kgwilson

In 1915 the population of NZ was only 1.1 million & 10% served overseas, way more than anywhere else. There are some wonderful stories of the Maori boys at Gallipoli who always performed a Haka before going in to battle. Scared the crap out of the Turks but they got shot to bits like the rest of our lot due to the crap idea and tactics employed. The Maoris invented guerilla warfare but were prevented from using such tactics there.

The red one looks to have a giant bottle of plonk on top or maybe it's a molotov cocktail. Good to fry a few jihadists.

There is no age limit, just competency and medically fit. I read an article somewhere about a bloke from Victoria who was still flying a Tiger Moth at 96.

In the march quarter the spot price for Electricity in South Australia and Victoria went negative a number of times as there was so much generation from renewables. That makes coal fired coal super expensive as the plants can't be slowed or stopped and the costs (and polluants) contine as normal. "The low level of demand, and the big increase in large scale wind and solar meant that the number of negative or zero pricing events increased dramatically. These zero and negative pricing events occurred in one in eight dispatch periods across the main grid in the first quarter, and in more than half the time in the daylight hours in South Australia and Victoria. Between 9am and 5pm, wholesale electricity prices in South Australia, which averaged nearly 80 per cent wind and solar over the quarter, were zero or negative in 60 per cent of dispatch intervals, and 55 per cent of intervals in Victoria, which has the next strongest share of wind and solar in its grid." https://reneweconomy.com.au/record-wind-and-solar-deliver-lower-prices-loosen-coal-and-gas-dominance-over-grid/

Wasn't it a 1920s Indian Scout (heavily modified) that Burt Munro broke the world speed record on that still stands?

I don't think honorable is a word that can describe any religion. They all need your money and then set about using it for purposes other than what they tell you.

I have a number of friends in the Ulysses club. Their motto is "Grow old disgracefully". You have to be 40+ to join. Ulusses is the largest social club in Australia. They ride everything usually large and expensive including a lot of Harleys and love motorcycling & often do charity runs etc.

I wonder if Honda gave them any sponsorship or bikes to ride?

Yes I agree, it is all about "What's in it for Me" from Xi.

While the counter attack is imminent but no-one other than the Ukrainians know when or where, there have been a few thing happening as a precursor. Ukraine has crossed the Dneiper in the Kherson region and a long line of Russian defensive trench systems appears abandoned. Russian supply depots in different towns seem to get attacked every few days by Ukrainian artillery or missiles probably due information received from local partisans & marine drones have attacked Russian Navy ships in Sevastopol again. Now Xi Jinping has been on the phone to Zelenskyy apparently for 2 hours to try to get a peace deal under way. Zelenskyy is saying positive things about the call while proclaiming it can only occur once Russia retreats behind its borders as he has always said & China has now publicly stated that it supports preservation of the original national boundaries. Things are beginning to get very interesting.

I was told a long tome ago that 90% of Harley Davidsons ever made were still on the road. The rest made it home.

I remember the banana boat song from when I was a kid. The song was released in 1956. I just looked it up. It is a traditional Jamaican folk song with the verses repeated multiple times with "Day-o, day-o" and "Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day-o" interspersed throughout. I've never forgotten it. A great man, musician and civil rights activist. He was a vocal critic of G W Bush and Trumps policies. Work all night on a drink of rum (Daylight come and we want go home) Stack banana 'til the morning come (Daylight come and we want go home) Come Mister tally man, tally me banana (Daylight come and we want go home) Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch (Daylight come and we want go home) A beautiful bunch of ripe banana (Daylight come and we want go home) Hide the deadly black tarantula (Daylight come and we want go home)

If he does run & win he'll be 85 by the end of his term. Having a geriatric in the top job surely is not a good idea though infinitely better than having an orange complete nutcase liar there I guess.

LNPs lobby groups paid and paid handsomly to keep them in power. Lobby groups like the fossil fuel industry want the pound of flesh they have paid for and the LNP rolls over every time. The moderates saw this but there were too many on the right to stop it, the squabbling began to get worse, the Independents arose from the ashes & the rest is history. Dutton & Ley are living in a differnt world now where their support base is reducing daily and they still continue with the same baseless rhetoric.

Dame Edna was more famous than Barry himself. Personally I thought Sir Les was his most hilarious character. Barry was a legend. RIP.

I keep saying it but will again. Every initiative from governments and various authorities to date has failed. If the No vote gets up that is a vote for failure. The Voice may not be a perfect solution but I think it is an important first step. The scare mongering from the political Right has shown their lack of understanding and fear that their power might be usurped. Almost every time Dutton & his puppet Price, open their mouths the drivel is almost immediately debunked.

Their only good use in years gone by was for fish & chip wrapping. Now they are no good for this either.

The other voting machine company Smartmatic has a $US2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox so they may settle for a similar of maybe larger amount.

BTW Robert Gottliebsen is a wealthy right wing business and investment commentator who works for the Murdoch press. His comments and attitude are entirely predictable.

The point of the voice is simple to me. Every government since federation has failed first nations people. None of the closing the gaps and other government initiatives have worked because the white majority governments make the decisions and don't involve those who they purport to help even if they say they do. The voice just provides an avenue to government for their opinion on issues that affect them. The voice will be from their tribes/mobs etc and not from a few whitewashed black faces. We made them what they are as we are their conquerers. We gave them alcohol, tried to make their 60 thousand year old cuture change to suit our ideals, took away their children, the list is endless. The Voice may not be perfect but nothing has worked in the past and it is a good first step. If the Voice does not get up it will prove that Racism and discrimination is still in the majority and nothing will change for the better.

The Soviets bypassed the Crimea in 1943-44 and waited until German supply lines were too far away and they were in full retreat. On the 10th of April 1944 the Soviets took Odessa. The day before on the 9th they began their assault from the North on Crimea as well as from Kerch. By the 16th they were on the outskirts of Sevastopol & the Germans had evacuated 67,000 troops to Romania by then. If Ukraine is able to completely cut Russian supply lines, they will isolate the Russians in Crimea & they will have no option other than to evacuate as the Germans had to. If that happens it is the beginning of the end for the Russian invasion. Why Russia has created all of the beach fortifications in Crimea seems to display a complete failure to understand how to defend the place.

The occupation of Chunuk Bair happened at night as the Ottomans had abandoned it. The Wellingtons had been ordered to attack on th 7th but their CO refused to send his men there during daylight as he considered that to be suicide. The Wellingtons got there before dawn, found it abandoned & had fully occupied it by 8am on the 8th. That part is correct. They certainly did not return to the beaches for tea. Their CO was killed later that day by our own artillery or Naval guns. I have read the full history of the NZ campaign. It is heart wrenching with many personal accounts written by men who were there which shows their absolute dedication and bravery and gives me immense pride but with incredible sadness for their ultimate sacrifice. I've never really recovered from my visit to Gallipoli in 1975 and have never missed an Anzac day parade since. The full Gallipoli Campaign history from the NZ perspective is HERE The taking of Chunuk Bair is in Part 5 "The Sari Bair Offensive" which is HERE

The highest point ever taken at Gallipoli was Chunuk Bair on the 8th of August 2015 by the Wellington Battallion of the Anzac division who arriived there just before dawn. They fought off constant attacks all day firing their rifles till the fully wooded stocks of their 303s became too hot to hold. Of the 760 men of the Wellingtons who reached the summit 711 became casualties. They were relieved that evening by British troops and Ottoman forces recaptured the summit on 10th of August. This was part of the famous battle of Lone Pine. There is a NZ movie from 1992 called Chuk Bair. The Russians seem to have similar tactics that continued in Stalingrad when they lost over 1 million troops in 1942-43. Weight of numbers does work but the cost is horrendous. They are still using this century old tactic but at Stalingrad they were fighting for their motherland. In Ukraine they are in another country & many of them don't know what they are fighting for.

The casualties at gallipoli were horriffic on all sides but the Ottoman empire suffered the most by far with over 250,000 killed or wounded compared to 27,000 French and 115,000 British, NZ, Australian, Indian & new Foundland. A total of 392, 856 died for nothing.

And then there is the industry of tatoo removal that has sprung up. Some sort of laser treatment to remove unwanted tatoos that stupid people get done & regret years later.