Old Koreelah

I can’t speak for him, but I left that discussion long ago. I have to protect what’s left of my mental health, which has taken a considerable hammering in recent weeks. I am disappointed at how easily my countrymen were manipulated and distracted from the simple issue at the centre of the Voice. I have been appalled at the ugly things said by people around me who I used to respect. I am shocked that Trump-style misinformation and baiting has infected Australia’s political landcape. During the last thirteen years I’ve recovering from the biggest trauma of my life, when I discovered- the hard way- just how few people I could depend upon. I’ve built a new and better life, with better people; these forums were a significant part of my recovery, but I’ll be staying away from this one. I totally understand Shane Howard: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-18/goanna-shane-howard-returns-oam-referendum-result/102989978

Exactly- so just tax rubber tyres by weight. The more rubber a vehicle uses, the more load it puts on our roads. Bicycles could finally pay for their road use, but at a rate commensurate with their impact.

Perhaps a more equitable method of paying for roads would be to phase out fuel excise and replace it with a national tax on the thing every vehicle uses: tyre rubber.

If my large family is anything to go by, a marriage licence is no more guarantee of wedded bliss than living in sin.

OME you often cause me to reach for the dictionary. This one sure opened a can of descriptive terms!

Or, to put it more clearly:

Many seek Paradise, but few find it; those that do often make the mistake of telling everyone else and pretty soon Paradise is Lost! A flying mate has used a few caravan trips to reconnoitre remote airstrips with a pub and bore baths. Only after being sworn to secrecy has he taken us on a flying trip to them.

Every day I have the utter frustration of being surrounded by ordinary people who have no idea how much they are being influenced (manipulated?) by the insidious Murdoch media machine. Copies of The Daily Terrograph are everywhere and people pick them and let the poison in. They have no idea how even a lurid headline seeps into their unconscious mind. This is how he makes his money:

Not much wood available across the earthquake zone from Italy through Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thousands of years of cutting down forests and overgrazing by sheep and goats. A recent clever innovation to lay ropes in the mortar helps keep mud brick buildings together, but I bet the stupid Taliban ban that idea, along with any other Western influence.

We’re starting to see more of that evil tactic. Russians lobbing in an extra missile just as rescue workers arrive. Second car bombs being laid, timed to kill first responders. Utterly without humanity.

This thread could do with an introduction to Real Estate Agents:

All true, but kids still need to learn to read. From the earliest age they benefit from picture books, then progress to basic readers. Some already have started reading and writing before they start Kinder. Others begin school with no bluddy idea how to turn the pages of a book. They came from households without books. I’ve taught kids from those sort of homes, with parents who confidently proclaimed that all their kids needed to learn about was computers. By far the greatest factor in a child’s educational success is parents

I know talented teachers who were crushed by the out-of-classroom workload. Too much time spent on tedious compliance paperwork. Technology could greatly streamline the planning, evaluating, analyzing and recording. There are some rays of hope on the horizon. Last week I spent a day in a big hospital (my brother got trampled by cattle and my sister was trying to get her heart out of AF). The visiting surgeon was accompanied by a young bloke (perhaps an intern) who typed everything into a big console, presumably to free up the doctor to do what he does best.

Not my experience: my first purchased-new Japanese bike (CX-500) was recalled to address a main bearing a few microns out of tolerance. At the same time, my wife’s Moto Guzzi bearings were way outside of the factory’s already sloppy tolerances and nothing was done. Crickey things must have improved since I bought my 860 in 1975. Bits fell off from the first minutes, but there was no support!

Australia, the land of Could’a beens. We’ve had no end of inquiries, promises and reshuffles. The results have been pretty much more of the same, while other countries race past us. Our short electoral cycle and the overwhelming influence of the right-wing media has crueled many reform attempts. Goski might have reformed our school system, but governments chickened out. Privates schools are now far better-funded that Public schools and the gap is getting wider. Australia still looks to the USA for much of its policy, despite America having one of the worst education systems in the developed world. Their schools are years behind even ours and over half their best University brains are immigrants. The conservative side of American politics doesn’t want an educated electorate; they want a compliant workforce and mass market. Australia is being drawn in that direction. Our media, dominated by foreigners, are right behind them. Recent events show how easily the gullible masses can be manipilated when the usual buttons are pressed. During fifty years in the education sector, perhaps our most dangerous adversary was the ignorance promoted by the media and the advertising industry (whores to any dirty, dangerous product or cause, as long as there’s a dollar in it). Our traditional school system has always been pulled one way, then another at the whim of governments. The traditional approach dampens kids’ natural enthusiasm for learning, resulting in chaotic classrooms, stressed out teachers and frustrated parents. There are plenty of political leaders of goodwill who have tried to improve our education system, but any reform usually attracts merciless criticism. Given the storm of misinformation and abuse unleashed by one recent attempt to change the status quo, who could blame them for giving up? Australia once led the world in social innovation. Now I despair for my country.

Although Leunig drew this little picture decades ago, it still resonates. I feel like that person.

The yanks also seem unable to pronounce the word Arctic; they say Artic.

Lithium batteries are still in their infancy, so hopefully will continue to improve. Despite the benefit of more than a century of development, traditional lead acid batteries are still not perfectly safe. I’ve seen them start ferocious fires in crashed vehicles resulting in death and amputations. Almost as bad is the plurry acid they spray around when smashed; you might only find out about that a few days later when your boots fall apart or holes appear in your clothing.

Across Australia there are thousands of perfectly good radios that are no longer used. As technology improves, they are replaced with newer units that can cram more channels into the spectrum. Most were imported at great expense and are still functional. Surely a resource worth keeping in reserve for some future need.

Our VRA trucks have a bank of radios- any of which is likely to talk to you- plus heaps of switches for sirens and flashing lights. It’s definitely a two-person job; when driving I can’t afford to give them any attention. Mobile phones are a hazard because you need eyes on them just to accept an incoming call. A radio mike hanging within reach is much less distracting.

Australian troops were part of the invading armies that toppled the Ottoman Empire. It may have been on its last legs anyway, but for centuries had been remarkably successful at keeping a reasonable peace between dozen of ancient ethnic enemies. Outsiders sure bugggered up that peaceful co-existance! Australian airmen returned home from the post-WWI skirmishes in what became Iraq with a form of PTSD. They felt they were in the wrong side, being required to attack the villages of Kurds- honourable people they admired- yet defending local Arabs, who they learned not to trust at all. In case anyone thinks Christians have some sort of monopoly on good government, The Moslem Ottomans did a pretty good job of keeping the peace; some still do:

All true, Jerry. Thousands of Palestinian families still carry the keys to their ancestral homes, from which they were forced by Israeli terror gangs, generations ago. Many joined resistance movements we regard as terrorists. How would you or I react to having our country stolen? I find it amazing that Bible Belt Americans give total support to Israel as it gradually squeezes Christian Palestinians from their homes in Biblical places like Bethlehem. I have no solutions, but we cannot be blind to the brutal realities of this conflict.

Much as I admire the gutsy Israelis, their state is built on stolen land and broken agreements; who’d want to be a Palestinian?

Egypt claims to have given ample warning to Israel about the Hamas offensive. If so, why was Israel not ready? Perhaps the odious Netanyahu allowed the attack to justfy a massive assault on Gaza.