old man emu

Overnight on Sunday we got about 3mm, but then the rains started during the day and kept up into the evening. I don't have a guage, so I can't say how much we got, but whenyou look at data from around about, it would seem that 30 - 45 mm was common. There wasn't enough rain to create running flows, but at least the topsoil is wet. It is too late around here to plant Canola and teh sub-soil moisture might not be enough for cereal crops. With the price of diesel and fertilizer, it is going to be a gamble if anyone does crop this year. One thing you have to remember is that, while you might get a good healthy growth of wheat plants, it takes a lot of water for those plants to fill seeds, which is how you get the tonnages you want from a crop.

One day there will be no Trump. What will we do with this thread then?

Meanwhile, back in Washington D.C., the defrauding of the US taxpayer goes on. A famous landmark in Washington is the Lincoln Memeorial reflecting pool The pool is basically a concrete lined wading pool. It is only about 60 cm deep. To be honest, as anyone who has owned a pool of this construction knows, eventually the base cracks and the pool leaks. That is what has happened. The pool was in bad shape and leaking huge amounts of water each year. So it has to be fixed. It's a big job with realistic cost of around $US10 million. As with all governments work like this should be granted by tender. However, Trump had the contract made without going to tender. The successful contractor was, in Trump's intial statement, " a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools". During his Oval Office press conference, Mr Trump said the project would cost "less than $2 million". But the project contract actually turned out to be for $US6.9 million ($9.7 million). And earlier this month, it was hiked up to $US13.1 million ($18.3 million). Trump's reason for not calling for tenders was that the job needed to be done as quickly as possible so as to be finished before the 250th Anniversary celebrations in July. A "no-bid" contract was given to a company called Atlantic Industrial Coatings. The contract was awarded under an exemption meant for urgent situations to prevent "serious injury, financial or other, to the government". Called out on this no bid deal, Trump wrote, "I didn't give out the contract, 'Interior' did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before". Then there is the colour. The pool's dark basin, a signature feature" since it opened in 1924, was designed that way to create the illusion of greater depth and a more profound reflection. Trump says the precise shade he has requested for the pool surface is "American flag blue". It's a big area to be painted and anyone who has painted large areas knows it takes lots of paint and the colour can change between batches. "'Splotchy blue' is how I would describe the colour," said Mike, a local video producer. Trump's chosen blue "is more appropriate to a resort or theme park" "Trump has shown no respect for history," said Mike, the video producer. A local non-profit, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, has filed a lawsuit to halt work, arguing proper processes were not followed. Trump is the "boy named sue".

I loved Xi's expressionless face when he was with Trump. Or should I say very expressive face. Every time I saw Xi's face, I just read, "If I give this fwit enough rope, he'll hang himself." Xi was the stereotypical "inscrutable Asian gentleman".

Isn't it amazing how the Information Highway has led us to a destination where we have contempt for those who tell us that they are working for our benefit?

In the fairytale, Rumplestiltskin, he makes a deal with the proncess. The deal is, he'll spin the straw into gold for which she'll give him her first-born child. Reeks of paedophilia, doesn't it?

The US economy is like a blockage in a drainage system. What backs up behind it keeps other countries afloat. If the blockage breaks down, then all those other economies will go down the gurgler too.

Remember when we had a third party - the Democrats? That was before the Greens, wasn't it? We also had the Democratic Labor Party, and the Communist Party.

It is true that the Plan was instituted when Obama was President, but it was not a US-only plan. It was a plan made in cooperation with the UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany and accepted by Iran. Considering that the plan was to limit Iran's ability to enrich uranium to weapons grade, and that Iran hated Israel so strongly, it is not hard to form an opinion as to which country pressured Trump to withdraw the USA from the plan. Biden during his term tried to reverse what Trump had done in pulling the USA out.

That's because the other nationalities were mainly European, or Americans who had come from the Californian gold fields.

Actually, Obama himself did not make the deal. That's the lie that Trump is telling. That deal was made by international cooperation with many countries. The Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a landmark 2015 agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany) designed to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief. At the time, Obama was President, but I bet the deal had to be approved by Congress. In any case, as soon as Trump got into power in his first term, he pulled the USA out of it. That plan set a few end dates for the agreement and some of those dates came up in 2025. Therefore the plan is up for renegotiation. Because Trump pulled the USA out of the P5+1, the USA has no legitamate status in any future discussions. Here is another link I found that will provide you with information about the JCPOA. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/what-iran-nuclear-deal

Another day, another consequence. Trump imposed an embargo on the delivery of fuel supplies to Cuba, and threatened to impose tariffs on any country supplying Cuba with fuel. Cuba has now run out of fuel. It has no power. It is a humanitarian disaster. But it's going to be OK. Trump said he was going to take over Cuba after he had finished with Iran. History has recycled to October 1962 - the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Xi gives Trump the cold shoulder. When Trump arrived in China, no high level Chinese dignatory was there to greet him. Think about that! Here's the "Leader of the Free World" arriving in a country, and he is not greeted by anyone of note. Compare that reception with that given to Obama 2015. I was looking for a video of Trump's arrival, but those I saw failed to point out the snub.

You know it's dry when the weeds are dying. I know that Rain, Rain, go away is Top of the Pops down south, but I won't be singing it.

I won't believed that it has rained until I see it in the rain guage. Also the BOM's definitin of rain is any drops falling from the sky. My definition is the creek rising.