old man emu

A vassal state is a nation that is nominally independent but has its sovereignty significantly limited by a more powerful, dominant state. While it often manages its own internal affairs, it relies on the dominant power for protection and is subservient in matters of foreign policy, defense, and trade. I am furious at what our Governments, on both sides, have allowed to happen. Without telling us, they have made Australia a target in any confllct in the Indo-Pacific region. It's probably a case of "out of sight, out of mind" since much of what is depicted in this video occurs in the sparsely inhabited northern regions of the country.

He was on a spinner winner!

He might have had his nose in places it should not have been, but our Constitution would not have permitted Trump-like behaviour. That's why I say countries which operate under constitutions similar to ours are more democratic than the USA. I suppose the framers of the US Constitution did not want to have a kinglike head of State as that reeked of the British system. It is strange that so many of the US politicians degrees in Business Mangement, but are reluctant to monitor the operation of the Constitution for the purposes of improvement. It seems to me that they only make amendments in response to problematic incidents.

I'm noticing a new trend in short YouTube videos. There is a lot coming up which show Obama's behaviour towards people, or his sense of humour. They show a very positive image of a person.

No. Just review it' - tidy it up by including the OK amendments as Sections. I think that what Trump has been doing is reason to reconsider the role of the Head of State and the House of Representatives in their roles in running the country. Trump has removed the ability to run the country from the Representatives. They could still keep their system for electing a President, but restrict a President's power to act as Trump has been acting.

I've got an idea for gun control in the USA! Invoke the spitir of teh Second Amendment which says "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The spirit of that amendment was to provide secutiry for the State. Therfore, make it a condition of gunownership that a person join a militia unit and attend training that leads to the unit being well regulated. If a person does not do that, then no firearm. People would find it too inconvenient to give up their time for that, and so would hand in their firearms.

I think that the only thing that can save the democracy of the USA as it moves into its second 250 years is a review of its Constitution. A review and rewriting would permit amendments which have had to be made to be presented in a more organised way, and some of the recinding amendments removed. I think that a new constitution should make the format of the government similar to ours and most other democracies. That is, the People's House should be the place where the people who run the country do their work. That's where the person responsible for the various ministries report back to the representatives of the People. There could be a House of Review to monitor laws proposed by the representatives. Finally, the Head of State should be as apolitical as possible, and have no power to make the sort of Orders that we have seen Trump do.

Tha car was parked outside in the rain. It's looking cleaner. I did have a clothes dryer, but haven't needed it for years. I've hung the clothes out under cover and they can drip dry.

Some things are good, like the block on the gear selector by the footbrake. A lot of things that are controlled by modules receiving data from sensors can cause difficult to correct faults. I'd say that alot of gadgets on the dashboard are marketing gimmicks. Remember when all we needed was a couple of warning lights, a speedo and a fuel guage? Cars got us fron A to B with those simple things.

I got a further 12mm on Tuesday and then the clouds clared away. There's more cloud today, but I don't know if much rain will come from it. Just in case it does rain, I'm hanging my washing on the verandah.

Apparently the expansion of AI is making a massive drain on the ability of all forms of generation to keep up the electricity supply. The hardware side of AI is something that gets little publicity. Add to that the electricity required to run the Internet, and soon ther will not be enough left to run a 40W light bulb.

Bring back manual wind-up windows!

Since Australia is one of the few countries that drives on the left we have to accept that the majority of vehicles built worldwide are for right hand drive. It is annoying if you have grown up with the indicator lever on the right, but eventually you retrain yourself if your vehicle has it on the left. Can you remember the push-button gear selector in, I think, early Valiants?

I'm glad that you know and keep alive that bit of Australiana. Said Hanrahan published in the anthology Around the Boree Log by "John O'Brien" pen name of Monsignor Patrick Joseph Hartigan, published by Angus and Robertson in 1921.

My lawnmower has sat in the shed for two years. I hope it will start if needed.