old man emu

If there is a country in the World that needs a regime change, it's the USA. Unfortunately, replacng the Republicans with the Democrats will not change the American culture which is the source of the problem.

My daughter is a CPA. She'll protect her dear ol' dad.

Somehow or other I seem to have shares in IAG, the insurance company. I can't remember how I got them. As I was looking at my bank statement the other day, I noticed a deposit of a bit over $20.00 from IAG. It's not a massive amount, but as my Dad used to say, 'small fish are sweet'.

The AI company, Anthropic, which owns Claude, is suing the US Government. It says that as part of its contract details bans the use of its AI for the deploying weapons unless the go ahead to fire was given by a human. Of course, Trump and Hegseth are ignoring that contract detail. In response to Anthropic's lawsuit, which still has to be dealt with in Court, Trump has decreed that Anthropic cna no longer be granted government contracts.

The actions of the Party through its Gestapo have been compared to the recent actions of ICE agents in the Land of the Free. The USA has been doing things that towrads the end of the 20th Century came to be defined as terrorism since the late 19th Century. Remember the Spanish-American War when the USA attacked the Spanish territory of Cuba and at the end gained control of the Phillipines. Not to forget, either, the interference of the USA in just about every South American country as each gained independence from its colonial rulers.

Is it the servos or is it the oil companies? The servo is the retailer - the link between the oil company, local distributor and the customer. It is the oil companies which set the wholesale price of fuel. If they raise the wholesale price, then that rise passes down the chain. The oil companies also set the price at their own sites and their franchised sites. Have you ever noticed that the price changes at competing oil company sites rise and fall in unison? It is the independents who can control their price more closely. I suppose the idea of servos price gouging comes from the independents going from being cheaper than the oil company sites to matching those sites in the same area. So, perhaps the action taken by the ACCC, or Fair Trading would be appreciated by the oil companies as it might drive an independent out of the local market.

If you think about it, you could almost say that terrorism in modern times started with the first raid by German Zeppelins in WWI. However, I suppose a deeper look would find examples of attacks on non-combatants throughout human history.

A terrorist organization is a group that uses violence, intimidation, or coercion, often against civilians, to achieve ideological, political, or religious goals. Does the Adminsitration of the USA fit that definition?

Before the start of the "war", petrol at my place was $1.70 for 91 octane. It is now $2.25. That's and increase of 55 cents. Since GST is 10% the current price returns Treasury an extra 5.5 cents per litre. As well as calling out the oil companies for gouging, we should also call out the Government. Notice that I said that GST generates money going into Treasury. At the moment the Government is Labor, but if the LNP was the Government, then I reckon they would accept the windfall as well. I'm not trying to say that Labor is being nasty and the LNP wouldn't be. I'm saying that both would not deny the exra money coming into Treasury. Apparently, the voters are "unhappy" about rising food prices, layoff, inflation, etc., but they are totally pissed off, furious and more than somewhat upset that the price of petrol is sky-rocketed. I suppose those who drive ICE vehicle are also annoyed with the drivers of EVs.

But how much input did you have on the Party's national platform? You role seems to have been to select the person who was most closely aligned to that platform.

The USA has been screwing up Iran since 1953. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of Iran, from the Mosaddegh coup of 1953 to the present day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Iran

Yep! He's a slimy bastard. And I'm not saying that simply because of teh Party he is in. He's puolled some pretty shonky deals in his life.

Not only that sort of person. Anyone with with the ability to do something that a lot of people need done from time to time will have work thrust on them. Have you ever tried to get a plumber or electrician at short notice?

Theer are visionaries who join Parties with teh hope of making a difference, but the first thing that they learn is that politics is a game of compromise.A person might have the idea to brighten a room by turning on the light with a switch, but then has to compromise on wiring, switch design, lumen output and positioning.

Use too much of that repellant and the minge will dry up and die. Then you will have to engage https://mingefunerals.com.au/

Just when you thought that letting your kids spend hours playing X-Box games with a handheld controller would get them a cozy job in the military operating remotely controlled weapons, it looks like AI will take over that task and leave the kids unemployed. Redmember when we thought as parents that we must get our kids involved with computer programming and such? We forgot that there would always be a need for people who knew how to plug a connector into a server unit to connect it to to the outside world, or knew how to diagnose a dead board and replace it. If you surf YouTube you will find that some of teh most popular sites del with fixing things, like clogged drains or broken tools. Like the line in the song 'I shot the Sheriff' says, "You've gotta get a little dirt on your hands, boy".

No. What I meant was that a strong Opposition makes for a strong government. You can see that at the moment in the USA. The Democrats are not a strong opposition, so the Republicans are running riot. With the LNP in Australia having a lessened presence in the House, Labor is getting a pretty easy run. Consider that a football Grand Final is not played by the two teams on the bottom of the ladder.

Nev, was that 'you' refer to anyone in particular, or is it the indeterminate 'you'?

What about that little sera of surf music? It sort of wedged itself between Elvis and the Beatles for a summer or two. There was some great instumental music produced in that format, as well there was a tincture of hot-rod music with similar rythyms. The surf and hot-rod music were very Californian, but it also reflected the surf scene in Australia.

That's what is happening with the current major opposition. I might not like their policies, but I feel that their united presence as Opposition bolsters the quality of the Government. A united Labor Party in opposition should do the same thing. Independents and small parties don't have the capacity for research and skill in creating policies that the big parties have. I do think that it is ridiculous that the two major Conservative parties want to form coalitions, but don't just come together as a single Party to represent all Conservative-minded people. Surely such a new conservative party could work out a platform that addresses both Urban and Rural/Regional issues.

The sad thing is that we have lived through that part of our lives where we learn about politics and how good intentions become corrupted by the fight to gain ascendency in order to put those good intentions into practice. The problem the older generation now faces is how to pass on that knowledge to the up an coming gneration. It makes you stop and think that the 18 to 25 age group probably don't know what the Y2K bug panic was all about. They probably think that a dial-up modem is a take-away food delivery service. There will always be a role for at least a two-party system. The problem is to stop them from expending so much energy trying to become the incumbent and avoid beng the opposition. However, we can see from the current experience of US politics that a strict two-party system is not perfect. We are lucky in Australia to have those minor parties. Many might be one-issue parties, but at least they give the opportunity for the expresion of third or fourth opinions on topics. We might not like PON, or the Greens, or the Teals, or the Independents, but they are voices questioning the opinions of the two major parties.

I think that is indicative of the "young bulls" taking the place of the "old bulls". That age group, and I think you should also include those up to 35 years of age, represent generation who are the product of their parents. Whereas a lot of us oldies followed the political beliefs of our parents because we grew up in possible more stable political times, those up to the age of 35 grew up in the Information age and have had access to more political influences than we oldies ever did. But when was the last time you managed to have a "deep and meaningful" with a person under 35 years of age to find out what they and their friends are thinking? Perhaps Jerry, with his daughter just starting Uni, is the only one in our group who might have that opportunity.

It is hard when 49.9% of the population doesn't like your mob.

Trump has earned a place in History. He has single-handedly destroyed a global civilisation that took oveer 7000 years and billions of lives to create. And the members of the Republican Party of the USA are co-conspirators.

Now Australia has been dragged into this mess. We are sending a surveillance plane to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to help protect the Gulf countries. I wonder who asked us to do that.