old man emu

The present system for costing this insurance is probably the best way to remove the complexity for calculating a premium based on annual mileage. I don't know if it still applies, but back in the day the premium was reduced a little bit for vehicles garaged outside the Metropolitan Area of Sydney. Consider this. In NSW when you get your annual roadworthiness certificate (pink slip), the mileage is recorded. A lot of people wait until the last minute to get their pink slip. The premium for CTP, if based on mileage would have to be calculated before a renewal notice could be sent. Very inconvenient for paying rego on time. As it stands, I get my CTP renewal notice a month before the due date, so I can pay it any time after that, and before the expiry date. Knowing how much the premium will be lets me put a few dollars aside each pension day throughourt the year so that I don't have to worry that I won't have the money necessary when I want to pay it.

I can't see any racism or anti-woke in what you wrote in your first paragraph. In fact I nod my head in agreement. I see no reason in what you wrote to be offended. Actually, I see what you wrote as a lamentation for lost opportunities. A cry of despair for any sort of recovery. "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" translating to "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

We learned in Vietnam and Iraq, and in most wars since WWII is that the average Yank infrantryman is poorly trained and lead by poorly trained leaders in the field. If the Yanks try to put feet on the ground, it will be an unholy slaughter of the innocents. Basically, you can't invade a country whose countrymen are fighting to defend it. And you can't win if your troops have no experience fighting in terrain they have no experience of. I have not learned what the terrain is in Iran becasue I have never been exposed to it. Have you any idea what it is like?

Just had a look on Flightradar24 at airspace over the Middle East. At the moment there is about a dozen USAF Stratotankers flying in an out of Tel Aviv and along the border of Iran. It is very interesting to see how international aircraft are skirting the war zone.

Has anyone ever mentioned India in this conversation? India sits there between the Middle East and the Far East. It has the largest population of any country - more even than China - 1.45 billion. The median age is 29.5 years. Nominal (current) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is $4.13 trillion ($4,125,213,000,000) as of 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The GDP growth rate in 2025 was 6.6%. India is a predominantly Hindu nation, with 79.8% of its population identifying as Hindu and 14.2% as Muslim according to the 2011 Census. The remaining population includes Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.7%), Buddhists (0.7%), and Jains (0.4%). Conflict between Hindus and Muslims lead to the partitioning of Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1947. India possesses the world's fourth-strongest military, with over 5 million personnel (active/reservists/paramilitary) and a 2024 defense budget of $86.1 billion. It is a nuclear-armed power with significant conventional superiority over neighbors, possessing over 500 combat aircraft, 3,151 tanks, and an advanced navy featuring two aircraft carriers. .

It sounds like GON wnts the system that operates in the USA. Hurt someone with a vehicle and they sue you for millions in damages. They might win the legal argument and be awarded costs, but the average motorist cannot fork out the millions in damages, so the injured party gets nothing and the driver loses everything, if they have anything to lose.

A country's allocation to defence according to the NATO agreement is 5% of its GDP. That means that a small country, say Belgium with a GDP of $US665 billion, would spend fewer dollars than the USA whose GDP is $US30 trillion. NATO allies collectively spent over $1.4 trillion on defense in 2025, with all members meeting the 2% of GDP target for the first time, rising to 5% by 2035. Poland leads with 4.3% of GDP, while the U.S. share of total spending dropped to 59%. The alliance collectively accounts for roughly 30% of global GDP. The chart shows 2023 figures. However, Trump would only see the figure that indicates the number of $US each country spends.He would not understand the simple arithmetic of 2% of X = Contribution, where X = National GDP.

I think that we could agree that your average Achmed and Fatima only want to live in peace, with its attendant safety. No doubt Abraham and Ruth feel the same. The problem is that both sides are dictated to by war lords and their thugs against whom our average Arab and Jew are powerless. There may be some hope of change in the fact that elections are due in Israel later this year. That is if Netanyahu doesn't postpone them due to the 'emergency situation'. About the word "thug" thug(n.): 1810, "member of a gang of murderers and robbers in India who strangled their victims," The thugs roamed about the country in bands of from 10 to 100, usually in the disguise of peddlers or pilgrims, gaining the confidence of other travelers, whom they strangled, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, with a handkerchief, an unwound turban, or a noosed cord. The shedding of blood was seldom resorted to. The motive of the thugs was not so much lust of plunder as a certain religious fanaticism. thuggery(n.) 1839, "system of ritual killing as practiced by the thugs," Also thugee, from the native Hindi form of the name for the system of religious assassination.

I was making mashed potato, so didn't want the skins. Even so, there were no eyes on the spuds to plant.

I was peeling some spuds today and noticed that they didn't have any "eyes". I wonder if that has been bred out of them. Is it gene manipulation? Further, how do they grow the next crop?

China has stood aside, they say, because its leaders understand the maxim attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, supposedly uttered as his foes were abandoning high ground at Austerlitz: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

Is it possible that the Libs have lost their following because of the nay-saying of teh likes of Abbott, Morrison and Dutton? These blokes spent too much time just saying No to anything Labor proposed, and too much time attacking personalities. Although I wouldn't vote for them, I really think that with their experience in politics they could rise phoenix-like from the ashes if they developed a well considered platform that reined in corporate tax avoidance and concession so that the wealth of the Nation could be applied for the betterment of all. It seems that our economic and social situation is the result of previous governments selling out to foreign interests. We have become a nation of warehousemen. We have "golden soil and wealth for toil" but no one seems to wwant to toil. I must saya word of defence for all governments. It is hard to meet the standards of social and industrial benefits of other countries when the population is minute compared to the size of the country.

It is interesting that China seems to have been silent over all this. China must be suffering a bit from the oil supply problem. Perhaps these inscrutable Oriental gentlemen are sitting back watching the USA shoot itself in the foot and lose the standing it had . I don't know how accurate this is, but I read somewhere that Taiwan might look to have an accord with China because it might fear that the USA would not protectr it if China moved militarily against it.

Isreal has been a major manufacturer of weapons for yonks. Israel’s industry is heavily dominated by high-technology, innovation, and advanced manufacturing, driven by a strong R&D sector and over 350 multinational centers (e.g., Intel, Apple, Google). Key sectors include electronics, cyber security, defense, pharmaceuticals, and chemical products. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has become a net exporter of natural gas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Israel Also, like the Arab nations supplying petrol dollars to Arab militants, international Jewry, especially American Jewry, has been funding all sorts of things in Isreal.

That's right. The nation originated from the migration of Indo-Iranian tribes (Medes, Persians, Parthians) from Central Asia to the Iranian Plateau around the 2nd millennium BC. They established some of the first civilisations in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Their religion was Zoroastrianism. It is one of the world's oldest monotheistic faiths, founded in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran) by Prophet Zoroaster. Its influence was reduced by Islamisation during the 7th Century CE. A lot escaped to India where they mainly live in Mumbai. Persian (Fārsi) is the official language of Iran, spoken natively by roughly 50-70% of the population and understood by most others. As an Indo-European language, it is unrelated to Arabic, though it uses a modified Arabic script.

I'm just upset that the conflict between Isreal and the Arab world has caused to deterioration of how ethnic relations in Australia have been hurt.

We used to grow all the veggies we needed until our canneries were sold off and shut down by international corporations.

I've mentioned before that the data from which BMI scores are computed was obtained from Belgians. The Body Mass Index (BMI) was developed in the 1830s by Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet as a quick, statistical formula to define the "average man". Originally intended for population studies, it was not designed to measure individual health or body fat. BMI for men is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight, calculated as kg/square metre. Notice that this formula does not consider volume. It does not differentiate between muscle mass and fat. Many professional footballers would be classed as "obese" using this formula. Quetelet was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician, and sociologist who founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential in introducing statistical methods to the social sciences. He also founded the science of anthropometry and developed the body mass index (BMI) scale, originally called the Quetelet Index. His work on measuring human characteristic to determine the ideal l'homme moyen ("the average man"). Quetelet himself said explicitly that the BMI could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual. It's great for studying populations, but as a tool for individuals, nope.

Expect many lines of groceries to become scarce, especially frozen vegetables. Frozen veggies are now mostly imported, and that requires ships which require fuel.

Nobody mentions the sectarianism that is rampant in India. Hindu -v- Muslim, with the Sikhs and other minorities thrown into the mix. The partitioning of India and Pakistan was supposed to ease tensions, but there are still heaps of Muslims in India for Hindus to target.

That's mine, too. But they still say I have hypertension. You start to think that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand knows.

At least he has been located now and no more money will be spent searching for him. However, I wonder what teh Inquiries will cost. The Coronial Inquest will not be a short one.

If you reach your three score and ten and your doctor hasn't got you on a pill or two, is there something wrong with you?

When you think about it, there has to be quite a few coin-worth's differences between retailers to make much difference in filling a tank. My tank holds 55 litres. Let's say I drive in with 5 litres and fill up. That's 50 litres. A couple of coins difference beween servos is only going to amount to a dollar or so. It's the base amount that those few coins are added to that is the killer. From $1.70 to $2.60 is a hue hike. And how long before the removal of 25 cents in excise will show on the pumps?

Did his lips move?