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I've only got 12klm to drive to vote, but fairly safe from wombat and roo hazards. The biggest hazard is when you get to the polling centre and our dickhead local member tries to grab your hand to shake it.

Theer are visionaries who join Parties with teh hope of making a difference, but the first thing that they learn is that politics is a game of compromise.A person might have the idea to brighten a room by turning on the light with a switch, but then has to compromise on wiring, switch design, lumen output and positioning.

I can understand why young people are turning away from the major parties. Over time Australia has become a country where a whole generation of young Australians will never be able to own their own home. It doesn't matter how hard they work and save, it gets them nowhere. A lot of people make excuses and give various reasons why the country is like that, but the fact remains that it degenerated to this under the stewardship of one of the major parties or the other. Whether or not they are totally to blame, they have that job and the buck has to stop with them and they carry some responsibility for letting it happen.

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.

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 ....

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.

Your right to Vote is the Best assurance of your ability to be rid of a despot. Most of the World would love to have what we have. Compulsory voting came in to stop the Bosses from preventing you voting.. (like Trump wants to) Boasting about NOT voting is like Wearing a Jumper with " I'm the Village Idiot" on it. Nev

Why endorse anyone if in your opinion they aren't up for the job?

Yep! He's a slimy bastard. And I'm not saying that simply because of teh Party he is in. He's puolled some pretty shonky deals in his life.

I think we are a long way from a One Party system and that is the last thing anyone should wish for but there should be a decency and common Purpose limit to the sabotage some opposition antics can be. T Abott cost this Country Billions and set us back years when He instructed Malcolm Turnbull to "Destroy the Internet". We are still reeling from the effects of that One. Mate of Pell and Murdock and using Credlin for his Brain and absolute zero for Scientific Know How. People like HIM are scary IGNORANT. Nev

I topped up my heating today..... The sun came out, so my heat pump runs for..... Free! 🙂

You know you are getting old when your kids start talking about choosing an old folk's home..... for themselves.

Back to the latest Middle East conflict.... Sorry to post a meme but I couldn't resist. I once thought Dubya was the worst, but not any more. Being a sociopath means never having to say 'sorry'.

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

Scomo and Abbot were a lot worse.

That's a certainty. However i cannot give him credit for single handedly destroying a global civilisation. Civilisation (not always civil) will stumble on regardless. The tangerine toddler has simply acted out all the hidden failings of the world order. Failings that were previously dormant, or simply hidden, and until he came along, weaknesses were slowly eroding the moral fibre of world order. For instance, governments of most countries have always suffered from CEO type rot. The job description calls for a ruthless, results driven psychopath, usually overpaid. It doesn't call for a considerate egalitarian, fairminded person. The USA has a history of overt selfishness. Their glorification of capitalism overrides the welfare of the populace. Politics and War is all about making money. It's just that tRump makes it so obvious. As with our Australian system, both major parties are plainly in the pockets of the megarich. That is certainly not ethical.

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

Is anybody counting down the "FOUR WEEKS" end time for this great war?? Like everything that comes out of the Tangerine Toddlers mouth - unadulterated, pure BS. America will still be bogged down in this war in 6 months time, and the hardline Iranians, and Hezbollah and Hamas supporters, will ensure it goes on for as long as it can. Neither Trump nor Hegseth has a co-ordinated plan to ensure this war ends swiftly and results in a regime change for the better. As fast as they kill new Iranian leaders, the hardliners will produce new ones. I note Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said recently, "There is no experience that shows an air campaign alone will result in positive regime change." Trump will soon find himself arse-deep in crocodiles, while he thought he was simply wading in to drain the swamp. He'll soon find out that running a successful war is a whole lot different to cheating at golf, and those crocodiles have got a vicious bite.

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

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.

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.”

I think this will go on for weeks and months if not longer. Trump has lost control of the war and despite all the destruction in Iran, the regime is now in the driving seat. The US knows roughly how much enriched uranium Iran has but not where it is, so that’s a big problem. Khamenei had issued two fatwahs in the past stating that having a nuclear weapon was not compatible with their religious beliefs, so it’s a moot point as to whether Iran would ever have developed a bomb. Iran achieved its goal with the threat alone, which was enough to get the West’s attention. Now however, with a new leader all bets are off. They apparently have enough uranium for between 11 and 16 Hiroshima type weapons, although not the long range delivery systems. That doesn’t really matter because they just have to set off one or two underground to prove the point. Trump could likely have got a deal had he continued negotiating instead of going to war. Contrary to their ambitions the US and Israel have not wiped out all Iran’s drones and rockets, and they can make more. They don’t have to import them. They have a couple of thousand sea mines and a fleet of fishing boats and midget submarines that can lay them. They have already attacked the neighbouring countries aiming to get them to pressure the Americans to abandon their bases, which may happen as it’s now clear the bases are putting them at risk rather than being a deterrent. The US and Israel are also at risk of running short of expensive missiles themselves pretty soon too. In the meantime Russia has stepped in to help the Iranians giving Putin a bargaining chip to use on Trump - “We’ll stop helping Iran if you stop helping Ukraine”. Iran has successfully bottled up the Strait with severe consequences for world energy supplies and other products such as fertiliser. The US and Israeli attacks on infrastructure and historically important sites is turning the population against the US and Trump in particular. Trump and Hegseth have got most of the US population offside as well. Trump has no off-ramp here and it’s his nature to just make a bad situation worse by never wanting to be seen to be a loser, but he’s already lost this war. All that remains is to go through the process of losing.

Just another thing that makes me feel better is in the case of this guy The South Australian Liberal party is standing by an election candidate who said same-sex marriage is not real, homosexuality can open up “demonic realms” and gender transitioning is an “illusion”. I don't want to merely punish (if I lived in his electorate) with 0 vote, I want to vote strategically against him. I always vote strategically and number every square. For many years, I lived in Eden-Monaro, a so-called bellwether seat. This meant the winner of the seat was always (mostly) from the party that won the government. This seat was sometimes pivotal, so it did really matter.

No, not according to my information. New off the shelf. It may have been forged in Turkey and finished off in Germany - or it just might have been fully manufactured in Turkey, and stamped "Made in Germany", or just sold as "German made". I recently did a deal with another major Czechia parts supplier, they supplied new Perkins aftermarket fuel injectors and claimed they were made in Italy. When they arrived, I realised they were made in China, as there were no markings on them that identified them as "Made in Italy" (as the Italians always do). The injectors only had a part number stamped on them, and that stamping was identical to the Chinese injectors for sale everywhere. So I got back to them and gave them a good serve for misrepresentation and fraud. They apologised profusely, and said it was due to a website error, and they refunded all my money (including the freight charge), so now I get to try out some Chinese injectors for free. I'm not overly concerned, because injector nozzles are easy enough to change, if they don't provide satisfactory service. But I prefer European, British or American-made products where possible, the Chinese lie through their teeth about the quality and performance of their products, and it is often highly variable. If the crankshaft ends up being Turkish-forged, I can live with that, I think the Turkish products are superior to Chinese-made stuff.

Pauline is Just someone offering what she Cannot give, Brazenly. she doesn't believe RULES apply to Her and uses racism openly (adjusted over time) She just an opportunistic $#1t stirrer and Trump worshipping CON Artist collecting Misfit Candidates and Rinehart financed. . She will fall foul for some Law for sure and claim she is being victimised guaranteed. She's no Benevolent genius dedicated to helping Australina get ahead. She's capable of doing a lot of Damage and has to be considered a very risky Proposition based on Form and Performance so far. Nev

I haven't voted for the last four Fed elections, just paid the fines, because the major parties are more internationalist than Australian these days, I can't stomach them. But if a One Nation candidate is contesting in my electorate, I'll consider voting again, give them the top spot and place the major parties last and second last. Other than that, I'll just keep paying the fine.

lt's just a real shame in this country there's no true visionary anywhere to vote for. A true leader with real vision real ideals, to fix what needs fixing and set us up in a brilliant direction , to truly look after their people and country and hold everything we have here dear. There's no one, hasn't been since ld even know. Hawk maybe could've been such a special leader on the surface , not sure how he went though. Hanson at least has very very strong ideals, to at least point our country to somewhere but ofc she'd also be scary as hell at the helm too in most other ways, Aus wouldn't risk it and l'm not saying l think they should- just before anyone jumps all over that one. My only point is that there's never one truly special, made for the job once in a lifetime someone that's dreamt of the job their whole lives for the right reasons and visions bc of what they want for for our country and people. There's no one, never is, such a shame. Most of the Majors are just politicians, people that just seem to end up falling into the job, like Angus has, Lee. All the other leaders on both often just end up getting voted in bc they have no one else at the time. l think Albo had some sort of real vision but we see where that's landed but he's never been a truly talented leader though anyway.

Trump shoots his mouth off big time. It's his Crude style and HELPS nothing but his insatiable EGO. He's good at Lighting fires but not Putting them Out. He's utterly TIED to Netanyahu and certainly NOT the brightest Bulb in the Chandelier. Most of the World views Trump as a very dangerous Idiot who is completely Unpredictable. Nev

He actually said people would watch PORN.. It would have permitted surgery to be Performed remotely and bring us to a First world system of Fast Fibre-optic Connectivity.. What an outright CRETIN. Nev

The 60's were the best decade for rock/n/roll. Sept 1963, we heard the first Beatles song on the old AM radio - "From Me to You" (she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah) - and before that, we were listening to Del Shannon, the Beach Boys, Col Joye and the Joye Boys, Cliff Richards and the Shadows, Johnny Tillotson - and a lot of even earlier 1950's American rock/n/roll-C&W (Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry, the Four Tops, Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline - and Elvis, of course!) Once the Beatles started hitting the airwaves, by early 1964, their songs were on the radio every day, and their new songs just kept on coming. They came to Australia in June 1964 and the teenage hysteria, especially amongst the girls, was something that stunned the older folk and brought great disapproval from them. But there was no looking back, and the rock/n/roll bands and individual singers just kept on coming, with some of the greatest rock/n/roll songs ever. The Rolling Stones appeared at the same time as the Beatles, and it was a rock/n/roll feast! I turned 17 in May 1966, and nothing brings fonder memories than roaring around in my '64 EH Holden ute, with the "big" 179 cu in engine, and playing all those great rock/n/roll songs on the radio, while we tried out our best pickup lines on girls!

Different pollsters ask slightly different questions, but a lot of them lately seem to be polling primary intentions and not preference direction. Gender and age group is usually asked for analysis. A lot of it is probably swayed by immediate events. For example, in the latest morgan poll, the Greens have picked up 3% and Labor is down 4. Morgans think that 3% Green gain at Labor's expense is because of Albo and Co. going all the way with DJT and the Greens taking a stance against the US/Israel strikes. Some of the analysis is interesting. There's been a trend for a while now of the youngest age group, 18-24, moving more to the right. The Greens and Labor have lost support in that group to One Nation, independants and others, but the Greens have gained in all groups 25+, whereas Labor has lost in all age groups and both genders. One Nation gained support in all age groups under 65. Some polls a couple of weeks ago showed ON gaining among young women more than young men. A bit of a reverse from it's historical male dominated support. I think One Nation is the wild card, and come next election, they will have either fallen on their face or put egg on a lot of other faces. The Greens are what they are. What you see is what you'll always get, 10 to 12%. If Labor stuffs up enough, the Greens might get 15% briefly but they just don't appeal to enough of the population to acheive anything higher than balance of power in the Senate. Nev, you're right about the Nats/Libs being in big trouble. At the moment they are well and truly wedged. All Labor has to do is sit tight and win. Of the small amount of Labor primary votes bleeding to the Greens, most would return in preferences. Labor would feel a lot more comfortable having the Greens on the left than the Coalition would feel having One Nation on the right. It's like the Coalition has driven their Ford Ranger into a parking space designed for little noddy cars, and now they're stuck and can't get out. Go to the right, they lose the centre, go to the left and they lose the right. Interesting that the Nats have elected a Victorian moderate as deputy. More than likely for balance. Matt Canavan can talk the talk to try to woo voters back from One Nation, and Chester can try to butter up the Libs. Smoke and mirrors.

I don't think dear leader/comrade Albo has anything to fear from her. Labor's a shoe-in for a third term the way it's looking.

We went to a Post Modern Jukebox stage show at the Astor Theatre in Perth about 18 mths ago. They put on quite a show, but I prefer the original golden oldies. SWMBO loved them, she was the one who saw the show, and booked the tickets.

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.'

How do you separate the Men from the Boys in Greece? With great difficulty. 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.

Spain ha ha. Nah not goin anywhere, tis my land, can't leave it, goods and bads.

That seems a pretty dumb place to store our crude given the geographical distance. We probably have no means to refines it here anyway but the yanks always do whatever they like irrespective of agreements and/or water tight contracts.

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).

. He forgot the toilet Paper. It will be in short supply as well as most things, if trucks can't get Fuel. If he had a Prang, He'd have Burn problems as well. Prang is an old aviation term. Nev

Good question, has Iran officially declared war? It's rarely ever done these days. Usually they just box on and call it whatever they like, armed conflict, special military operation, police action, or whatever.

I wouldn't own a hybrid for reasons of complexity with 2 power plants, a small battery and a complex drive train, maintenance and a reliance on fossil fuels. Studies have shown most hybrid owners do not get anywhere near the claimed economy. There are a number of reasons but with plug in hybrids many owners do not plug them in so their fuel consumption from the relatively small ICE engine can be very high. For most of my EV driving the energy is free as I charge at home off my rooftop solar panels supported by my home battery plus getting free power for 3 hours a day. On a recent trip to NZ I left the car at Gold Coast airport after leaving home with 100% battery. I still had just over 50% when I got to the airport. Most of the trip was at 110kMh. I stopped at Ballina BP on the way home & put it on the fast charger for 15 minutes while I went for a comfort break & coffee. It was pouring with rain at the time & I wanted a buffer to make sure I'd get home. Cost me $9.04 for a bit over 15 kWh of charge so had plenty left when I got home.

This morning I was listening to music on my radio. The music was mainly orchestral and the radio is mono. The thought struck me what a wonderful device the radio's speaker is. It can reproduce the wide range of pitch and tone produced by a number if instruments playing at the same time simply by an electrical current causing a fibre cone to vibrate.