Grumpy Old Nasho

They are used for bar stools.

The Aussie locals here warned me about outsiders coming in and pinching stuff ... and then it happened, I have a Sunshine hay rake which had a cast iron seat. I placed no value on the seat except for just ornament display when I had the time to remove it. It got removed alright, not be me, but traveling campers nicked it. I wondered why. I looked up the internet and saw them going for $250.

Too right! but not too lazy, just too obstinate, and scared.

DEI is not specifically for muslims ... and I did say "perhaps" Short story: I moved to the sticks from the big city of Sydney, and among other reasons, I wanted to mix with people of my own ethnicity (traditional Aussies), whom I understood, and they understood me. Strangely, leftwingers blurted out "You racist" ... yes, I swapped the crime ridden city for a very peaceful lifestyle out here, exercising from freedom of choice, and that's what I got - "racist". Can you believe it?

There were red flags communicated by airport employees months beforehand, but nothing was done. Perhaps DEI was the order of the day.

One hundred UK volunteers door knocking in the US. https://thehill.com/opinion/4963968-uk-labour-party-volunteers-us/

Musk might be getting back at Starmer for sending UK Labor people to the US to influence the voters there to vote for Harris.

I saw a report about the cops arresting a guy who had a bicycle and a blowtorch. He was held down by civilians until the cops arrived. Don't know any more about it at this stage, just waiting to see what's going on.

Better safe than sorry. It appears not enough was done to prevent wildfires from getting close to residential suburbs. Complacency was probably their worst enemy.

Mayor of LA remains tight-lipped, she cut funding for Fire Department funding to spend on homeless. Now there's thousands more homeless.

Once every three weeks.

No shops. A mail contractor delivers 3 times a week and it's not part of their job to take mail back with them, I was told by the postie. Posting a letter or parcel requires a trip to the nearest town. That also cuts us out from selling on Ebay, unless we can make it understood to buyers that we can't post their items the next day, or perhaps even in a week.

The nearest PO mailing box is the same distance away as the polling booth, 5 X 8kms for me, then back home again. Postal voting requires a trip or two the that mailing box. It'd be great if I got compensation for fuel and lunch.

I've heard that cliché many times before. It doesn't take into account that about a quarter of primary votes are wasted whether voters vote or not. In principle it's not a "free" vote. On the Electoral Commission's web site it says that voting is compulsory. But apparently it's only if you don't get your name crossed off the roll - but hey, you might as well fill out the ballot paper while you're there getting your name crossed off. That's how it goes. It's a loophole for anyone who doesn't feel like voting. However, for many rural folk, getting their name crossed of the roll can be a major task because of long traveling times and expenses in fuel etc. We should be paid to vote if the ruling Elite want to keep compulsory voting on their selfish agenda. Without paying us, they are getting something for nothing, but voters have expenses to pay in order to vote. There should be a cash payment for each km traveled beyond the specified 8km set down by the Electoral Commission. That's why I wish the ABC would initiate a conversation about it, and publish their findings. We might pride ourselves in adopting programs such as social safety net and new technology, but our voting system is still in the horse and cart days.

LoL, but I hasten to say I am grumpier than most, which prompts me to ask pertinent questions about Australia's future in a non-partisan way. Should we leave our future in the lap of the Gods? So far I've only heard about nuclear submarines and emission targets eventuating in 2030s - 2040s ... is that it, is that all we can come up with?

I've never voted for the major parties, I'm above all their self interest partisan shenanigans. Many times I've just paid the fine because there's no on-line voting for anyone other than the disabled. I'd like to see the ABC do a feature about the difficulties of voting in isolated rural locations. They could state some facts about the time spent traveling to the nearest polling booth, and to the nearest PO mailing box for postal voting, quite some distance in many cases, and time consuming. I couldn't give a hoot about Angus Taylor, Dutton, Albanese, or any of those other idiots, it's only mob rule - when will it end, that's the question, how much longer will it go on for?

I don't see a need for the ABC to get involved in politics, be it socialist left, or conservative right. Howabout they just state the facts without political opinion, or anything that remotely sounds or looks like political opinion? This of course doesn't include talk shows where members of the public are invited to express their views about political issues, as long as the ABC representatives conducting the talkfests don't hint as to what their own views are by changing the subject or with a disapproving facial frown. I'm not in favor of defunding the ABC, but I'd like see them get a good talking to, to remove all political judgement from it's broadcasting - including the ideology of "Progressive Humanism", which usually leans more towards minorities, refugees, and new immigrants. However, I do enjoy watching Back Roads, an effort by the ABC to show more of Australia, it steps away from the ridiculous wickedness of the big cities which is what we are subjected to most of the time. Living in a rural location, I really appreciate that show. LandLine as well, top show that.

Seems hard to argue with this, and you are correct. But a new "form" in the ABC's "Australian culture" appears to be Minority inclusivity, and occasionally an ABC journalist will express subtle jibes directed at any public figure with differing views to the major parties' bipartisan policies. Not to mention the uncomplimentary snipes and images of Donald Trump. The ABC should keep their nose out of the political arena, and just report facts.

Who needs an enemy when we've got the ABC doing things like that? They got what was coming to them, paying out $390,000 to Heston.

Potentially controversial statement, but needs elaborating. The major parties already get $20,000,000 each in public funding per election. Are you saying they should get more?

It's Government funded, and as such, it will always follow the government line, which is why I read news from many other sources, attempting to filter out political biases to arrive at bare facts. The ABC is factual, but only with the stories it reports on. It's the stories that it refuses to report that worries me greatly about the ABC. Obviously because the our ideological governments don't want them talked about in public.

He cleared out, them came back again when things calmed down. I have no idea why so many fly over here, this area attracts them like flies. Some are firefighters, but only when there's fires. One finished Google Earth scanning years ago when I first moved here, my house was only a blur on GE, but a week later I could see my house and vehicles clearly. I reckon the spooks wanted a better analysis of my movements. Other than those, I can only guess the rest are tour operators. Firefighter, taken from half a mile away with telephoto lens (it's much better on my screen)

Thanks for the reminder that helicopters are capable of crashing, lots fly over my hamlet, right this instant one is in the sky, coping with lightning strikes every few seconds.

Rolls Royce at Rylstone Swap Meet in 2017, using a 1950s folding camera, a Franka Solida III, with built in rangefinder. It produces 6X6cm negatives with lots of fine detail. The Rolls is a common site at swap meets in mid-west NSW.

Why close the thread? Let me have my say. We over think things, and we often blame others for ruthlessness without looking at ourselves first. A teacher in Sydney being dragged away to worship the God of Capitalism (not democracy). William White, non-complying conscript. White eventually conceded and did military service, but others were jailed and when we finally woke up to ourselves, they were released. There were atrocities committed in war zones we have gone to, some by Aussies, we don't like to think about that, they just could never be as bad as others around the world. We are gentle souls, we wouldn't hurt a fly. Tell that to the families of Vietnamese and Afghan victims who were shot in cold blood, all recorded in one form or another, but we self-censor them out of our minds. I don't blame the Israelis for anything, because I refuse to throw stones when the first stone needs to be banged against our heads.