nomadpete

I once applied for a tech job @ Exmouth. The US had handed over ops to Aust ADF, whe handed it over to Contractors. The work was with VLF submarine comms, HF radio, and Sat. I guarantee that no Aust personnel were privy to any comms content. Back when US set up Pine Gap, everything came in on big unmarked grey jets, usually at night. As far as US is concerned, Australia is an untrusted foreign country.

In my working life I drove just about every road in Qld. Numerous times. My territory was from Grafton, west to Birdsville, up to Threeways, across to Torres Strait. As you know, working doesn't really let one see the country properly. So since retirement I've been visiting places that I promised myself to come back to, to see properly. Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, that last one should go into the revised Oxford dictionary. Priceless word for present day polytiks

When I worked in Timor, I saw a family of 5 on a stepthru. No tank for junior, and mum sitting modestly riding sidesaddle on the rack at the back. They show us how underutilised our road transport is.

Thanks Wille. Not the sort of view that Tourism Australia would caption "Where the bloody ell are ya?" But it representative of a bloody lot of our wide brown land. When I first travelled the outback in my teens, all I saw was endless monotony. But the country grew on me. Now, I miss it too. We are heading to that country today.

I hope it has a good subwoofer.

To balance my whinge about hospitals, I must add that in spite of frequent past experiences of looong wait times, our health system is generally good. I attribute this to the exceptional diligence of nursing staff, and doctors. The admin, financing, etc..... well that needs work.

Looks like Iran (or, rather Israel) couldn't wait for Trumps Tuesday Taco. The ink had hardly dried before they suspended the MOU. https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iran-halts-us-negotiations-lebanon-strikes-1803651 Are we still winning.... again?

Don't take it so badly. Soon HE will drop out of the picture and a new face can earn that title. There is quite a queue of similar types waiting in the wings.

Well, yes, and no. Public system is a bit of a lottery. You must have had good timing. I have been taken in to the Royal by ambulance - true, I was not actually at death's door but I was in great pain - and I was ramped on a gurney, in the ER hallway along with other unfortunates. The silly thing about it is that we were technically still under the care of our respective Ambulance staff because we were not yet admitted to the hospital. So we were surrounded by a bunch of First Responders (two to each patient). These were regularly checking on each of us, not the hospital staff. So there was a queue of empty ambulances blocking the driveway, unable to respond to further emergencies.

Speaking of things 'they' track:- Yesterday I received a text to my phone and an email. The AEC sent me this:- "Dear xxxx, The Australian Electoral Commission is contacting you because we have information indicating you need to check your enrolment. Either you are not enrolled to vote, or your enrolment details may be out of date. This might be because you have changed your name or address. The great majority of eligible people in your local area are enrolled to vote.......... Remember that enrolment and voting are compulsory by law." The important thing to remember is the phrase 'we have information indicating you...' They probably know I recently sold a bit of land. Or maybe they received information that I booked my car onto the Spirit of Tasmania to return to the mainland? For those of you who think 'big bro is watching you', you better believe he IS!

Same thing in Tassie. It's your choice as a customer. Option 1:- Go to a private hospital, Pay $400 entry fee, and get medical attention. If you are admitted, your health insurance should pay further costs but not the $400. If you don't have health insurance, brace yourself for subsequent bills. Option 2:- Go to a public hospital, Pay nothing, and sit in the queue in the entry hallway for an unknown (long) time before getting medical attention.

Since we are merrily drifting far from thread title, I ask.... Are those Ural bikes what Russia is presently using for motorbike invasion of Ukraine? I'm guessing the newer ones are built to a higher standard than the early ones?

Oh, great. Just what we need. Another big target on our backs.

I laughed at the suggestion that an average can be decided my a simple 52%. Totally agree the pass mark for legislation should be higher than 51%. Wouldn't work for the initial election but it would encourage realistic debate instead of party bullying. Anyway, back to sympathy. Is it morally acceptable to only have sympathy for some Americans, based on their (unknown) voting?