Jerry_Atrick

Not much for the women to look at in those temperatures

Oh my.. maybe I had better stay put And they're on special at the moment.. Or maybe I'll export them back to aus?

Throw any pollie's statue in the mix

Same land area, and thanks to resources, could have same productivity.. but mus more of our land is a lot less hospitable. Many of these states would have a lot if overrepresentation and can you imagine the premiers conferences?

One of the greats

Those Tim Tams neve make it to the border..

Oh, no... that is not all I come for... You see, I can only get traditional, salted caramel (yuk!) and dark (yuk!) Tim Tams here... I can't get white, chewy caramel, or double coat... So, I come to Aus for far more than I can get here Not to mention, the fishing, better lifestyle, wine, food, scenery, travel without needing a passport, etc etc.

I genreally agree with @kgwilson. Japan was the first to really to what China is doing today; then Taiwan (which to some, is China). India had a go, but never really got there, although they are a powerhouse, it is more through population size and cheap labour than technological advances and innovation. China is the new kid on the block, but while the US (and the rest of us) are packing our dacks, there are a few reasons why we should be alert: The Chinese government has an active influence in day to day operations of companies it is interesteed in. They have recently arbitrarily detained leaders of companies that ddidn't bow to their demands (Jack Ma, for example) and they will use coercion and threats and "the law" to achieve outcomes they are interested in. The Chinese heavily subsidise their industries extensively - well except the companies that may fall into the first point and don't acquiesce to the governemnt. This is pretty well document and the CCP have admitted it, for tactical reasons apparently, whatever that means. The labour market is artifically suppressed: One of the differences between more free-market economies is that the Chinese government totally controls the labour market. When you have arbiotrary power, you use it. One of the probelms is that in an economy like China, as it becomes wealthier, wages and conditions would rise, as they did for Japan and Taiwan, and the cost side of the equiation would more or less balance itself out against peer economies (of which the US and Europe as a whole, are). However, wages and other employee costs are kept artifically low to keel the price competitive both at home and abroad. Not to mention that the current Chinese government is starting to try and flex geopolitical muscle, there is little wonder, the US and its allies are tetchy

They always forget the last one.. the budget provided, which has half a frayed rope dangling from the tree

It must be time for me to go and buy an anaroak, as I have found myself putting on drivers views from one railway station to another (usually in Aus) for background listening/watching. I find them quite cathartic mostly... Here's one heading from Melbourne (Southern Cross) to Albury.. weaving through North Melbourne it looks like... Except for the odd foghorn which startles me, quite relaxing.

Maybe they should have crank handles again, generating the electricity to recharge the batteries.

That's the trick, though, isn't it. A Welcome to Country ceremony with free biccies (preferaby Tim Tams ) and no one would complain 😉

I don't agree that religion has nothing to do with the cause of the conflict; I think it is one of the main causes. We talk about the current ME conflict as if it has only realy been going on since WWII, and that there was a bit of Zionism before it... But why Zionism, and why the ME.. Because of religion. And if you look at history throughout the ages, religion has been the excuse, and the cause of many a conflict. The three Abrahamic religions have been going at it for milleinia. And then you even have diffferrent branches within the same religion going at it hell for leather. Religion, which is, IMNSHO, just another form of tribalness - after all they can't all be right int hat theirs is othe only right religion. You have a ready made foprm of discrimination - them and us, when there is nothing else to discriminate against. And bloodshed has been borne on that basis in that region and beyond for millenia.

Plug it in to your EV

Any car that gas a SIM has exactly the same issue.. such as my mini

King of spades?

Your computer and phone also track you. Google famously recorded people through their Chrome browser. Apple has admitted tracing through their phones and so on. Not sure what BYD will get from my driving

Pete, I am sure you and I crossed paths at some stage if your family had a milk bar in Pascoe Vale.. I used to go there toget out of Glenroy! 😉 I still have my old Olympus OM2 somewhere. Loved it. Bought it second hand and I could not take adecent photo for love nor money. Took it to a camera shop and to took them a microsecond after looking into the viewfinder to realise the light meter was stuffed. I can't remember how much it was, but I was broke on my part time job salary for a few weeks. I had a Lucky B&W enlarger, the dark bags, a developing canister, the checmicals, trays, tongs; had the lot. We balcked out the laundry when I was developing and printing. Loved it. Used Ilford Chems and paper almost exclusively. Traded up to colour processing - sort of.. The next door neighbour who moved in was right into photogrpahy and build a dark room with all the kit. I shudder to think hoe much it cost, and doing everything in the complete dark was an experinece.

Ahh.. yes.. Meta... Forgot about that one.

New gripe.. Had an oral assessment of NSW Crim law today (this morning, my time). I must be getting old. Only had 2 hours sleep for various reasons - normally wouldn't impact me, but I totally forgot to add in mens rea as an element to the new crime of coercive control.. and even forgot, or couldn't articulate the Macquarie Dictionary meaning of coercion. FFS! 15 days to the exam.. I better get working!

One of the problems, as Peter points out is Hamas hides behind its civilian population. The cuting off, of water supplies (and electricity) is because Israel supply these to Gaza and they wanted to force Hamas out. I may be wrong, but I think they are reconnected, and I am dubious if the intention was solely directed at Hamas (in other words, try anf force the population to give up Hamas positions). The food and medical supplied weren't cut off per se; it was too dangerous to bring them in. This of course, could be semantica, but the Egyptians weren't too happy about letting them in the via the Rafah gate in case Palestinians get out. As a Palestinian citizen who wants nothing to do with the war, it is a sad plight. Given the Israeli (Mossad?) ingenuity, I would tend to agree it is using unreasonable force and they could be more targeted, at least now. But they still have hostages in Gaza and they may noit know exactly where they are. Blowing up a building that they have intelligence tells them there are tunnels underneath where Hamas is located may seem excessive, but a country doesn't want to unnecessarily risk its fighting force to save civilians from the other side. This is the same with virtually all wars. If the building is an operational cerntre for the enemy military, then all bets are on.. This has been done in many wars. I am not defending indiscriminate targeting; and given the Israelis seem adept at infiltration, they should probably use it more, but they should balance that against the risk to their own military personnel. Obviously not; I had not heard of the Stern Gang, but I did know it was the Irgun who blew up the King David hotel. Be that as it may, the amount of terrorism they have performed is hardly enough to tar the Zionists with the systematically terrorist brush, is it? I agree, there is too much collaterial damage, but where does one draw the line, and what would it take to get Hamas and Hezbollah (and Iran, while you're at it) to the negeotioating table in good faith? At this stage, it would be hard to get Israel there, too, although I would hazard to guess if their objectives were met (destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah, and it seems the Houthis as well), then Israel wouldn't seek to exterminate or move the rest of the Palestinians, et al. While it is a bad look for Israel, imagine if the upper hand went the other way.. I wouldn't like to be a peaceful Israeli citizen of Jewish extraction in that case. I think it would be a lot worse - but I could be wrong. I am also not sure about the war crimes. The ICJ (or was it the ICC) focused on the invasion, I think, but they stopped short of calling it a war crime, as I recall. The assertion is with the killing of the civilians, Israel are committing war crimes (on a systematic basis; I am sure individual war crimes are being committed - as they have been by members acting individually rather than on command, of every country at war). As far as I am aware, there is no duty to protect citizens form the fallout of a conflict - the duty is not to target them or unreasonably deny them the flow humanitarian requirements (there is no obligation to provide it). Collective punishment is a war crime, and the turning off the water and electricity may have fallen fouls of that, but interestingly, South Africa did not bring that to the ICJ.

I am waiting for the degenerate AI 😉

Whenb I first arrived in the UK.. there were no Freddo Frogs.. But after a couple of years they started supplying them in the shops. However, I think they are made locally as they do not taste the same. Usually, I find the chocolate here better than Aus (Global suppliers use the US recipes in Aus rather than the European ones). But the Freddos here are positive rubbish; the ones in Aus, at least last time I tried one, are much better.

I though her performance was reasonably good (I am not into all the effects and dacing stuff they do these days). I would have preferrred the 'Stones, but can they do it anywhere near as good as they did? And will the audience relate to them as well as Katy.. I know my now young adult kids would not have watched it if teh Rollign Stones were palying (and I was not badgering them). Anyway, there are 4 Rolling Stones. and 1 Katy Perry.. At $5m each, the Rolling Stones on a per capita basis are the same cost 😉 (I wonder how much of that $20M is travel insurance for the over 70's)

I doubt very much. .Best case is there is a succession plan; worst case is there isn't and some even more fanatcial figurehead arrives or the groups splinter.. and we end up with another ISIS and/or Al Queda.