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The British Press British Press.mp4

Rudd was duty-bound to attend that meeting since he is Australia's ambassador to the USA, and he went as advisor to his "boss", the Prime Minister. Trump's comments were an insult to the Australian people, but one could not expect any better from that person.

When is someone going to tell Trump to pull his head in, he doesn't rule the world. He wasn't elected to run this country. What right has he to tell us how much we should spend on defence? The amount spent on defence worldwide is staggering and sickening.Almost every thing troubling mankind, and nature, could probably be fixed if the money spent on defence was redirected to corrrecting these problems. Just because some greedy a**holes can't mind their own business.

First time we've had honey from our bees! Despite neither of us really knowing what we were doing, we managed to get about 3.4kg from our one hive.

I suppose that will make it a cruise missile?

Trump addressed the General Assembly of the UN. I've only seen snippets of his speech, but the overall impression I got was that he was very successful in bolstering the impression held by the rest of the World's leaders that he is an absolute buffoon and has succeded in making the USA a laughing stock.

I was going to tell a time travel joke, but you guys didn't liike it.

Peta Credlin is an ultra Right Winger. She was an advisor to Abbott. I wouldn't beleive her if she said G'day to me.

I wouldn't go as far as Litespeed but he is a waste of space. Heard him on the radio the other day talking up the Macquarie Point white elephant and saying that if the Tasmanian government doesn't build it, no business will trust them. Absolute shite. There's probably about 2000 people in Tassie who physically regularly go to the football, and most of them are from the north of the state. I don't particularly care whether Tassie gets a football team or not, but to my mind the AFL have acted like absolute c**ts in mandating, as a deal-breaker, a new billion dollar stadium which the state can't afford in prime waterfront land which should be mixed use restaurant/ park/ boulevard etc.

He's doing it for a reason. He WANTS an incident in LA so he has an excuse to stomp down harder. He would be thrilled if a protestor killed a cop or soldier. I know I sound like a broken record, but this is 1930's Germany all over again.

Well, it's happened. I have seen the light. I am a changed man, a convert, my eyes have been opened, and I see the error of my ways. Before you have concerns about my mental health, this is not a religious experience. But if I had been on the road to Damascus... it'd be astride a cruiser. As someone who's only ridden sports / sports tourers (Honda VFR750 x 2, Triumph Speed Triple, Suzuki VF750F - but that was a high-revving piece of shit) - I've always had a vague contempt for cruisers. You know, the standard stuff... they're too heavy, too slow, don't handle, can't corner, produce more noise than power, etc. However, while age doesn't always bring wisdom, it usually brings an appreciation for comfort, and a lesser appetite for risk. I'm not 20 anymore. I don't want to do 250kph, tucked down over the tank, or take corners at double the signposted recommendation. For a potted history of my riding, I started on a road/trail (Honda XL185) as my learner's bike at 18, moved to a VFR750 as soon as I had an open licence, and spent the next couple of decades (almost) riding the bikes listed above. When I became a dad at 36, I did the "responsible" thing - sold my bike and packed away the bone-dome and leathers. A while back @nomadpete said he was regretfully parting ways with his XV1100. I'd been feeling the need to start riding again (mid life crisis?) and after mulling it over for way too long, I mentioned this to my missus. To my surprise she fully supported me getting a bike, to the extent she told me to contact Peter there and then. I did, but unfortunately he'd already sold his machine a month before. A few days later however, this prince among men (still talking about Peter) messaged me with a Facebook ad for a Honda 750 Shadow. I had a look at the bike, took it for a test ride (now that was bloody scary, 17 years since I'd been on a bike and a totally different style), thought about it for a couple of days then bought it. She doesn't have a name yet (I was thinking of "H" names, like "Helen the Honda", but one of our neighbours is named Helen, so the phrase "I'm just off to ride Helen" might lead to some marital misunderstandings.) But she's 21 years old, all her chromework still looks great, and she sounds like a motorbike should. She's also very comfortable and easy to ride. This evening I rode to karate. While it was damn cold, it was a beautiful night and I really enjoyed the ride. This being my 4th ride on the bike, I'm starting to get more comfortable with her - although it'll still take a few more rides until I'm ready to have my wife on the back seat. So yes, I'm a cruiser convert. Apologies to all the Harley riders I've thought bad things about. (Only thought, because some of them are scary!) And yes, it's true. Her suspension is made for comfort, not corners. Around 80% of the engine output IS noise. (Very nice noise!) And she's much more comfortable gently swaying around curves at 60km/h than doing 110 up the highway. But now I think all those things are positive. Here she is. The photo doesn't do the colour justice - it's almost a candy apple red.

I have been away for a while. I am coming up to 2 years of EV ownership. As with 90% of EV owners I charge at home. The MG4 came with a granny charger. You don't get one with some brands. Tesla give you nothing now. I have used the granny charger once & that was to make sure it worked. I installed a 7kW wall charger & I get free power for 2 hours a day. I also have 8kW of solar panels so my running costs are negligible. The network is better than it was 2 years ago & there are now many "Destination Chargers" at hotels & motels & these are usually free. In the 25,000km I have driven so far I have spent about $150.00 at fast chargers. As with most people I don't do many long trips. The average car owner travels to/from work each day & except for long trips on holiday etc all charging is done at home. The charging process varies and the simple way is to register with each of the main suppliers. I have with Evie, Chargefox, BP, Ampol & Tesla. I have an RFID card which is registered with 3 of them. I pull up, plug in scan the card & that's it. If there is a queue it is bad etiquette to charge to 100% as the last 20% will be slow. I have not had a problem waiting long & by the time I have been to the loo & had a coffee or bite the car is ready. In the MG4 the WLTP range is 450km. At 110kmh I get around 380. After that many I am ready for a break. From Coffs to Noosa I stop once for lunch & charge top up (20-30 minutes). Admittedly this is on the main highway & chargers are everywhere. The thing is the car has a built in Satnav with a charging planner & it knows what range there is and will tell you which charger to go to & in many cases can tell you if the charger is in use or not. So where are we going from here? Well CATL, the worlds largest battery manufacturer has recently announced a new battery technology that uses a combination of 2 types (lithium & sodium) to provide a range of 1500km and can get 520km of range in a 5 minute charge. That is quicker than filling a petrol tank. The new tech breakthrough is with Sodium ion technology. Of course sodium is everywhere. The sea is full of it & it is cheap. https://carnewschina.com/2025/04/21/battery-giant-catl-showcases-three-innovations-1500km-range-battery-520km-in-5-minutes-ultra-fast-charging-and-2025-mass-production-sodium-ion-battery/ This is now where battery & charging technology is up to. The only thing that will happen from now on is that it will get better & better. Already battery warranties are 1.5 to 2 million km or lifetime, The battery will outlast the rest of the car. EV haters will continue to abound but they are being rapidly drowned out with reality & the uptake of EV ownership continues to climb (Tesla excepted due to the Musk factor). Worldwide 17 million new EVs were sold in 2024 representing a 20% increase on the previous year. The new government is not only supporting the switch to electric vehicles but also getting more home batteries installed. Since the election home battery installers have had a massive increase in orders and inquiries. The electric future is here.

I have fond memories of Lord Howe Island. When I was a musician in the RAAF, we made many visits there. The landings and takeoffs in a C-130 were always exciting. These trips were in the 80s, and from memory, we used to perform at "Founders Day" events. Back then it was a big deal, and we seemed to have some celebrity status. We would be put up by the locals and shown a good time with boat trips, etc. On one occasion, I was able to get my wife on the RAAF flight. On another occasion, after takeoff, the crew put a cargo strap across the rear of the aircraft, and they opened the back ramp as we flew past Balls Pyramid.

The wife & I had a very quiet 63rd wedding anniversary. spacesailor

It's Europe's time to step up. We seriously have to reconsider both AUKUS (Awkers) and the 5 eyes partnership. What point is intelligence sharing with the US when we have a dictator-lovin' Putin puppet in charge? Plus his cabinet is comprised of arse licking sycophants. Definitely not trustworthy people. I think the global West has to face the sad fact that the USA is no longer a trustworthy partner.

Tell them it's a BAY and a PORT. The Gulf of America is between Trumps EARS. Nev

When it comes to public toilets I can think 2 facilities that are unisex nearby. One is by the water near the pier. It is two long columns of cubicles with a long row of sinks. The other is in the arts centre. This facility is pretty swish. It is a large area of sinks, mirrors hand driers etc and around the outside of the walls are cubicles some marked unisex others marked male or female for those who care. As FH pointed out this is old news in many countries. I remember my father telling me that when he travelled to Japan 40 years ago. He was momentarily surprised when washing his hands at a sink that there was a young woman next to him putting on makeup. He had not realized at first that it was unisex and thought maybe he had gone into the wrong toilets, but he was fine with it. Whilst I can see that change causes issues that will need to be sorted such as sport, I can not see why people get so flustered by this. I have a neighbour who moved in about 5 years ago. This young woman seemed very reluctant to engage in conversation, That was fine, I am naturally inclined to chat to anyone. Gradually I noticed that they were transitioning. It did sadden me that this person probably thought due to our age that we might be hostile, nothing could be further from the truth. Four years later my wife and I are pretty good friends with this person. Their defining characteristics for us are their wit, intelligence and kindness. I don't give a toss what their chromosomes are.

My 93 yr old Italian neighbour, Barney, has a Rheem instantaneous (natural) gas HWS. It stopped working, so he came over to see what could be done about fixing it. His English isn't good, and he has zero knowledge of the "computer world" - and he's deaf as a post, too - so it's all hard work for him. I told him he could call Rheem, they have their own plumbers and repair vans, but it would most likely cost between $400 and $500, even if it was a simple part. If it needed more repair, it might be cheaper to replace it (it's a 2012 model), which he understood pretty well. I told him Rheem take $200 deposit out of your credit card just to initiate a callout - and their minimum charge is $260. Of course, he doesn't have a credit card, he only uses cash at all times! - and when I said they would send him messages via his phone, he decided that wasn't the way he wanted to go (he has a cheap mobile, but hardly knows how to use it, and he only keeps it "for emergency"). So he said he had a plumber mate down at the Italian club, and he'd ask him if he could fix it. A week later, I asked how he was getting on with it. He said his mate looked at the unit, figured out it was "an electric part" that needed replacing, and it would take 2 weeks to get the part, and install it. I was surprised, I told him Rheem parts were easy to get, and Rheem will repair it in a day or two. He said, "I don't think my mate wants to repair it, would it be easier and quicker to get a new one?" (a new replacement gas HWS is $1350 for a basic installation here, and it goes up if any difficulties are encountered). I said, "Rheem will repair it for you quickly, and as I said, it will probably be $400-500, do you want me to organise it?" He looked relieved and said "Yes, I'll pay you what it costs, and pay you as well!" I said, "I don't need any payment Barney, but I'll get it organised for you". I rang Rheem and inquired about parts supply, and they said they can supply almost any part needed for nearly all Rheem HWS's in use, and the worst wait would be 2-3 days. So I got them to put me through to Rheem service, where the (older) lady was very good. She took all my details down carefully and read them back, and advised the $260 minimum and $198 up-front charge (which I knew about), and initiated a call-out. I got a text with the job allocation number within minutes, and the next text was advising the job would be done the following day. The following day I got a couple of texts advising the repairers timing of arrival, and he arrived pretty much on time, in the early afternoon. He quickly diagnosed the problem as a U/S igniter (about a $40 part) and he had one in his van - but the model of HWS Barney had was a bugger to work on, because it was older and the igniter was buried deep in the HWS. He set to, and had to undo about 50 screws and pull off part after part, panel after panel and bracket after bracket. After about 45 minutes, he had the igniter out. He said the current models were a doddle to repair the igniter, and he would've had it done in 10 mins, if it was a current model. When I asked him about the life of a gas HWS, he bluntly stated. "10 years!". So he reckoned this one was past its use-by date! - but it still looked O.K. and didn't show any signs of corrosion. He pulled a new igniter out of his van and had it in and finished about an hour and 15 mins after starting the job. He signed it off and left, and the HWS was working spot-on. I went to my computer and there was the bill! - $339.13 in total - and the money was already gone from my credit card! I went and told a grateful Barney, gave him the invoice (the job was booked in his name and he would need the invoice for any claims), and he insisted on giving me $340 plus $50 for my trouble - despite me insisting I didn't need any payment, I just wanted to make sure he could have a hot shower! I think he got out of it pretty lightly, cost-wise, and he would've almost certainly have been ripped off by private plumbers.

The negative results of his actions haven't hit home yet, they are still living on euphoria. It's only been 7 days. Seeing all the pre-election crap and comments on Farcebook, they are expecting miracles. Give it 3 or 4 months and things don't improve the way they hope, eg. cheaper eggs, gasoline, groceries, etc., and the impact of his policies on the cost of medicines, education, etc. start to hurt, that euphoria will evaporate.

Well, the daughter finished her A Levels (HSC/VCE equivalent) last year. She didn't quite do as well as she expected for one of her subjects, which was her best during the year. In fact, she scored a C (we still use the old letter system here). Bitterly disappointed, her school were fantastic. A little background, the examination boards here are.. privatised.. so any questioning of their results has two impacts - additional cost (less profit) and, if they agree (ie.e conceded, or admit they were wrong), reduced reputation with the government that pays them. She scored a C, and needed a high B or a low A with her other subjects to get into her chosen course. Her teacher was adamant she was at least a low A, and the examination board did concede that they were short staffed (aka didn't pay enough) and for my daughter's region, there was an inexperienced examiner. Our initial "review", which cost us £150 was immediately rejected. So we lodged a formal appeal. I aksed the school if there were others in her class, and she said all of them were poorly marked. I suggested a sort oif class appeal, but because they all got into their chosen courses, or went on to work or for their gap year, no one was interested. So we appealed. It takes some time and was something like £300, with a refind if the appeal is upheld. Designed to keep poorer people from appealing, I guess, we went with the appeal. After reading her paper, and the markers comments, they didn't tally, so I was confident it would get through - just by how much though, and would it be enough? My daughter, rather than travelling and taking a lesser course, decided she would sit a 4th subject. It meant doing a two year subject in one year, but because she was only doing the one subject, it was easy. But, it did cost as it was only available in that format at a private college. She has gone to the first term and then started th second. However, we got the results of her appeal, which I was minded to complain about because it only just took her into the B grade.. And her teacher from the original school is fantastic, called us, and asked if we wanted to challenge the appeal. At this stage, it would go to the local educational authoritym which is the government. My daughter decided to lodge her application for the course she wanted - Law at one of the Russel universities (sort of Ivy leagie of the UK and incudes Oxford and Cambridge - but her chosen university is neither of those). She just got the notice that shed has been accepted unconditionally, and is over the moon, as are all of us! BTW, she cose law all be herself. Both my partner and I agreed to not push or otherwise recommend either child into a vocation/profession - we would advise if they asked. And to top it off, she has just scored herself a temporary job at the local nucelar plant as well (security clearance permitting), paying almost average wage... Good on her.

Yes one must have a benchmark. Nev

On our morning walk, we had a close look at the Young Endeavour. We had a long chat with the Captain. The people in the rigging were doing an exercise where they practised rescuing someone injured in the rigging. The Captain told us all about the "Young Endeavour" program, where they take 24 young people between 16 and 24, and teach them all the skills required to sail this ship. We found this chat to be quite uplifting. Under the scheme, 24 to 30 "youth crew" (aged between 16 and 23) join a voyage to supplement the 9-10 naval personnel from the Mine Warfare, Hydrographic and Patrol Boat Force, which Young Endeavour is attached to.[2][3][6][7] Over 500 youth crew per year participate in the scheme, and are selected for the voyages by a biannual ballot.[6] Each voyage typically lasts ten to eleven days, during which the youth crew rotate through most roles aboard the ship, stand watches, and help with Young Endeavour's operation.[6] Near the end of the voyage, the crew undergoes "command day": a 24-hour period in which the ship is entirely under control of the youth crew.[5] As part of most voyages, the combined crew takes a group of special needs youth on a half-day sail.[6] Between the scheme's inception in 1988 and mid-2018, over 13,500 youth have participated in voyages, while another 11,500 special needs youth have been involved in half-day sails.[6] The vessel is at sea for approximately 240 days per year.[7]

As I've mentioned in passing in a couple of other threads, SWMBO and myself are on holidays in Broome for 12 days. 6 days down, 6 to go, and it's very nice up here, although the place is overrun with rich tourists! SWMBO is always encouraging me to buy a Lotto ticket here and there - but I often resist, because I don't believe the mid-week or Saturday Lotto is good value any more, since they changed the systems so you generally need 3 numbers and at least one supplementary to win anything - and it's usually only $8 or $10, anyway. The only reason I buy Lotto here is because the W.A. Govt owns LotteryWest and all profits are ploughed back into worthy community events, structures, grants - and the RFDS, too, of course. This is far better than lining the pockets of already wealthy people who own shares in a corporate structure such as Tatts. I've bought quite a few mid-week and Saturday Lottos in recent months and years, with very little success. An occasional win of $20 or $30 or $50, and they were few and far between. I like buying Powerpik 7's because you get all the Powerball numbers with that ticket selection, and this system vastly improves your chances of winning something. So, yesterday, I went into the LotteryWest agency near the Town Beach, and bought a Powerpik 7 ticket. I didn't check it until nearly bedtime, and then found I had FIVE winning numbers! Woo-hoo! I looked up the prizes and saw where 5 numbers won $195.25. I said to SWMBO, "Oooh, we've won close on $200 in the Powerball draw! She was chuffed, it's the most we've won on Lotto in about 30-plus years. So, we went down to the Lotto place this morning, placed the ticket in the checking machine, and it came back with THIS!!! I nearly fell over, I had no idea we'd won that much, and it was because I'd missed a number and because I'd forgotten they pay out on all the other smaller winning number combinations, too!!

The bloke is not a down and out cobber struggling against a unfair system. Nor is he a person with a disability and or mental illness that can be treated. He is a sociopath with murderous intent. His sense of self entitlement is complete, sovereign citizen or not he would still be like this. He has jumped on the bandwagon to justify his actions, he would always find a reason to act this way. Irrespective of the societal ecosystem, he would always be a angry defiant violent person. I doubt he will surrender, instead he will try to murder police and feel self justified and see his actions as heroic. I hope they get him alive and no more innocents are hurt. He deserves a life long cell with no opportunity to commit suicide. Sadly is he is killed other nutters will see him as a matyr.

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.

Not sure if this should be in the Trump thread, or in this thread ..... Click on the photo to expand it, if you're having trouble reading it.

But fossil-fuelled vehicles are equally useless! So much for the anti-EV brigade rant. All the people drowned drove their fossil-fuelled vehicles into deep floodwaters. EV's have the same fording depth ability as fossil-fuelled vehicles. I was sitting on 120kmh in my diesel Hilux on the freeway yesterday, heading North to Muchea, when a Tesla came up behind me, going faster. He pulled up level with me for a minute, then took off in an acceleration spurt, that no fossil-fuelled vehicle could ever achieve. The HP ratings of some of the more powerful EV's put IC engines to shame. In floods, there's not much use for any currency, either cash or electronic. You're just looking for food and drinkable water, and hopefully find some rescuer prepared to provide them for free. Money doesn't come into it when rescuing people from life-threatening disasters.

Alternative Energy and a islanded microgrid. Lord Howe Island put in a $12 million dollar solar + battery, 3 years ago. So far they saved 360,000 litres of imported diesel ($2.6 million). That makes it pay for itself in about 5 years. https://arena.gov.au/assets/2024/09/Lord-Howe-Island-Hybrid-Renewable-Project-Public-KS-Report.pdf

A big positive for me. I lost my wallet in a park yesterday in the English Midlands and today I got it back with licence, credit cards and about $400 equivalent in cash. The girl who handed it in at the police station did not leave her name.

Went for a snorkel off Coningham this morning (bloody freezing - 8 degrees on land and felt like not much more in the water) - and my wife got to try out our new waterproof camera. Despite the cold - hanging out with all the little fish was amazing. Schools and schools of them. Plus the occasional big wrasse.

Back to the original thread subject - here's my "positive" report for this week. (SWMBO says I've been too grumbly and short-tempered this week. Might be, because I'm fighting to finish several projects). Thursday night, we went to the W.A. Gravity Discovery Centre, located about an hour N of Perth in the Yeal Nature Reserve, which is halfway between the coastal City of Yanchep, and the rural inland town of Gingin. The night Observatory tour we went on, is called the Adults Only Stargazing Date Night. The tour included dinner, and about 2.5 hrs of stellar and sky discussion and learning. We got there at 6:30PM for a supposedly 7:00PM dinner time, but we were told some people were running a little late, so the dinner start was put back to 7:15PM. We spent 45 minutes checking out some of the site attractions, such as the informative galleries. The whole setup is owned by the University of W.A. and comprises several display galleries as well as a "leaning tower", and the GDC Observatory - which is a retractable roof building housing several large telescopes - which we all got to peer through, to view some of the planets, and some of the more prominent and well-known stars. There were only 5 couples in the tour, and we got a nice meal from the little cafe, with the (pre-ordered) choice of chicken or steak, followed by cheescake dessert. Then we headed off into the darkness (aided by the tour speakers small red light, to ensure our night vision was preserved), to view stars and planets from the Observatory. He had a big green laser pointer which he used sparingly to point out the various celestial bodies of interest, and he waxed on comically for about a couple of hours, talking about star formations and collapses, the various features of planets, the research on Gravity Waves, and a host of other celestial and physics of the Universe that left our heads spinning. He reckoned he'd been doing this for 30 years, so he knew astronomy inside-out! Someone asked a question about satellites and how they affected sky-viewing. He got quite animated about this subject, and especially about Musks Starlink satellites (and he constantly referred to Musk as "Mush"! 😄 ) He talked about how he'd set up cameras to take dozens and even hundreds of shots of the night sky - only to find in the morning, that his sky shots were criss-crossed with satellite trails! - which left criss-cross lines all over his great photos! He said, "about then, you start having homicidal thoughts (about Musk)". 😞 I was staggered to find out, that there's now around NINETY THOUSAND satellites in low Earth orbit! - as against perhaps only a couple of hundred, say 30 years ago. We had an absolutely PERFECT night - a perfectly clear sky, cool to the point of being chilly, no moon (moonrise was around 10:00PM as we finished up), and as dark as we could get, allowing for the fact we were just 70kms out of Perth. Naturally, the City lights glow was still pretty visible on the Southern horizon. All in all, we had a very enjoyable evening, doing something a little different. The Adults Only Stargazing Date Night is currently unavailable, we got the last booking date for the event, for the time being. I'm not sure when there will be another repeat of this event, they might be struggling to get staff to run it, as it appears they rely a lot on volunteers. https://gravitycentre.com.au/

How do we treat the US? From my understanding: We allow them t have their bases here. We historically have a large trade deficit with them (in other words, they have a large trade surplus). That has only changed this year because their ultra wealthy see the writing ont he wall with Chump's policies and are going to a safe asset - gold - and are importing it from all over the world like crazy. We sell them aliminium that they did ot impose tariffs on previously.. but it was not dumped - it was sold at wither prevailing spot price or in accordance with futures or forward contracts (Vance lied when he said we sold subsidised goods); Unti Abbot clamped down on the car industry, we allowed the US car mnanufacturers to claim the 150% R&D tax deduction through transfer pricing R&D and not carrying out anywhere near as much as they claimed they did. Oracle, a large software company still claim their R&D centre in Aus, yet they don't do that much development there. AUKUS. Australia has signed up to $380Bn purchase of something like 8 subs, but have committed soemthing like 8bn just to prop up their ship building industry and we can't get anything back even if the US decide they don't want to supply us.. Most of our defence procurement is spent on the US We have sent troops to fight US wars that have no impact on Australia, and little in local geopolitics We have far more people move to the US for work - called the brain drain - we pay to educate them and the US gets the benefit of that education. And with all of this, we have lost our self-sufficiency in many ways. What does Australia get out of it? A promise (and increasingly unlikely to be honoured) promise that should Australia be invaded, the US may come to our rescue... So, tell me what else do we get from the US and what else do we do to treat the US so badly? So, I would argue we treat them very, very well.. using Chump's vernacular, we treat the US beautifully.. don't we? And they stick it up our arse.

I wonder if the organisers will be able to pull it off.

The hypocrisy is mind blowing. Musk never wears a suit in the Oval Office.

Do you believe in common decency and the right to NOT be invaded GON? The war is supposed to end with Russia withdrawing to it's OWN territory and paying reparations to Ukraine for the loss of lives and property. Any other way, and Putin will just do it again. To put it simply. Putin is that horrible bully who beats up other kids and steals their lunch money. Ukraine has stood up to him and punched him in the nose. The bully is surprised but still trying to use his bigger size to beat up Ukraine and not only steal its lunch money but also its bike. The other neighbourhood kids are standing round watching. Some, like Orban and now Trump, see personal gain in the bully winning. Other, more decent and intelligent kids, know that if the bully wins here then he's going to steal their lunch money eventually. The ONLY way they are all safe is to stand together against that bully, but Trump for base personal gain (and spite for Zelenskyy not doing him a grubby personal favour last time) has walked away from the other kids and is trying to help the bully win. Let me know if this is too complicated.

What a load of tosh

Still can't answer simple questions of your assertions, eh? Have to deflect to something else? What Vance was advocating was hate speech.. the same stuff that led to the riots in the UK on an unfounded lie that attributed a horrible knife attack to asylum seekers, when it was a local person. The lie was perpetrated by Nigel Farage, and accused the police of covering up to protect asylum seekers, when he knew it was an adolsecent and the police cannot release the identity of the accused of under 18s without a court order. To restore peace, the court allowed the identity of the child to be released. Interesting how the community where the choild was killed totally condemned the action and accused thugs from outside of their areas coming an and laying waste to their community - and it is a mostly white community at that. Nigel Farage, as an MP, claimed publicly he had it on good authority that the accused was an asylum seeker. On whose authority did he have? It was Andrew Tate, a right wing mysoginist in jail in Romania on remand for people trafficing charges for prostitution. Funny how there is little consequence for spewing that BS today, and Vance want's more of it. I am all for free speech, but also for the free speaker to be accountable with real consequences when they are intentionally whipping up hatred. And Vance doesn't think that should be the case. BTW, no one is saying people can't say things that aren't true - just keep vilification out of it. I don't think there is a problem with that. But, in response to you "truth hurts".. No, the truth is the truth. And it doesn't hurt per se. I am despondent that despite centuries of progress, and being the wealthiest humanity has ever been, our old foibles seem to remain. Just because Trump won the election, doesn't mean people were right for electing him, anymore than at a time, most people thought the earth was flat, the universe revolved around the earth, and I could go on. People get sucked in all the time. But I am despondent that despite all the information that is at our fingertips, people are still can be polarised, they are too lazy to look at the facts and are prepared to listen to lies that comfort them. It certainly makes thisd person angry: It appears the farmers are starting to have second thoughts on their MAGA saviours: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-usda-funding-freeze-farmers-tiktok-project-2025-2029137. Corporate Americal is having buyers' remorse: And so it goes on. I would say the truth about Trump, which was easily discovered, is starting to hurt. I am, however, despondent.. at so many levels.. not about Trump.. he is a product of his time and population, but how a country that supposedly holds the constitution so dear and freedom.democracy as sacrsanct could descend into 1930's Germany... so easily, when the altnerative was working so much better for the people. The right seem to be better marketers, and let's face it, the fourth arm of government, which is not what Musk was talking about, the press, is paid for by Corporate America - and therefore, the arm of government that who have the most influence are doing who's bidding?

BREAKING: Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center implodes in humiliating fashion as droves of talented celebrities abandon the legendary performing arts center in protest. Trump is radioactive with the people he wants to impress most... Actress Issa Rae announced on Instagram in a brief statement that she is cancelling her "An Evening With Issa Rae" event slated for next month. Tickets will be refunded. "Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue," she wrote. Trump made himself chairman of the center on Wednesday. Earlier this week he removed Biden appointees from the board and rammed in unqualified cronies including Second Lady Usha Vance and White House Chief of staff Susie Wiles. Mega-successful television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes — the woman behind hit shows like Grey's Anatomy, Bridgerton, and Scandal among others — resigned as treasurer of the center's board yesterday. She posted a quote from JFK on her Instagram: "If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him." Legendary soprano Renée Fleming resigned as artistic advisor to the center and while she avoided naming Trump, she praised David M. Rubenstein — the center's former chairman who was ousted. Singer and songwriter Ben Folds stepped down from his role as advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra, which the Kennedy Center oversees. "Given developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I am resigning as artistic adviser to the N.S.O. Mostly, and above all, I will miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra — just the best!" Folds wrote on Instagram. Adam Weiner of the band Low Cut Connie has also canceled an appearance at the center next month. "Upon learning that this institution that has run nonpartisan for 54 years is now chaired by President Trump himself and his regime, I decided I will not perform there," he wrote on social media, adding that friends and fans were going to be "directly negatively affected by this administration’s policies and messaging." This is the kind of rejection that infuriates Donald Trump more than anything. He has long wanted to be accepted by America's cultural elites. Instead, they see him for the cruel, fascist, incompetent failure he truly is.

You literally just described Trump.

Government ministers often meet with leaders from other countries even if they find them objectionable, this is part of their job, The reality is that Trump won and as a country we have to suck it up and deal with it the best we can. It would be absurd if politicians only met with those they admire. Trump seems to loathe Trudeau but met with him and vica versa. It would be a bad politician who did not attempt to further the interests of our country.

All "left wingism" is, is having a social conscience and not deserting the less fortunate and not futher EXPLOITING them like the RW nuts want to do. Trickle down is the BIG LIE.. Changes everywhere ARE to MORE wealth (AND Power) in the hands of FEWER people who were already so rich that they LIVE IN another world ., Unfortunately sufficient is never enough for them. Power corrupts and ALWAYS has. A self enriching Kleptocracy is being created and will be supported by FORCE as in Russia Belarus, Brazil and China. America will be the most extreme of all, IF it goes the way it looks prepared to go. It only Needs a small number of dedicated people in KEY positions to overthrow any Democracy from within because the Nations resources change hands LEAVING IT DEFENCELESS. No one else will intervene to correct it but some might see an opportunity to take advantage of a country FOOLISHLY divided unto itself. Trump already attempted an Insurrection ONCE. That should have been a warning. Now he has motivated many others and having shown them what is possible, THEY will use him at first and then dispense with him once their aim is achieved. (as Trump has done so far with the Inept Republican Party.). excluding Liz Cheney who is at great risk.. Nev

No, he was the president in between the two worst presidents ever.

I see lots of comments on Facebook from people who believe that Trump will save them from the financial problems they are facing, in other words, they voted through their pockets. Unfortunately for the Dems, a number of worldwide circumstances (Covid, Middle East wars, etc.), have caused inflation, and they are blaming the Dems for these effects. I think, when they realise that Trumps policies will increase these problems, not reduce them as he promised, those who jumped ship may change their mind at the midterms. Trump cannot be removed at the midterms, but he may lose control of the House, and possibly even the senate, which will tie his hands. I doubt they would use the 25th Amendment to get rid of him, as that would put Vance in charge. From Wikipedia: Midterm elections historically generate lower voter turnout than presidential elections. While the latter have had turnouts of about 50–60% over the past 60 years, only about 40% of those eligible to vote go to the polls in midterm elections. Historically, midterm elections often see the president's party lose seats in Congress, and also frequently see the president's opposite-party opponents gain control of one or both houses of Congress.