Open Thread – Weekend 4 Feb 2023


The Bazincourt Steeple, Camille Pissarro, 1895


Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1.6K Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 4:56 pm

Thorpe is now making it “very, very clear” sovereignty and a separate treaty with Indigenous Australians is now very much part of the referendum debate.

So, first of all, who is, and who isn’t, an “Indigenous” Australian? Does having an Aboriginal great-great grandmother make you “Indigenous?”

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
February 6, 2023 4:59 pm

Bunnahabhain this afternoon. Less peaty than most Islays. Aged in sherry casks so you get a rich dried-fruit (or even ‘pudding’) flavour.

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 5:00 pm

A relative of mine was engaged to a motorcycle star a few decades ago.

She sacked him for predictable reasons – he wanted her to build the happy home and punch out kids while he roamed around partying and screwing anything with a pulse.

But he was a very charismatic chap, lots of charm, good looking, not stupid, except stupidly brave. Every time he went out there there was a more than random chance that he might end up dead or seriously injured. As he said, ‘when you go out there, you leave your brains in the toolbox.’

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:04 pm

Old Ozzie posted in full the Michael Roddan column on Jim Gold-Brown & his multi decade filleting of indigenous organisations.
Quite the story.
Also, it’s Roddan’s final story for the AFR as he’s off to green pastures.
Good journo.
Look forward to where he pops up next.

Delta A
Delta A
February 6, 2023 5:05 pm

I want a beaugan voice in parliament.

#metoo!

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 5:06 pm

sfw says:
February 6, 2023 at 4:36 pm

Made this point about a week ago.

If no progress had been made in 30,000 years, we can safely assume the place would be exactly as it was in 1788. Calculate the UCV of my place back in 1788 when it was a remote sand spit between coast and inlet, 1700 sq metres worth of scrub.

I’ll do a handsome one-off payment and then they can bugger off.

Diogenes
Diogenes
February 6, 2023 5:08 pm

International Roast (Caterer’s size).

This must be the worst coffee ever. Absolute shite.

And when made with Singleton water in a big urn “absolute shite” is what it can only hope to be.

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 5:09 pm

As I have said before, it is time that we called out the New Feudalism, whereby some people automatically benefit from the labour of others because of their birthright.

It is a huge leap backwards, and emollients like ‘disadvantage’ don’t even begin to cover it.

BTW, do Republicans support this?

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:12 pm

Holy Mass at Rottnest Island yesterday…Prayers of the Faithful for a successful yes vote for the voice

These are the parishes where you don’t let your kids leave your side.

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 5:12 pm

shatterzzz says:
February 6, 2023 at 4:55 pm

Lidia’s vision seems to me to be sort of like the landed gentry in centuries past.
Lydia’s version is skewered thinking! .. on the one hand she claims it was “invasion” and on the other wants rent as reparations ……. she doesn’t seem to grasp that, in her version, the “invasion” was victory for the other side .. winners don’t pay reparations .. losers do! ..

In the politics of feelz, logic doesn’t count.

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 5:14 pm

I have wondered what ‘International Roast’ referred to …

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 5:16 pm

It’s the coffee you drink when you want to drink mud, Joh.

jupes
jupes
February 6, 2023 5:16 pm

Biggest take away point was watch out for the trees – in my experience their trajectories can be surprisingly unpredictable.

Brockie met one of those trees at Gidgegannup.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 5:18 pm

Why can’t the Q bits be represented as 2 x 2 sub matrices within a larger data matrix? I can’t see why computationally, what the issue is.

Normalisation, polynomials & imaginary numbers are standard fare, right? If multiplying A x B then if m not = n, then you can use Moore Penrose pseudo inverse or SVD to do this???

You’re making it too difficult dottie.

QCs simply base their infinitely greater computational capacity on superposition which means the qubits can be everywhere at once and entanglement which means they’re all interconnected.

Big_Nambas
Big_Nambas
February 6, 2023 5:18 pm
Jorge
Jorge
February 6, 2023 5:21 pm

On Twitter today, mother reports conversation with teenage daughter after she gets home from school:

‘I didn’t do any work in English today.’

‘Why not ?’

‘The teacher set us an essay topic: What it’s like to Grow up Queer in Australia. I didn’t do it.’

A father reports his daughter has just completed a series of lessons on Aboriginal meals. Kids were taught Aborigines invented the oven.

Home schooling groups are apparently flourishing.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 5:22 pm

Jeez

Seb’s parody.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 5:24 pm

It’s the coffee you drink when you want to drink mud, Joh.

I worked in a company where the accountant approved the purchase of International Roast for the smoke – oh room – she figured it was so bad that no – one would steal it!

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
February 6, 2023 5:24 pm

Step 4 of that Austrian chaps policy platform would suit Lydia and the race grifters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Program#:~:text=The%20National%20Socialist%20Program%2C%20also,English%20as%20the%20Nazi%20Party).

Theres others shell move onto but 4 will do for a start.

4. None but members of the nation may be citizens of the state. None but those of Aboriginal blood, whatever their creed may be. No Jew, therefore, may be a member of the nation.


19. We demand substitution of a Aboriginal customary law in place of the English Law serving a materialistic world-order.
..
25. For the execution of all of this we demand the formation of a strong parallel power in the Parliament. Unlimited authority of the In-Voice over the whole Parliament and its organizations in general. The forming of state and profession chambers for the execution of the laws made by the Parliament within the various states of the confederation. The leaders of the In-Voice promise, if necessary by sacrificing lots of your munni, to support by the execution of the points set forth above without consideration.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:30 pm

Smart politics by Thorpe.
Never been a better opportunity to attract a bloc of voters.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 5:31 pm

3.55pm
Australian War Memorial to depict frontier wars by 2028
By Paul Sakkal

The new chair of the Australia War Memorial, former Labor leader Kim Beazley, says century-old conflicts between British settlers and Indigenous people must be recognised at the memorial.

Beazley said there would be new displays highlighting what are known as the “frontier wars” – in which many thousands of Indigenous people were killed – as part of the institution’s $500 million upgrade due in 2028.

“We have to have the frontier wars depicted in every museum, in all the state museums and the [Australian] Museum, and we have to be prepared – as we go through truth-telling processes – to consult with different Aboriginal nations as to how they want massacres reflected,” he said on ABC radio today.

“How can we have a history of Australian wars without that? It’s a simple question because we [have] long since abandoned the idea that the memorial only depicted events from World War I onwards.

“If you do that, which we have … you have to have frontier wars reflected in it because it is by that means we established ourselves.”

There had been confusion about the memorial’s plans until Beazley spoke about the topic today. His predecessor, former Coalition leader Brendan Nelson, said last year there needed to be better recognition of frontier conflicts after sustained pressure from historians and civil society groups for the memorial to present wars involving settlers.

The memorial’s council downplayed the scale of its plans to depict frontier wars, and former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce pushed back by saying the memorial should not put itself at the centre of a political debate.

“Stories my Nanna told me” as a display in the War Memorial.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 6, 2023 5:31 pm

flyingduk says:
February 6, 2023 at 4:18 pm

cars of that era were ‘fun’ weren’t they? If travelling at speed, you really had to drive the bloody things with your wits about you ‘cos they had little ‘forgiveness’ and if you over-reached, they were uncompromising in letting you know you screwed up……… Even at the popular ‘track days’, few are really exploring the limits.

The best ‘track days’ are rally stages …. dirt better than tarmac although both are great fun … my ‘Dirt’ Escort was 47 years old when I sold it last year and had ‘CAMS’ stickers going back to the 1980s. Biggest take away point was watch out for the trees

– in my experience their trajectories can be surprisingly unpredictable

Used to rally 1962 1/2 VW early 60s and had a ball – navigated in 1st Rothmans Southern Cross Rally in 1966, and we had Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville in Cortina GT500 behind us, and he would pass us on every section, but we would come in just under having to be relegated behind him till Melbourne – after that he left us behind –I always thought as he came around us on the side of a mountain sideways, “Boy his wheels are close to the edge of the drop” – hmm probably where ours are!

We were one of the 38 to finish in Sydney

My Driver was an Old Codger (54 years) & a Category 5 Drivers not classified in Categories 1 to 4 above.but as a Large Mack Truck Purchaser from Max Winkless- Mack Trucks & Swedish Motors (Volvo Importers), had Swedish Moters set up a P1800 – Motor Bored out, Repco Cross Flow Head and 2 Dual Side Draft Webber 45 DCOEs with full extraction system – Rally Seats and Full Harness – he felt tired on the night run from Suggan Buggan to Cooma, so as there was no navigation – (No Track Notes in those days), I took over driving, and as we came out onto the Plains leading into Jindabyne, I hit the fastest I have diven in OZ – 132 Mph on Dirt – We are not on the list of entries, but our car appears briefly in the DVD I have of the rally

Then on through Bairnsdale to Buchan, followed by a long grind north through Suggan Buggan to Cooma, a rough ride but cleanable by the top crews.

Roll cages/bar were not compulsory ( except for convertibles), a laminated windscreen was compulsory; extra lights, under body protection, extra fuel tanks were permitted

https://australianrallyhistory.com.au/history-of-the-southern-cross-international-rally/1966-southern-cross-rally/

https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_info_ford_cortina_gt500

13 Jack Forrest’s Volvo was the third of four victims claimed by ‘Fergie’s Tree’ – which had quite a busy time that night“Black soil may be good for cricket pitches but it is dreaded by rally crews” Fred Logan eventually had to wait for a tow out in his Cortina – And there were gates, and gates ….. 53 of them!

http://southerncrossrally.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-inside-story-of-firth-hoinville-win.html

Speedbox
February 6, 2023 5:32 pm

sfw says:
February 6, 2023 at 4:39 pm
Speedbox, it’s a mystery to me why anyone buys the amazingly high powered bikes of today. Even on a closed track with as much practice time as you want there would be very very few who could ride one flat out, much less ask for more performance. There’s probably only a dozen or so riders in Australia who could do that.

I’m not a bike person. I’ve ridden a few but am not comfortable and of course, the higher the speed, the less comfortable I become – meaning I throttle back (ok, I’m a motorbike wimp but better that than mangled).

One of the ‘tricks’ of driving fast is knowing your capabilities and the capabilities of your car (a basic knowledge of physics is also a prerequisite IMO + balance, reaction times, vehicle setup etc).

With regard to cars, the variation in capability can be very pronounced from road to race to rally. I have no reason to believe it would be any different with bikes and with modern cars and bikes, the limits are much higher than with old cars/bikes.

The obvious danger is that because those inherent limits are higher, it means that when you come unstuck, you are travelling at serious speed for the conditions, or corner. Even the very best riders come off but I agree that the average punter with $30k to buy a Hayabusa (or similar) is very unlikely to test the bike to its limits. Very few could and hopefully, discretion would overtake valour for the rest.

Bit like handing the keys of a Porsche GT2 to a novice. You’d hope they back off well before they were exploring the limit of their own, or the vehicle’s capability. Sadly some don’t and Duk can attest that trees, guardrail, concrete barrier etc can make a hell of a mess of flesh/bone.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:37 pm

Norm Macdonald showing he’s a master of the art.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHXfdGmOaFg

Crossie
Crossie
February 6, 2023 5:37 pm

I wonder how much government charges are contributing to inflation?

Johanna, power price increases are also due to government interference. By subsidising renewables and encouraging, nay forcing, the end of fossil fuel generated electricity governments have engineered the high prices. Selling off the old power stations gives them an excuse to now blame the owners for higher prices.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
February 6, 2023 5:38 pm

Given the precedent set by the AWM.
Ned kelly was a war hero/victim.

If i was to declare ‘war” in my mind, then wander around ambushing and killing Aboriginal people I was at “war” with because as Ms Thorpe points out “war never ended” would i get a display of my own?

If that sounds fanciful remember Filth (previously perth) has a whole central precinct named after a murdering Abo.
Ironically enough populated largely by derro Abos.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
February 6, 2023 5:38 pm

Smart politics by Thorpe.
Never been a better opportunity to attract a bloc of voters.

It gives people opposed to Da Voice plenty of ammo – forget the weasel words, there are people who see this as the end game.

But, as you say, for Lidia too.

There are three possible outcomes for her:

The voice gets up and succeeds – Lidia is now redundant.

The Voice gets up and fails – there will be a cacophony about whose fault it is and Lidia will just one whiny voice.

The Voice doesn’t get up – Everyone else was wrong. Everyone else was tepid. Australia is a racist shithole. The Greens are too warm-fuzzy, middle-of-the-road. The people who support the Greens are not somehow in sympathy with their message – it is just that is as far left as you can go. If Lidia plants her standard in a pile of human skulls further on the left she will get a following from the far-left loonies who will flit about her like moths to a light bulb – because it is the brightest thing there.

The rat who left the sinking ship because she has rat-cunning.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 5:39 pm

I’ve seen his and other videos. We see stores full of Western products, etc. We hear reports from people that have actually visited Russia. The problem here is that you simply can’t believe that Russia has managed to find a way through Western sanctions.

You’re assigning me points and arguments I never made.
Return to the Twitter paste you showed here, which claimed Russia’s GDP had increased.
I noted that given the country’s current state of war, this should come as no surprise.
Focusing on war production would imply that their defense and related sectors would be operational around the clock and most certainly would impact GDP.
I then explained that this isn’t ideal in light of the war and the fact that it means wasting resources on the war effort.

It wasn’t offered as an explanation of increasing GDP but as a counter to the claim that resources were being redirect en masse to war production.

You brought up Maccas Russia, telling me that the chain has reopened as a Russian burger joint. Big deal.

They seem to be coping quite well.

Really!

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:40 pm

I wonder how much government charges are contributing to inflation?

Dot, if you’re not to busy asking ChatGPT out on a date, your services are needed to answer how government charges impact new home construction.

Pogria
Pogria
February 6, 2023 5:42 pm

Zulu Kilo Two Alphasays:
February 6, 2023 at 5:24 pm
It’s the coffee you drink when you want to drink mud, Joh.

I worked in a company where the accountant approved the purchase of International Roast for the smoke – oh room – she figured it was so bad that no – one would steal it!

Zulu, I worked at a place where they put International Roast into a catering sized can of Moccona and thought no one would notice.
Roast is powdered shit and Moccona is granular. Even if you didn’t know that, you certainly could taste the difference.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:43 pm

forget the weasel words, there are people who see this as the end game.

Regardless of their political ilk, I find conviction politicians slightly less odious than the snivelling ones.
Simon Birmingham or Lidia Thorpe?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 5:47 pm

Lidia’s vision seems to me to be sort of like the landed gentry in centuries past.

It’s blackly comedic that the Left, who have screeched about apartheid in South Africa for half a century, now want to institute apartheid in Australia.

Dot
Dot
February 6, 2023 5:48 pm

QCs simply base their infinitely greater computational capacity on superposition which means the qubits can be everywhere at once and entanglement which means they’re all interconnected.

Seems like the gem of the Kabaa falling out of the sky. How does the processing work?

Dot
Dot
February 6, 2023 5:49 pm

Are you really going to get better data from a nitrogen atom in a carbon lattice or from a single photon gate?

cohenite
February 6, 2023 5:50 pm

Seems like the gem of the Kabaa falling out of the sky. How does the processing work?

I don’t know. I asked my wife about the first one; and I only get 2 technical questions a day and I’m saving the 2nd one for later on.

Frank
Frank
February 6, 2023 5:51 pm

“Regardless of their political ilk, I find conviction politicians slightly less odious than the snivelling ones.”

Which category does Wilkie fall into? My money is on snivelling.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 5:51 pm

I’ll do a handsome one-off payment and then they can bugger off.

Sorry. There was more.

I quantify the 1788 value of my property at 10 shillings.

That’s $23.46. And I’ll throw in a bag of peppercorns to make the roo tail roast a bit tastier.

Pogria
Pogria
February 6, 2023 5:54 pm
Frank
Frank
February 6, 2023 5:55 pm

Or maybe a sniveller that tries to portray himself as driven by conviction.

Pogria
Pogria
February 6, 2023 5:55 pm

Cohenite, I was saving this for you. 😉

Speedbox
February 6, 2023 5:56 pm

OldOzzie says:
February 6, 2023 at 5:31 pm
Used to rally 1962 1/2 VW early 60s and had a ball – navigated in 1st Rothmans Southern Cross Rally in 1966, and we had Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville in Cortina GT500 behind us, and he would pass us on every section, but we would come in just under having to be relegated behind him till Melbourne – after that he left us behind –I always thought as he came around us on the side of a mountain sideways, “Boy his wheels are close to the edge of the drop” – hmm probably where ours are!

We were one of the 38 to finish in Sydney……

Old Ossie – you sly old dog. You never told us you were a rally man. And the 1st Rothmans Southern Cross in ’66 to boot. Well done Sir. How about a guest post – you must have some terrific stories.

Speaking of Harry Firth, back in the mid 1980’s I entered the GP Rally which celebrated the F1 being in Adelaide and the rally ran from Melbourne to Adelaide. Harry was entered with Lou Molina (!) and they were hurtling around in some open-topped contraption from the 1950s. Don’t remember what it was but they seemed to be having great fun.

In truth, the rally was terrific fun and although not a ‘serious’ event, it was surprising how many of us became suddenly very interested in our lap/hillclimb/gymkhana times. Those events were a nice break and very social – nothing like so many other subsequent events but I remember the GP Rally fondly.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:57 pm

Richard Vos (NY/NJ Jew) was on the street & a Black Hebrew Israelite recognised him & comes up to him.
“Rich, you know we were the original Jews”.
Vos: “What went wrong?”

PS, may not have happened, Vos might be just telling a joke.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 5:59 pm

Are you really going to get better data from a nitrogen atom in a carbon lattice or from a single photon gate?

Dot, you’re not actually meant to work out the answers to Custard’s QANON posts.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 6, 2023 6:00 pm

Abrams tanks might be poor fit for Ukraine – FT

The maintenance and logistics needs reportedly make the US armor a dubious asset for Kiev

The M1 Abrams tanks that Washington recently promised to Ukraine might end up being a liability rather than a boost to Kiev’s war effort, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Such a view is explained by the armor’s overcomplicated logistics and maintenance needs.

The 70-tonne tank has a gas turbine engine, which allows it greater acceleration than a diesel engine but requires meticulous maintenance and consumes larger amounts of fuel, the FT explained.

The paper cited former US Army platoon commander John Nagl, who said his soldiers “spent a whole lot of time literally banging our air filters” during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq amid “big concerns” about the tank engine “ingesting sand and not working.”

Maintaining the combat readiness of the Abrams tanks would require “completely different types of machinery” relative to other Western-designed tanks promised to Kiev, as well as crews trained for special gadgets, the FT highlighted. The mechanics crews for the tanks would also take longer to train, the paper reported.

The tanks will need a steady supply of spare parts and have their “500-gallon tank refilled every day” with jet fuel given that it cannot run on diesel, it added.

The M1 Abrams “is a terrific tank, but it is an American tank and the American way of war demands all the logistics in the world,” Nagl told FT. The paper then noted that the logistics and supply network for the Abrams tanks would remain in the US.

The logistical shortcomings might eventually turn the Abrams into something of a liability for Ukrainian troops as they could easily fall prey to Russian attacks, Josh Kirshner, a managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm, warned.

Kiev’s forces “don’t want the Cadillac of defense items, they just need ‘good enough’ gear,” he argued.

Back in December 2022, the Pentagon also argued that M1 Abrams tanks were just too difficult to operate as it refused to supply them to Ukraine at that time. Washington then changed its stance in January, promising 31 Abrams tanks to Kiev. Yet, the hardware is expected to arrive in Ukraine no sooner than in several months.

Russia has repeatedly warned the West against supporting Kiev with weapons, arguing that doing so will only prolong the conflict. Commenting on the deliveries of modern tanks to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that they will “burn like the rest” of the Western weapons.

Robert Sewell
February 6, 2023 6:00 pm

I once asked a brake R & D guru what difference drilling holes in disks made.
“Some people like the look of them.” he said. Is that all?” “Well, they save a little bit of weight.”

A slightly different kettle of fish – on a motorcycle, it’s unsprung weight which can make a difference in tracking road surface.
But who knows?*
I’m not a Physics Professor.
* I had a Suzuki 750M with solid disks and I got the machine shop next door to the paint factory to drill both of them and add a silicon oil to the front end under air pressure. Seemed to make the front end more supple around Coal and Candle Creek.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
February 6, 2023 6:01 pm

To justify my reluctance to make sense of quantum computing, what I have seen is almost all incoherent bullshit. They drop the words but say nothing of what they mean.

To be fair, it’s probably been through the hands of journalists anxious to impress rather than inform. They feel a need to interpose themselves between the scientists and the public to justify their existence. The world would be a better, cleaner place if they all died horribly.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 6:02 pm

Dover, please put Sewell in the sin bin for referring to his motorbike as supple.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 6:06 pm

The 70-tonne tank has a gas turbine engine, which allows it greater acceleration than a diesel engine but requires meticulous maintenance and consumes larger amounts of fuel, the FT explained.

Any of the turret heads, on this blog, help a former stubblehopper? I don’t have a reference, but I read somewhere Australian Abrams tanks ran on diesel?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 6:09 pm

7.8 according to twitter

Right along the border with Syria, on the same fault line as goes north through the Dead Sea and Israel. A strain induced followup quake in Israel would not be a good thing right now, although you’d think the section in Lebanon would go first.

Devastating Footage Emerges After 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake In Turkey (6 Feb)

Poor buggers. In that region houses are held up with string and duct tape, and even a richter 6 earthquake can kill thousands. A richter 7.8 there is going to be very nasty, especially at 4am local time.

Robert Sewell
February 6, 2023 6:11 pm

Cassie From Sydney:

My friend’s partner continued to interrupt me by saying that Pell had plenty of time to molest the children to which I finally snapped and asked “you appear to be an expert on Catholic masses and ritual so I’m curious as to how many Catholic masses you’ve been to in your life”? The answer, NONE.

Did you bitch slap the stupid prick, Cassie?
And is there film?

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 6:14 pm

Our beautiful county is over, destroyed by a tiny Marxist minority and elitist cronies. I want to weep.

Oh. FFS, join a group that makes lace or crotchets hankies. You are a loser. As I have said before, tell me which other country you prefer, and go and live there. Please report back, dickhead.

Otherwise, shut up.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 6:19 pm

I’m not assigning anything. The comments follow the conversation as it progressed. Stores with full shelves, including Western products, not only in Moscow but in the provinces as well. These are not indicative of economic collapse. As to the twitter comment I quoted, the IMF didn’t claim GDP increased, it noted a slight fall in 2022, while forecasting a small rise in 2023 and plus 2% in 2024. Resources are always spent in war or peace on the military, they’ve obviously decided that the costs of inaction over the long term are great than the costs.

Dover:
You posted that Twitter comment to suggest the economy isn’t collapsing, even though you have no idea what the proportion of military spending is. My comment suggested that military spending is negative for an economy on a serious military footing as it takes resources and would reduce living standards. I don’t know why you find this comment controversial. Showing me a mall with shops filled with goods but mostly empty of shoppers is basically a non-sequitur.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 6:20 pm

Cohenite, I was saving this for you.

Good point! Thanks for reminding me. Cute owl. Extremely cute owl.

Beats QCs!

flyingduk
flyingduk
February 6, 2023 6:23 pm

Any of the turret heads, on this blog, help a former stubblehopper? I don’t have a reference, but I read somewhere Australian Abrams tanks ran on diesel?

AFAIK, Abram’s are turbine powered, and turbines in general can burn a variety of liquid fuels, I would think that would include diesel, albeit, the rest of the fuel system might not be compatible

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 6:23 pm

After being able to easily access a lot of info on the current Bakhmut situation over the weekend, it looks like there’s some suppression by google & twitter.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 6:24 pm

Stoners with guns.

US Ban On Pot Users Owning Guns Ruled Unconstitutional (6 Feb)

In a 54-page ruling in favor of Jared Harrison handed down Friday in Oklahoma, U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick said the government cannot claim that Harrison’s “mere status as a user of marijuana justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm.”

I’m sort of split on this one, psychotic weed junkies with firearms sound a bit too exciting for my taste, but that’s what the 2nd Amendment says. Anyway it doesn’t apply here, although it’d be interesting to see what would happen with local firearm owners who avail themselves of newly legal magic mushrooms and MDMA.

MDMA and psilocybin recently approved for medical use (Sky News, 5 Feb)

Golden mushies and MDMA would be an interesting mix. I should watch the William Hurt movie Altered States again.

Davey Boy
February 6, 2023 6:27 pm
Johnny Rotten
February 6, 2023 6:29 pm

OldOzziesays:
February 6, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Abrams tanks might be poor fit for Ukraine – FT

The maintenance and logistics needs reportedly make the US armor a dubious asset for Kiev

Training

“It takes 22 weeks to train a basic American M1 Abrams crewmember. That training just gives the soldier the very basic skill set to be functional. Actual operational expertise is only achieved through months, if not years, of additional training in not just the system itself, but employing it as part of a similarly trained combine arms team. Simply put, even a Ukrainian tank crew experienced in the operation of Soviet-era T-72 or T-64 tanks will not be able to immediately transition to a Western-style main battle tank.”

Much, much more at the following weblink. The UKR is being conned Big Time.

https://kolozeg.org/truth-about-tanks-how-nato-lied-its-way-to-disaster-in-the-ukraine-scott-ritter/

Robert Sewell
February 6, 2023 6:30 pm

ZK2A:

“Stories my Nanna told me” as a display in the War Memorial.

I’ll be there with a spray can of Vegemite, and glue myself to the exhibit.
Two can play that game, mate.

Cassie of Sydney
February 6, 2023 6:31 pm

“Oh. FFS, join a group that makes lace or crotchets hankies. You are a loser. As I have said before, tell me which other country you prefer, and go and live there. Please report back, dickhead.

Otherwise, shut up.”

Firstly, why don’t you hop over to Adam’s blog and write the above comment and see how long you last.

Secondly, weren’t you here the other day sanctimoniously preaching to us about how at least Adam’s blog isn’t bogged down by nasty slanging matches? Why yes, it was you.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
February 6, 2023 6:32 pm

JC’s other mate, Dry Reich, is missing a few words in this fundament fossick hes doing on Joe Bidens corpse.

A Necrophilie phoned in after reading this and said it was too sick and depraved even for him.

Joe Biden is reviving democratic capitalism.

From the Obama administration’s mistake of spending too little to pull the economy out of the Great Recession, he learned that the pandemic required substantially greater spending, which would also give working families a cushion against adversity. So he pushed for the giant $1.9tn American Rescue Plan.

This was followed by a $550bn initiative to rebuild bridges, roads, public transit, broadband, water and energy systems. And in 2022, the biggest investment in clean energy in American history – expanding wind and solar power, electric vehicles, carbon capture and sequestration, and hydrogen and small nuclear reactors. This was followed by the largest public investment ever in semiconductors, the building blocks of the next economy.

Notably, these initiatives are targeted to companies that employ American workers.

Biden has also embarked on altering the balance of power between capital and labor, as did FDR. Biden has put trustbusters at the head of the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the justice department. And he has remade the National Labor Relations Board into a strong advocate of labor unions.

Missing word- inflation…

Old School Conservative
Old School Conservative
February 6, 2023 6:34 pm

Johanna
The principle is that the people elect individuals, not parties. Otherwise, you might as well put ‘Labor’, Liberal’ etc on the ballot paper instead of people’s names. Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution.

The parties are named on the ballot papers. On the Senate voting sheet the name of the party dominates, by being shown twice – once for an above the line vote for the party, and again at the top of the candidates’ names for a below-the-line vote.
The parties conduct most of the campaigning.
Voters get a vibe about the parties from the respective leaders.
In most cases, the individual candidates have only a marginal impact on voter preference as I see it.

So yes, in principle it is an individual who is being elected but in practice it is the party which is being voted for. Therefore on leaving the party a politician is honour-bound to leave the Parliament (chuckle, chortle, gasp)

none of the parties want an unforseen by-election for the Senate. Yep, hence the uni-party approach to filling casual vacancies.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 6:34 pm

although it’d be interesting to see what would happen with local firearm owners who avail themselves of newly legal magic mushrooms and MDMA.

In Australia you can lose your licence and weapons for just talking about being a member of a gun club. The wallopers have unfettered discretion to remove weapons and the gun owner has to go through a very difficult court process. Now helping a guy whose daughter came home from a bad relationship and who took out an AVO against the guy. Because the father/gun owner’s address was on the AVO he lost his weapons.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 6:34 pm

Joe Biden is reviving democratic capitalism.

Guardian-speak for the term “fascism”.

Pogria
Pogria
February 6, 2023 6:35 pm
flyingduk
flyingduk
February 6, 2023 6:35 pm

Stoners with guns…..US Ban On Pot Users

Don’t tell Eugene 😉

Bluey
Bluey
February 6, 2023 6:38 pm

Zulu Kilo Two Alphasays:
February 6, 2023 at 6:06 pm
The 70-tonne tank has a gas turbine engine, which allows it greater acceleration than a diesel engine but requires meticulous maintenance and consumes larger amounts of fuel, the FT explained.

Any of the turret heads, on this blog, help a former stubblehopper? I don’t have a reference, but I read somewhere Australian Abrams tanks ran on diesel?

That’s what I heard, for a simpler supply chain. Bloody things are very quiet from the front. Up until they fire.

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 6:39 pm

Was thinking about WA’s new mental health checks for firearm owners. No doubt soon to be for rest of Australia.

No doubt these f’cking pieces of shit would have considered anyone hesitant about the vaccine to be mentally unwell.

Third World Hell Hole stuff.

Speedbox
February 6, 2023 6:42 pm

jupes says:
February 6, 2023 at 5:16 pm
Brockie met one of those trees at Gidgegannup.

Indeed he did, but that is only a small part of the story. The full story is one of a new modifications to the vehicle, co-driver, pace notes, stage reconnaissance, fatigue, inexperience and ego. I’ve written a guest post on the subject but haven’t sent it to Dover. (Unsure whether it’s a topic for this blog given the outcome of the incident).

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 6:46 pm

Now helping a guy whose daughter came home from a bad relationship and who took out an AVO against the guy. Because the father/gun owner’s address was on the AVO he lost his weapons.

WTF?

johanna
johanna
February 6, 2023 6:50 pm

Hey calli, wasn’t around when Rabz did his Electronica thing.

Well done for Prog rock. More Yes, IMHO.

Still, it’s hard to beat early Floyd Setting the Controls for the Heart off the Sun.

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 6:52 pm

The 70-tonne tank has a gas turbine engine, which allows it greater acceleration than a diesel engine but requires meticulous maintenance and consumes larger amounts of fuel, the FT explained.

I highly doubt that the Abrams can only run on Jet. Most gas turbines will happily run on diesel unless it has red dye in it.

Indolent
Indolent
February 6, 2023 6:54 pm
Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 6, 2023 6:55 pm

Scrolling through the day’s commentary. A couple of things:

1. Nobody has ever in any court of law – in the system we use – been ‘found innocent’, whether in a hearing, trial or appeal. An acquittal does not mean that the person has not done what he or she’s been charged with. It merely means that the prosecution has failed to prove their case to the requisite standard of proof – i.e., beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now before anybody starts, Pell – and to a lesser degree, Lehrmann – were anomalies. It was physically impossible for Pell to have committed the acts alleged, and the prosecution of Lehrmann was just stupid.

More importantly, both were politically driven rather than being taken where the actual evidence leads.

2. In the lower courts, there is something called a Summary of Offending, or Statement of Facts or similar dependent on what State you’re in. It’s prepared by the cops.

This document is – or SHOULD be – only ever read out to the court after there has been a guilty plea. If this happens, whoever the document talks about can fairly be called the defendant or offender or whatever.

This is because there will be information in this document that has been read by both teams and agreed to, before it is read out – remembering this is only after a plea of guilty has been entered.

If a hearing is contested in any way, shape or form this document is never, EVER read in open court, let alone references made to people as the offender or defendant or anything like it. If it’s contested, that document stays at the bottom of the pile and witnesses are called to give evidence that – hopefully, in the eyes of the prosecution – reflect what is in their written statements.

This is, allegedly and apparently and it is said by some according to excellent sources, how it is.

Eyrie
Eyrie
February 6, 2023 6:56 pm

I read somewhere Australian Abrams tanks ran on diesel?

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/0902dp-m1-abrams-tank/

Here’s the relevant bit:

Engine: Honeywell AGT1500 turboshaft
Horsepower: 1,500 @ 3,000 rpm
Torque: 2,750 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm
Shaft Rotation: Counterclockwise
Exhaust Temperature: 930 degrees F
Total Dry Weight of Engine: 2,500 pounds
Fuel Types: Diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, and marine diesel
Oil type: Synthetic

Jet engines aren’t all that fussy, particularly if being used on the ground not up at the tropopause.
I have a couple of small microturbines which run on diesel or jet fuel seamlessly.

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 6:56 pm

According to the specs on the Abrams power plant it can run on anything from Mogas to Marine Diesel. Not very surprising for a gas turbine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_AGT1500

Jorge
Jorge
February 6, 2023 6:56 pm

Queensland’s top cop was interviewed on Saturday spruiking the need for mental health checks. Gun deaths are up because men use them to commit suicide. State sanctioned assisted death is so much more decorous.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 6:57 pm

rickwsays:
February 6, 2023 at 6:46 pm
Now helping a guy whose daughter came home from a bad relationship and who took out an AVO against the guy. Because the father/gun owner’s address was on the AVO he lost his weapons.

WTF?

The argument was because the violent ex and subject of the AVO knew about the weapons the weapons had to go. He’ll get them back but it’ll be a process.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 6:58 pm

Prog rock is an acquired taste, and I definitely have a taste for it.

Years ago, when I thought the Cat was inhabited by youngsters and I was Methuselah, I was a bit reluctant to confess my addiction. Time marches on and I now know the interwebs are not all they appear to be.

Own that lonely heart I say!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 6:59 pm

Don’t tell Eugene ?

I think you mean Vincent

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 7:03 pm

Given the precedent set by the AWM.
Ned kelly was a war hero/victim.

Of course he was! He was operating in Victoria FFS!

Eyrie
Eyrie
February 6, 2023 7:05 pm

Now helping a guy whose daughter came home from a bad relationship and who took out an AVO against the guy. Because the father/gun owner’s address was on the AVO he lost his weapons.

WTF?

Know a couple who have a farm. Lady got weapons licence and a rifle and shotgun. He had a nasty divorce and the ex took out an AVO. Pigs refused to renew lady’s weapons licence.

Another couple with farm (over 300 acres) applied for weapons licences. Got questions about making income from farm. WTF? Even if not they still need to control feral pigs, dogs, foxes, rabbits.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:06 pm

Cohenite at 6:20.
Enough with the Q-Towels.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:06 pm

I don’t find that comment controversial but the problem is the tweet just referred to GDP.

Controversial wouldn’t be the right word. The comment was easily contestable.

We don’t know what proportion has been redirected to military spending so I’m not sure why that limits my conclusions but not yours.

We don’t know the exact number, but it could be estimated to be pretty significant. The wealthy, like the folks who would shop at the mall, will be fine, but the vast mass of the Russian population isn’t wealthy and would be considered poor in rich western countries. So don’t be so optimistic for Russia over the next decade because, win or lose, it will be a period of stagnation.

Further, I didn’t just refer to videos of shopping malls, etc. but to testimony we’ve heard from Speedbox. The fact remains that the intent of the sanctions have failed, they haven’t achieved their objectives, which was the point of the tweet:

It depends on what you mean by failure. Russia’s overseas trade is sticky and difficult.
Read this, as it will give you some ideas.

I wasn’t implying Russia’s collapse, but stagnation will continue for the next decade.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 6, 2023 7:07 pm

Speaking of court stuff, it would appear Andrew O’Keefe has had a number of assault and/or choking charges dropped because the victim’s no longer in the country and difficult to contact.

The Tele has the full piece.

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 7:07 pm

Dover, not on Telegram.
Are the Russians still letting the Ukrainians leave Bakhmut?

Roger
Roger
February 6, 2023 7:07 pm

The politics of the voice have suddenly got far worse and the debate far more dangerously complicated.

I have every faith in Elbow & Co.’s ability to stuff this up further.

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 7:07 pm

The argument was because the violent ex and subject of the AVO knew about the weapons the weapons had to go. He’ll get them back but it’ll be a process.

Classic Australia, don’t deal with the genuinely bad, punish everyone else.

Given that pretty much every police force in the country has shown that it’s full of violent thugs, should they have access to firearm licensing and registration information?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 7:12 pm

I have every faith in Elbow & Co.’s ability to stuff this up further.

It will be beautiful in it’s ugliness. From the peanut gallery, can anyone claiming blak sovereignty, sit in the Senate? Section44 of the Constitution?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:13 pm

“Oh. FFS, join a group that makes lace or crotchets hankies. You are a loser. As I have said before, tell me which other country you prefer, and go and live there. Please report back, dickhead.

Otherwise, shut up.”

Really bad when the blog tough guy is a woman.
Might carry some weight if she had ever responded like that to just one of Razey’s 463 faux Jap-flounces.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:17 pm

As a result of the sanctions, Russia’s economy is expected to grow faster than Germany. Everyone knows these policies have failed miserably. Can we stop pretending?

This level of dishonesty, stupidity, or both is incredible. Germany suffered a material shock to its energy supply, primarily brought about by sanctions and stupid residual green energy policies. However, Germany didn’t have a massive wave of war production like Russia. Even with all this considered, Germany’s economy would be in a relatively better spot than Russia.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:19 pm

Whoops, I forgot to add link earlier. It’s here;

feelthebern
feelthebern
February 6, 2023 7:19 pm

Reading a summary of world leader mentions in the Peoples Daily for December.
Second month in a row, zero mentions of Albo.
Putin got more mentions than Biden, flipping the November mentions.
Doesn’t really sound like China’s read the Australian media’s take that China-Australian relations are thawing.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:21 pm

The argument was because the violent ex and subject of the AVO knew about the weapons the weapons had to go. He’ll get them back but it’ll be a process.

No doubt part of his “getting them back” will be an undertaking to not to let the subject of the AVO (his son?) anywhere near the keys to the safe.
Do you know the AVO guy?
If so, do you think it is a reasonable precaution or not?

Cassie of Sydney
February 6, 2023 7:23 pm

The Voice is about making non-indigenous Australians such as myself second class citizens in our own country. Treaties, truth-telling, Indigenous property taxes (we’ll be informed our houses and land don’t belong to us and will never belong to us), we will be serfs to a new aristocracy, the inner-city, “white” activist indigenous aristocracy. And all of this will be entrenched in our Constitution.

Meanwhile, of course, the rampant alcoholism and drug addiction, the bashings, the rapes of three year olds, the killings of Aboriginal women, and the general dysfunction and squalor in Aboriginal communities will continue unabated. But it won’t be about their Voices, NO, it’ll only be about the Voices of a select few.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 7:23 pm

Q-Towels.

Are the cryptic communications from Q …

Q Tips?

I’ll see myself out…

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 7:25 pm

Whu don’t you ask calli, dot?
She’s most likely an expert on quantum composting.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 6, 2023 7:26 pm

we’ll be informed our houses and land don’t belong to us and will never belong to us

we’re being told that now- I wonder if this being driven from the UN

Roger
Roger
February 6, 2023 7:26 pm

And all of this will be entrenched in our Constitution.

I can’t see any of it attaining the requireed majorities, Cassie.

Labor will do as much as they can to otherwise mollify the activists though.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:28 pm

Are the cryptic communications from Q …

Dunno, but lots from P.

1. Chinese balloon? Why?
2. Is it telling us something about Trump?
3. Was the balloon a party balloon?
4. Whose?
5. Trump? But when is Trump’s birthday.
6. Why didn’t the balloon cross Palm Beach?
7. Who was steering it? Musk or the Chinese.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:28 pm

So yes, in principle it is an individual who is being elected but in practice it is the party which is being voted for. Therefore on leaving the party a politician is honour-bound to leave the Parliament (chuckle, chortle, gasp)

Fat Cloive would no doubt agree.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 6, 2023 7:28 pm

Wong seems to wear a permanent scowl- strikes me as a very unhappy person who wants to make us all unhappy.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 7:28 pm

Lidia Thorpe confirms resignation from the Greens
Senator Thorpe has started speaking:

I have told Greens Adam Bandt and the Senate President, that I am resigning from the Greens to sit on the Senate crossbench.

Greens MPs, members and supporters, have told me they want to support the Voice.

This is at odds with the community of activists who are saying treaty before Voice.

I am not announcing my final position on the Voice today, I want to continue my negotiations with the Government, First Nations sovereignty is crucial but so is saving lives today.

Not announcing her final position means she’s BlackWashing the No Vote by association.
Another Green fraud.

Cassie of Sydney
February 6, 2023 7:28 pm

“I can’t see any of it attaining the requireed majorities, Cassie.”

I hope you’re right.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 7:29 pm

Have you made it to Catania yet rosie?

On composting – I’m hopeless. The heap usually end up full of vermin and sprouting seeds and weeds. Better off burning the lot and using the ashes.

Real Deal
Real Deal
February 6, 2023 7:29 pm

Indeed he did, but that is only a small part of the story. The full story is one of a new modifications to the vehicle, co-driver, pace notes, stage reconnaissance, fatigue, inexperience and ego. I’ve written a guest post on the subject but haven’t sent it to Dover. (Unsure whether it’s a topic for this blog given the outcome of the incident).

Speedbox, I would be happy to read that post if you have it put up.

Incidently the first rally I attended was the last Southern Cross Rally in 1980 at the Amaroo Park special stage. Watching a collection of Escorts, Datsun Stanzas and Datsun 1600s get well and truly airborne on a jump was a sight to behold.

Old Ozzie you sound a bit of a legend! More rallying stories if you can.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:30 pm

Wong seems to wear a permanent scowl- strikes me as a very unhappy person who wants to make us all unhappy.

Dude, she’s a lezzo. In other words, she hasn’t had sex since you can’t have sex without a penis there in the midst.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 6, 2023 7:31 pm

true JC

cohenite
February 6, 2023 7:32 pm

Do you know the AVO guy?
If so, do you think it is a reasonable precaution or not?

He’s a flat track bully; biffed the daughter. The wallopers will, have, argued, he could come back and biff the father which is unlikely. The argument will default to adequate storage, exemplary record of the father (ex vet etc) and the AVO being conformed to.

Miltonf
Miltonf
February 6, 2023 7:33 pm

On composting – I’m hopeless. The heap usually end up full of vermin and sprouting seeds and weeds. Better off burning the lot and using the ashes.

yes I had to give up composting because it was attracting rats

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 7:35 pm

I can’t see any of it attaining the requireed majorities, Cassie.
New Pandemic, Postal Voting only, the AEC will guide it through.

Labor will do as much as they can to otherwise mollify the activists though.
Seriously?
Aboriginal Activists have no idea what the Voice means, so they’ll be sidelined.
The plan is to make the issue partisan, that’s why there’s so much pressure from Labor Shills for Dutton to announce for No.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 7:37 pm

No, Wong is filthy because she’s only half White.
I don’t blame her, by the way.
Jacinta Price is another one.

Bluey
Bluey
February 6, 2023 7:41 pm

rickwsays:
February 6, 2023 at 7:07 pm
The argument was because the violent ex and subject of the AVO knew about the weapons the weapons had to go. He’ll get them back but it’ll be a process.

Classic Australia, don’t deal with the genuinely bad, punish everyone else.

Given that pretty much every police force in the country has shown that it’s full of violent thugs, should they have access to firearm licensing and registration information?

Meanwhile Canada is dumping the proposed restrictions……

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 6, 2023 7:44 pm

God I hate airports and most airlines for that matter.
A twelve hour wait on a flight to Singapore from Bangalore. Indigo shunted us back five hours.
We grabbed the luggage and headed to the Taj hotel. A nice slow lunch and the only cup of coffee I’ve had in India that remotely resembles my usual.
At the Galleria Mall after an Uber ride with a frustrated F1 driver. Speed limits were of no interest to Sanjeev Senna.

Diogenes
Diogenes
February 6, 2023 7:44 pm

My comment suggested that military spending is negative for an economy on a serious military footing as it takes resources and would reduce living standards

It doesn’t matter what you think. The formal definition of GDP is Y = C + I + G + (X ? M) . It doesn’t matter if the G is spent on weapons or paying people to dig holes or building useful infrastructure. On that basis the comparisons of GDP is correct.

Whether GDP measures anything that impacts directly on our lives or quality of life or whether or not the G should be included is another argument.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:44 pm

Speedboxsays:

February 6, 2023 at 6:42 pm

jupes says:
February 6, 2023 at 5:16 pm
Brockie met one of those trees at Gidgegannup.

Indeed he did, but that is only a small part of the story. The full story is one of a new modifications to the vehicle, co-driver, pace notes, stage reconnaissance, fatigue, inexperience and ego. I’ve written a guest post on the subject but haven’t sent it to Dover. (Unsure whether it’s a topic for this blog given the outcome of the incident).

It would make an interesting read I think.
OK, the headline is “Rally Car Hits Tree. Man Dies”.
But we all know Brock had his flaws, and there might have been more to it.
Probably reasonable to discuss that 16-17 years on.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:48 pm

Knuckle Draggersays:

February 6, 2023 at 7:07 pm

Speaking of court stuff, it would appear Andrew O’Keefe has had a number of assault and/or choking charges dropped because the victim’s no longer in the country and difficult to contact.

Oh, right.
His former employer didn’t mention the “witness left town” thing on their news.
Just that charges had been dropped.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 7:49 pm

Gez and rosie.

Living life on the Razor’s Edge.

Frank
Frank
February 6, 2023 7:51 pm

Wong was shagging Jay Weatherill for a while.

Razey
Razey
February 6, 2023 7:52 pm

Where is Choo Choo?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 7:55 pm

Farmer Gezsays:

February 6, 2023 at 7:44 pm

God I hate airports and most airlines for that matter.

You do realise MAFS is 5 episodes in, right?

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 6, 2023 7:55 pm

Ed Casesays:
February 6, 2023 at 7:35 pm
I can’t see any of it attaining the requireed majorities, Cassie.
New Pandemic, Postal Voting only, the AEC will guide it through.

Labor will do as much as they can to otherwise mollify the activists though.
Seriously?
Aboriginal Activists have no idea what the Voice means, so they’ll be sidelined.
The plan is to make the issue partisan, that’s why there’s so much pressure from Labor Shills for Dutton to announce for No.

Pray tell us, Machiavelli Junior, what is the Liars plan in all this?

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:56 pm

It doesn’t matter what you think. The formal definition of GDP is Y = C + I + G + (X ? M) . It doesn’t matter if the G is spent on weapons or paying people to dig holes or building useful infrastructure. On that basis the comparisons of GDP is correct.

Whether GDP measures anything that impacts directly on our lives or quality of life or whether or not the G should be included is another argument.

Diogenes:
It does matter what I think, because I’m right. The Keynesian equation is simply a very coarse way of describing economic growth. G is bullshit because it doesn’t produce anything; it just consumes resources. It’s good that you brought up digging useless holes in the ground and then filling them up, as that would be positive for GDP but adds nothing to living standards. Military spending is a negative for living standards.

GDP is simply a representation. It’s okay for the broad picture if an economy is reasonably balanced. It most certainly isn’t when there’s an outsized “G” as there is now in Russia.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 7:57 pm

Wong was shagging Jay Weatherill for a while.

I knew the Wong chap was a poofta but Weatherill; FFS.

Frank
Frank
February 6, 2023 7:57 pm

Wong doing a pretty good imitation of Kristina Keneally which is a bit disconcerting.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 7:58 pm

It does matter what I think, because I’m right.

Keep it clean head prefect; there’s some strange vibes around.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 7:59 pm

we’ll be informed our houses and land don’t belong to us and will never belong to us

we’re being told that now- I wonder if this being driven from the UN

Well, if it is being driven from the UN, then good luck with the UN intervening to stop the proposed Referendum because it’s racist, or Apartheid, or some other rubbish.

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 7:59 pm

Farmer Gez says:
February 6, 2023 at 7:44 pm

God I hate airports and most airlines for that matter.
A twelve hour wait on a flight to Singapore from Bangalore.

WTF are you doing there, seeing a swami? Get out of there and stop complaining as you only have yourself to blame for going in the first place.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 8:00 pm

Razeysays:

February 6, 2023 at 7:52 pm

Where is Choo Choo?

Living in Osaka and driving the Shinkansen, Razey-san.
Why do you ask?

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:03 pm

I knew the Wong chap was a poofta but Weatherill; FFS.

Hold up, Mr Sulu?
Weatherill was a staffer for Don Dunstan, something he was reputed to be extremely touchy about discussing.
My best guess is that he was a Beard for her and she was a Handbag in return.
Alternative explanation:
Wong was Pegging him.

Indolent
Indolent
February 6, 2023 8:03 pm
Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:07 pm

Oh, right.
His former employer didn’t mention the “witness left town” thing on their news.
Just that charges had been dropped.

They paid her to amscray.
Good result, there was nothing in it for her to destroy Andy’s career, plus it’s a waste of the Court’s time.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 8:09 pm

On composting – I’m hopeless. The heap usually end up full of vermin and sprouting seeds and weeds. Better off burning the lot and using the ashes.

Most suburban heaps just aren’t big enough to get hot enough. I used to chuck my “compost” in a plastic bin with worms and heaps of holes in the base for 6 months which did the trick. Those big compost screws are good too.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 8:09 pm

Trust you to glorify the Wong chap crotchless; he’s a notorious antisemite.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:10 pm

Oh, and David Jones at Garden City, Mt Gravatt is gone.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:12 pm

Wong is an antisemite?
That’s a serious allegation, young man.
Are you going to back it up, by any miniscule chance.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 8:18 pm

Good result, there was nothing in it for her to destroy Andy’s career …

Err, what career?
The closest he will get to a TV studio in future is delivering Karl’s Big Macs for Uber Eats.
Doesn’t matter if she’s a no-show or turns up and accuses him of taking the Beaumont children.
Either way, his career is f*cked.
Totally and irredeemably.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 8:19 pm

Wong was shagging Jay Weatherill for a while.

Anyone having regular sex in South Australia is immediately under suspicion.

Cassie of Sydney
February 6, 2023 8:22 pm

“Either way, his career is f*cked.
Totally and irredeemably.

and finally.

His career should have been over years ago.

shatterzzz
February 6, 2023 8:22 pm

Most suburban heaps just aren’t big enough to get hot enough. I used to chuck my “compost” in a plastic bin with worms and heaps of holes in the base for 6 months

I use empty 20kg dog biscuit bags .. work a treat .. the dog died 2 years ago and the bags still look new ..

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 6, 2023 8:22 pm

Mafs televisual extravaganza.
There’s pre-record on the TV you know.
I hear boob job specialists watch it to see the other bloke’s work.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 8:23 pm

Are you going to back it up, by any miniscule chance.

Yeah, you defend him.

dopey
dopey
February 6, 2023 8:23 pm

Yes Johanna, the great Murray Walker.
-With half the race over there’s half the race left to go.
-This car is absolutely unique in all respects, except for the car behind it, which is identical.
-There’s nothing wrong with the car, except that it’s on fire.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 8:25 pm

Lidia Thorpe set to secure $1 million after splitting from Greens

From the Hun.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 8:25 pm

Except Mike Rann who was giving it to the parliamentary lunch lady till her husband found out. Allegedly.

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
February 6, 2023 8:26 pm

Typical GayBC/Arseholes Broadcasting Communism spin here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-06/ben-roberts-smith-witness-pleads-guilty-to-hindering-official/101936828

The headline makes out that the person concerned, heavily underlined as one of Roberts-Smith’s witnesses, is a violent and dishonest criminal. If you read on, however, you will see that the magistrate’s reasons for not recording a conviction are very sound.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 8:27 pm

Encouraging a witness to disappear would only have one objective.
That is, to eliminate, or at least mitigate, potential jail time.
Nothing to do with resurrecting his non-existent career.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 6, 2023 8:29 pm

Swami Albo
Swami Chalmers
Swami Bowen
Om……Om…..Om

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
February 6, 2023 8:29 pm

Never go full Indian.

Siltstone
Siltstone
February 6, 2023 8:31 pm

Who said Two Wong Chaps Don’t Make a White?

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:32 pm

Mike Rann was the reticent staffer for Dunstan, not Weatherill.

Apologies for the mistake.

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 8:32 pm

As usual. WA has form when it comes to disappearing witnesses. Cough … Danny Hobby.

calli
calli
February 6, 2023 8:33 pm

Gez.

Could you please realign your chakras in private?

This is a family blog.

Roger
Roger
February 6, 2023 8:34 pm

Lidia Thorpe set to secure $1 million after splitting from Greens

Sovereignty never ceded.

But I’ll take your money.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:34 pm

That is, to eliminate, or at least mitigate, potential jail time.

Hang on, Family Court Guy.
The complainant doesn’t show up, it’s a Nolle.
Even Mr Sulu knows that?

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 8:40 pm

I did not know you can catch the train from Rome to Sicily, saw the IC on the departure board, wondered if there was a tunnel but no, the train gets ferried across the straits of Messina by ship.
If I come back here will have to consider that option.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
February 6, 2023 8:41 pm

Lidia Thorpe set to secure $1 million after splitting from Greens

Maybe she could donate it to worthy causes like Trump did with his salary?

cohenite
February 6, 2023 8:41 pm

Apologies for the mistake.

Now be a man crotchless and apologise for your antisemitism.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 8:43 pm

Ed Case is a Pseudonym.
How can he apologise for anything?

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 6, 2023 8:44 pm

Ed Casesays:
February 6, 2023 at 8:12 pm
Wong is an antisemite?
That’s a serious allegation, young man.
Are you going to back it up, by any miniscule chance.

I’m sure that you will receive at least the same standard of evidence that you provide to support your many fantastical assertions.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
February 6, 2023 8:44 pm

It’s embarrasing that we are already having rings run around us by the Aboriginal House Of Lords.
Listen to the Uluru Statement From The Heart! And gimmie gimmie gimmie!
That’s new. Who wrote said statement? Lots of urban Trotskyists from the perpetual academic class.
What’s it got to do with Uluru? That’s where we had the launch party.
What’s going on around Uluru at the moment? Pfffff that was last week’s third world violence, paedophilia and murder outrage scandal. Besides, that problem was done by alchohol, not people.
Well, you’re all fat, rich and unsackable. What do you actually want? An aboriginal Voice to parliament.
That’s new. Whaddaya mean “Voice”? A statutory commanding office which, along with a bazillion other consultants, enquiries, commissions and study trips, will “advise” the government, regardless of their other policies and mandates.
That’s new. Whaddaya mean “Aboriginal”? Aboriginal, genetically. Not culturally, obvs. Culturally, it’ll be like every other body politic, stuffed and staffed by career Trotskyists from the perpetual academic class. But these ones will have, you know, headbands and possum skins from New Zealand and stuff.
That’s new. Who gets to sit in the new c-suite? Only Aboriginal people.
That’s new. Who selects them? Only Aboriginal people.
That’s new. What if it fails at referendum? Then Australia is racist, and it shows how much the Aboriginal separatism is justified, dunnit?
…and their Useful Idiot whitefellas will get it in either anyway, they’ve given every indication at local, state, “treaty” and federal level that they will. It’s an outright promise at this stage.

cohenite
February 6, 2023 8:45 pm

Crotchless goes existential.

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 6, 2023 8:47 pm

Ed Casesays:
February 6, 2023 at 8:43 pm
Ed Case is a Pseudonym.
How can he apologise for anything?

You could start with apologising for commenting here.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 8:48 pm

Paul Murray, on Sky News, says Lidia Thorpe has played everybody like a fiddle..

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 8:50 pm

Crotchless goes existential.

I hope he’s got his tubesock.

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 8:51 pm

Not quite.
Having a maxi cappuccino at the station Cafe and about to wander down to my platform
Which really means struggling up and down two flights of stairs with my dratted suitcase.
Two young Asians with their n95s on buying cappuccini.
Waitress getting very frustrated they couldn’t understand piccolo or grande.
In Italian or English.
Finally went piccolo after being directed to the menu board.

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 8:53 pm

I declined a lift from my host to the train.
The electric tram was very easy and stops in the square in front of the station.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
February 6, 2023 9:02 pm

Speedbox says:
February 6, 2023 at 5:56 pm

OldOzzie says:
February 6, 2023 at 5:31 pm
Used to rally 1962 1/2 VW early 60s and had a ball – navigated in 1st Rothmans Southern Cross Rally in 1966, and we had Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville in Cortina GT500 behind us, and he would pass us on every section, but we would come in just under having to be relegated behind him till Melbourne – after that he left us behind –I always thought as he came around us on the side of a mountain sideways, “Boy his wheels are close to the edge of the drop” – hmm probably where ours are!

We were one of the 38 to finish in Sydney……

Old Ossie – you sly old dog. You never told us you were a rally man. And the 1st Rothmans Southern Cross in ’66 to boot. Well done Sir. How about a guest post – you must have some terrific stories.

Speedbox,

I had as an amateur competed in NSW Rallies in 65/66 with my future Wife as Navigator (Really brave in those days) in my 1962 1/2 VW with wide rear wheels, Koni’s allround, full racing harness drivers seat and lap sash passengers & Cibies & of course EMPI Camber Compensator

I had got to know a lot of the Competitors, VW Bickie Baron Barry Ferguson, BMC Mini Competitors Evan Green, Peter Mulder from Rally Shop, memories of wife closing gate on BMC Works Mini (as you were supposed to) being slammed into the back of our VW by Navigator we called Lurch (looked like Lurch from Addams Family TV series) – Wife got back into VW complaining, and Lurch came up and apologised to her at next stop.

I had met Max Winkless Swedish Motors Volvo Importers , during those Rallies and he asked me if I wanted to navigate for one of his Major Mack Truck Customers, who owned a large transportaion trucking company, and wanted to recreate his younger years & Max created a Rally Volvo P1800 for him to drive in 1966 Rothmans Southern Cross Rally, as I said, bored out motor, new comp pistons, Repco Cross Flow Head, Dual Side Draught 45 DCOE Webers , full extractor, stiffening mount across the top of the front suspenion mounts, sump shield etc, full rally seats and full harness plus Halda Rally Instruments & Cibie Lights

It was a great Rally ,

After that Max aksed me to navigate for John Keran, in a Works Volvo 123GT John had had built up, again with the Repco Cross Flow Head and same setup as P1800 for Southern Cross Rally

John was at 32, a retired Gentleman Farmer from Darling Downs, who lived in Mona Vale in Sydney & on our 1st Rally, he picked me up at my future wife’s place at Narrabeen, and we went through the Wakehurst Parkway past Narrabeen Lakes down the straight towards the S bends (No speed limit in those days) – John was wanting to test out some mods he had done to the 123GT – we entered S bends at 120Km/Hr and came out at 140Km/hr – I thought it was going to be a long night – The Rally started in Goulburn, and John was really fast and ultimately we rolled, pushed the car back upright with some help
and continued on

Following that, having taken my wife in a Swedish Motors Volvo 4 Door 122S that the Swedish Motors Service Manager Charles Cann had been allowed to rally in a non points NSW Rally by Max for the Weekend, with my future wife in the back, we came out of the dust around 100Km/hr near Goubutn, to find the road went hard left – Charles tried to take the corner and we rolled – left my wife hanging by seat belt in rear and with help, turned car back on 4 wheels and dust flew thoughout the car

About 40 mins later on a transport stage, we lost the left front suspension at 80km/hr on dirt road, and crashed into a tree – leaving Chrles & my wife with the car, I hitched a ride in the back of a BMC Works Cooper S hanging onto the Roll Cage (What a Luxury), sitting on spare tire, to next stop and from there to Goulburn to arrange a tow.

As John rolled me again on next Rally with him, my future wife made me give up navigating.

John went onto a new Volvo 142S with Peter Meyer as Navigator and won 1968 Southern Cross Rally

Having been rolled 3 times in Volvos without Roll Cages, I bought a 6 Month Old Volvo 144GL in 1974 – Great Family Car but no power steering and no A/C

Met Max Winkless in 1990s in Sydney – he had moved to Perth, and we discussed the Volvo P1800 & Repco Cross Flow Head – he mentioned there was one in WA -It was still there, when again I met Max in Perth in 2005 on 4WD Trip – Wish I had chased it up, as would like to do Classic Rally Volvo P1800

Barry Fergusin – The station wagon stayed home, out came his trusty personal VW and he did his regular calls because it was important that country people got their Arnotts biscuits! (He was subsequently nicknamed ‘the Bickie Baron’.)

JC
JC
February 6, 2023 9:03 pm

Listen to the Uluru Statement From The Heart! And gimmie gimmie gimmie!
That’s new. Who wrote said statement? Lots of urban Trotskyists from the perpetual academic class.
What’s it got to do with Uluru?

Not all. He was in on it, taking righties for a ride for a decade. Noel Pearson.

132andBush
132andBush
February 6, 2023 9:07 pm

Ed Case is a Pseudonym.
How can he apologise for anything?

But Ed Case thinks,

therefor…

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 9:08 pm

Ed Casesays:

February 6, 2023 at 8:34 pm

That is, to eliminate, or at least mitigate, potential jail time.

Hang on, Family Court Guy.
The complainant doesn’t show up, it’s a Nolle.

Look, I normally don’t respond to f*ckwits, but I’ll make an exception just this once.
The very punchy Mr O’Keefe has spun-off one witness.
All good.
But wait!
There’s more.
He still has a bundle of other charges still pending – including breaching an AVO, resisting arrest and assaulting yet another lady.
So, yeah, getting a few charges chucked out might help reduce the prospect of serious jail time.
So he’s a long way from a nolle, Wally.

132andBush
132andBush
February 6, 2023 9:08 pm

But Ed Case thinks,

Admittedly that’s a wild assumption.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
February 6, 2023 9:08 pm

rosie.

I figure no one else will tell you this and I’ll keep it simple. Whilst you are gallivanting around the Italian countryside, keep in the back of your mind that there is a high probability of a sizable earthquake to rattle the joint over the next week .It’s the energy flow on from the Turkey event.

More of a concern for the north over the south.

Safe travels.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 9:12 pm

Bwah ha ha ha.
Did you hear that on 6PR Tickler?
F*cking moron.

rickw
rickw
February 6, 2023 9:13 pm

The USA just experienced a new wind chill record. Minus 78 degrees.

The Mong Experts were wrong on vaccines.

Does anyone think The Mong Experts are right on Global Warming?

H B Bear
H B Bear
February 6, 2023 9:16 pm

I take it you are sceptical?

Boambee John
Boambee John
February 6, 2023 9:17 pm

Zulu Kilo Two Alphasays:
February 6, 2023 at 8:48 pm
Paul Murray, on Sky News, says Lidia Thorpe has played everybody like a fiddle..

Maybe even a Stradivarius?

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 9:20 pm

Now completely unconcerned about earthquake risk while I’m in Italy.
And in case you didn’t know, I’m in Sicily which most people know is an island off the south west of the Italian mainland.

rosie
rosie
February 6, 2023 9:24 pm

I’ve done a little reading about earthquakes lately.
Lots of discussion about the various fault lines in Italy but nothing about ‘energy flow ons’.
Maybe caused by all those tunnels.

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 9:26 pm

Settle down, Family Court Guy.
You’ve really got it in for Andy, did he pinch your boyfriend?

132andBush
132andBush
February 6, 2023 9:27 pm

Bwah ha ha ha.
Did you hear that on 6PR Tickler?

No doubt it’d be dutchsinse.

A trusted internet “expert”.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
February 6, 2023 9:39 pm

Another 7.8 in Turkey just struck…quick downgrade to 7.5

https://www.twitch.tv/dutchsinseofficial

Ed Case
Ed Case
February 6, 2023 9:39 pm

Steve Sailer:

CNN: Why do White Brains Differ From Black Brains?
A: Racism

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
February 6, 2023 9:40 pm

Every chance it’s the dutchwhoever, who keeps claiming he’s regularly banned by The System for being too accurate, when he predicts things that happen after the event.

The Armstrong Economics of tectonic plates.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 9:45 pm

rickwsays:

February 6, 2023 at 9:13 pm

The USA just experienced a new wind chill record. Minus 78 degrees.

It’s an “energy flow on” from the Turkish earthquake.
What else could it be?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
February 6, 2023 9:45 pm

Maybe even a Stradivarius?

Riddle me this, thrill seekers.

Are varting noises, made blowing through a hollow log, the musical equal of a Sibeluis concerto, played on a Stradivarius violin? Inquiring minds want to know.

Dot
Dot
February 6, 2023 9:47 pm

I wonder how much government charges are contributing to inflation?

FORTY SIX PER CENT OF OF THE COST OF A NEW HOME IS TAXES!

132andBush
132andBush
February 6, 2023 9:48 pm

If you keep predicting earthquakes in areas that traditionally get earthquakes you can claim a win every now and again.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
February 6, 2023 9:50 pm

Every chance it’s the dutchwhoever, who keeps claiming he’s regularly banned by The System for being too accurate, when he predicts things that happen after the event.

The Armstrong Economics of tectonic plates.

Bwah ha ha ha.
I just googled him.
Guess what came up first?
“They’re taking ages to upload my latest blah, blah, blah”.
As in, “I predicted this, but Big Tech is gagging me”.
Has anyone got his forecast from yesterday for Turkey?

  1. Things we mere males do not know. My wife never mentioned or complained about how bothersome they were. Bless her.

  2. Second Boeing Whistleblower Dies Mysteriously From Sudden Infection, Leaving Doctors Baffled Must be contagious? Or just coincidence? Who knows in…

  3. Sorry to pee on the barbie, but what sort of ‘toons are these? May as well just post oneliners. Sorry…

1.6K
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x