rickwsays:
September 11, 2022 at 6:32 pm
Yes there was a “Welcome to Country” and “First Nations” dancers..”

Hopes of a boycott dashed!

Was there a Welcome to Country when Captain Cook and those Dutch people turned up in WA. Captain Cook had better travel sense and went to the better side. Still no welcome though.

Flight home booked. Q’link now does a direct flight I was unaware of MEL-TSV. B717 though, meh at least at gentleman hours not a red eye run. Early Oct departure and not too soon, am so over the cold.

Some more observations having been into a couple state forests recently. Bush here is full of leaf litter the likes I have never seen before. No-one has learned from the last iteration, bloody stupid.

Oh well guess climate change will be the alleged culprit again…

The Albanian couldn’t wait a day to mourn, right?

It’s been a very emotional time for him, he needs to let it all out!

Unfortunately, God does not appear to be on their side in this one.

“Unfortunately”?? Is that a value judgement, supporting Wussia, and regretting God’s choice? Or is it the wrongologist’s kiss of death for Ukraine?

This is the Australian way, if you didn’t personally get fucked by government, shrug your shoulders and move on like nothing happened.

I get it Rick. Mainly because of the issues my wife and I face. Advocating with some success for more stringent sentences for violent crime. And recently more rights for extended families. It’s frustrating the indiference from authorities aswell as the public. But I can’t be sure I would as motivated if it wasn’t personal. People have other priorities others issues to deal with.
You are not alone. You have people who want only the best for you.

Remember that.

Not sure why Albo chose the Thursday after instead of the Monday of the actual funeral. I mean, the Monday is a WA holiday too apparently, but that could have been worked around.

If comms are down JC then the news won’t be coming out real time. Fog of war and all that.

Yes I know Mater but you made a call based on circumstances. You were not personally responsible for the situation and shouldn’t be made to feel like you did.

Lotocoti:

A chest drain coming out certainly smarts,
but yeeting pacing wires is weird beyond words.

Done both, Lotocoti. NBD.

Among those arrested in the operation were two Disney employees, a state corrections officer, several teachers and a deputy police chief from Georgia.

Wow!

There is no coup. Putin’s not going to be taken down so easily. He’s been doing this stuff for half a century, you think he’s going to fall within a week of his first real setback in the war – one which may not even turn out to be a setback, if they manage to pull a fast one? The Russian military is full of his lapdogs due to regular purges, or so I’ve read.

You’re getting excited over the prospect of creative destruction because spivs like you love to make blood money on speculatory war-related assets at times like this. How about you stick to trading pork bellies and airports.

JCsays:
September 11, 2022 at 7:38 pm
Could be an absolutely huge day tomorrow if it’s true and the market suspect there’s a peace deal coming. This could be a 10%er.

Hope you managed to close out those short trades you had open when you went in to hospital.

You’re getting excited over the prospect of creative destruction because spivs like you love to make blood money

m0nster, JC is speculating on a peace deal jacking up the markets, literally the opposite of blood money!

Being hight challenged is calli’s thing. Let’s not take her uniqueness away from her.
Little people deserve respect.

Gez at 12.44:

A lot of purple Freflogs floating around the city waiting on flights back to Sandland.
Engaged one bloke in conversation and played him along until I let it out that I was a Pies man.
Good times.

Outstanding times. There was chat on various social media entities for about four months on the subject of ‘Flagmantle’, and which abruptly ended last night.

Flagmantle. Fucking kidding yourselves.

I’m calling it.

Shock, horror, Pirate Pete is massively wrong.

The monarchy survives the death of QEII.

But then again, I knew that when Pirate Pete proclaimed otherwise.

Not until the Ukrainians maximise their gains, anyway.

JC, you will always be older than me. Until you die and I pass you.

The Daily Express:

Ukraine LIVE: Putin ordered to resign as Kremlin rebellion surges after major army retreat

Lawmakers from a municipal council in the capital’s Lomonovsky’s district published an open letter on their website in which they accused the Russian President of returning the country to the Cold War era.

Perhaps evidence of wider disquiet as things fuck up, but this appears to be the equivalent of the Sydney City Council ‘ordering’ Albanese to resign for being crap.

A few defenestrations are in order…

Mater at 5.20:

Sounds like a cross-section of our entire society (especially MBA grads), but please don’t make the assumption that all ex-military are either trained or experienced in administration and leadership.

I read this morning that Usman Khawaja is ‘studying’ for one of them. He reckons it will take him 18 months. Not being a tertiary education expert, but that strike me as being a bit skinny unless there’s some other stuff he could leverage off to reduce the time spent.

I know a few people with MBAs, and all bar one of them I consider useless in society.

the military did provide me with some transferable skills

My experience (which I consider to be inconsequential compared to some here) as well. Very occasionally I encounter a plonker who believes his former rank travels with him into the civvy workforce. Those people are tremendous value to take the piss out of.

As has been said – dependent on what the gongs are, the right ones can open doors. I believe the Conspicuous Service Cross (and similar, awarded to housecats) is good for public service jobs post-military career, and I would imagine you could – within reason – name your job and price if there was a VC in your glovebox.

but there are an awful lot of canutes in the workforce who’ve never served, too.

Preach it.

Windows are smashed in at fish and chip shop

Idiot losers just looking for the an excuse. Nothing to do with respecting the Queen

JCsays:
September 11, 2022 at 6:45 pm
[The timing was explained as Sleazy and the GG are flying to the funeral and will not arrive home until Wed evening. As they are the chief mourners the day of mourning is the first available day after their return.]

The Albanian couldn’t wait a day to mourn, right?

Politics. Friday was already a public holiday in Victoria for the Grand Final parade. Declaring a nationwide public holiday to mourn the Queen on that day would wedge the AFL as to whether to cancel the parade or be seen cavorting around celebrating on a supposedly solemn day. Yes, the wokesters at the AFL no doubt couldn’t care less, but they’d be sensible enough to realise that a substantial proportion of their fan base are still pretty traditionalist.
Remember the AFL is big money and a reliable cheer squad for every woke issue going round. Labor wouldn’t want to create a problem for Gillon McPoloPony and his cronies.

US logistics firms like FedEx and UPS etc… basically transportation.. recruited heavily from the military because the Military is one huge logistics operation

Potentially JC.

Being generous, it wouldn’t necessarily mean they solely recruit logistics people from the military (ie, blanket-counters) but people with demonstrated time management skills where the clock is ticking, resilience, reliability, really solid work ethics, punctuality, working in small teams rah rah etc etc.

On the plus side I worked at QNI couple decades ago, which had a reformer and an ammonia plant, so I do have FNQ cred. Admittedly they used naphtha not methane, but they really really wanted someone to build a gas pipeline to Townsville. Dunno whether that ever happened.

Thank you, Bruce, much appreciated!
My strength is speaking out in public, so it’s very important I have have good facts men in the background.
I’ll drop Dover a line.

Cardi

I know a few people with MBAs, and all bar one of them I consider useless in society.

I don’t have one because the only point would be to prove to others I could do it.

But I already know I could. I have strong theoretical knowledge, which is largely useless. All the theory in the world don’t matter shit if those that matter think you failed.

On my evening walk’: San Francisco resident videos homeless drug addicts brawling on sidewalk as he demands officials take action

Videos and pics

Clearly, the trial verdict got it wrong. And of course the HCA analysed the trial evidence. Yet in so doing the HCA determined that it was a failure on the part of the VSCA majority to correctly INTERPRET that very same evidence. (There was no new evidence, although the DPP tried but was disallowed from inveigling new and ‘specious’ slants to evidence.) For, had the VSCA majority interpreted the actual trial evidence according to realities, the VSCA majority would have found that the evidence in the allegations was a matter of compounding improbabilities, and worse, fabrications. Thus what became intensely unjust beyond the trial – but which was remedied by the HCA – was the VSCA majority’s failure to actually and methodically analyse the evidence so as to duly arrive at an acquittal. It was in these regards and specifically in relation to the VSCA decision that the HCA ordered that:
the VSCA order be set aside;
that the VSCA order be replaced with a quashing of convictions – convictions wrongly upheld by the VSCA;
and ordered that the VSCA order be replaced with a judgement of acquittal.

Still and all, not being a lawyer, I would bow to superior knowledge.

Which is not to say that I do not suspect that Sancho is being gleefully impish and supported in trying to conjure up a straw man where none exists: for, simply, the allegations were false and Cardinal Pell was wrongly convicted but ultimately justly exonerated.

JCsays:
September 11, 2022 at 9:25 pm
Good point Tim.

There’s one thing though. The game is played on Saturday. Also if the funeral is on Monday the 19th, then why not make mourning day Sunday 18th. Mourning after a funeral just doesn’t sound right.

Yes, making the mourning day Friday wouldn’t interfere with the game itself but even Friday’s carryings on are a circus maximus and the AFL wouldn’t take kindly to interference.
I agree about the date. But Rub and Tug Man is going to the UK for the funeral, and wants to have an official mourning day when he’s in the country so he can LARP as a national statesman. Presumably it was thought that da bruvvas would like a day off on full pay (so weekends are out), it would be too disruptive to suddenly announce it for a day this week, he doesn’t want it to happen while he’s out of the country, and Friday 23rd would inconvenience a reliable ALP ally in the AFL. So Thursday 22nd fits his agenda.

My great uncle was a veteran of that battle

9th Division AIF.
They did good. Very good.
So did Monty.
Their Monty not our Monty.

Chapter 14 – Launching the Battle
Chapter 15 – The Dog Fight

Those are the AWM official AIF history covering 2nd Alamein and the 9th Div in it. A fine read.

There has been rumours of Russian mobilisation – i.e. conscription – but that would be a rather desperate move, and everyone would know it.

m0nty’s arse cheeks are a’wobblin’ again. Intolerable. A generous spritz of Glen 20 is required. Hell, I’ll take Black and Gold fly spray to mask the stench if nothing else is available. No, don’t light a match! I know it’s the ultimate toilet stink eradicator but not advisable in this instance unless you want to replicate that Lebanon harbour explosion.

Policies Pushing Electric Vehicles Show Why Few People Want One

They wouldn’t need huge subsidies to sell if they really were a good choice, and consumers know that.

By Bjorn Lomborg

We constantly hear that electric cars are the future—cleaner, cheaper and better. But if they’re so good, why does California need to ban gasoline-powered cars? Why does the world spend $30 billion a year subsidizing electric ones?

Electric vehicles will take over the market only if innovation makes them actually better and cheaper than gasoline-powered cars. Politicians are spending hundreds of billions of dollars and keeping consumers from the cars they want for virtually no climate benefit.

OCO – There was an ammonium nitrate detonation in the Z war. Dunno who lit the match. Made a very large red cloud. Maybe a thousand tonnes of it, from the look of the plume.

arse cheeks are a’wobblin’

AKA

Twerking

Ultimately, Russia can transition from its jargonistic ‘Special Military Operation’ and go to war. It has created and propagated this delineation for a reason -it has a next level. We are struggling to contain the repercussions from the SMO. Russia hasn’t really taken the gloves off yet.

Sure we want to go there? Subtract the R from UK, ok…I can see that. Common history and culture and so forth. But Ukraine? Who gives a fuck about Ukraine! Why are they of any importance to the vast majority of the people of the Western world? Do we share even a superficial cultural bond with them that we don’t also share with the Russians? I mean, sure, I’m against people suffering from the consequences of war, and certainly people live in Ukraine and are suffering from the consequences of war. Then again, people live all over the world and they suffer from the consequences of war, and we don’t give a rat’s about them. What’s so special about Ukraine?

Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine. Has the world gone utterly mad? No, they’re taking sides, and they’re not siding with us. I don’t blame them. We have sacrificed everything that makes the West a superior place for the world to do business on the altar of Ukraine. I don’t want to hear one single antiwar cuck crapping on about the disproportionate influence of the Israeli/Zionist lobby in DC – the Ukraine lobby makes the purported sway of the Israeli lobbyists look like rank amateurs.

Remind me again – why are we going to the mat for the dubious virtue of Ukraine?

I would imagine the Wagner Group mercenaries would be contracted.

Remind me again – why are we going to the mat for the dubious virtue of Ukraine?

Define “going to the mat”. I don’t see any other Western country’s divisions being airdropped into the war zone.

Are we sending materiel and sharing intelligence? Sure. Are we getting value for money? Seems like yes, especially lately.

We couldn’t stand by and let Russia start reconstituting the Soviet Union through military conquest. It’s not as if Putin was being subtle about it, he told us up front.

Also, it seems a bit weird to be whining at this precise moment about why we are supporting Ukraine, right in the middle of a counter-offensive that may win them the war. Are you actually tired of winning?

Understanding Planning, Orders and Troop Movements in Ukraine

PATTON, the movie, was a masterpiece of entertainment. It is not historically accurate on many points and that is a problem with respect to Ukraine. What? I suspect some of you believe I have really crossed over to crazy land, but hear me out. Remember that scene when the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and Patton saved the day by “immediately” diverting his Army 90 degrees to head north and rescue the beleaguered paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd airborne regiments (note, the paratroopers insisted they did not need to be rescued, but that’s another story for another day)?

That cinema account of how Patton planned and shifted the axis of attack of his troops is presented as something hastily put together. The German offensive started on 16 December and Patton met with Eisenhower on the 19th of December and received orders to relieve Bastogne. Patton’s troops moved out on the 22nd of December and reached Bastogne on the 26th. What the movie account fails to convey is that the planning for moving his Army north began on December 9, ten days before the emergency conference with Eisenhower.

Patton’s J-2 (i.e., his intel chief) briefed the following on 9 December:

By the end of October four panzer divisions had been identified refitting near Paderborn, far north of the Third Army’s left boundary.

By December 7 the Germans were holding at least thirteen divisions in reserve.

(I encourage you to read the whole article about the real story of Patton’s rescue effort at the link above.)

So why is this important? The process any first world army (e.g., United States, Russia, Ukraine) follows in moving troops and equipment from one point to a distant location follows a well-defined planning process.

I am not familiar with the Russian planning system, but I am pretty sure the Russians follow a similar procedure to JOPES. It is important to understand this with reference to the offensive taking place around Kharkov. The Russian forces started moving into the area on Thursday, 8 September. And we are talking about hundreds of trucks, tanks, towed artillery and troops.

So, was Russia caught by surprise? No. They had at least one week’s warning of the impending Ukrainian attack. If you want to believe that Russia’s intelligence service is incompetent or was deceived in this operation, enjoy the fantasy. The Russian planners had a couple of choices. They could have moved their forces into position earlier but that would have tipped off the Ukrainians and west that the planned offensive was compromised.

Alternatively, the Russian planners may have decided to mask their movements and made choices about which villages and cities to defend and which to abandon. If Russia had moved preemptively to reinforce Izyum that would have raised warning flags for the Ukrainian and NATO planners.

I am not privy to the Russian plan. But what I do know is that the planning process required to deploy the troops and equipment moving into Kharkov was not a panicked response. Hollywood can create the illusion of rapid movement of military troops, but the real world requires alerting units, making sure they are properly supplied and then undertaking the logistic task of moving those units into combat.

This means the planning was deliberate, not a crisis response.