likely to happen, didn't want them to happen, but went ahead with the action anyway) or intention. In other words simple incompetence or even negligence do not count. So, unless the polly clearly states the likely outcome of their policy, and it results in an absurd and large cost to Australians and the benefit promised doesn't materialise, they can be held liable, with the punishment being they and their controilling interests (so, for example, not hiding assets with a partner or company or whatever) can be held finalcially responsible (i.e. having to pay what they can back). The above offence would automatically include acting on prohibited lobbying. I am sure I could think of many more things, but I bet with the above, there would be far more transparent and hopefully logical and rational decisions made in the best interests of the country as a whole.

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

Gina and her old man are/were just greed merchants of the highest order. Lang Hancock was a money-grubbing grub who used smart lawyer/accountants to initially write up an iron ore royalty agreement whereby he got 2.5% of all monies earned from a number of iron ore leases that he'd pegged - in perpetuity. The second thing he did was set up a major trust to avoid paying any tax on that massive amount of money. So Rio Tinto pays this family multiple tens of millions each year for no effort whatsoever on their part, and they pay zero tax on it - until the Hancock Trust is dismantled. That's why Gina spent hundreds of millions on lawyers and court cases to stop her children from dismantling the Handcock Trust. She succeeded. She paid her children a few tens of millions to keep them from grabbing more of the billions in the Trust. Gina married an American tax evasion expert, one Frank Rinehart, who narrowly avoided going to jail for tax fraud. He wound up with a suspended jail sentence. He was a crook who taught Gina all about tax evasion and how to manipulate laws to keep winning unfair gains. Frank Rinehart was a total fraud, he lived a double life with another woman while he was married to Gina. Gina believes she's the only one entitled to W.A.'s iron ore wealth, as her family pegged the first iron ore leases - and that everyone in Australia should genuflect to the Hancock dynasty and thank them eternally for the huge efforts the Hancocks have made to build up Australia. The truth is, they're nothing more than 20th and 21st century robber barons. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-man-who-came-between-gina-and-her-father-20120622-20tll.html

The expression on Takaichi’s face and her uncomfortable shifting in her seat shows just how Trump’s unexpected and ignorant jibe landed. She was visibly shocked. He hasn’t got a clue of course. Then Eric Trump’s response on X; “One of the great responses to a reporter in history!” A true chip off the old block. The sooner they are all gone, the better.

My cup runneth over! It began to rain last night as I went to bed, and has continued to do so throughout the night and into the morning. It has not ben the flooding type of rain, just a steady fall which allows the water to soak in. Now all that is needed is for the seeds laying in the soil to sprout for winter feed.

I don't gamble using most common forms. If I happen to go to a club, I might have a little tickle on the pokies, but with the idea that playing them is a form of entertainent and I expect to have to pay for the time I am being entertained. Therfore I set a limit, usually not very much, on how much I am willing to pay for the entertainment. If by chance (and the pokies are pure chance) I should win some money, that makes the entertainment better. Do you gamble with Scratchies? I don't, but they are a convenient way for someone to give you "a little something" along with a birthday card. My sister gave me ten dollars worth of assorted scratchies today for my birthday. That was five Scratchies. My experience with Scratchies is that you scratch them; look at them, utter "Oh, well", and toss them in the bin. My expectations were met with three of them. Any further disappointment I expected was dispelled when I saw that I won $2 on one of them. As I started to scratch the final one, I thought that I was just going through the motions, and I would have four out of five duds. You could have knocked me down with a feather after I completed scratching the last card. I'm no expert in these things, but I think I won $5000.00! If not, I've won something with three of a kind. I won't tell my sister until I have confirmed the win, but I think the right thing to do would be to give her a thousand, at least. Because of her generosity in giving me a place to live, I've been able to build up a bank roll that makes me feel somewhat financially comfortable. If it is a win, it's a windfall. I think I should share the joy. Begging letters will be returned marked: "Receiver to Pay Postage"

I really think the AUKUS deal and the Yank submarine deal needs to be cancelled - from our end. The last thing we need is to deal with, is a tantrum-throwing toddler when he's supposed to be leading the worlds only remaining superpower, and setting statesmanship-like behaviour and standards. On top of that, the subs are vastly overpriced, and will be delivered 30 years too late, and be obsolete when they are delivered.

Just overheard a great line in the tearoom... "The only war Trump had an exit strategy for, was Vietnam!"

Following a spike in accidents and deaths, Queensland is putting new laws before parliament to crackdown on the use of ebikes. Faster, more powerful e-bikes — anything over 25km/h — will now be treated like motorbikes or mopeds, meaning they can only be ridden on the road and must be registered and insured. On footpaths, riders will have to slow right down to 10km/h, and a new offence will make it illegal to ride near pedestrians without proper care. There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue. Parents could also be held responsible, with fines able to be passed on if their child breaks the rules. Police are being given stronger powers too, including random breath testing, and the ability to seize and impound illegal devices on the spot, with repeat or serious cases potentially seeing bikes destroyed. There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue. E-wheelchair users will be exempted from these rules. Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg branded the suite of changes "nation-leading reforms". "We are banning under-16s from these devices because the safety of kids is paramount," he said. "We've taken the time to get this right, and our reforms strike the right balance between keeping Queenslanders safe from those who do the wrong thing, while backing the Queenslanders who do the right thing."

Digging holes in the ground? Mining today is one of the most high tech activities in industry. Knowing where to dig, how to dig and doing it safely involves all sorts of expertise.

Oh, well let's see that the MAGA Master of name calling does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump Yet the minute someone offends his sensibilities, he is on the line to defamation lawyers. Now, who else has been on the line to defamation lawyers when people call her names? I reserve the right to bag anyone I think is not doing the right thing - that is a cherished right of freedom of speech... But I won't bag them without at least there being evidence to do so, unlike others aforementioned. @Siso - We all get your argument - she is playing within the rules so bag the pollies for not changing the rules and not the ones playing within the rules. If life were that black and white, it would be a better place. But the reality she and her ilk have resources and access to disproportionately bend the wilingness of the rule makers to their aims and objectives and they are not afraid to use it. Yep - she employs a lot of people, directly and indirectly. But she couldn't without all the other infrastructure that is in place from roads to education to provide those people she emplys. Yet, she is not willing to pay for it. When proposal for rule chnages are made to even up the playing field, she is in there pulling no stops to make sure those rules don't see the light of day, let alone get passed. So, too are her ilk; Palmer comes to mind, but all the faceless corporation heavyweights - ironically those owned by foreign investors.. The one thing is at least Gina's companies are Aussie owned. You can sit through the "well, she is playing by the rules, so blame the pollies as they can change the rules." Yes, in theory, but the backlash Gina and her ilk can unleash means pollies are very well constrained in what they can do. And the billionaires aren't the only ones. We had the BLF, and today we have the CMFEU (or whatever); Good ol' Jacinta Allan seems to be in their back pocket. Hard for her to change the rules to be more fair when her sponsors (and in her case, her husband) are calling shots behind the curtain.

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

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

https://thetyee.ca/News/2026/03/20/Australian-Mining-Billionaire-Sues-Canada/ Sure mate. Have a read of that. Support this horrible woman all you want but don't be blind to what type of person she is. When you get to a certain level of wealth you have the ability to distort democracy. From the article - " subsequent rulings by the Court of Appeal, Court of King’s Bench and Supreme Court of Canada repeatedly found that Northback had no legal case." So Gina's company pushed their vexatious claim through every level of Canada's legal system and were knocked back each time. Then they went for the last refuge of the mega rich multinational, Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). If you don't know what that is, research it. Phillip Morris and Clive Palmer have attempted ISDS cases against Australia and thankfully were unsuccessful. Before you say "go petition your politician", a few years ago I did exactly that, sending emails to every lower house member pleading that Australia not be a part of ISDS. I believe that we now do not include ISDS provisions in any trade agreements. But that hasn't stopped Gina from trying to steal $7b from Canadian taxpayers for a project she spent $220m on. Still a Gina fanboi?

Can you see what's wrong with our electoral system? One Nation and independents got well over 1/4 of the primary vote, perhaps a 1/3, and because there was no seats won except for one independent, all those votes end up with zero value. The only votes that have value are the ones that help to win seats. The votes that don't win seats just remain as bits of paper filled out by voters who get ignored for the next four years. This is one of the reasons I stopped voting. Some votes have significant value, while other votes have no value at all. For a system that has mandatory voting, all votes should have value, and proportionate representation in the running of the State, or Nation So the jurassic idea of "winning seats" needs to be changed to: "A party is to get as many votes as it can, and then, a party's voters will get a real say in Parliament". In other words, abolish "seats", and have proportionate representation in Parliament instead. That will mean every vote will have value every election. No voter will be left behind.

I have two friends who are a vigorous 90 and will be having lunch on Monday with someone who just turned 96. There is hope for all of us.

Neice Mary Trump Had him summed up Years ago and she's a trained Psychologist with detailed knowledge of how he was raised. Just how better off the world would be now if More Americans had read her book. Apparently the Biggest MAGA supporters are White supremist Evangelistic Christians who are also the Most Heavily into guns. 60 Million of them. Sleep Peacefully. What could Possibly go wrong? Its unfolding at a rapid rate but it will be everyone's Fault But Donalds.. Hitler expressed similar views. Nev

Interesting talk on Late Night Live about Pauline. I can't see how to get a link to it but if you go to ABC.net.au/listen and click on Radio National, it's one of the top picks.

On another note, one of the interesting things to come from this was our refugee system, which is considered one of the worst ones in the development world and freuently is the subject of intenational condemnation, including from teh UN: https://www.unhcr.org/au/monitoring-asylum-australia Despite the reasons for our asylum system, and despite the need to ensure all apoplications meet the criteria required that they are not a risk to Australia and that if returned to their homeland, they are likely to be persecuted, killed, etc for the people they are (e.g. activitists, gay, etc). OK, the Ausssie government could easily identify them, but how could they in a day determine their status and likely safety at home? Yeah they are footblallers, yeah they are women.. Did that make them eligible or able to be ualified as not being an undue rrisk? Yes, you could argue they were to go back to a war zone, but there are many refugees in camps and detention centres in that position, so why wouldn't it apply to them. As it turns out, they themselves deided they no longer needed asylum and it was safe to return.. to a war zone. Of course, there could be something more nefarious at operation - they may well have received threatd or legitimately been concerned of the ramifications them staying in Australia would have on their families by the regime. But now, it beckons the question - if it is good enough to turn around anylum claimes very quickly for some footballers, then why is it good enough for us to virtually torture our Asykum seekers? Yes, we shoiuld be diligent with applicants and make clear economic migrants should be sent back to go through other routes of migration. But waiting up to 4 years before one can even get permission to apply for asylum is cruel.

Most of the brains of the Soviet Union was centered in Ukraine back in those days. They provided the bulk of engineering and development for the Soviet Union and industrial capacity. It's where the tanks, armoured vehicles, tractors and machinery were designed, developed and manufactured. Aircraft and rocket engines was another area. Right up until the Ukraine/Russia war Russia was still buying their helicopter engines from Ukraine. We tend to think of Russia as the centre of the Soviet Union but Ukraine was where all the talent was. As an analogy, the Russian approach to opening a can would be to bash it with a hammer; Ukrainians would sit down and design a can opener.

Firstly, THANK YOU everyone for your concern. I’m ok — just a bit shaken up, but I’ll be fine. For those who don’t know what happened, I was robbed this morning filling my car up at the petrol station, ready for an early start. After it happened my hands were shaking, I felt dizzy and I was probably in shock. My money was gone, so I called the police. They were fantastic and even called an ambulance because my blood pressure was through the roof. The officer asked if I knew who did it… I said: “Yes… it was pump number 4.”

When things are going his way, it's always his idea. When they are going wrong, he'll blame the first person to come along.

When we were paying 17% on the home loan we did not eat out ever, didn’t go out for coffee, turned out the lights in empty rooms, and bought a second hand car. It wasn’t hard, we were just as happy.

Probably about as well as Day 1. Iran said they were surprised to learn they were apparently in talks with Trump. As the last two round of negotiations resulted in them being bombed during the talks, they won't be keen to try again. Now he's set another deadline of 5 days or else! Meaning if the Iranians ignore him again, he'll be forced to set another deadline.

It's not before time, it's been getting out of control. One of the worst areas is my local town. It's the high school kids who are the worst offenders. The police have tried a crack down but it doesn't seem to have helped much. If you go to town you really have to keep a good eye out for them as it's quite scary when you're walking along the footpath and a gang of them roar past at 30kph only inches away. I can't say I blame the kids; it's a no-brainer what will happen if you give kids what is in effect an electric motorcycle and let them ride it anywhere they like. I saw a couple of kids outside the shopping centre the other day with those big ones that have tyres the size of a Harley front wheel. There's been people killed around here, mainly the kids colliding with each other.

One Nation would be a disaster for Australia’s interests. There would be no bright future from a right wing populist party with Pauline in charge.

Yes Gina does employ lots of ordinary Australians, both directly in the extraction of minerals, but also by those backroom people who support the miners. Don't forget the tooth-to-tail ratio of the military also applies to the support requirements of Gina's miners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth-to-tail_ratio You can't attack her for not contributing to the economic condition of us all, as you cannot attack the CEO' of ColesWorths for what they do. Pauline is a different fish. She is influencing people by bolstering their bigotry. She uses what all political Parties have been using for the past few decades- the simple slogan that is supposed to express a truth but which is mostly devoid of practical meaning. What exactly does "Make America Great Again" mean? Labor's "It's Time" had more meaning in its contemporary context. One Nation does not seem to have much to say about anything other than immigration and its racial effects. One Nation may say that Middle Eastern, Asian, Pacific Islander immigrants have greatly altered what being an Australian is, but the elephant in the room is the cultural immigration of the USA. And One Nation seems to be all for sidling up to Uncle Sam at the expense of relations with countries who had influence on mqaking an Australian in our formative years.

I had a look at the seat by seat first preference count as of today, and if it was a first past the post result based on those figures the lower house seat tally would be Labor 35, Liberal 7, One Nation 3 and Independants 2. Not much different to early estimates of a two party preferred result.

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

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

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

octave, I built my own place in 1996 when I was in my early 40's and I'm thankful I did it then and not now. Looking at some of those beams I got up there on my own gets me trying to remember what it was like to be young and physically capable. The deepest stump hole was up to almost the top of my head and too tight for a jackhammer, so I levelled out a punching pad in the rock base with a crowbar. I used it like a percussion drill, letting the hand pressure off just as it hit the rock so it would twist a bit like a drill and chip a little bit out at a time. It was a bit claustrophobic down there. I dug all the stump holes with a shovel, crowbar and jackhammer. As far as raising bearers and beams, it's amazing what you can do with pulleys and temporary gin poles. To raise and place the poles in the holes I had pulleys and ropes set up at different points so I could tie the rope onto the 4WD and just drive away and watch the pole stand up in the rear vision mirror. It was hard work but a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. All the 4x2 wall studs, king posts and collar ties, the 6x2 rafters and verandah joists and the 10x2 ridge board are all recycled ironbark from when they pulled down the old Maroochydore RSL. I bought a whole truckload of it from a demolition mate. Great seasoned timber but as hard as your mother in law's heart. You can't drive a clout into it without pre drilling.

Trump hasn't been innocent since he left his mother's womb.

If they hadn't started a war at all it would have been best.

I would pay people to finish all my half finished jobs, including vehicle projects.

SWMBO and I were sitting having lunch in a favourite local Japanese restaurant a few days ago, and there was a table of four people sitting alongside us and we caught snippets of overheard conversation from them. It appears one couple had two sons who were at college in the U.S. The talk got around to Trump and American political activity. The wife of the other couple was overheard to say, "I wake up every morning hoping to hear on the TV news, that that awful man is dead!" The other couple mentioned that conscription had been bandied around in the U.S. for more military actions. This couple went to speak about their two boys, saying, if conscription was introduced in the U.S., their sons would be on the first plane out of the country. Not much love for Trump in that group.

re my post this thread 13 February, I had the tests today. Took a little over two hours. Some of them were weird. The clinician put a camera on my head to monitor my eyes. There was a small sticker on the wall about 2 feet from me. I had to keep my eyes on the sticker while he yanked my head left. right. up and down, while he monitored my eye movement. Then I had to hold my head still while following a light spot jumping around all over by just moving my eyes. Then I moved into a soundproof booth to do the hearing tests normally done by audiologists. This was to determine if I was a suitable candidate for Cochlear Implants. Then I moved into another room where I had to lie on a bed. He rubbed my earlobes and forehead lightly with sandpaper and attached stickers and leads. He placed earphones in my ears, and he played a tapping sound; like repeatedly tapping on a cardboard box. At first it sounded like an approaching helicopter, but settled down like an idling motorbike. I had to look left, right, and roll my eyes as far up as possible, 5 minutes in each position. He took out the eyephones and placed a metal gizmo behind my ears and repeated the tapping so that I could feel it like he was tapping behind my ears. Then he repeated the whole thing with the sandpapering, stickers and leads on my neck, chest and just under my eyes. Finally, we moved to a third room, where I sat on the foot of a bed in front of a TV screen about 48 in size. He put a bulky pair of glasses, like a virtual reality headset, which contained a camera. It's scary looking at your eye filling a large TV screen. Then he played a yellow dot on the screen and I had to follow it without moving my head. Then he placed a cover over the lens so it was totally dark, and the displayed a small spot of light in the headset. I had to look a the position of the light. He turned it off and I had to keep looking at the spot without closing my eyes. It's hard to know if your eyes are open or closed when it is totally dark. Then I had to lie on the bed blindfolded while he blew very warm air into each ear to see if it made me feel the room was spinning. All these tests were recorded in graphs on the computer. He will email the results to my doctor with a copy to me by mid next week.

Good job a lot of us have the ability to work from home now.

Most Crude contains something like 10% Sulphur. There's Mountains of it piled up in a lot of Places near refineries. Overseas refining is a lower cost result than doing it Here and having Large reserves cost a Heap also and people don't want to have that extra cost.. The current reserves are Higher than they have been for a long while but are Below the recommended Amount. All reserves run out eventually if supply is below demand during WW2 Cars were put on Blocks for the duration. Nothing is guaranteed. That's the reality. Nev

I really feel sorry for the normal Americans (they're the ones who didn't vote for this idiot) having to see how cringe their president is.

But he doesn't pay to play golf, in fact he gets paid for the rooms the secret service are forced to pay full price for. Such a greedy fuck

When I was a new Constable back in 1980, fresh from the Police Academy, I was posted to Campsie, which is next-door to Bankstown. The Division included Lakemba. At that time it was strongly Lebanese. One of the notoriuous families there was the Alameddine family. They crooks then are now old men, but the now we have the third generation which is carrying on the criminal activities. The Alam al-Dins, also spelled Alamuddin or Alameddine, were a Druze family that intermittently held or contested the paramount chieftainship of the Druze districts of Mount Lebanon in opposition to the Ma'n and Shihab families in the late 17th and early 18th centuries during Ottoman rule. The Sydney branch of the family came as refugees from the Lebanese Civil War.

While we tend to think of oil as a fuel to be burned, it has many other applications even including pharmaceuticals. So disruption of supply can affect a host of other products. Anyway, if 25% of oil supplies are cut off, where is the other 75% coming from? Of are those other oils not suitable for fuel production. Remeber, "oils ain't oils, Sol".

On the bright side Trump, in his ignorance, has done more to promote decreased reliance on fossil fuels than any carbon tax or green energy initiative has ever done.

Cuba is easy to subdue these days. Iran is a Large Fortress. Boots on the ground will be like quicksand. Make Afghanistan look like a tea and scones party by comparison. Trump is a BIG FAKE little boy with dangerous toys in his Pram. Nev

Zelensky has just signed a deal with Britain for the manufacture of Ukrainian designed drones. One thing that we are ignorant of is how smart in the area of industrial design the Ukranians are. I think we have the impression that they are just farmers and miners, but they are industrially powerful.