Jerry_Atrick

I would suggest someone has done the maths and decided it costs more to administer a means-tested system and then combat the attempts at fraud then lining those that don't need it and just let it ride. How many biollionares and cash flow positive millionaires (i.,e. not people who are asset rich and cash poor) do we have as a % of the population. Of course, they could dor it diffrerently, but, here's the rub.. those uber wealthy people will regail in that $300 as much, iof not more than the pauper just getting by. They love money and it doesn't matter how little or how they come across it.. When I finally get to Aus and see you in a local, let me explain how I know (and no, I am not part of a family or any other dynasty).

Good try, OME,but thee is no comma after his BUT

Intuitively, I tgend to agree with OIME.. If the murder rate is reducing as a percentage of population and immigration is a signficant factor of population growth, then does it not stand to reason it is likely that, if anything, those of different ethnic cultures are probably even lower than the median per 100K?

This was as of Monday Builders hopefully will have a steel beam up this week Then the rest comes out including the two walls in the picture which will open up a 70sqm space which will become the open plan kitchen informal dining and living room.

Quite Frankly, it's a f*king disgrace. Really.. every time I get close to moving to Aus they show me why I left in the first place

Sorry.. had to larf

Not to menton bein used by the dark web criminals.

The issue is that the money that is collected has to tbe invested... Making life better for everyone doesn't necessarily provide a financial return to the investor or asset manager. For example, building enough shelters for homeless people oesn't pay the rent and then it would require the government to puchase the shelters, which they don't have a bottomloess pit for. Of course, it then becomes a priorotisation call by the government, and ulimatelu, in a democracy anyway, society (did we really vote in messrs Abbot and Morrison knowing full well what they are like?). But, as an asset manager (not that I am one), I am not going to build and operate homeless shelters unless I am goingg to get a return.

While that is true (and I used to work on some sim software for mines years ago). it os one of many segments, and, we have to remember, Australia usually allows foreign ownership of such companies (the company I wored for is now in Japanese hands). On the Warren Buffet angle, he is what is known as a value investor. One of the problems with market valuations is that more money is pouring into the markets throug things like super being available and, in Australia's case, mandated for most of the workforce. This goes to asset managers who hate having cash on their books. So, it creates a demand for investments for which the supply doesn't change much.. Result - higher prices. Of course, that's an oversimplification, but it is one of the issues.. there's simply too much, and of course, being based on human beaviour, sometimes becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (or profity). There is no reason that bitcoin should attract the current valuation it does, which is c. USD$62K/coin as I speak. You can't even spend it everywhere. Yet the market has become this self-fulfilling prophecy that assigns value to it.. When you think about it, they are electrons.. that is it.

BTW, Vale Cam McCarthy who I am assuming took his life at 29 years of age after suffering a mental illness.. A truly gifted footballer.

To be honest, they did tease me this time... And I did deviate from my formula, which is part of the reason I am down.. I wasn't entirely happy with my bets this round as most of the games were amongst relative equals. And it proved why I should stick with the plan.. After my Friaday night losses, I just had a niggly feeling that Adelaide and Hawthorn would get over the line, and Collingwood was a set, in deference to any match fixing against West Coast (that game paid 1.05)So, a bit of luck as both the Hawks and Adelaide game could have gone either way - very much so as Adelaide and Brisbane drew, which meant I got my money back. There are a couple of potential sweet ones next week; need to check who is in and out before making the decision. But, this week provided a salient lesson - stick to the plan and if there is no opportunities according to the plan, head down to the local airfield or something. I am going to watch the Hawks bathe in the glory of propping up my balance this week...

Well, this round wasn't my best, so I decided to do a Nick Leeson and double down, bit in a risk averse way. I felt the Hawks were going to win, and they did, netting be a 2.5x return off a relatively small bet, but enough to almost cover the losses. My investment: James Packer, eat your heart out! I am £20-ish down on last week.. Have almost enouogh to take the family out to a nice dinner around here. (or, about half way to an hour in the Warrior)

https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/country-studies/india/ Back to the reno... in which I feel a bit of a slave.. Not really; terrible joke when you consider those that do live in such conditions. OK.. as usual, there are going to be setbacks and we have had our first.. Delay in the flooring. Darn it, Also a week delay in teh builder coming to do the steels in the kitchen, so we delayed destroying the kitchen by a week. Into it today, but it has been more packing. Tomorrow is the destroying. But, we have to put Acrow props through the kitchen floor and the basement ceiling to the basement floor. And, right where we needed to put the acrows are where all of our rads are stored. So I had to move 20 rads of roughly 45kgs each )some more, some less) to the other side of the basement without a trolley. F! Well, I did it, and I am poopered. Am still sweating. Steels are in next week... when done, I will take some photos...

Just Google email hosting and let me know before you buy which ones you think are best..

Hmm.. I am thinking of changing my email address. I have been with yahoo for years - long before gmail and others were a twinkle in their creators' eyes. I remember people suggesting I should change because gmail has released calendars (been using then in yahoo for ages), a messaging app (yep, yahoo had that, too), and many more features where gmail seemed ot be copying yahoo. It did go through a rough patch for aboput 6 months after an ownership change where it wasn't sending or receving email reliably and it did start to fall behind on the services offered - after all, they decided to become a content business and stop their search engine, which although older than Google, wasn't quite as good as Googles. They had fallen behind what Google offered. But, I persevered as it is a faff to change primary email addresses. But now, I really am tiring of yahoo's email, because, it no longer filters spam and scams like it used to.. and it is not entirely sophisticaed email spoofing/phishing that is getting through. I have had emails from amazon.uk where if I hover over the from address field, it is clearly a naff email. Screwfix is a hardware supplier I buy a lot of stiff from and I have been receiiving scam emails from those so badly purporting to be them, that I can hardly make out it is supposed ot be from them. Yet, they appear in my inbox and not my spam box. I like yahoo normally.. Their finance content is very good (they have an API that allows me to programatically get prices and volumes to determine my other "betting" addiction). They no longer have all the other apps they used to, and they have even got rid of their calendar.. but their email was fine. But, it is time to say see you later... But, I am dreading the experience.. as @willedoo has had above. I have been searching for some utility to make it esasier even if I have to pay.. but not yet... I'll keep you posted.

Well, my experiment took a setback today.. the games I wagered on were played this eve... Thankfully I didn't bet the lot - still 50% up on my initial investment, but a loss by a point and another by a goal... Good days and bad... Can relax for the rest of the weekend.

When I had my appendix out at 16 years of age, my room mate was a St. Kilda player. I thought they're not that tall while he was laying there.. When he got up to leave, I could just about make out his eyes he was that tall. I am sure he needed oxygen up there.

I am guessing you are with Telstra.. Why wouldn't they just credit your account unless you specifically requested a refund - which I guess you hadn't

Arms

Isn't it amazong how the smallest thing can lift one's spirits. I had a sneak preview of my annual review, which was fine, but measuring me in my current role, which I have not formally been promoted for. It is supposed to measure me at my current level, so the ratings should have been a tad higher. I was feeling pretty gloomy about the prospect of coming into work to be honest because that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. There have been transformations at work, and not for the better. I was shuffling through the barriers at Waterloo station looking down and thinking "what an I doing here?", when I heard a small bump of plastic falling on the floor. A lady and dropped her spectacles and was totally oblivious to it. I was the second person to walk past them, but just picked them up and caught up with her and handed them back. She was so grateful because without them she would not have been able to work. It instantly transformed my gloominess back into optimistic satisfaction... such a small thing can do that.

Generally, I agree that institutionalised gambling is an ill. But how many play the lottos and don't even really see it as such. On the other hand, it can be just a bit of fun as long as one doesn't have an addictive character.. I am using my risk management rather than fund management skills. But for me, it is an interesting experiment. My investment started at £50. I know have £133-ish give or take in my account after four rounds. If I lose it all this week (doubtful as there is only one game I am thinking of betting on), then my £50 loss has given me quite a few hours of entertainment and exercising the brain at the same time. Because I am not just glibly following my team or some commentator's recommendations; I am trying to apply risk management to see how good it actually is (we back test our models, but until something like the economy breaks, it is hard to see if our back tests are right or wrong). For me, it's just an interesting experiment (I have already written off the £50). I would not recommend someone try and make a living out of it, because it can all be lost in a minute. It is not unlike futures in, say commodities; that is a zero sum game, and when you invest in them, you leverage up - it is part of the practice. And in the same way as a sports bet, you can lose it all - and more because of the leverage. But, there is probably the same amount of probability and risk as sports betting, and I am sure the normal potential returns on futures isn't as high as sports betting. I do know of a bloke years ago who was able to pay cash for a fairly nice property in Melbourne on the beach front (between St Kilda and Elwood) on a salary less than me at the time.. Another bonus here.. winning on gambling (even the lotto) is tax free. We'll see how I go..

Same.. Was that me you observed?

When I was a kid, the only sports I saw betting on was the horses - trots or races. These days, you can bet on any sport, even while it is in play. And if you have a programming flair, sites like betfair allow you to write algorithmic betting software to bet, often directly with other punters. And I know a few who do this in their spare time when they are not trading or risk managing trading. A couple of years ago, I decided to inject £50 into a betting account. I got that £50 to about £120 before losing it all. I was betting on the AFL and I happened to pick a weekend where all the favourites I picked were beaten and the upsets I picked didn't materialise. So much for my footy-betting prowess. I wasn't trying to make money - it was just to see how far I would go.. I think it lasted something like 5 rounds. Last season, I was going to try again, but lost interest. This year, I figured I would try again, but this time to try and make money. Once my £50 is done, it is done. But, this time I was going to come up with a propert strategy. I am not going to write software and betfair it; don't have time for it. My idea is if I can make 15% return each week compounded, then after 23 weeks (from round 4, includes finals), it will return my c. £1,240. While I can definitely lose it all, and probably will, it is not a bad risk adjusted return on investment. My strategy is simple. The team I pick has to return at least 15% on the bet, and I have to be aroun 98% certain they will win. I don't rely on knowing the teams intimately.. I waited until round 4 so I could see how the respective teams performed. I then simply track who is out injured and who is back. I don't bet evertthing every week - in fact this last round, I only bet on one team. If the odds are close enough, I may go for a lower probabilty (say 70% chance) and hedge the other way.. The minimum odds have to retyurn 40% for me to do this, otherwise, it is not worth it. I don't listen to the so called experts and I don't spend hours puring over the papers and TV looking at the form. Round 8 just finished. There was niot one game in that round that gave me more than 95% confidence of a win - not even the saints over the roos, And ayway, the return was 3% - a return hardly worth the risk.. A couple of times, my spidey senses went with the upset.. Geelong against Brisbane at the Gabba.. that return me 150%, and the first truly speculative bet this season; a whole £9.35 of the hawks to beat the dogs at at 250% return.. and they came home (I was going to bet more, but decided to play it safe). After 5 rounds, I am not quite up the trajectory I want to be as I don't bet everything.. But I am 166% up and given the last round was a waste in terms of placing bets, that is not a bad return. This round is also hard to pick.. I will wait for the teams to be announced and see what happens.. What I loke about muy system is one doesn't need to know the sport.. it is about observing the overall form of the teams and being informed of the ins and outs that week.. It ouwldn;t work with something like baseball where they play over 100 games a season, or soccer over here. because the lists are not consistent enough. But anything else, it should work.. And yo can bet on virtually any sport these days.

You're right to question it, Bruce. A lot these days is anti-social media.

Yes, though threw my back out moving that large kitchen cabinet, so not much today... just cleared some more dishes into the room where the cabinet is.. We aren't replacing the flooring in the bottom two photos - they are elm boards and you can't get them anymore (not new, anyway and second hand they are a king's ransom). The top two photos are the kitchen flooring - it is very old pine and rotted in some places. We are ripping it up and puttinng engineered oak in - which will make it look amazing, one hopes. The elm will be sanded.. There is some pine finishing, but we will use a light oil seal to try and keep the colours similar and hopefully not look too different. Sparky, whios is a mate, was in today, and happily, there is very little earth leakage; We will have to bring it up to spec with the boards and breakers (I have to look up what we are getting).. 22222222