Open Thread – Tue 24 Jan 2023


Andromache mourning Hector, Jacques Louis David, 1783


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Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 2:43 pm

Apart from the corrosive effect of this mentality on the beneficiaries, do we really want to re-introduce feudalism into Australia in the 21st century?

Don’t forget with The Voice we also get a neo-feudal race based aristocracy.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 2:43 pm

Apart from the corrosive effect of this mentality on the beneficiaries, do we really want to re-introduce feudalism into Australia in the 21st century?

Ill let Mel answer.

Yes, yes they do.
A race based aristocracy where 1/2 the “barons’ are liquor barons and pisswrecks, and the other 1/2 do very well ineed.

It keeps politics and politicians at the heart of the “game” of redistributing all that munni that the plebs would just waste on themselves.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 2:46 pm

On another topic, picked up a copy of Clive James’ Unreliable Memoirs at Vinnies recently. Heard about how brilliant it is for years.

Well, I’m a bit disappointed so far. Firstly, it is full of typos (lots) and factual errors (e.g. about the toxicity of various local critters.) For the great champion of high literacy to not proofread – or maybe he did – is a big letdown.

Not trying to be a dick but maybe that’s the point? Not in the same manner as Finnegan’s Wake, but written as a non standard writing style, as the title suggests. Written as though it is meant to appear groggy with hazy memories, he regretted being away from Australia for so long?

Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 2:47 pm

Russia historically had to make gear “Ivanproof”, that is rugged, reliable and with simple requirements for maintenance and care.

It makes sense. In a sustained and high intensity conventional war against a determined, near peer opponent,* you want equipment that doesn’t require a crapload of maintenance to operate.

I recall a docco from the 1990s making this point about the difference between US and Soviet fighter planes: F-14s, F-15s and F-16s required spotless runways to take off and land on, whilst Su-27s and MiG-29s had retracting guards on their air intakes to prevent runway debris being sucked into their engines, and were able to use all sorts of terrible surfaces to take off of and land on.

*the kind of war the US Army in the 20th century has never really been configured to fight

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 2:47 pm

Why Shipyards May Be The Future of Fission

Presumably if you have a meltdown it just melts it’s way through the ship and plops into the ocean! Nice!

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 2:50 pm

whilst Su-27s and MiG-29s had retracting guards on their air intakes to prevent runway debris

A lot of Russian aircraft have mudguards on the nose wheels where there is potential to flick runway debris into the intake.

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 2:53 pm

Russia historically had to make gear “Ivanproof”, that is rugged, reliable and with simple requirements for maintenance and care.

They pioneered permanently attached folding bayonets because they got sick of Ivan losing bayonets. If Ivan lost his bayonet, it also meant he’d lost his rifle.

Arky
January 27, 2023 2:55 pm

A lot of Russian aircraft have mudguards on the nose wheels where there is potential to flick runway debris into the intake.

..
Because you can’t trust the ground crews to keep the runway clean.
Spoke to workmates who went aboard a Soviet ship in dock in the mid 80s.
Every bolt rounded off due to use of shifters / wrong spanners, crap everywhere, crew consisted of sullen and paranoid drunks.

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 2:58 pm

They knew: why didn’t the unvaccinated do more to warn us?

The unvaccinated knew what we didn’t. Some of them said too little. Most said nothing at all. A lot of blood is now on their hands.

I would have thought that getting fired was a good indication of concern. I also sent an email to my team on ensuring needle aspiration (standard procedure which is regularly not done) and got a warning over that. 🙂

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
January 27, 2023 3:00 pm

I note Lidia and the forty thieves haven’t mentioned farmers yet.
Most farm settlers in Australia left behind the entitled land owner class with their bailiffs and magistrates that kept them indebted and poor.
Just try Lidia, just try.

Gabor
Gabor
January 27, 2023 3:01 pm

I wonder if early dementia is setting in for a certain blogger?
Or is it acute political bias?
Will we ever know?
Questions, questions.

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 3:02 pm

Every bolt rounded off due to use of shifters / wrong spanners, crap everywhere, crew consisted of sullen and paranoid drunks.

My guys used to feed the Ivan’s by bringing them surplus catering. They’d be stuck with the aircraft until the next job got scheduled. Often the only ground handling contact they’d have was with the fuelies.

Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 3:02 pm

Because you can’t trust the ground crews to keep the runway clean.

When you’re in the middle of high tempo operations, would you rather be able to fly as many sorties as humanly possible or be restricted by the need for ground crews to sweep runways?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:02 pm

rickw says:
January 27, 2023 at 2:47 pm

Why Shipyards May Be The Future of Fission

Presumably if you have a meltdown it just melts it’s way through the ship and plops into the ocean! Nice!

The US Navy’s oldest nuclear-powered attack sub just finished its final deployment after sailing around the world

The USS Olympia, the Navy’s oldest serving fast-attack submarine, wrapped up 35 years of service with a seven-month, around-the-world deployment.

Nuclear-Powered Ships – (Updated November 2021)

. Nuclear power is particularly suitable for vessels which need to be at sea for long periods without refuelling, or for powerful submarine propulsion.
. Over 160 ships are powered by more than 200 small nuclear reactors.
. Most are submarines, but they range from icebreakers to aircraft carriers.
. In future, constraints on fossil fuel use in transport may bring marine nuclear propulsion into more widespread use. So far, exaggerated fears about safety have caused political restriction on port access.

Lloyd’s Register shows about 200 nuclear reactors at sea, and that some 700 have been used at sea since the 1950s. Other sources quote 108 reactors in US naval vessels in mid-2019.

More than 12,000 reactor years of nuclear marine operation have been accumulated, and Russia claims 7000 of these, and the US Navy over 5400.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 3:03 pm

Every bolt rounded off due to use of shifters / wrong spanners, crap everywhere, crew consisted of sullen and paranoid drunks.

Yup, thats why they needed “Ivanproof’ gear.
Just assume a low IQ with 2 years schooling is going to operate the gear and build it to suit them.

To “Ivanproof” the ship youd have to make all the bolts the same size and one tool fits all.

Thats not to say Russia is made up of belligerent, stupid drunks, but certain sectors of their society (like the conscript army) it may be wise to aim for the lowest common denominator.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:05 pm

Nuclear naval fleets

The US Navy has accumulated over 6200 reactor-years of accident-free experience involving 526 nuclear reactor cores over the course of 240 million kilometres, without a single radiological incident, over a period of more than 50 years.

It operated 81 nuclear-powered ships (11 aircraft carriers, 70 submarines – 18 SSBN/SSGN, 52 SSN) with 92 reactors in 2017.

There were 10 Nimitz-class carriers in service (CVN 68-77), each designed for 50-year service life with one mid-life refuelling and complex overhaul of their two A4W Westinghouse reactors*

The Gerald Ford class (CVN 78 on) has a similar hull and some 800 fewer crew and two more powerful Bechtel A1B reactors driving four shafts as well as the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. It has an expected service life of 90 years. The Ohio-class SSBNs have a service life of 42 years.

* The seventh such vessel overhaul after 25 years is the Stennis, taking 4.5 years and costing $2.99 billion. It involves major upgrades to the propulsion plant, to the flight deck, catapults, combat systems and the island superstructure.

Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 3:08 pm

The USS Olympia, the Navy’s oldest serving fast-attack submarine, wrapped up 35 years of service with a seven-month, around-the-world deployment.

Are you sure its final destination isn’t Garden Island? Perhaps in a few months we’ll be smashing a bottle of Grant Burge NV on the hull of HMAS AUKUS. Gotta start somewhere!

feelthebern
feelthebern
January 27, 2023 3:10 pm

Another US cop pulls her firearm thinking it was a taser.
They really are terribly trained.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:11 pm

A veritabale treasure trove of information – https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/transport/nuclear-powered-ships.aspx

Contents

Nuclear naval fleets
Civil vessels
Nuclear power and propulsion systems
Marine reactors used for power supply, floating nuclear power plants
Future prospects
Notes & references
Related Information

Gabor
Gabor
January 27, 2023 3:17 pm

Dr Faustus says:
January 27, 2023 at 2:41 pm

In his professional life he can (sic) across as an insufferable show off: look at my massive intellect and wonder as I self-deprecate in public.

I see you are imitating his style by introducing your own typos.
Nice.
Making a living by offering your thoughts and opinions to the public, you are bound to offend some.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:21 pm

thefrollickingmole says:
January 27, 2023 at 3:03 pm

Every bolt rounded off due to use of shifters / wrong spanners, crap everywhere, crew consisted of sullen and paranoid drunks.

Yup, thats why they needed “Ivanproof’ gear.

Just assume a low IQ with 2 years schooling is going to operate the gear and build it to suit them.

Again I make the point re Kamaz Trucks

KAMAZ-MASTER: A TRIUMPHANT VICTORY IN THE 2022 DAKAR RALLY

16 January 2022

The crews of the KAMAZ-master team swept the podium in the 2022 Dakar race.

This is already the 19th victory of the Russian team in the toughest international rally.

This year saw the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally, which included 12 stages. The length of the route was 8,375 kilometers, of which 4,258 kilometers were special stages.

There were twelve victorious stages of KAMAZ-master out of all twelve stages of the most difficult rally on the planet. As a result, in the general classification, four crews of the KAMAZ-master team took the first four lines of the standings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dakar_Rally_records

Car Wins by manufacturer
Manufacturer Years Wins
1 Japan Mitsubishi 1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001 – 2007 12
2 France Peugeot 1987 – 1990, 2016 – 2018 7
3 United Kingdom Mini 2012–2015, 2020-2021 6
4 France Citroën 1991, 1994 – 1996 4
Germany Volkswagen 1980, 2009 – 2011
5 Japan Toyota 2019, 2022, 2023 3
6 Germany Porsche 1984, 1986 2
United Kingdom Range Rover 1979, 1981
France Schlesser 1999, 2000
10 Germany Mercedes 1983 1
France Renault

Truck Wins by manufacturer

Manufacturer Years Wins
1 Russia Kamaz 1996, 2000, 2002 – 2006, 2009 – 2011, 2013 – 2015, 2017 – 2022 19
2 Czech Republic Tatra 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001 6
3 Germany Mercedes-Benz 1982–1986 5
4 Italy Perlini 1990–1993 4
5 Italy Iveco 2012, 2016, 2023 3
6 Algeria Sonacome 1980 1
France ALM/Acmat 1981
Netherlands DAF 1987
Japan Hino 1997
Germany MAN 2007

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
January 27, 2023 3:22 pm

Under the new rules, which started on Monday, customers are limited to one purchase per day, and can buy up to two cartons of full-strength beer, cider or RTDs, one 750mL bottle of spirits, or six bottles of wine.

Intolerable.
Personally, I’m already through four of today’s bottles of rosé and just necking the fifth.

Indolent
Indolent
January 27, 2023 3:27 pm
Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
January 27, 2023 3:27 pm

I see you are imitating his style by introducing your own typos.
Nice.
Making a living by offering your thoughts and opinions to the public, you are bound to offend some.

I do it for free.

Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 3:29 pm

KAMAZ-MASTER: A TRIUMPHANT VICTORY IN THE 2022 DAKAR RALLY

Yep, it’s not at all a surprise that Kamaz dominates the Paris-Dakar rally. Plenty of entertaining video on YouTube if you search ‘Russian trucks’. With that said, if I had to choose between a Kenworth and a Kamaz if I were trucking freight across the Nullabor, well…let’s just say it wouldn’t be a difficult choice, and Kenworth’s non-existent medal tally in truck rallying competitions would not worry me greatly.

Jorge
Jorge
January 27, 2023 3:30 pm

Banning flags at the tennis ?

If there are spectators shouting at each other and the players or going the bash what are the organisers to do ?

Everybody else is there for the tennis.

Just ban ‘em. The George Pell technique used on gay disrupters at mass.

johanna
johanna
January 27, 2023 3:31 pm

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-27/brumby-population-up-30-per-cent-in-kosciuszko-study-finds/101899022

After a couple of years of record rain, the brumby population has risen considerably, whodathunkit? Lots of feed around, warmer temps.

Here we go again with the people who are locked in to being 13 year old girls who are passionate about horses versus common sense.

I don’t mind a few brumbies rollicking around in the Snowy, but when times get a bit harder they eat every single thing. I recall vising a friend who had a smallish horse in a two acre paddock during the drought. It was fed hay and lucerne every day, BTW.

There was not a living plant above horse height.

Bored domestic horses eat all day, if they can. Wild horses just eat as often as possible.

The sentimental animal lovers seem to think that thousands of wild horses should be re-homed, presumably queueing up with the failed racehorses.

Usually, the lovers of brumbies are opposed to allowing cattle to graze for a few months of the year in their special areas.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
January 27, 2023 3:33 pm

Kamaz has a big prime mover.
500hp with an Allison auto and cutting edge leaf spring suspension.
Step back in time.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:33 pm

2023 Porsche 911 Dakar revealed, Australian pricing announced

The latest Porsche 911 variant swaps race tracks for rally stages, with increased ground clearance, off-road tyres and a name derived from motorsport.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 3:35 pm

Glue futures are down.

johanna
johanna
January 27, 2023 3:37 pm

Formatting as usual … 🙂

shatterzzz
January 27, 2023 3:37 pm

Mr Webb’s ancestral grandmother, who was friends with the Layman sisters, was tied up to a tree so she couldn’t warn anyone about the massacre the families had planned.
“She said they killed over 100 hundred people, possibly up to 800 people,” Mr Webb recalled.

From Tales My Nana Told Me .. volume 17 .. 1st edition ..
available for onsite viewing only .. bookings essential ..
Harry Turtledove Room, Pascoe University .. Specialized Voice Reading Room .. top of Uluru …..

rosie
rosie
January 27, 2023 3:37 pm
Indolent
Indolent
January 27, 2023 3:39 pm
Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 3:39 pm

Aren’t Lada Niva diffs still prized by hardcore 4×4 enthusiasts for their insane durability?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:39 pm

johanna says:
January 27, 2023 at 3:31 pm

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-27/brumby-population-up-30-per-cent-in-kosciuszko-study-finds/101899022

johanna

I have been surprised by how small are the Brumbies that I have seen, 4WD in VIC & NSW High Country- though I will admit I was impressed by their clearing/jumping large fallen tree trunks

Largest number in one spot, the mob joining us in clearing on top of VIC High Country Ridge in 2008 as the Bush Fires raged around us and blocked out the Sky – were unafaid of us

flyingduk
flyingduk
January 27, 2023 3:41 pm

Two police officers are stationed outside this busy Liquorland bottle shop as crowds line up to buy booze – but there’s a tragic reason they’re there. In Alice Springs, buying booze starts with a police interrogation.

And therein lies the problem with trying to ‘protect everyone from themselves’. You end up with an ever more intrusive nanny state that treats everyone as an offender, before the fact.

The libertarian response would be to let the cards fall where they may – if the individual is harmed, so be it, if they harm someone else, the law cracks down like a ton of bricks.

The problem in the Alice is free money being used to buy booze. Take away the free money and the recipients must either work or turn to crime. Those that work are welcomed into society, those that steal are excluded from it.

Its not like the present strategy of ‘risk management’ is working.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 3:43 pm

Risk husbandry is more accurate.

Oh come on
Oh come on
January 27, 2023 3:43 pm

leaf spring suspension

Tough as hell and easy to repair. Perfect for long distance travel over all surfaces (if you’re okay with spinal injury).

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
January 27, 2023 3:47 pm

leaf spring suspension

Tough as hell and easy to repair. Perfect for long distance travel over all surfaces (if you’re okay with spinal injury).

It’s tough on the spine all right…

I run a 75 series cruiser as a daily for work.
1HZ engine
Leaf springs front and rear.

You feel every bump in the road…

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 3:47 pm

Opposition Leader Mia Davies announces shock resignation from Nationals Party
Josh Zimmerman
The West Australian
Fri, 27 January 2023 12:46PM

Opposition Leader Mia Davies is set to announce her shock resignation from the role, as well as that of Nationals leader.

Ms Davies has called a 1pm press conference on Friday but is yet to confirm her intention to step down.

However, the West understands Ms Davies will give up the leadership of both her party and the formal opposition and announce she does not plan to contest the 2025 election.

The development comes less than three weeks out from the resumption of Parliament for the year and just short of the halfway mark of the current term of government.

Ms Davies was thrust into the Opposition Leader role after the Liberal Party was decimated at the 2021 election and reduced to just two seats in the Legislative Assembly compared to the Nationals’ four.

Roe MP Peter Rundle and Moore MP Shane Love are the only likely replacements for Ms Davies, with North West Central MP Merome Beard only elected to Parliament last September.

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 3:53 pm

Old Ozzie:

In addition to noting the Russian cultural aspects of the conflict, Col MacGregor gives some somber analysis about how dangerous this is becoming as the U.S. political voices are not willing to concede or admit anything that runs counter to their promoted narrative.

My analysis of the US political voices stopped at the point I realised most of those voices have access to nuclear shelters and stockpiles of the essentials.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 3:56 pm

From Tales My Nana Told Me .. volume 17 .. 1st edition ..
available for onsite viewing only .. bookings essential ..
Harry Turtledove Room, Pascoe University .. Specialized Voice Reading Room .. top of Uluru …..

There;s no doubt that some pretty “dark and bloody deeds’ were done while opening up this country, but either the whole truth is told, or nothing at all.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 3:57 pm

Farmer Gez says:
January 27, 2023 at 3:33 pm

Kamaz has a big prime mover.
500hp with an Allison auto and cutting edge leaf spring suspension.
Step back in time.

Inside the factory that only builds white Toyotas

Welcome to Toyota Gibraltar Stockholdings (TGS), the world’s most remarkable car dealership

But Toyota still builds a 4.2-litre non-turbo diesel. You can’t register a new one in Europe because of its emissions, but it doesn’t go wrong and any mechanic can fix it in the field because there’s no electronics around it. You don’t need diagnostic tools, you just need to know how an engine works.”

Step back in time. Works

AL’S PROJECT 75 SERIES

This old warhorse continues to be our bush beast.

Our OTA project vehicle could hardly be more different from our first. We’d tested the revolutionary Land Rover Discovery 3 and reckoned it was the best wagon on the Australian market, so we bought one and drove it outback for three years and just under 200,000km.

It never let us down in the bush, went through trackless deserts without major issues and was the most advanced 4WD wagon in our estimation – soured by lousy quality control and computer-related issues that Land Rover Australia wasn’t interested in curing. If the Japanese or Koreans had built it we’d probably still have it!

Our current project is as far – electronically speaking – as you can get from a Discovery: it’s a LandCruiser 75 Series tray-back that already had 300,000+km on it. It doesn’t have a single piece of electronic gadgetry in it – apart from the radios, an infotainment screen and a Doran tyre pressure monitoring system.

We’d christened the Land Rover ‘Larry’, so the 75 Series HJ just had to be ‘Harry’.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
January 27, 2023 4:01 pm

Bharat Benz and Ashok Leyland dominate the euro style trucks on the Indian roads. The old Tata style still dominates. Build design consists of a chassis, stick toilet block cabin on top, bolt an old shipping container on the back and paint it up like a two bit tart.

Indolent
Indolent
January 27, 2023 4:05 pm
rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 4:14 pm

Bharat Benz and Ashok Leyland dominate the euro style trucks on the Indian roads.

MTCC here just brought a whole lot of Bharat Benz tippers.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
January 27, 2023 4:18 pm

tied up to a tree so she couldn’t warn anyone
Just like in the cowboy films eh

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 4:18 pm

The problem in the Alice is free money being used to buy booze. Take away the free money and the recipients must either work or turn to crime. Those that work are welcomed into society, those that steal are excluded from it.

I reckon you could put any group of people into the “Aboriginal Framework” and things would go haywire very quickly.

flyingduk
flyingduk
January 27, 2023 4:19 pm

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government inherited a failing system of overflowing GP waiting rooms and a lack of access to primary health care putting insurmountable pressure on hospital emergency departments which in turn drove up costs.

The public health system is failing because the public themselves are failing. Five decades of domesticating people by paying them not to work, and nudging them to eat unhealthy food has left us with a nation of fat unhealthy dependent pandas. Their needs can never be met, particularly as our national productivity relentlessly falls.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said one third of Australians were paying out-of-pocket gap fees with the number of people affected growing rapidly.

All costs are ultimately met by the citizens, whether directly or indirectly – the problem is that running them through a bloated government that takes its cut simply adds to the cost.

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
January 27, 2023 4:20 pm

I reckon you could put any group of people into the “Aboriginal Framework” and things would go haywire very quickly.

Native Americans???

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 4:23 pm

Report: George Soros Funds Global ‘Fact Checking’ Empire

Same with climate rubbish.

Meet The Organisation Behind The Media’s Climate Hysteria (26 Jan)

This tougher tone in the media is partly down to an organisation called Covering Climate Now, an initiative by the Guardian and other outlets with Left-liberal leanings, to which some very high-profile news organisations, such as Bloomberg, Reuters, the Daily Mirror and Newsweek, have signed up.

It offers support to journalists to ‘forge a path towards an all-newsroom approach to climate reporting’. Its guidance includes: ‘Remember, an extreme weather story that doesn’t mention climate change is incomplete and potentially even inaccurate.’

Complete bollocks. But just see the list of lefty organizations behind CCN. The full panoply of the progressive industrial complex in lockstep. Sheesh the whole world needs a clean out something rotten.

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 4:27 pm

Old Ozzie:

Western nations have begun pledging a variety of Western armored vehicles to Ukraine including infantry fighting vehicles and even main battle tanks. Until now, the majority of armored vehicles sent to Ukraine had been Soviet-era weapons Ukrainian forces were familiar with both in terms of operating and repairing them.

NATO is finding out again that once you go over the 50 – 55 ton battlefield weight, the complications start setting in quite quickly.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 4:29 pm

And therein lies the problem with trying to ‘protect everyone from themselves’. You end up with an ever more intrusive nanny state that treats everyone as an offender, before the fact.

An unintended consequence of publicly funded universal healthcare, which is also, by budgetary necessity, rationed health care.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 4:32 pm

Ah…I see we’ve moved on to that topic whle I was scanning the previous page…great minds! 😀

areff
areff
January 27, 2023 4:35 pm

Usually, the lovers of brumbies are opposed to allowing cattle to graze for a few months of the year in their special areas.

Ain’t that the truth.

Worse, they’re not in the least fussed about the deer, which are everywhere. Indeed, they sort of like ’em because they wallow in the bogs, causing damage that can then be blamed on the summer cattle.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 4:38 pm

The year 2023 is shaping up to be the start of long period of destruction and renewal. The old global world is collapsing under the impact of the war in Ukraine, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, high energy prices, supply chain disruption, and a declining public confidence in authority. The coming year will see the demolition continue until perhaps the point is reached when it is simply easier to start over again.

The Real Great Reset, Richard Fernandez

There certainly seems to be a fin de siècle mood about.

History may not repeat, but it often rhymes, as Mr. Twain observed.

m0nty
m0nty
January 27, 2023 4:42 pm

Trump is easily the least corrupt President in my lifetime and possibly ever. The entire weaponised security state has been turned on him and they’ve come up with nothing – not even the crumbs they normally require to frame someone. Trump’s integrity is truly remarkable.

Did someone put you up to that post on a bet, OCO? What a clown you look.

Trump’s lackey took a US$2 billion bribe from the Sauds. That knocks all other presidential corruption into a cocked hat.

Trump was cleared of Russia involvement by the FBI… and the spook who cleared him was on the take from Russia. Unsurprising that there has not been much mention of McGonigal on the Cat lately. Now there was a frollicking mole.

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 4:42 pm

Arky:

The Covid lockdowns have created a witches brew of distrust exacerbated by the never ending woke push and election shenanigans.

There are many who are furious about the heavy handedness of the Premiers and the PM, others who don’t really care, and those who believe the individuals rights are of necessity subject to ‘rights’ of the collective.
I cannot see the damage caused by these competing views healing over within the next five years, even if there is no repeat of the dictatorial whims of our elites. Mainly because the legislative power to call for these lockdowns remains among the group of people who are convinced it was for our own good.
Hopefully the exposure of the damage the ‘vaxxine’ has done will continue to surface.
I’d certainly like to see an unbiased* series of polls about community attitudes now compared with 6, 12, 18, & 24 months ago.
*Yes, I know I’m dreamin’.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 4:44 pm

Worse, they’re not in the least fussed about the deer, which are everywhere.

“Bambi” has a lot to answer for.

Free the Meat (26 Jan)

“In Western New Jersey, a population-dense state with an equally high concentration of whitetail deer, the problem is an increasingly urgent one. “Sustainable levels of deer should be 5 to 15 individuals per square mile,” one local arboretum fretted in 2021. “New Jersey averages 112 per square mile, with some areas as high as 270.” And yet, deer concentration levels, their acute and injurious effects on the environment, and the threat they pose to life and property exist alongside a bewildering phenomenon: They are positively delicious.

But you can’t buy deer meat at your local grocer or often even at upscale food purveyors. This NPR reporter found venison loin selling for a staggering $40 per pound. And about 85 percent of all deer meat sold in American restaurants is imported from New Zealand. … Where local venison is available, it is in charity kitchens and food pantries. Recreational hunters are not allowed to sell their kill for a variety of reasons.”

At least when America collapses there will be plenty of game available. And I suspect those deer will become extremely popular once proles are forced to eat bugs for the planet.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 4:45 pm

Trump’s lackey took a US$2 billion bribe from the Sauds. That knocks all other presidential corruption into a cocked hat.

Trump was cleared of Russia involvement by the FBI… and the spook who cleared him was on the take from Russia. Unsurprising that there has not been much mention of McGonigal on the Cat lately. Now there was a frollicking mole.

All lies by dickless who is jealous of Trump because unlike dickless he does have a dick.

Vicki
Vicki
January 27, 2023 4:45 pm

Our current project is as far – electronically speaking – as you can get from a Discovery: it’s a LandCruiser 75 Series tray-back that already had 300,000+km on it. It doesn’t have a single piece of electronic gadgetry in it – apart from the radios, an infotainment screen and a Doran tyre pressure monitoring system.

Our last Landcruiser was an 80 Series 40th Anniversary Series and it was a humdinger. We drove it all around Australia – including across the Tanami Track and all over the Kimberley, outback Queensland, Tassie etc. She never put a “wheel wrong” with the exception of an internal brass front wheel bearing up in Cununurra, and carried us safely for 430,000km. The sole reason we sold her was because we were eventually doing so many km between Sydney and our farm on the dangerous expressways and the model did not have airbags.

We then bought a 200 Series some three years and have already clocked up 100,000km. Although it is essentially a great car with heaps of power, the seats are NOWHERE near as comfortable as our old 80 Series. It is hard to believe, but the fabric seats in that car were unmarked and had almost no wear after all those km! But it is the electronic gadgetry that we hate the most. The Sat Nav is disfunctional as is the multi task radio setup. Why, oh why, do the designers think complexity is good? During Covid restrictions we were horrified when the car refused to start after husband had CD player operating while waiting for my to complete a shopping trip. Luckily, a passing farmer offered to plug in our jumper leads & we were able to get it mobile to access a Dealership a half hour away. Thank God the technician was able to correct some malfunction as we were unable too get a hire car to get us back to the farm.

Otherwise, the new Landcruiser does the job we bought her for – but our heart will always be with that fabulous 80 Series which, we understand, has now gone to God.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 4:52 pm

BUYERS GUIDE – HEAVY DUTY
Light 4×4 truck cab/chassis

Ute-alternative load carriers look better value for money than ever.

Light 4×4 truck cab/chassis are increasingly being preferred by tradies and government departments, over utes that have marginal payloads. We’ve updated what’s in the light-truck 4×4 cab/chassis market in 2023.

Light 4×4 trucks are being increasingly marketed to tradies and service industries as alternatives to utes, boasting much greater payloads, even at the car-licence gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 4495kg. As popular-brand 4×4 ute prices soar and their tare weights go up, the resulting RRP vs payload calculations don’t look too flash.

A light 4WD truck doesn’t have the modern ute’s ‘cool’ factor, but can still be a tradie’s weekend off road tourer as well as a work vehicle during the week.

The bonus is much roomier crew cab accommodation. Some 4×4 light trucks seat seven, in comparison with ute seating of five, although the inboard rear seats in Japanese trucks have lap-only belts.

Alternatively, the crew section can be converted into storage space.

Typical light 4×4 truck pricing is above the price of a base-model 4×4 ute – but payloads of the available single-cab light 4×4 trucks range from 1.3 tonnes to 2.2 tonnes at car-licence GVM. Payloads at truck-licence GVMs range from 3.9 tonnes to 4.6 tonnes.

Those payload figures make it possible to have a tradie-truck during the week and, with a slide-on camper or motorhome pod, bush accommodation on weekends and on holidays.

An increased availability of single tyres on both axles of Japanese 4×4 light trucks has further increased their appeal in 2023.

A downside of the Japanese models is their poor ride quality on rough surfaces, but after-market suspension bits and super-single tyres can mitigate that to a large extent. Euro models ride much better, but have had availability issues and offer far less parts and service support in the bush.

– Hino
– Hino
– Isuzu NLS
– Isuzu NPS
– VW Crafter
– Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
– Iveco Daily
– Ute conversions

Speedbox
January 27, 2023 4:52 pm

flyingduk says:
January 27, 2023 at 4:19 pm
All costs are ultimately met by the citizens, whether directly or indirectly – the problem is that running them through a bloated government that takes its cut simply adds to the cost.

To keep a long story very short, I did a stint (as a contractor) with a State government Department of Health and was shocked at the casual approach to expenditure and the outright rorting by suppliers for various medical supplies (specifically prosthetic limbs) and a few other supplies of high value. The Health department were 100% aware they were being scammed but the attitude was ‘devil may care’. I outlined the assorted failures (and potential consequences of not acting now I had pointed the issues out) and proposed methodologies to address these fundamental failures – but nobody was interested.

Ended up with some ‘band-aid’ (no pun intended) solutions that were largely superficial. The utter disregard for taxpayer’s money was astonishing. And nobody thought they were, or would be, accountable – everyone would point to the next level ‘manager’ or different section within the Department as being accountable.

Boambee John
Boambee John
January 27, 2023 4:52 pm

m0nty=fa

Trump was cleared of Russia involvement by the FBI… and the spook who cleared him was on the take from Russia. Unsurprising that there has not been much mention of McGonigal on the Cat lately. Now there was a frollicking mole.

Two points.

“McGonigal” is a strange way to spell “Mueller”.

That the FBI included at least one person corruptly linked with Wussia doesn’t seem to raise any wider doubts in your mind? Or are you just repeating the approved leftard talking points?

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 4:52 pm

Trump’s lackey took a US$2 billion bribe from the Sauds. That knocks all other presidential corruption into a cocked hat.

You’re trying to sell the notion that the Saudis GAVE Trump’s SIL $2 billion?They just gave him that money to settle on some deal, and every single institution in the US like the FBI, the CIA, the DOJ, and the Demonrat aligned MSM haven’t raised it every day like everything else Trump was supposed to have done wrong.

Stop being a dishonest jerk, Fatboy. Every single part of his finances has been combed 10 times by the demons, and the only thing they ever do is suggest the walls are closing in on Trump, yet they never do. Remain silent.

Trump was cleared of Russia involvement by the FBI… and the spook who cleared him was on the take from Russia. Unsurprising that there has not been much mention of McGonigal on the Cat lately. Now there was a frollicking mole.

The spook was aligned with the Clinton campaign, you overweight misfit. As I said, remain silent.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 4:55 pm

Cronkite

Stop obsessing over penises and come up with some new crazy book titles.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 4:59 pm

Just to clarify, Kusher’s private investment vehicle was handed US$2 billion 6 f..king months after Trump left office. Some bribe.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 5:03 pm

Stop obsessing over penises and come up with some new crazy book titles.

I am not obsessing over penises; I am merely pointing out the absence of them.

Anyway, here is a cute owl.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 5:06 pm

Trump’s lackey took a US$2 billion bribe from the Sauds. That knocks all other presidential corruption into a cocked hat.

Let’s say this isn’t montycrap.

He got the Sauds and Israel to sign a peace treaty. Good!

If Biden made 2 bn and the current it-could-end-in-nukes-war ended now, I’d take that deal.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 5:08 pm

Unsurprising that there has not been much mention of McGonigal on the Cat lately.

I thought we’d talked about him? He’s another example of lefty projection: that anything the Left accuses a righty of is something they’re doing already.

The squealing from the Dems about leaving Swalwell (D-Fang Fang) and Omar (D-Palestine) off of committees is fun. Swalwell for sure will be a interesting interview subject if ever the DHS decides to do their job.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
January 27, 2023 5:13 pm

Vicki says:
January 27, 2023 at 4:45 pm

Our last Landcruiser was an 80 Series 40th Anniversary Series and it was a humdinger. We drove it all around Australia – including across the Tanami Track and all over the Kimberley, outback Queensland, Tassie etc. She never put a “wheel wrong” with the exception of an internal brass front wheel bearing up in Cununurra, and carried us safely for 430,000km. The sole reason we sold her was because we were eventually doing so many km between Sydney and our farm on the dangerous expressways and the model did not have airbags.

We then bought a 200 Series some three years and have already clocked up 100,000km. Although it is essentially a great car with heaps of power, the seats are NOWHERE near as comfortable as our old 80 Series. It is hard to believe, but the fabric seats in that car were unmarked and had almost no wear after all those km! But it is the electronic gadgetry that we hate the most. The Sat Nav is disfunctional as is the multi task radio setup. Why, oh why, do the designers think complexity is good? During Covid restrictions we were horrified when the car refused to start after husband had CD player operating while waiting for my to complete a shopping trip. Luckily, a passing farmer offered to plug in our jumper leads & we were able to get it mobile to access a Dealership a half hour away. Thank God the technician was able to correct some malfunction as we were unable too get a hire car to get us back to the farm.

Otherwise, the new Landcruiser does the job we bought her for – but our heart will always be with that fabulous 80 Series which, we understand, has now gone to God.

1994 Series 80 Toyota Lancrusier 4.5l EFI still going Strong

Re – We then bought a 200 Series some three years and have already clocked up 100,000km. Although it is essentially a great car with heaps of power, the seats are NOWHERE near as comfortable as our old 80 Series. It is hard to believe, but the fabric seats in that car were unmarked and had almost no wear after all those km!

Invest in a Set of Recaro’s Fabulous – Full Recaro Interiior installed within 2 Months of Purchase Excellent

Re Luckily, a passing farmer offered to plug in our jumper leads & we were able to get it mobile to access a Dealership a half hour away

Vicki,

I have a Billet Proof Designs Micro Start XP-10 Ultra with Carrying Case (Latest Model) Mini Car/Truck Jump Starter 650 Cranking Amps! Jump a Diesel Truck! 18,000 mAh to Charge Electronics/Cell Phones

keep in in Car/4WD – had it for number of years and easily starts 4.2l Diesel and 4.5l Diesel and holds charge

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. The antigravity XP-10HD micro start car jumper is a device that serves multiple purposes as it can act as Powerful Jump Starter + Portable Charger + LED Flashlight + S. O. S Lighting Signal for help. It can come really handy in the situations when you are at a trip, travelling, driving or in case of an emergency.

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. The car jump starter has additional features including, automatic power switching, built-in protection for over charge and over discharge, long battery life, rechargeable lithium battery, top quality design, build quality and safety features.

Arky
January 27, 2023 5:14 pm

Mainly because the legislative power to call for these lockdowns remains among the group of people who are convinced it was for our own good.
Hopefully the exposure of the damage the ‘vaxxine’ has done will continue to surface.

..
RS.
The way clear is to remove the vaccines from the market.
They are way over the threshold for harm caused for this to occur, and the “emergency” use is invalid because the subsequent strains aren’t creating an emergency.
Remove the vaccines you remove the mandates and you remove the possibility of again using the lockdowns and other measures because the reason for those was “we’re locking down until the vaccines have done their job”.
No vaccines = no mandates and no lockdowns.
These vaxxes have to be consigned to history in disgrace.
Then the work can begin to reassure most people who had them that they will probably be fine and to find treatments to those who have been hurt.
The societal damage will only be repaired when those who pushed all the damaging responses are eliminated from public life.
Starting with Dan Andrews.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 5:18 pm

This level of games within games is above my pay grade.

https://www.themainewire.com/2023/01/ex-fbi-agent-mcgonigal-involved-in-russia-gate-indicted-for-violating-russia-sanctions/

This is truly shocking. Left, right whatever. The FBI is out of control!

Before writing anything further here, please excuse any saltiness in my take. Full disclosure: I pleaded guilty to failing to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938 in charges brought by then special counsel Robert Mueller. So yes, I have an opinion, but I’ll try to stick to the facts:

In bringing charges against former FBI senior counterintelligence officer Charles McGonigal related to his alleged business relationship with Russian “oligarch” Oleg Deripaska, the U.S. Department of Justice is again signaling some willingness to address the tangled web of conflicting interests, mass projection of its own sins on others, and outright lies that came to be known as “Russia-gate.”

After a week of hand-over-fist revelations that the President of the United States appears to have committed the very same breaches of national security law with which a special counsel is now preparing to charge his predecessor, news about the McGonigal indictments might not elicit so much as a yawn. But there’s a lot to unpack, and it’s important that we do, because McGonigal’s fate is intertwined with so many of the false narratives that have driven breathless nightly news reports for almost a decade.

[RELATED: Retired FBI Executive Charged with Concealing $225,000 in Cash Received from Former Intelligence Officer…]

Beginning with former Attorney General Bill Barr’s 2020 appointment of John Durham as special counsel, the Justice Department started looking openly at the possibility malfeasance lay at the core of Russia-gate. Durham brought charges against Michael Sussman, an FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring a FISA warrant application for Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Sussman was a lawyer for Hillary Clinton who, Durham charged, lied to FBI counsel James Baker about having no client interest on the phony dime he was dropping on Trump, and a Russian-American “analyst” employed by Christopher Steele to fabricate a case against Trump. (If Baker sounds familiar, you might be remembering him from his role coordinating government censorship as a high-ranking employee at Twitter.)

Beltway juries acquitted both Sussmann and Steele dossier “source” Igor Danchenko in large part because their defense teams highlighted so many ways in which the FBI itself had bungled the handling of the matter. Yet if you read the indictments of either man, you will see prosecutors using worlds like “conspiracy” and “Hillary Clinton” in the same sentences. To be clear, the juries did not absolve these men of lying – rather they determined the lies were “immaterial.” While left-wing journalists eagerly reported acquittals, the fact is the Sussman and Danchenko trials revealed that a Clinton lawyer conspired with a British spy and a Russian operative to plant the seed that would become Russia-gate, a years long saga that dogged President Trump’s presidential campaign and resulted in endless harassment.

The McGonigal indictments break new ground in efforts to discern what really happened at the root of these investigations. The Russian whom he’s accused of taking money from is currently under U.S. sanctions and has had difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa for years. To say that the relationship between Deripaska and the FBI is complicated would be an understatement. It’s not just McGonigal who has ties to Deripaska. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller – who went on to be appointed special counsel to investigate allegations of Trump-Russia collusion – reportedly persuaded Deripaska to spend some $25 million researching whether FBI contractor and Iranian prisoner Robert Levinson was still alive and could be freed.

More recently, associate attorney general Bruce Ohr interviewed Deripaska about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in New York at the height of the Russia-gate probes and when Deripaska scoffed at the idea Manafort could be a Russian agent, Ohr instructed him to “keep an open mind.” Meanwhile, Ohr’s wife, Nellie, worked at the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was actively pushing the Trump-Russia collusion case. To make things even more complicated, fabulist Christopher Steele had previously worked for Deripaska as well.

If you never heard Rachel Maddow breathlessly reporting on these facts, it’s not your fault. Throughout the manufactured scandal, mainstream media sources took their talking points from well-funded “watchdog groups” that actively promoted the Russia-gate narrative. And remember the narrative: It’s former President Trump who has all these shady connections to Russians that must be investigated. Not the Clinton campaign. And certainly not the FBI. If you question this, you’re just a Putin Stooge!

Fourteen months ago, the FBI raided properties reportedly belonging to Deripaska in Washington and New York, most likely in an effort to find out who else was on his payroll. That would explain the McDonigal indictment.

But Deripaska’s ties to senior U.S. officials go further still.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who currently chairs the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSCI), exchanged a series of texts throughout 2017 with Deripaska’s U.S. lawyer, Adam Waldman. Waldman, the texts suggest, was a close associate of the investigating senator. At the time, the SSCI angrily denounced House Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) for leaking the texts, in which Warner was seeking to get Steele to testify.

Another Warner favorite was former Dianne Feinstein staffer Dan Jones, who left the SSCI to head the Democracy Integrity Project, which in turn hired Fusion GPS. Confused yet? Jones’ contacts with former colleagues on the SSCI staff were never disclosed publicly, and it remains unclear whether investigators ever in fact bothered to review them.

Then a fellow named James Wolfe, the chief of security for the SSCI, to whom I voluntarily hand-delivered 1,000 pages of printed out production at the committee’s request in late 2017, lied to the FBI about his romantic relations with a BuzzFeed/New York Times reporter thirty years his junior. Warner signed a letter to Wolfe’s sentencing judge demanding leniency.

Warner’s House counterpart, Adam Schiff (D-Hollywood), has recently been lambasted over his efforts, exposed in the Twitter files, to silence investigative journalism about this process at the time. Once celebrated for his tough talk against Trump, Schiff has lost all credibility, even among Maddow-watching leftists. Nonetheless, he continues to insist on grand conspiracies, despite almost every thing he said about the Russia collusion narrative turning up false.

Even at its outset, the Mueller probe faced serious blows to its credibility when texts between FBI senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were disclosed. Strzok, who was carrying on an extramarital affair with Page at the time, boasted to her in the texts that he would “stop” Trump from becoming president. It was a sickening display of deep state arrogance that shocked the nation. Mueller had to fire Strzok, because he’d expressed such clear bias against investigation subject Trump and subverted the integrity of the investigation. Then, notes from Strzok’s interview with then-National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn surfaced with a clear, pre-meditated intent to get Flynn to lie.

Ultimately, Mueller concluded there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Some of the narratives key political proponents – like California Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Eric Swalwell – have been reported to have been in actually compromising relationships with China and its intelligence services.

In today’s light, very little of the underlying “facts” about the multiple Russia investigations of the 2016-19 period hold up. Christopher Steele made things up out of whole cloth, we learned only after the Russian bank Alfa successfully sued him for defamation in UK courts. After these findings of fact, U.S. justice officials came under new pressure to review the tainted sources and the way in which they drove the partisan probes in our own country. From the very beginning, the entire Russia-gate saga was driven by self-serving partisan operatives who couched themselves in patriotic rhetoric.

That a senior FBI official was reportedly working for Deripaska is not becoming to the bureau, but also not surprising. Remember, it was Bruce Ohr who told the Russian magnate to “keep an open mind.” Likely there is more to come.

Just for laughs, here’s a video we found of Charles McGonigal, the FBI agent who investigated Trump for ties to Russia who now has been indicted for being a likely tool of the Russians, talking at a Foreign Policy Association panel on… Foreign Influence Operations and Counterintelligence.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 5:18 pm

He got the Sauds and Israel to sign a peace treaty. Good!

The Abraham accords were one of the most magnificent negotiations we’ve seen in a long time. The difference between Kushner and Bunter is that Kushner isn’t a useless freaking crackhead acting as Dad’s bagman like that degenerate Bunter.

Bunter is now an artist. FFS

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 5:18 pm

Liberal senator sues Higgins’ partner over ‘defamatory tweets’
Jesinta Burton
By Jesinta Burton
January 27, 2023 — 1.04pm

West Australian Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds has launched defamation action against Brittany Higgins’ partner David Sharaz, after vowing to vindicate her reputation following the former Liberal staffer’s rape allegations.

Reynolds’ lawyers at Perth firm Bennett have filed a writ in WA’s Supreme Court against Sharaz, claiming the former press gallery journalist posted two tweets last year that were falsely defamatory of her.

The former defence minister is now demanding damages, as well as aggravated damages, and wants an injunction preventing the material from ever seeing the light of day again.

Reynolds also wants Sharaz to foot the bill for the legal action.

Sharaz’s Twitter account has since been deactivated.

Law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, which confirmed it was advising Sharaz, told this masthead it would not be commenting at this stage.

Reynolds’ office was also contacted for comment.

The lawsuit comes just weeks after Reynolds took action against publishing house HarperCollins and journalist Aaron Patrick, demanding a book detailing recent political controversies including Higgins’ alleged rape be pulled from the shelves.

Reynolds is seeking aggravated damages over the contents of Patrick’s book, Ego: Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party’s Civil War, which she claims featured comments that were falsely defamatory of her and had caused her loss and damage.

The Australian Financial Review senior correspondent’s book focused primarily on former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign against his successor, Scott Morrison, and party infighting.

But the book also pored over the details of several of the Liberal Party’s recent political controversies, including an entire chapter dedicated to former political staffer Higgins’ rape allegations against fellow staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

Higgins, a former employee of Reynolds, claimed Lehrmann raped her in the then-cabinet minister’s parliamentary office.

Lehrmann pleaded not guilty and denied ever having sex with Higgins.

Reynolds found herself in the firing line amid the fallout over the government’s response to Higgins’ claims.

Lehrmann’s high-profile criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct, and the charge later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

This masthead understands Reynolds’ legal team intends to contest several passages in the book vigorously, including one which suggested Reynolds told Higgins that non-consensual sex was “the cost of being female”.

With Lehrmann’s trial aborted, and a $3 million compensation settlement reached between Higgins and the federal government, Reynolds told WAtoday she was now in a position to vindicate her reputation.

She blamed incorrect and irresponsible media coverage for damaging her reputation and causing considerable distress.

Top Ender
Top Ender
January 27, 2023 5:19 pm

Steve Price: Voice to Parliament won’t fix Alice Springs ‘war zone’

Forty years after the royals toured Alice Springs nothing has changed — and it’s rubbish to blame non-Indigenous Australians for the “war zone” it has become.

Steve Price

In March it will be 40 years since King Charles and his young wife Princess Diana landed in Alice Springs for the start of a six-week tour.

It was just 15 days after Bob Hawke belted Malcolm Fraser in an election smashing and a matter of weeks after the deadly Ash Wednesday bushfires.

The Alice always seemed like an odd place to start a royal tour featuring the most famous woman in the world, Diana.

Forty years on and Alice Springs and the Northern Territory are back in the news for the very worst of reasons. Grog bans have been lifted by a left-leaning delusional NT Labor government and the results are clear to see.

Alice Springs has been described as a “war zone” and adolescent Indigenous children are roaming the streets committing violent crimes.

I reference 1983 for one reason: I covered that Royal Tour and then went back to report on, guess what, youth crime in Alice Springs and places like Tennant Creek and Yuendumu, 400km northwest of Alice Springs.

Forty years ago! And nothing has changed.

Let’s be clear, given what’s unfolded this week around the frightening crime wave involving youngsters in the Alice including home invasions, car theft and robbery, the Voice referendum and debate is the last thing these people need.

You don’t need a Voice – whatever that might end up being – you need the parents of these children, some reportedly as young as five, to stop getting drunk and bashing each other and making their own children scared to be at home.

We need the parents of these kids to start taking their own responsibility for having children and ask themselves at 2am where those children are and what are they doing.

Blaming non-Indigenous Australians for the s–tshow Alice Springs has become and suggesting that’s why we need a Voice – as the left has tried to do late this week – is rubbish.

How can creating some other body of Aboriginal lobbying that hasn’t existed over the 40 years I mentioned prevent the social breakdown that’s taken the headlines this week?

On that 1983 visit I got there a few days before the royal couple because of a flood event that turned the normally dry Todd River into a torrent of water.

It meant Charles and Di stayed at the Gap Motel because they couldn’t get to their suite at the casino. It also meant residents of the town camps in the Todd had to relocate to the centre of the CBD.

Walking through the main street two days before the royals got there and witnessing the booze-driven violence is something that’s stayed with me until today.

Bottle shops were shuttered behind steel cages, and you didn’t even think about walking into a pub.

Violence – men on men and women on women, and gutless blokes abusing women around fires lit in the street and parks – was part of life.

It wasn’t young kids being violent but probably their grandparents.

This was 40 years ago, and we are asked to believe in 2023 that ticking a YES box on a referendum will fix all this.

Forty years ago at Ayers Rock, Charles was 34, and his wife Diana was just 22. Prince William was a baby.

Forty years we have had to fix Alice Springs and its remote communities, and somehow a referendum is going to do that by creating a Voice. No one believes that.

Embarrassingly our new PM was shamed this week into flying there for a few hours and a photo opportunity.

He needed to be seen to be doing something – anything.

It was the same with the forgettable Malcolm Turnbull who back in 2018 when confronted by the horrific case involving the rape of a two-year-old girl flew to Tennant Creek, four hours north of Alice Springs.

The sexual assault took place in a part of town called The Bronx and authorities had been warned this child was at risk.

In the wake of the rape, 15 at-risk children were taken away from their families.

That was just five years ago.

Fast forward and at least PM Albanese went, but you suspect this is as much about saving his promise of delivering the Voice as about concerns for the people living in Alice Springs.

It’s a town, we learnt this week, where Woolworths closes at 7pm after a kid shut it down with a machete, and where deodorant, mouthwash and hand sanitiser are sold from locked cupboards because of juvenile abuse.

It’s a community where the NT’s Labor government believes limiting alcohol sales to Indigenous people is racist but where BWS says you can buy two slabs of beer, half a dozen bottles of wine at a time and a 750ml bottle of spirits. That’s each.

What a joke, so explain to me exactly how a Voice to Parliament is going to make any difference to any of this, 40 years on from that royal visit.

By the way, on that same visit, we went to Tennant Creek and if you google that visit you will see pretty pictures of Diana and Charles with schoolchildren, some of them Indigenous.

We were told, though, that this troubled town had organised a free barbecue with grog outside town for the large Indigenous population to clean up the local streets and hide their problem.

There were reports on talkback radio from Alice locals this week that very same thing happened during the Albanese visit.

Some things never change, and it’s unlikely a three-hour visit, more money splashed around and the Voice will make things any better in another 40 years.

Herald-Sun

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 5:19 pm

“Trump’s lackey took a US$2 billion bribe from the Sauds. That knocks all other presidential corruption into a cocked hat.”

Who’s the “lackey” Monty? Been reading the Protocols today?

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 5:20 pm

Like I have said for a long time. The Democrats were for the most part the American officials and politicians colluding with Russia. Now the proof is legion.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 5:20 pm

I reckon you could put any group of people into the “Aboriginal Framework” and things would go haywire very quickly

There are hordes of people who inherited wealth who have within a decade or so become complete pisswrecks.
I dealt largely with the underclass doing the rental business, most Australians dont have exposure to just how perverse some of the decisions you have to make are in that world.

Heres a few.
Teenage babies: Your home is a warzone, mum and dad/rotating roster of boyfriends live in squalor. Having a baby gets you an income, a house and a support network. If there is nothing much else to look forward too being a teenage mum is a logical life choice.

Eating takeaway all the time: This is one Id never thought of till I saw it trying to help out a client with a bub/ roster of boyfriends. Got her a package of food from a charity but she wanted cash.
You dont keep food in your house, it attracts moochers and parasites who use the “im your babydaddy/relative/rando who might be violent if you say no” and are likely to base themselves at your place until all your tucker is gone. Far better to taxi/walk etc down to the servo and get some crap from there.

Overcrowding: Living 4 people to a room: doing this means the rent is split 4 ways, even better if you can find a way to double dip on the house cost.

Geting your kids diagnosed as “sick”. It gets you a supplement to your “pension”, god only knows how much worse that is now with the NIDS.

There are so many behaviors which look self destructive (and many are) in the underclass which are actually coping behavior.

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 5:22 pm

“Just to clarify, Kusher’s private investment vehicle was handed US$2 billion 6 f..king months after Trump left office. Some bribe.”

Quite so, but the “bribe” smear fits Monty’s prejudices. Goebbels would be proud, his legacy lives on

calli
calli
January 27, 2023 5:24 pm

Reynolds now suing the insta-rich Sharaz is she? I do hope she’s successful.

The taxpayer giveth and the courts taketh away.

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 5:26 pm

Law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, which confirmed it was advising Sharaz, told this masthead it would not be commenting at this stage.”

Question – I wonder who works at Arnold Bloch Leibler?

Answer – I know, initials “LZ”.

alwaysright
alwaysright
January 27, 2023 5:27 pm

The societal damage will only be repaired when those who pushed all the damaging responses are eliminated …

from public life.

Quotations never misrepresent. /sarc

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 5:27 pm

” I do hope she’s successful.”

As do I.

Ed Case
Ed Case
January 27, 2023 5:29 pm

I reckon you could put any group of people into the “Aboriginal Framework” and things would go haywire very quickly.

I’d like to think that too, but Aborigines are extremely r-selected, if they can’t have something right now, they’re not going to bide their time and cooperate as a group.
They’ve evolved thru perhaps 100 Generations to get there, and any Government Policy that doesn’t start from there is a waste of time and resources before it even starts.

Lysander
Lysander
January 27, 2023 5:31 pm

WA leader of the Nats has stepped down… I guess they don’t have a real chance until 2029…

calli
calli
January 27, 2023 5:31 pm

I don’t get that, Cassie. Not au fait with the ins and outs of law firms.

I can make up some marvellous names with those initials though! 😀

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 5:33 pm

As I’ve said before- they don’t even pretend any moreCanada’s Deputy PM: U.S. Middle Class ‘Needs a Pay Cut’- poisonous trash

calli
calli
January 27, 2023 5:34 pm

I’m still waiting for cohenite’s book titles. Much more interesting than his owls.

Ed Case
Ed Case
January 27, 2023 5:35 pm

Plasmamortarsays:

Native Americans???
Not a success story.

As Mark Twain exclaimed:
No Indian ever did a lick of work.

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 5:35 pm

I’ve never gone into it in any depth- but I recall that Justine the dauphine got a lot of help from the Tides Foundation in ‘winning’ the ‘election’ first time around.

m0nty
m0nty
January 27, 2023 5:37 pm

You’re trying to sell the notion that the Saudis GAVE Trump’s SIL $2 billion?They just gave him that money to settle on some deal, and every single institution in the US like the FBI, the CIA, the DOJ, and the Demonrat aligned MSM haven’t raised it every day like everything else Trump was supposed to have done wrong.

Yep. The Saudis get a free pass on everything. Remember how they funded and organised 9/11 and all but one of the hijackers was Saudi? And nothing was ever done about it?

Just to clarify, Kusher’s private investment vehicle was handed US$2 billion 6 f..king months after Trump left office. Some bribe.

Ah yes JC, the accrual method of accounting has obviously passed you by. Cash only in the spiv game, deals always made on the spot.

Vicki
Vicki
January 27, 2023 5:38 pm

Then the work can begin to reassure most people who had them that they will probably be fine and to find treatments to those who have been hurt.

Only time will tell. I was initially relieved (my family had one set of vaccinations) to see that the FLCCC frontline physicians and others felt that if the vaccinated passed the 6 months test, they were probably OK. However, some in FLCCC now saying that 12 months a better test, & add that we really don’t know the long term position.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 5:40 pm

Brave police officers facing ‘worst of the worst’ in Alice Springs
exclusive
By SARAH ISON
Political Reporter
@@sarsison
8:44PM January 26, 2023

A Central Australian police officer stationed in Alice Springs has revealed the horrors of his job and says he “never knows” the condition he will be walking home in, or if he will be coming home at all.

In a rare window into the life of policing in Central Australia, the officer – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – said his crew struggled to meet the demands of a town buckling under soaring crime rates.

“We are expected to do way more than what we should,” he said. “We are not fireys, ambos, doctors, nurses or mental health professionals – and no one could ever live without them, including us boys and girls in blue.

“We are not teachers, youth services or support services … the expectations of our day-in-day-out (are) not tenable.”

The officer described a typical day as “never knowing what will come over the radio” and bracing for “the worst of the worst” of society.

“Will one of our own be assaulted? Will a poor … innocent victim be assaulted?” he said.

“What will we face today? How much blood will be shed? Will it be a serious assault, murder, robbery or even another … needless domestic violence (incident)?

“Will we be verbally abused by drunks and kids with no boundaries? How many crews will we have to handle this?”

The officer said he chose a career in the police force because he was always impressed as a child and young adult with the people who “turn up every day to be there for others” and be willing to “run towards the worst rather than run away”.

But he said no one could have prepared him for the “evil” he would see.

Figures from the NT Police Fire and Emergency Services show that assault in 2022 was up by more than 40 per cent compared to the year before, with domestic-violence related assault up by more than 50 per cent.

The Northern Territory Police Force is comprised of more than 1200 sworn police, auxiliaries and Aboriginal community police officers, with 40 extra police officers pumped into Alice Springs in November in response to the rising crime wave.

The officer said his personal life suffered under the strain of the job and he had learned quickly “to never make plans that are set in stone”.

“We are the job 24/7, 365 days a year,” he said.

“You also never know if you’re going home the same way you walked into work. Be that physical injury or psychological injury, or worst still, will you wake up in the hospital? Or worse yet.

“We see the worst of the worst and the evil of society … it’s hard not to become cynical but it’s harder to become human again, to fit in with society,” he said. “Some have the ability to, some don’t.”

Of the things he had experienced, the officer said the worst was the suicide of a crew member.

“Nothing at all can explain that feeling,” he said.

“The station just becomes a very, very sombre place. Nothing is worse than that.”

The officer said the best part of the job was helping those who truly needed it and being “in their corner”.

“(It’s) being able to make someone feel safe,” he said.

“Helping someone realise they have someone in their corner. Helping someone feel like someone will protect them and being able to try and get justice for your victims, no matter their skin colour. ”

m0nty
m0nty
January 27, 2023 5:41 pm

Before writing anything further here, please excuse any saltiness in my take. Full disclosure: I pleaded guilty to failing to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938 in charges brought by then special counsel Robert Mueller. So yes, I have an opinion

Written by Sam Patten: money launderer, convicted liar, Russian operative, and Trump bootlicker. LOL.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 5:42 pm

Dickless equates Kusher and hunter. And shows amazing in sight into accounting. I for one every time I’m promised money enter it immediately into the ledger; especially when it’s a billion or a trillion bucks. Still, it’s to be expected when he applies the accrual method to having a dick.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
January 27, 2023 5:45 pm

A salute to that Alice Springs cop whoever he may be.

Plasmamortar
Plasmamortar
January 27, 2023 5:45 pm

Plasmamortarsays:

Native Americans???
Not a success story.

As Mark Twain exclaimed:
No Indian ever did a lick of work.

I should have clarified, I meant it as sarcasm.
Doesn’t carry well in text sometimes.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 5:46 pm

Oh yeah, Fatboy – the accusation without a single shred of evidence. Oh, like a computer left in a repair shop by a crack addict who then forgets about it.

Locked in and unable to sell his father’s influence so directly, he is now the Picasso of the 21st century. You know, I would have thought you were against graft and corruption, yet you defend Bunter and the rest of the family when the current president is very, very likely to be the most corrupt bastard who’s ever set foot in the oval office. This would even include visitors.

m0nty
m0nty
January 27, 2023 5:47 pm

I thought we’d talked about him? He’s another example of lefty projection: that anything the Left accuses a righty of is something they’re doing already.

In a special counsel investigation into obstruction of justice, the Italians alerted Durham and Barr to evidence of Trump’s involvement in crimes. Durham and Barr then proceeded to obstruct justice themselves by burying this information and not including it at all in their reports. Barr wasn’t even supposed to be working with Durham.

Everything they accused Hillary and Biden of, the Republicans did right out in the open.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 5:49 pm

Everything they accused Hillary and Biden of, the Republicans did right out in the open.

Exactly the opposite you pathetic, dickless creep.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 5:50 pm

In a special counsel investigation into obstruction of justice, the Italians alerted Durham and Barr to evidence of Trump’s involvement in crimes.

That’s coming from the most honest congressman in US history – Rep Schiff?

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 5:53 pm
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 5:54 pm

Everything they accused Hillary and Biden of, the Republicans did right out in the open.

That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all day.
Projection or what!

cohenite
January 27, 2023 5:54 pm

Due to popular demand: titles for the jaded:

Waxing Moon: every week she visited Kim Moon’s waxing saloon and each time her passion grew. She had to have more and more of Kim. But what was there left to wax?

Swamp Lust: their plane crashed into a swamp with swamp people and a morass of sin, lust and evil.

Swamp Hoyden: men chased her, charmed her, cheated her. But she outfoxed them all.

The Girl from Easy Street: the tragic story of a teenage girl who wanted too much, too soon and ran the brutal gamut of degradation, depravity and delinquency.

calli
calli
January 27, 2023 5:56 pm

😀

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 5:56 pm

Swamp Lust sounds like a decent read, cronks. 🙂

Thanks for the update.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 5:58 pm

m0nty says:
January 27, 2023 at 5:41 pm

Before writing anything further here, please excuse any saltiness in my take. Full disclosure: I pleaded guilty to failing to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938 in charges brought by then special counsel Robert Mueller. So yes, I have an opinion

Written by Sam Patten: money launderer, convicted liar, Russian operative, and Trump bootlicker. LOL.

He made that disclosure and you cannot deny any of what he said, he showed everyone the receipts. I’m not acting as a character witness to him and he’s not selling a car sight unseen. You seem to be incapable of discernment.

The whole Russia Gate thing was a crock to distract people away from Clinton’s email server crap because she probably was innocent on a technicality but what a jury and judge may think was a coin flip as it would be a test case.

What is really intriguing is how dumb you have to be to ignore all of the FBI corruption, infringement of US citizen’s political and civil rights. It’s just sickening you’d smear Trump and give Warner a pass. Brain dead ideology.

Remember when Obama and Medvedev were caught on hot mikes discussing how they’d help each other?

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 5:59 pm

Swamp Lust: their plane crashed into a swamp with swamp people and a morass of sin, lust and evil.

Swamp Hoyden: men chased her, charmed her, cheated her. But she outfoxed them all.

Or the omnibus version : Hillary, the Washington years.

calli
calli
January 27, 2023 5:59 pm

Moon forgot to wax lyrical.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
January 27, 2023 6:01 pm

Serious question to guys like Matrix Transform or lurking elec engineers.

How big a solar farm ball park hectares (They have bought over 300ha already) would it take to produce 2.5MW of power from the a proposed 340MWh average 0530-1600h daily generation window.

This monstrosity is about to be dumped close to where I live and we have had zero consultation from the State Gov & Council.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
January 27, 2023 6:02 pm

From The Oz another pride round debate.

However my question is why are Universities sponsoring sporting teams?

Just wear the normal team shirts and stop asking players to wear woke related stuff that can cause problems with sponsors and fans from both side of whatever the woke cause is.

Can we have a round of support for middle aged white males before we are totally ghosted.

“In a statement issued on Wednesday, the club referred to itself as the ‘CQUniversity Cairns Taipans’ and revealed the entire playing group would not wear the rainbow logo.

It prompted CQUniversity to issue a stern statement on Friday afternoon, revealing the organisation wasn’t informed of the Taipans’ choice and that it did not agree”.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
January 27, 2023 6:06 pm

Talking of woke. Some sad news to brighten your day !

“Things are getting worse for Don Lemon and CNN.

The recently launched morning show, “CNN This Morning,” had its smallest audience since it launched among both total viewers and the key demographic”.

Is Ch 10 our CNN?

Eyrie
Eyrie
January 27, 2023 6:08 pm

Rockdoctor, do you mean the farm generates 340MW-hours per day during that window?
If so the power over the 10.5 hours averages 340/10.5 MW which is just over 32MW average power.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
January 27, 2023 6:10 pm

Rockdoctor,
Don’t mean to pry but I am guessing you are white.

If you self identified as a member of the BLM rainbow clan that found a pink frog I am pretty sure you would have been consulted and they would have delayed the project for at least 10 years of consultation. Followed by appropriate compensation.

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 6:12 pm

Here’s my prediction, if the Voice referendum fails, there’ll be violence.

I hope I’m wrong but I reckon that’s what the scum protesting in Melbourne yesterday want and will incite. After all, according to the leader of the protest in Melbourne yesterday, “this is war”.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
January 27, 2023 6:15 pm

Eyrie

From the EIS:

2.75 MVA (2.5MW active power output)
• Total number of PV modules (and aggregate PV module capacity).
• Aboveground direct current (DC) cabling which connects each module in a string to a field combiner box mounted near the modules.
• Underground DC cabling from the combiner boxes to the central inverters
• Central inverters step up transformers and switchgear in containers or on skids (power conversion unit or PCU)
within each array block which convert DC electricity generated by the solar PV modules to alternating current (AC) for
connection to the national electricity grid
• Underground AC cabling running from the PCUs to UGOH poles and then via 66kV transmission lines to the solar substation
• The Renewable Energy Precinct expectation regarding the level and standard of service of power transfer capability is that the distribution system should provide:
– Average annual maximum power output from the solar farm is 36.8MW
– Average annual daily energy generation is 340MWh
– Average annual daytime hours are 5:30am to 6:00pm.

Power generation not my forte. I am just curious to how big the panel array would have to be to achieve the total purported output, negating that these are always best case figures of course.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 6:20 pm

And Greta, John Kerry and Al Gore were nowhere to be seen:

Global Military Buyers Flooded Vegas Arms Expo, Spurred By World War III Threats (27 Jan)

“Last week, military buyers from Europe and Asia flooded the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas for the world’s largest firearms trade show of its kind.

The Washington Times said Poland, Romania, and the Baltic States sent defense buyers to SHOT Show, where more than 2,500 exhibitors showed off new weaponry, drones, robots, and other high-tech devices for war.

Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and other Asian states also sent military buyers. The Times even said visitors from China and North Korea were present at the closed-door event.

We attended the event (read: here & here) and can confirm the military buyers were present.

The Times said 40 nations sent delegations to purchase firearms and equipment. Most of the deals are made at the event or a follow-up meeting. There’s even an event before the Shot Show where a select group of attendees tests the weapons in a nearby desert. We were there and observed multiple military buyers from Asia, including ones from Singapore, shooting machine guns and high-powered sniper rifles.

Hubert Marciniak, a Polish defense contractor, told The Times that Russian aggression has resulted in Warsaw modernizing its forces.

“Russia is our neighbor. But it’s also a crazy neighbor, so we need to be prepared for what they are doing,” Marciniak said.

A Japanese official declined to comment on Tokyo’s shopping list, but when asked by The Times if they were buying or selling at the show, they replied: “buying.”

I wonder what set all this off? It’s a mystery.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 6:21 pm

Jesse Watters explains the difference between biden and Trump and why Trump was set up and biden is a puppet:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/jesse-watters-bidens-are-all-over-fbi-wiretaps-talking-china

Luzu
Luzu
January 27, 2023 6:21 pm

Cohenite,

Waxing Moon and the subsequent description made me laugh out loud. I’ve lived in South Korea and the four most common surnames are Lee, Park, Kim and Moon. Heck, the best man at my wedding in Pusan had the surname Moon.

And I took a double take at the initials LZ. Those are mine.

Zipster
January 27, 2023 6:27 pm

has he been talking to pfizer?

Bill Gates says the world needs to prepare for the next pandemic as it’ll be man-made
Billionaire Bill Gates has warned leaders that the next pandemic will be man-made and potentially far more deadly.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 6:27 pm

After all, according to the leader of the protest in Melbourne yesterday, “this is war”.

I’d be very careful about using language like that – enough of the “old and the bold” and the “ruthless and toothless”, around here, were fouling the bore of an M60, while said leader of said protest was fouling her nappy.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 6:31 pm

Here’s my prediction, if the Voice referendum fails, there’ll be violence.

I hope I’m wrong but I reckon that’s what the scum protesting in Melbourne yesterday want and will incite. After all, according to the leader of the protest in Melbourne yesterday, “this is war”.

I wonder if Ms. Thorpe is on the “fixated persons” list of the intel authorities…

Damienski
Damienski
January 27, 2023 6:36 pm

Cassie of Sydney
There will be riots before the vote.
There were riots in Perth last night. Bottles, rocks and broken paving stones thrown at police. Riot Squad called.
I have no direct information on the cause of the fracas or the identity of the assailants, but given

a) the location of the riots, and
b) the time of day; and
c) the date

I’d lay London to a brick that the rioters were our Aboriginal brethren.

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 6:38 pm

The Frolicking Moll:

I remember reading on the king Tigers that the tactics to defeat them were basically line up everything that could shoot, even 45mm ATG stuff and blast away until a lucky shot took off a track or disabled it.

That was one of the lessons employed in the Soviet defensive positions at Operation Citadel. The Soviets had decided 10 rounds was what it took to disable/KO a Tiger 1, and so set up defences around ten of their 75mm A/T guns. However the Germans had their Elephant/Ferdinand tank destroyers in the midst of a cloud of MKIV/Panthers to protect them from the Soviet defences and were able to suppress the A/T defences. But at a cost.
Interestingly the Germans could have won that fight but Hitler’s delays so he could field more of the Panthers and Tigers allowed too strong a defence. von Manstein’s claim in this case that the Fuhrers meddling cost the battle has merit.
The Soviets having the German plans didn’t help them much either.
At this stage of the war, Germany had developed Tabun? (going from memory here) and while stocks were very limited at around 100/200 tons, perhaps the northern prong could have made better progress and forced the Soviet armour reserve into the battle sooner before it was deployed against the southern prong at Prokhorovka and allowed von Manstein to break free across the base of the Soviet positions.

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 6:38 pm

I think the left’s hatred of Australia day has been magnified by ‘sovereign borders’ back in ’13-’14. They’re working on Anzac Day too of course and have been since 1958 at least when ‘the one day of the year ‘ came out. I can actually remember n entire episode of ‘Certain Wimmin’ dedicated to attacking Anzac Day but they called it ‘reunion’.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 6:39 pm

And I took a double take at the initials LZ. Those are mine.

It is indeed a small world.

Zipster
January 27, 2023 6:40 pm

Sen. Kennedy: “Tell me what Article V of the Constitution does.”

Biden Judicial Nominee: “Article V is not coming to mind at the moment.”

Sen. Kennedy: “How about Article II?”

Biden Judicial Nominee: “Neither is Article II”

yeah but it has a vag

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 6:41 pm

The left here takes all its cues and instruction from the US- so we had to have a campus rape epidemic so why not a race war.

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 6:43 pm

Since 2016 street fighting, physical attacks on patriots and conservatives as well as on statues has been very much part of the left’s modus operandi. This is being directed worldwide and probably from the US.

Lysander
Lysander
January 27, 2023 6:43 pm

In a special counsel investigation into obstruction of justice, the Italians alerted Durham and Barr to evidence of Trump’s involvement in crimes.

For a moron who can’t even work out the elementary fact as to how a US judge is appointed, I think you should stick to fiction (as you obviously do).

Chris
Chris
January 27, 2023 6:45 pm

Plea for help:
Organising aged care for defacto stepfather, following death of my mother.
I learn that there are major financial categories, based on whether he is aged pensioner with no assets or what he will inherit. There is land involved (sell or keep?) and multiple siblings inheriting.
I am convinced we could make some awful mistakes.
Who knows a financial planner that is good at the Government rules, care facilities and inheritance?

H B Bear
H B Bear
January 27, 2023 6:46 pm

C63 AMG

When I was stuck in Coffs Harbour the Australian tarmac rally was on and MB Australia had lent one to Mick Doohan. Not sure who was picking up the tyres but that was where the real expense was.

DaFisk
DaFisk
January 27, 2023 6:51 pm

The dam has broken and the tanks are flying into Ukraine thick and fast. Putin has tried and blown both his nuclear threat and energy leverage, with Europe’s gas stocks at record highs. Game over for Putey!

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 6:52 pm

“I’d be very careful about using language like that – enough of the “old and the bold” and the “ruthless and toothless”, around here, were fouling the bore of an M60, while said leader of said protest was fouling her nappy.”

This about this, and it’s quite ironic, given that the NO campaign isn’t getting a dime from Sleazy’s government, and that any campaigning against the Voice isn’t tax deductable the way the YES campaign is, that the coverage of the events in Alice, the Oz Day delegitimisation by progressive scum, the racial slurs against whites and the lunatic Thorpe and her incessant antics, particularly yesterday with Thorpe’s mouthing off about “war”, that all of this is providing the NO campaign with the best free advertising against the Voice.

Black Ball
Black Ball
January 27, 2023 6:53 pm

Yeah, hard to give a toss. Hun:

The AFL is embroiled in (yet another) sex scandal, which led to a senior manager leaving abruptly earlier this month.

This time the genders are reversed, with a long time female manager resigning after an affair with a younger male staff member, who directly reported to her, was exposed.

Hmmm, not sure if this is what human resources means by collaborative management style.

It’s understood the affair had been going on for some time, with the older female manager married and her younger employee in a committed relationship.

How it was discovered is becoming the tried and tested modern day method for catching out such entanglements … the mobile phone.

But it’s what the jilted partner did next that set tongues wagging at AFL HQ.

After saucy messages between the two were discovered on his phone, the younger male employee spilt the beans and admitted to the affair.

The understandably angry partner did a ring-around to all the middle management team’s employees, current and former, to tell them what their team leader and her staff member had been up to, er between the sheets.

Suffice to say the senior manager took accountability, promptly calling up to resign. It is understood she left immediately and has not come into league headquarters to say goodbye to colleagues, or collect any belongings.

Lips were pursed when a short but saccharine email seen by Page 13 was sent to AFL employees earlier this month announcing the resignation and thanking the long time manager for her “significant and valued contribution” and wishing her the best for “future endeavours.”

The team leader, who is part of a prominent Melbourne family, has since dropped her social media profiles.

DaFisk
DaFisk
January 27, 2023 6:53 pm

Hmmmmm, it seems certain contemporary topics relating to large numbers of mechanised vehicles with guns go straight into automod. Sad!

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 6:53 pm

The left here takes all its cues and instruction from the US- so we had to have a campus rape epidemic so why not a race war.

A few things in our favour…there aren’t as many firearms in the general community as the US (that’s a simple observation of fact, not a value judgment on Howard’s gun laws, in case anyone’s wondering); angst about race doesn’t run as deep here (the inflammatory rhetoric of activists notwithstanding); and Australians generally are much less politically engaged (some might call that apathy, others cynicism).

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 6:55 pm

After all, according to the leader of the protest in Melbourne yesterday, “this is war”.

But they did so well the first time round…..

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 6:57 pm

My view is the political class declared war on Australia in 1974 with multiculturalism. ‘New Australians’ was a much better approach.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 6:58 pm

Game over for Putey!

I’m not about to engage in predictions about the war, but Putin can’t afford to lose, which means he’s now at his most dangerous.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 6:59 pm

Hmm based Catholic Poles against the KGB/secret police impostor.

As roger noted, Marx was a theistic satanist.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 7:00 pm

But they did so well the first time round…..

Eight hundred half starved and verminous convicts, and two hundred Royal Marines – the mighty warriors of the “First Nations” should have wiped them off the face of the earth, without needing to draw breath, surely?

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 7:01 pm

My view is the political class declared war on Australia in 1974 with multiculturalism.

Correct! And who ever voted for it?

rickw
rickw
January 27, 2023 7:04 pm

Eight hundred half starved and verminous convicts, and two hundred Royal Marines

Surely a colonialism high score?!

I reckon the best solution to these jackass’s is to continually point this out whilst laughing our arses off!

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 7:05 pm

“Game over for Putey!”

What an adolescent.

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 7:07 pm

I certainly loved visiting the US but I must admit the thought occurred to me that our social problems are minor compared to theirs.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 7:07 pm

After all, according to the leader of the protest in Melbourne yesterday, “this is war”.

But they did so well the first time round….

Yeah…nah.

Australia was settled, not conquered.

A few skirmishes with the red coats does not add up to war.

No battle honours were awarded.

P
P
January 27, 2023 7:08 pm

johanna says:
January 27, 2023 at 2:28 pm

On another topic, picked up a copy of Clive James’ Unreliable Memoirs at Vinnies recently. Heard about how brilliant it is for years.

Well, I’m a bit disappointed so far. Firstly, it is full of typos (lots) and factual errors (e.g. about the toxicity of various local critters.) For the great champion of high literacy to not proofread – or maybe he did – is a big letdown.

Secondly, I must admit that while he made me laugh sometimes, I never liked the man. Words like smug and smarmy come to mind, even a bit creepy at times. The book does nothing to alleviate those reservations.

Clive James was very likeable. With my best friend of my first year at high school, in the school holidays Jan 1953, we spent much time in the company of Clive and his mate at that time, Doug. My friend said to me lets go after Clive and Doug on our push-bikes, I’m interested in Doug the good looking one, you can have Clive he is the funny one.
We were around 13yrs of age all having just completed our first year at high school. My friend had known Clive as a class mate at Kogarah from K to grade 4, when he was transferred to Hurstville Opportunity School. They had always been friends. We rode our bikes around the old Moorefield Racecourse and would meet up at in the shady spot of the old St Patrick’s graveyard. Once went with our bikes on the trolley bus to San Souci then across to Taren Point on the old Punt.
My friend advised me not believe a thing he said.

He smirked which was a bit annoying, but he was always amusing and at times very funny. He was never boring.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 7:09 pm

Chrissays:
January 27, 2023 at 6:45 pm

Id be guessing the best bet, to ensure family harmony and a good outcome might be to get agreement on obtaining an estate planner to maximize outcomes for everyone.

Im not recommending this mob, just posting the link as an idea of whats out there.
https://foxthomas.com.au/funding_estate_plan_impacts/

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 7:10 pm

Grassby was one of the original race baiters.

Arky
January 27, 2023 7:11 pm

BB:

The understandably angry partner did a ring-around to all the middle management team’s employees, current and former, to tell them what their team leader and her staff member had been up to, er between the sheets.

Suffice to say the senior manager took accountability, promptly calling up to resign. It is understood she left immediately and has not come into league headquarters to say goodbye to colleagues, or collect any belongings.

..
There is something curiously old fashioned in a bitter old maid sort of way to these modern “ethics”.

cohenite
January 27, 2023 7:12 pm

Tucker: top Pfizer exec boasts they’re going to mutate viruses so they can then produce vaccines. Now that’s a business model!

m0nty
m0nty
January 27, 2023 7:13 pm

The dam has broken and the tanks are flying into Ukraine thick and fast. Putin has tried and blown both his nuclear threat and energy leverage, with Europe’s gas stocks at record highs. Game over for Putey!

The thing to look for with these tank announcements is (a) how long they take to get shipped and prepped to actually hit the battlefield, and (b) how many different types there are which would confuse the Uke side even more than the Rus side.

Which is kind of a mirror of the problems Russia is having with its troop recruitment.

MatrixTransform
January 27, 2023 7:14 pm

How big a solar farm ball park hectares

300 Kw power per hectare … at a guess

energy depends on other things like axis tracking, location etc

340MWh ? … maybe 1000 hectares

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 7:17 pm

“Miltonfsays:
January 27, 2023 at 7:10 pm
Grassby was one of the original race baiters.”

Given his long and very intimate associations with the Griffith mafia and his insidious role in the Donald Mackay disappearance, race baiting was probably the least of Grassby’s crimes.

MatrixTransform
January 27, 2023 7:17 pm

maybe 1000 hectares

oops.
10 hrs per day

… maybe 100 hectares

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
January 27, 2023 7:17 pm

340MWh ? … maybe 1000 hectares

Cheers. So looking like 3 times the land they have bought at present will have to be compulsorily acquired by the looks. Wow.

H B Bear
H B Bear
January 27, 2023 7:18 pm

Reynolds’ lawyers at Perth firm Bennett …

Martin Bennett Perf lawyer to the stars. Picked up a nice settlement for accused (and acquitted) murder suspect Lloyd Rayney from the fuzz in another defamation matter. Should be interesting.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 7:18 pm

…[Clive James] was always amusing and at times very funny. He was never boring.

True that!

😀

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
January 27, 2023 7:18 pm

Disregard last…

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 7:19 pm

Given his long and very intimate associations with the Griffith mafia and his insidious role in the Donald Mackay disappearance, race baiting was probably the least of Grassby’s crimes.

true- a despicable man

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 7:19 pm

Indolent:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/pfizer-director-physically-assaults-james-okeefe-veritas-staff-destroys-ipad-showing-undercover-recordings-mutating-covid-virus-nypd-responds-video/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=websitesharingbuttons
There are sleazy bastards and sleazy sleazy bastards. This one is a double sleazy.
Notice how it’s not being mentioned that the undercover Veritas employee is male?
“I was on a third date with a man and like normal people you lie to impress a date…”
No, El Sleazo. Normal people don’t lie to impress a date. Stupid and vain ones do. Not normal.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
January 27, 2023 7:19 pm

Multiculturalism. Thanks Al “kickback” Grassby.

Each Cwealth department had to appoint an Ethnic Liaison Officer.

My boss at the time knew he was extracting the micturition when he appointed me.

Miltonf
Miltonf
January 27, 2023 7:20 pm

Trust canbra to put a statue up of Grassby- says it all really.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 7:26 pm

My boss at the time knew he was extracting the micturition when he appointed me.

Pommy? 😀

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
January 27, 2023 7:26 pm

Id forgotten how entertaining the gameshow he talked about was.
Clive James on “Endurance’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9MDpf57r6A

MatrixTransform
January 27, 2023 7:29 pm

Disregard last…

300 hectare is about right.

…its only 1 km x 3 km

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
January 27, 2023 7:30 pm

Fixated persons you say?
We were killing time in a bookstore today. Mrs P comes up to the back of the store and announces that she is off to the clothes shop next door. We have a brief chat, joking about her spending too much money on clothes and agree we’ll meet out front in ten minutes. I continue flicking through a couple of garden books. I hear a voice behind me but don’t take a lot of notice. I think the voice is talking to someone else. Turn around but there is no-one there so I think she must be on her phone. Then I realise. She is kind of talking to me but with a vacant stare off into the middle distance. She is banging on about me stalking her (never seen her before) and telling me to stop looking at her “like that”. FMD. You start yapping at someone then complain when they look at you.
I laughed at her.
Big mistake.
She went off her trolley, calling me all sorts of names … pervert, dirty dog, “you need to stay with your wife and leave me alone”. By this time she was around behind some bookshelves but still going off. Not loud or even angry sounding, just repeating this shit in a low monotone. (Trust me. She was a plain-ish 45-50 year old. Adding in the now apparent bunny-boiler factor, she had nothing to worry about).
I suddenly thought, “Jeez. There is no-one else in this section of the shop. What if she makes a Witness J type complaint?”. So I withdrew to the clothes shop next door and started to tell Mrs P about it. She goes back to the bookshop for a reccy. Comes back out. “Yep, she is still giving someone a spray about something.”

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
January 27, 2023 7:38 pm
Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 7:38 pm

Australia was settled, not conquered.

Incidentally, I think this accounts for Bruce Pascoe’s ratbaggery.

If the indigenous were cultivating the land, establishing fisheries and so on, before the Europeans arrived, instead of hunting and gathering, it potentially puts Australia’s founding on a shakier legal basis.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 7:39 pm

Yay! Kooka kid in the Cafe nestbox went solo today. First flight was a faceplant onto my lawn, so I picked her up and put her onto a tree branch. Second flight was also a faceplant: the neighbours over the road were watching and came over – so the sister visiting from Essex got some nice photos of a baby kookaburra sitting in the palms of my hands. I put her back onto tree branch – whereupon she went to sleep for most of the afternoon.

Family then arrived and suggested firmly that she should fly up the top of the street with them, where there’re some tall eucalypts. Third flight made it to the roof of the house over the road, then the next onto a fence halfway up the hill, and to another fence, then a heroic flappetty flap up to a power line a short time ago. I’m mentally exhausted!

No idea if the kid is male or female, but who cares. It was fun! The nest box is on its last legs so I’ll have to rebuild it or just take it down before it falls off the tree – which I was concerned might happen before today. Fortunately it didn’t.

Roger
Roger
January 27, 2023 7:40 pm

Pity the bookstore owner. She’s probably there every other day.

JC
JC
January 27, 2023 7:41 pm

Bruce Springsteen, man of the people.

He has a concert in NYC at Madison Square Garden in early April when we’re supposed to be there. I checked, the ticket price range is $US 900 to US$7000

shatterzzz
January 27, 2023 7:43 pm

I’d lay London to a brick that the rioters were our Aboriginal brethren.

The clue was in the non mention of ethnicity by the media and a superb pix on “our” ABCNews page of the “riot(s)” which managed a great close-up from behind the plod line-up without catching any ‘demonstrators” within camera range ……. LOL!

Indolent
Indolent
January 27, 2023 7:44 pm
Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 7:44 pm

He has a concert in NYC at Madison Square Garden in early April when we’re supposed to be there. I checked, the ticket price range is $US 900 to US$7000

Mumbles in New Joiseyese…”hurrgghh yeah well I don’t think that trrrickle down economicsiswukkin properlyanymore!”

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
January 27, 2023 7:46 pm

I thought that too Roger.
I considered saying something at the front desk, but didn’t.
I think I will call them tomorrow and let them know they have a customer repellent in the store.

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 7:47 pm

OH REALLY IT GETS BETTER, “finessing eats” as a Wall Street Trader!

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating/woman-went-on-six-dates-a-week-didnt-grocery-shop-for-two-years/news-story/463ee0d9a2cd1e048f3f1903c0fcc503

Forget dine and dash, this former Wall Street trader dined to save cash.

Vivian Tu, known on TikTok as @YourRichBFF, first went viral on the platform with a clip in which she bragged that she went on six dates a week to avoid paying for groceries, the New York Post reports.

“Between 2016-2018 I didn’t buy groceries once. Probably saved about $150 a week,” she captioned the post, in which she mouthed along to Lana Del Rey’s Jealous Girl while on the beach.

Robert Sewell
January 27, 2023 7:47 pm

Bruce O’Newk:

At least when America collapses there will be plenty of game available. And I suspect those deer will become extremely popular once proles are forced to eat bugs for the planet.

“The herds of Meats are expanding at a rapid rate.”*

*Gratuitous reference to “The Mote in Gods Eye.”

DaFisk
DaFisk
January 27, 2023 7:47 pm

So it looks like Europe IS having a toasty warm winter, which means lots of ‘splodey weapons for Ukraine, after all! Just as I predicted!

Dot
Dot
January 27, 2023 7:50 pm

Let’s hope there’s a truce soon eh Fisk, then a peace treaty shortly thereafter, no?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
January 27, 2023 7:53 pm

Winston – The Mote and the sequel I’ve read many times, superb. I also like the different flavour – the first is quite anthropological (motopological?) whereas the sequel is a nice old fashioned hard science space opera.

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 7:55 pm

“I considered saying something at the front desk, but didn’t.
I think I will call them tomorrow and let them know they have a customer repellent in the store.”

You should. I bet this woman is a teacher or works in the public service.

Cassie of Sydney
January 27, 2023 7:55 pm

“which means lots of ‘splodey weapons for Ukraine”

So mature.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
January 27, 2023 7:56 pm

Clive James memoir has an interesting bit, where he is assessed as v bright in school, and taken out to a special stream where he admits he did bugger all, just compiled a chart about jet planes, or whatever was his boyish fancy at the time.
He dedicates about half a page to it, and bluntly acknowledges that the “child-centred learning” wheeze is a waste of time (off) for teachers and a disservice to smart kids who actually need to be pushed and challenged. I’ve read it out at a school board meeting who were going boots-n-all for “investigative learning”- they jumped in anyway- and the kids have paid the price.
He also touches in later in life where he’s commissioned by a UK publisher to get some sort of catalogue in order, and he burns the oppurtunity by making a ridiculous colour-coded 3D tablature with greek sigils. I don’t think James noticed the similarity with his earlier plane chart, but I did. At some stage, boys need to be bumped off scrutinizing their marble collection, and pushed into a more Germanic ethic of productivity.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
January 27, 2023 8:01 pm

2dogs, Charlemagne’s impact and reach on the northern tribes of Scandinavia went far deeper than their being pleased to take over some tribal territory of others murdered by Charlemagne, although that of course may have happened in Angelin and elsewhere; these were after all constantly warring tribes (like New Guinea highlanders and Aust abs in fact, for resources were short). In the iron-age north the tribes were all held together culturally by knowledge of an All Father God, the father deity of all of the tribal fathers, i.e. a commonly held belief system. Such tribal leaders resisting heavy-handed Christianisation by the sword. They preferred martyrdom to Odin, being pegged out to die from drowning on tidal beaches for refusing to convert.

Thus Charlemagne and his like they knew as total zealots who would freely kill all believers in the old religion of the north, which the Scandinavians were fighting hard to have the right to maintain, as we see from Scandinavian resistances to Christianisation over the C8th and 9th period, which carried on in Sweden until the C12th, as well as there being Christian gains due to Christian control of trading blocs. There is plenty of evidence of such Viking traders having an each-way bet – a Thor’s hammer could for convenience become a Christian cross. Viking predation upon British monasteries was, as I said, both enticing for them and given what they did to altars, holy books and nuns as well as to monks, showed good signs of a vindicative religious anger, an element of pay-back.

Frank
Frank
January 27, 2023 8:05 pm

thefrollickingmole says:
January 27, 2023 at 5:20 pm

I dealt largely with the underclass doing the rental business, most Australians dont have exposure to just how perverse some of the decisions you have to make are in that world.

Yes. Tracks with my experience as well.

Try spending time with academics and/or Guardian readers after that, truly an exercise in self control.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
January 27, 2023 8:07 pm

Cassie of Sydneysays:

January 27, 2023 at 7:55 pm

“I considered saying something at the front desk, but didn’t.
I think I will call them tomorrow and let them know they have a customer repellent in the store.”

You should. I bet this woman is a teacher or works in the public service.

Yeah, I will.
I kind of laughed it off at first but saw the serious side of it. I got to thinking, what if she claims someone else in the future groped her in the store. At least if I call them it might give them pause for thought that she is a nutter.
It was weird.
She looked and sounded like she might have been catatonic and/or heavily medicated.
Reminded me of someone, in fact, but I can’t put my finger on who.

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