Old Koreelah

Can’t believe this one: even The Betoota Advocate couldn’t come up with sh1t like this: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/25/colorado-sheriff-office-purple-heart-officer-shot-richard-ward

Skip the ads to see this gem:

One of the few animals I have no qualms in killing on sight. The buggers have attacked me so many times without warning that I now conduct regular scans of my stone walls for them; they can build a new nest in a day! Almost all their nests are on the northern side of our house, but recently I noticed one high up on the southern side. Being too difficult to reach with a flaming roll of newspaper or a long pole, I resorted to gunfire: wound down the regulator on my air rifle to minimum power and brought it down with a couple of pellets, which bounced harmlessly off the timber rafter and clattered into the guttering.

This morning I was at the airport designing a barrier to keep the sparrows out. They nest right above my plane and crap all over it. We’ve watched one fly straight through the 45mm gap above the door without missing a beat!

All right Octave I’ll give it a go, but I’m sure to ruffle a few feathers. The challenges facing Australia require a change in mindset. If we expect the government to support us in our old age, it will have to impose ever increasing taxes on the diminishing working sector of the population. (The Seniors’ discounts we currently enjoy cannot last.) Surely everyone should have a secure, comfortable retirement and old age, but how do we pay for it? Governments have to control the cost of supporting and caring for an increasing proportion of our population. Nobody should get “sit-down money”. As part of the Social Contract, everyone should contribute to the common good. It’s only lack of imagination preventing all but the most frail and disabled from doing something useful. Visit a retirement homes and see how much is done by the staff and how little is expected of the residents, many of whom are still mobile and compus mentus. I would happily do some washing up, cleaning, gardening etc. to help keep down costs and maintain what’s left of my bodily and mental health. It amazes me how many people will stand idly stand by while some job needs to be done. When our grandies were Nippers my wife and I went along to watch them being introduced to surf races, etc. Our son-in-law (city boy) commented later that we were the only parents/grandies who pitched in to help the organisers, even though we country-bred oldies had little experience of the beach. We just saw volunteers struggling to carry stuff, set up posts, etc. so stepped forward to help, while hundreds stood watching. Since we live in a society (a word Maggie Thatcher despised) we are all in this together. The last thing Australia needs is communal distrust and hatred, of the sort endemic in many countries (and being actively stirred up by Rupert Murdoch’s thugs in America). Throughout this nation we find communities coming together in times of crisis. Ethnic differences evaporate and the best in human nature comes forward. Let’s celebrate that and not the negatives beloved of the tabloid media. A stronger Press Council to rein in divisive media is needed. I’m quite happy to pay more tax to maintain and enhance what social cohesion we still enjoy. New cars, TVs and household goodies are not happiness. For too long the boffins have measured our nation’s health in monetary terms: Gross National Product per Capita, etc. Bhutan has led the world towards a more sensible statistic: Gross National Happiness. By several internationally-recognised measures, Australia is near the top in Liveability, Community Safety, etc. Recognising and defending that is a good step.

OT your analysis rings true. As a refugee from a farm too small to survive changing markets, I have some experience of following the careers of wealthier neighbours. My brother has many times shown me examples of the old wisdom, that the first generation works their guts out to get started, the second generation consolidate the farm/business/empire, then the third generation pisses it up the wall. I’m always suspicious of the very wealthy; it aint easy to get that rich by legitimate means!

I believe the Allies were planning to bump Hitler off, but eventually realised he was more use to them where he was-a Corporal with no military planning experience over-ruling his top Generals. Another aspect: you don’t want to turn the b@stard into a martyr. In this war, a major advantage enjoyed by Ukraine is morale and motivation- they have it in spades, the Russians don’t. If the average Russian perceives his motherland is threatened, Ukraine is in trouble.

This Russian expert is worth listening to; he believes Putin is nowhere near tossing in the towell. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64727302 America loses wars because it has a much shorter attention span than most of it’s adversaries. All Putin has to do is outlast the West. That might happen, especially if China supplies what he can’t build in Russia, or if the appalling Republicans cut support for Urkraine.

It’s alright Bruce- I’m richer than most of humanity! The pension I worked a lifetime to earn arrives each fortnight. The food and beer is always in the shop. The electricity (almost) never goes off. The servo always has diesel. The sun comes up each morning. Ian’s forums are always open.

Crickey, only 8 posts with gripes about printers! I expected dozens more to join in. I recently dumped quite a collection of printers that don’t like me (or anyone else who tried to get them to work). During forty years using computers I learned a lot and could get most machines to do their stuff, but I’ve totally lost interest in that sort of problem-solving. These days, a new iPad and iPhone every six or eight years is all I need.

There was some interesting research that indicated aerial gunnery without tracer rounds was more effective. Apparently the lighter tracer projectiles travelled significantly lower than the full-weight main ammo, causing aiming errors.

Border collies are perhaps the smartest breed; the beautiful one we had was forever looking for someting useful to do and would regularly go next door to round up the neighbour’s chooks, escort the horses, donkeys and emu around the paddock.

A local copper we all knew had his good points, but was not the bloke to disagree with; he liked to put has hand on his gun when making a point.

So far two policy differences between the major parties have caught my attention: gambling and protection of koalas. Labor’s limp-wristed response to the Liberal Premier’s overdue reforms of gambling have not impressed me. Labor’s promise to create a “koala National Park on the NSW northcoast sound great and should get them lots of votes… but let’s look a little deeper than the feel-good headline. What impact will this Koala NP have on land management? Bob Carr turned several sustainable-yield State Forests into National Parks. This pleased lots of voters, but caused enormous damage to the timber industry employing many people in isolated rural areas. Rural unemployment skyrocketed, small town decined and people drifted off to the cities. Meanwhile the new National Parks were never properly managed, becoming havens for weeds and feral animals. A sensible, science-based approach to koala protection would focus on limiting clearing for new urban development rather than attacking the timber industry. (Koalas don’t even live in some of the key timber-producing areas, but they do pretty well in many well-managed farming woodlands.)

Like some of the most heinous government atrocities, we never heard much about it at the time and what we did was glossed over. (My late mum was adamant that being taken from their parents was always for their own good, such was the mindset at the time.) It was only long after they’d died that I realised a couple of much loved “Aunties” were actually aboriginal. My cousins remember that when visitors arrived, granny was told to get into the cupboard. I remember her lovely, cultivated voice and only ever heard that “accent” used by survivors of the Cootamindra Girls Home. Most of us could claim that, but my point is that collectively, we all got this continent on the cheap; my grandad was a selector who worked hard and did well, but he would never have had that start without the government giving him title to someone else’s land. That I totally agree with.

My wife’s mother had diptheria as a kid and was saved by penicillin; perhaps one of the earliest uses on a civilian. It was a good investment of a scarce resource, because Australia could have missed out on sixty-odd citizens!

NP I agree with much of what you say, but this bit is dead wrong. Kids were stolen up until after I left school. Like Indigenous peoples in Japan, Canada, USA and probably many other places, even in my lifetime, Aboriginals were severely punished for speaking their own language, let alone passing on their culture to their kids. (I also know a Welshman who copped the stick for speaking his langage at school). True, but we’ve all benefitted from having the black fellas removed their land.

Maybe not. It wouldn’t surprise me if lots of US citizens showed an interest in being paid to fondle guns. Hopefully these blokes:

That raises the issue of resiliance; how long can you go with the food and water in your house? I believe most households and most supermarkets only have enough stock on hand for less than a week. Our way of life is totally dependent on trucks, the people who drive them on a tight schedule and the fuel we import. I guess there’s good in that; we are all interdependent, with plenty of incentive to be nice to each other. It occurrs to me that many of the nutters who are not nice to their fellow citizens took themselves outside this community.

I don’t need to install one of those hooks- I already have a quite handy Neanderthal brow ridge!

No I’m not paranoid; the bastards actually are out to get me!

You seem to be a much more relaxed citizen than most, Octave! Regarding my internet searches being monitored, they sure could improve their targeting; I regularly get offered great deals on things I’ve already bought and have no need to purchase again. When I already have the car/TV/solar panel etc. it’s not likely I’ll be rushing out to buy another one!

That conversation demonstrates the enormous untapped potential among people who lack the skills or resources to make good on their dreams.