Open Thread – Tues 25 July 2023


The Choice of Hercules, Annibale Carracci, 1596

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Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 25, 2023 12:44 am

First!

Hercules and the girls are all doing well in the poundage stakes.

calli
calli
July 25, 2023 12:47 am

Vice and Virtue.

Virtue hasn’t been in France eating for two weeks (or perhaps her draperies are more carefully arranged). My salad days will soon be upon me.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 25, 2023 12:49 am

And the rest of youse have gone to bed.

We’re two hours behind up here in the cool evening of the Highlands of Malaysia. Just had a fine meal at the hotel in the Asian Restaurant in contrast to the British one last nite. It was one of those cook-your-own at table types, where they bring the single gas burner and you throw stuff into it. I think it’s taking the self-serve notion a bit far, but we rolled up our sleeves, and got to it. I made Hairy take of his nice new jacket first, because it was a fairly messy business.

Still, it was practice for when Blackout Bowen brings us down to my single gaz camping burner over a candlelit table. I’ll know what to do to bring on a meal then.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 25, 2023 12:52 am

I might have missed out some key information there. You have a pot of boiling stock ready to chuck the cut up raw meat and vegies into as it bubbles away on the gas top.

Back to one-pot peasant cookery for us all if Blackout B has his way.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 25, 2023 12:55 am

You can do a lot with draperies, Calli. Virtue still has chubby arms though.
She’s been tucking in with the best of them. Just covers her traces. Mostly.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 25, 2023 1:02 am

Me oh my, and isn’t that a strategically placed shadow there on Hercules?

I like it. Things were better in the olden days when some things were left to the imagination of those who dwell on such matters. This is high art, and we should take its noble sentiments seriously.

Mostly.

Thank you Dover for the Illustrated Cat. Adds tone, in my view. 🙂

Foxbody
Foxbody
July 25, 2023 1:05 am

The vice-y one looks rather like our Brittany having just dismounted her bicycle.

calli
calli
July 25, 2023 1:14 am

Just so you know, Dover…your painting has been cropped.

At the top of the long and winding road is Pegasus, his reward. The guy you can barely make out in the bottom LHC is a river god…well read as it turns out.

Knowledge and winged flight. What more could a warrior want? 🙂

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 1:51 am

Twitter has changed its brand and logo from its famous blue bird to “X”.

The new white X on a black background has replaced the blue bird on the desktop version of the social network, although is yet to appear on the mobile app.

“Tweets” will also be replaced, according to Twitter’s owner Elon Musk, and posts will be called “x’s”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66284304

Beertruk
July 25, 2023 3:06 am

Ooohhh…Top 10…

Beertruk
July 25, 2023 3:09 am

Knowledge and winged flight. What more could a warrior want? ?

Beer? 😉

Beertruk
July 25, 2023 3:13 am

Or maybe a good cup of tea.

Beertruk
July 25, 2023 3:44 am

Today’s Tele:

WHAT A SHAME, NOT REALLY
TIM BLAIR
The critics are right.
That Ashes-deciding rain in Manchester was indeed a shame, a disaster, a
catastrophe and even a tragedy.
Truly, the rain robbed the cricketing world and its greatest cricketing
nations of a fair and honourable result.
A result that would have echoed through the ages.
A result that could stand alongside anything previously achieved in Test
cricket’s grand 146-year history.
The rain, never let it be forgotten, stole from us a brilliant against-allodds Australian victory.
If it hadn’t poured down for the best part of two whole days, Australia
would obviously have stacked on several spectacular lower-order 100-run
partnerships and quickly turned the match around. Years later, we’d still
be celebrating the Manchester Miracle and our glorious 3-1 retention of
the Ashes.
Sad that we missed out.
But at least we Australians can comfort ourselves with a mountain of
moaning from English players, former stars and commentators who
reckon they’ve been done wrong by their own country’s miserable
weather.
“Australia were timid, scared and petrified of this England team,” wailed
ex-England captain Michael Vaughan.
“They will know that only rain saved them. It ranks as one of the luckiest
escapes I can remember.”
Vaughan should cast his mind a little further back.
The luckiest escapes in history involved low-life English criminals being
banished to beautiful Australia.
Those fortunate bastards were sentenced to sunshine.
“I honestly think England have been the better team for the four
matches,” Vaughan also claimed, ignoring his team’s two Test defeats
from four successful coin tosses.
His “better team” theory is even crazier than my fanciful come-frombehind Australian win scenario.
Vaughan concluded: “It’s the wrong way to decide a Test match, let alone
an Ashes-defining Test match.”
To qualify as classic English whinging, it must be all complaint and zero
proposed solutions. Thanks for the classic whinge, Michael.
Still, Vaughan’s distress was almost dignified compared to Piers Morgan’s
humiliating howling. “Has there ever been a less-deserved retention of
the Ashes?” asked pitiful Piers.
Yes, there has.
In 1972, England retained the Ashes after beating Australia on a home
pitch many suspected had been doctored to suit England’s spinners.
English authorities claimed the pitch had been rendered dry and grassless
by a rare form of fungus.
Oddly, this incredibly selective fungus recognised pitch borders and crease
markings, which is more than can be said for England wicketkeeper Jonny
Bairstow.
“It was uncanny that it only attacked a strip 22 yards by eight feet and the
rest of the ground was perfectly healthy,” former Australian captain Greg
Chappell later wrote of the 1972 fungus scandal.
“Quite a coincidence, too, that England had selected two spinners for the
match.”
Rain occurs naturally.
Fake fungus doesn’t.
Taking additional aim at the Australians, Morgan wrote: “I’d be too
embarrassed to even speak to the media if I retained the Ashes in such a
dismal way.”
Speaking of embarrassment, we all saw Piers batting against Aussie fast
bowler Brett Lee in the MCG nets 10 years ago.
On that evidence there’s never been any chance of him retaining the
Ashes, dismally or otherwise.
As for retaining the Ashes in a “dismal way”, hypocrite Morgan rejoiced
when rain loomed as England’s Ashes saviour in 2013. “It would be truly
ironic if rain saves this Test match for England,” he wrote. “I’m dancing in
LA … willing it to fall!” The internet, unlike Piers, never forgets.
Piers also seems to forget Australia won the first two Tests in this series by
playing better cricket, which meant their campaign wouldn’t be derailed
by subsequent unpleasant England weather.
When the rains came, Australia had already locked in a series-securing
advantage.
It pays to plan ahead.
Just a pity we missed out on Australia’s miracle Fourth Test triumph. Oh,
well. There’s always the Fifth Test, beginning at The Oval later this week.
It’d almost be funny, in a cruel, Piers-baiting way, if England won it.

Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:05 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:08 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:09 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:10 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 4:11 am
Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 4:19 am

Thanks again Tom.

Top Ender
Top Ender
July 25, 2023 4:26 am

Digger’s book is an excellent read.

I’m quoting from it in my own book Cyclone Tracy and the Armed Forces – out late next year for the 50th anniversary – as he was part of the dive team deployed to Darwin after the cyclone. Navy clearance divers do dangerous and very difficult work.

Apart from that, his career was fascinating and varied. Well worth your time Cats.

Top Ender
Top Ender
July 25, 2023 4:26 am

The rules posted inside the front gate of the walled estate we’re staying at in Granada:

STANDARS OF CONDUCT FOR CORRAL DEL CONDE

You are in an XVI century Historical building. Corral del Conde is a monument and for your own knowledge we invite you to follow some basic behaviour rules:

1. Parties are strictly prohibited, and disturbing the neighbours by loud music or noise.

2. Children or adults not allowed to shout and running inside the monument.

3. This is a complex of apartments to feel in calm and relax. Some of them are for tourists and the community need to be respected.

4. It is prohibited to drag wheels of the suitcases in the pavement, they do noise that muddies the peace of the lodged persons.

5. For your own security, be sure when going out or entering the building, to close the two doors and double check they are perfectly closed.

6. It is not allowed to close strongly the door, this is an old monument door and need to be treated with special care.

7. Trash bags need to be deposit in Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba few meters on the right of Corral del Conde. Who does not follow this rule will be denounced.

8. It is prohibited to throw cigarette stubs and papers.

9. Pets cannot be free.

10.It is absolutely forbidden to take a bath in the fountain, it has dangerous chemical products.

11.It is not permitted to lay on the sun in public areas. We have to respect the other clients, this is not a resort.

We are confident that they will discharge their responsibilities. Any abuses will be reported

Thank you
CORRAL DEL CONDE MANAGEMENT

calli
calli
July 25, 2023 4:43 am

I like 10, TE.

I’m imaging a pasty type with a shower cap and a scrubbing brush bathing and washing the smalls simultaneously. Something Pythonesque.

What, Sir! This isn’t the laundry? Continental types….sniff.

feelthebern
feelthebern
July 25, 2023 4:45 am

6. It is not allowed to close strongly the door, this is an old monument door and need to be treated with special care.

Tell this to every lady friend I’ve ever had when closing a car door.

feelthebern
feelthebern
July 25, 2023 5:03 am

Joe Rogan destroys Polar Global with one instagram post.

Top Ender
Top Ender
July 25, 2023 5:08 am

Actually we spotted a lady disporting herself in one of the local fountains this afternoon. Just a small fountain, with her female friend having a laugh from the safety of the rest of the shaded square.

Diogenes
Diogenes
July 25, 2023 5:13 am

Joe Rogan destroys Polar Global with one instagram post.

Don’t do insta, which Polar Global? The fitness tracker ,HVAC, or 20 or so others that a quick google threw up?

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
July 25, 2023 5:18 am

The vice-y one looks rather like our Brittany having just dismounted her bicycle.

The technical term is ‘Arse and a half.’

feelthebern
feelthebern
July 25, 2023 5:26 am

The fitness tracker

He blew up over the details in the new t&c’s.
Asked his followers for an alternative.
Then his comments filled up with competitors to Polar Global.

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 5:28 am

The technical term is ‘Arse and a half.’

I always understood the term to be ‘Lardarse’ a la Juliar Gizzard.

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 5:30 am

The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy, can be interpreted as insult.

– Rowan Atkinson

feelthebern
feelthebern
July 25, 2023 5:31 am

Boring post re TIK History.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUtPCPDO1L4

TIK goes through a bunch of books on Stalingrad.
Compare the primary sources that he draws from to give an account of Stalingrad versus the garbage Bruce Pascoe serves up.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 6:29 am
Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 6:33 am
Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 6:35 am
Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 6:36 am
Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 6:38 am
Vicki
Vicki
July 25, 2023 7:04 am

Hey Topender – make sure you visit the astonishing gilded church – Church of St John – not sure of Spanish name. Have never seen anything like it. All inside is totally gilded. Staggering.

Have a wonderful time in Granada. We think it is the most liveable city in Europe.

Vicki
Vicki
July 25, 2023 7:06 am

Topender – The Basilica San Juan de Dios

Vicki
Vicki
July 25, 2023 7:07 am

Be sure to get early tickets to Al Hambra!

feelthebern
feelthebern
July 25, 2023 7:12 am

The Quizmaster from the Oz appears to be on holidays.
Where am I going to go to get my daily fix?

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 7:37 am

4. It is prohibited to drag wheels of the suitcases in the pavement, they do noise that muddies the peace of the lodged persons.

Then I expect they have flunkies at the ready to carry the suitcases to your room.

Cassie of Sydney
July 25, 2023 7:42 am

“300,000-year-old double-pointed stick among oldest record of human-made wooden tools”

What! After reading that I’m staggered to learn that the double-pointed stick wasn’t found in on this continent, the fair land called Australia so it can’ have been constructed by one of our indigenous who, we’re always told, have been here since the late Permian time. Or did some early indigenous build a ship and sail north to Germany? After all, we’re told that they invented ship building, automobiles, tools, astronomy, medicine, farming, breadmaking and so on.

This morning I read that Barnabus Beetroot Juice appeared on that fetid television programme recently vacated by the perennially tanned Stan Grant called Q&A….the Daily Telegraph is reporting…

Barnaby Joyce booed on Voice question on ABC’s QandA

Ex deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has faced a crowd of boos after he answered one question about the Voice to parliament.

Barnaby Joyce has faced boos from a hostile ABC crowd when speaking about why he opposes the Voice to parliament.

A member of the public questioned Mr Joyce as well as filmmaker Rachel Perkins and independent MP Kate Chaney about whether Australia was “mature” enough to hold a referendum about the Voice to parliament.

Mr Joyce described the upcoming referendum as “probably one of the most divisive things that has come into my area in political history” on the QandA on Monday night.

“You’re asking two people who were born in the same hospital, went to the same primary school, went to the same high school, living in two houses beside one another in a regional town. That one apparently one has access to two fields in the federal parliament and one has access to one,” he said.

As the former Deputy Prime Minister was finishing his answer, he was cut off by boos from the audience.

Host Patricia Karvellas jumped in to subdue the crowd, asking them to be “respectful” to Mr Joyce’s answer.

“When other people out there hear [that], it just resonates why they’re angry,” he finished.

Ms Karvellas then went on to ask Mr Joyce if whether Voice is valid as the Constitution rules that specific laws can be made for Aboriginal people.

“But even those laws, PK, are brought forward by a parliament elected by all Australians …” he said, before being interrupted by Ms Chaney.

The pair went on to argue and speak over each other about the legality of the proposed Voice and whether it would be taken to the High Court for half a minute.

“Of course, you can’t say it won’t go to the High Court because we want the rule of law to apply to everything. We don’t carve things out and say the rule of law rule doesn’t apply to that,” Ms Chaney argued.

As Mr Joyce was gearing up to respond, Ms Karvellas cut off the bickering pair, moving onto the next topic. “

Some thoughts….

1. If you need any proof that an ABC audience is deliberately stacked to insult and screech at anyone right of centre, let along someone like the Beetroot, this is proof. The polls consistently show that the NO vote is ahead of the YES vote, so a balanced audience would be unlikely to “boo”.

2. I ask again, why do the likes of Beetroot Juice agree to appear on this biased, and very partisan television programme? Why are they appearing on the ABC at all?
Apparently the other Q&A panellists were Kate Chaney (vacuous Teal member for Curtin), filmmaker Rachel Perkins (daughter of Charles Perkins), James Heappey (UK Conservative Minister), and Pat Gorman (Labor MP for Perth). Blind Freddy can see this panel was not balanced. When you take out Heappey, you can see that Beetroot was up against Perkins, Chaney and Gorman + the Queen Karvelas.

3. As for the Teal skank, Kate Chaney, here’s a bold prediction I’m very happy to make, that this Teal will most definitely be gone after the next election. She’ll lose the blue ribbon electorate of Curtin. Given the fall out from the WA indigenous laws, and since she’s a vocal advocate for da Voice, she’ll be gonski and all I can say is good riddance.

4. Back to the Beetroot. I now prefer David Littleproud as National leader. I think he is much more measured and is much more consistent with his message than the rambling Beetroot.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 7:50 am

Karvelas recognised that the audience booing Joyce was a very bad look and that people who oppose the Voice are rightfully angry their views are not respected.
Good.
I guess Q&A doesn’t represent ‘read the room’.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 7:52 am

Q&A might be crap, might be watched by very few people but when it makes the news for this and sooky lala Grant etc it’s a good thing.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 7:53 am

Barnabas made an excellent point, btw.
Treat all Australians the same.
I’m surprised he wasn’t invited to Kyle’s wedding.

Cassie of Sydney
July 25, 2023 7:57 am

“Karvelas recognised that the audience booing Joyce was a very bad look and that people who oppose the Voice are rightfully angry their views are not respected.

Good.

Indeed, however I neither like nor trust Karvelas.

As for “booing”, anyone recall an episode where a left of centre politicians was “booed” on Q&A? I’m not aware of a single circumstance in its tawdry history. And one thing is clear, the panel and the audience are never balanced, both are always designed to ridicule and humiliate conservatives.

132andBush
132andBush
July 25, 2023 7:59 am

I spoke to my friend at Walgett on the weekend who stated the voice debate has set back relations by a generation already.
Being told by people they have grown up with that “when the voice gets up you’ll be paying us rent”.

It’s political power at any cost in this country right now.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 8:02 am

Rosie
Jul 25, 2023 6:36 AM

Afr paywalled
Victorian Labor, discouraging rentals

Worse than rate rises: Investors selling to avoid Andrews’ rent plan

Nila Sweeney – Reporter

Carlo Lorusso has been buying and selling in property in Melbourne since the 1980s, when interest rates were as high as 18 per cent. That was bad, the veteran investor and real estate agent says, but this is worse.

Confirmation that the Andrews government is considering limiting Victorian landlords’ ability to lift rents to just once every two years and separately putting a cap on rent increases as part of a housing package, is the last straw.

“I’ve lived through and paid high interest rates before, and it was tough,” Mr Lorusso told The Australian Financial Review. “But interest rates don’t stay at that level forever. Interest rates are also tax-deductible.

“But these policies targeting property investors are not negotiable. And you really don’t have an option except to comply or sell up.”

Mr Lorusso says he is planning sell one or up to all four of his investment properties because they have become too difficult to hold on to. “I’m also advising all my investor clients to consider selling,” he said.

The rental limit proposals revealed at the weekend are in addition to a recently imposed land tax on investment properties, and restrictions on evictions without approved reasons, such as selling the property, doing major renovations or moving in a family member.

Tim Lawless, research director at property data company CoreLogic, said the latest proposals add to the earlier measures and discourage housing investors in Victoria.

“We could see more investors looking to sell their rental property, while others considering an investment in Victoria’s housing market may choose to invest their dollars elsewhere,” he said.

Investors, hit along with other borrowers by a dozen interest rate rises since May 2022, are already selling up in large numbers. The exodus gathered pace in June, when the share of ex-rental listings in Melbourne jumped to a two-year high of 36.2 per cent, CoreLogic data shows.

“Further uncertainty could act to erode investor confidence leading to a larger portion of investors looking to sell,” Mr Lawless said.

“So it’s hard to see a policy like this improving rental stress. We still have unprecedented levels of demand flowing in from overseas, including foreign students.

Additionally, policies like this that have the potential to disincentivise investors could make it harder to deliver new ‘build to sell’ stock to the market as developers find it hard to achieve pre-sales off the plan amid low investor appetite.”

Mr Lorusso said with rents barely covering mortgage repayments, it was becoming harder to justify holding rental properties in Victoria.

“We’re getting anywhere between 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent yield, which is really low. And then we’re getting all these rental legislation changes, which easily adds to more than $1000 a year just for compliance,” he said.

“And now we’re told that we can’t put up the rent for two years, and then they’re going to tell us how much we can put it up for, and also tell us we can’t get rid of our tenants without very specific reasons. So, there’s just too many obstacles to jump. That’s the problem.”

Mr Andrews on Sunday refused to rule out rent freezes and caps or a tourism levy, including on Airbnb rentals, for a package he said would also streamline planning decisions to allow “good decisions, faster” to increase supply and ease the housing shortage. “Everything is on the table,” Mr Andrews said.

CoreLogic calculates that rental income rose by $266 a month on average, however, interest rates increased by $976, leaving landlords with a $709 shortfall each month.

Darren Spencer, who owns three investment properties in Melbourne, said uncertainty about policy was more concerning than the cash flow squeeze from higher rates.

“It’s not just the plan to cap rental increases for me, it is the fact that I feel that the Victorian government was constantly increasing costs for property investors,” Mr Spencer said.

“We would prefer to keep our properties, but it’s just becoming really hard and too risky to be in this market. Partly because interest rates are rising quicker than we expected, but we planned for those increases.

What we didn’t plan for was the extra land tax that’s recently been announced. We also didn’t plan for rental freezes. And what’s really worrying is not knowing what happens next. We’ve just lost lots of confidence that Victoria is a stable state to invest in.”

Louis Christopher, SQM managing director said any cap on rents would be counterproductive.

“The proposal to cap rents and prevent landlords from lifting it more frequently than once every two years is dangerous,” Mr Christopher said.

“It is very likely to lead to properties being withdrawn from the long-term leasing market and be placed into the short-term accommodation market.

“It discourages and reduces confidence in existing investors and would be investors into the market, so this has a material impact upon forward supply of rental properties.

Rental caps have, been tried in other countries, and it’s miserably failed in those countries.”

Other states such as SA decided to cap rental increases to once a year, in line with NSW, Queensland and Tasmania.

”The Malinauskas government has recently completed an extensive review of the Residential Tenancies Act and we continue to act decisively to address rental affordability including banning rent bidding, ending no cause evictions and increasing the notice period to end a tenancy from 28 days to 60 days resulting in longer tenancies,” a South Australian government spokesperson said.

“Rent rises are already limited to once per year in South Australia and there are no plans to change this.”

shatterzzz
July 25, 2023 8:05 am
Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 8:06 am

The Guardian is attempting to spin the Essential poll’s minority support for the cancellation of the Games as a positive for Andrews.

After noting Albanese’s continuing slide in popularity, they conclude their round up of the poll with this:

‘Politicians were the least trusted of the professions (28%) narrowly beating journalists (39%) for the lowest rung.’

The Voice doesn’t get a mention.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 8:06 am

When people say ‘read the room’
an image is conjured,
someone’s riding a broom
On twitter or on Q&A
It’s Labor, Teals, Greens that get their say
Along comes Elon
Branding his X
On all those witches
He’s placed a hex.
But not at the ABC, oh no
It’s still a safe space, all aglow.
With righteous indignation streaming
And lots of self indulgent screaming
Who cares how many billions spent
As long as wankers get to vent
We only hope they can’t forfend
The dwindling audience that makes it end.

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 8:08 am

Fossil Fuel Divestment Protester –

comment image?resize=768%2C551&ssl=1

LOL.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 8:09 am

Money might flow to the share market?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 8:12 am

Why it is hard to get a Company/Federal-State-Territory-Local Govt Department to answer a phone. and why you hear a dog in the background when the phone is answered

Aussie woman reveals why she’s chosen overemployment

An Aussie woman has revealed how she’s managed to work two jobs at the same time, and why she isn’t worried about getting caught.

Thursday is *Jessica’s busiest day of the week; she’s answering calls, checking emails, multi-tasking and delegating, all while working two jobs simultaneously.

Jessica, a local Sydney woman in her early thirties, has two admin roles at separate companies, one in the field she ultimately wants to get into.

She works four days a week in job one, and two (sometimes three) days a week in job two, with one shared day at both.

Are you following?

It sounds complicated, but Jessica makes balancing two jobs look pretty easy.

She stays vigilant and busy and isn’t even worried about getting caught.

Since then, Jessica has continued to hustle in both jobs due mounting financial pressure of the cost of living crisis, and she’s not alone in her pursuit of extra cash.

According to HR software company Employment Hero’s 2022 Remote Work Report, 51 per cent of workers in Australia have a second income stream, and some of them are earning their extra income simultaneously.

In fact, there’s a word for people working two jobs like Jessica, it’s called “overemployement”.

The trend took off during the pandemic where people could suddenly work privately from their homes and has been accelerated by the cost of living crisis.

There’s a even group on Reddit called Overemployed with over 200,000 members who share advice, hacks and job-search advice for people looking to hold down two jobs at the same time.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 8:16 am

A rarity these days – a politician with an historial perspective:

Labor has been hostile to the Constitution since the 1890s

Many in favour of the Voice fail to understand the purpose of a nation’s Constitution. Before voting, Australians need a civics lesson in Constitutional first principles.

The ‘yes’ Campaign is built on the premise that a nation’s Constitution is the equivalent of an ‘About Us’ page on a corporate website. An ‘About Us’ page typically provides a helpful overview of what the business does, when it was founded, its size, geography, top executives etc plus a feel-good mission statement.

If the Australian Constitution is merely a national ‘About Us’ page for others to understand who we are then, yes, recognition of Aboriginal occupation pre-1788 would be included. It is, however, a Constitutionally ignorant understanding.

The purpose of a Constitution is to strictly set out the limits of government power in a free society. It assumes firstly that individuals are free and secondly that the exercise of government power will inherently an impingement on at least some individual freedoms. A Constitution defines what government can do … and if a government program tries to do something not mentioned in the Constitution, then the government program is invalid.

Some of mankind’s earliest written documents are legal codes. The Books of Moses contain the most extensive version but we have sections of other Bronze Age legal codes. These documents primarily contain laws on how civilians should engage with other civilians and what the government will do if a law is transgressed. It was not until the Greeks and Romans in the middle of the first millennium BC that we see rules around limiting and dispersing government power.

There are around 200 nations on Earth today. Almost all have a written Constitution and many echo the finest version ever penned – the US Constitution. America inspired Europe’s then most significant nation, France, to do something similar the following decade. Both the American and the French Revolutions and Constitutions inspired people across most of Europe and Latin America in the 19th Century.

The Revolutions of 1848 rocked the north, south, east, and west of Europe. The two significant nations that the turmoil of 1848 skipped were the United Kingdom (which had been limiting state power for almost two centuries) and stridently anti-reform, Imperial Russia. The upshot of 1848 was that written constitutions limiting state power became the norm across Europe. It’s a similar story in Latin America.

Eureka Stockade in 1854 was simply the delayed Australian version of these 1848 uprisings – constitutions and democratic elections to legislatures became the norm across Europe post-1848 and across the Australian colonies post-1854.

In the 1890s statesmen from across the Australian colonies debated what an independent and federated nation might look like. The then spelt Australian Labor Party was in that decade a rising force but still very much a fringe player. The drafting of the Constitution of Australia formally commenced in 1891 and concluded in 1899. It was a dramatic period with many twists between the Protectionist and the Free Trade parties. The ALP played no role in drafting of the Australian Constitution.

In 1891 the colonial Parliaments appointed delegates to a Constitutional convention in Melbourne and then Sydney – none were members of the ALP. In 1897 the people of the colonies elected delegates to a Constitutional convention – the ALP’s only contribution was to snipe on the sidelines and not run candidates. When the draft Constitution was put to the people, the ALP campaigned against ratification. Labor figures had different reasons to oppose, but within the DNA of the ALP is an unsettled relationship with our Constitution (it limits the power of the state too much for their liking).

Labor has craved amending our Constitution ever since. In 1910 Andrew Fisher was the first elected Labor Prime Minister and he used his impressive majorities in the House and Senate to put a record 11 referendums. Fisher was an ardent Christian democratic socialist (and in my opinion, our most racist Prime Minister). Fisher wanted the Constitution to give him the power to nationalise industry. All 11 failed (often narrowly) and in our infancy, Australia dodged socialist poison.

Since Fisher there have been 33 more referendums – just eight have won. The ALP has proposed 19 of these 33 and just one has met with approval (in 1946). Both Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke tried six times each to change our Constitution and together scored a dozen ducks. Between Hawke and Anthony Albanese there were four Labor Prime Ministerships which wisely steered clear of Constitutional amendments (their focus is now imperceptibly but endlessly expanding the state through bureaucracy).

Some who have spent their lives in the political bubble believe the only thing that can lift Aboriginal living standards is politicians and bureaucrats. Initiatives like Kevin Rudd’s apology and the endlessly bloated Aboriginal bureaucracy do little in the real world. As Ronald Reagan wisely noted, ‘Government is not the solution to our problems – government is the problem.’ Voting for the Voice is like finding oneself in a hole and digging deeper. To survive on this hostile continent for 65,000 years the Aboriginals must have been possessed of a powerful can-do spirit. Reducing government bureaucracy will help them rediscover that essential ingredient.’

– The Hon John Ruddick MLC; Liberal Democrat in the NSW Legislative Council

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 8:18 am

The AFR View

A political appointment to the Productivity Commission

New chairman Chris Barrett needs to demonstrate that his appointment is designed to protect a great Australian economic institution from such attacks, not to surrender to them.

All the talk in Canberra after the robo-debt scandal has been about a return to an apolitical public service.

Yet Labor’s first two appointments to the Reserve Bank were former ACTU officials.

Now Treasurer Jim Chalmers has appointed Chris Barrett, who preceded him as chief of staff to Labor Treasurer Wayne Swan, to head the government’s chief independent economic advisory body, the Productivity Commission.

Dr Chalmers suggests that Mr Barrett was chosen by a rigorous and merit-based process.

But, to many, it will look like installing a trusted Labor econocrat insider who now works for the Andrews government in Victoria to be part of the Treasurer’s plan – as urged by the unions – to “renew, refocus, and revitalise” the Productivity Commission.

Mr Barrett’s predecessor as chairman of the Productivity Commission, Michael Brennan, worked for Liberal politicians Senator Nick Minchin and former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale. But as the son of the globally renowned public choice professor, Geoff Brennan, Mr Brennan – who kept a copy of Joseph Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development, as we reported in 2019 – has by and large maintained the pro-market approach of the Productivity Commission and its predecessors starting with Alf Rattigan at the Tariff Board in the early 1970s.

Demonstrating that granting protection or subsidies to politically favoured industries imposed costs on consumers and other businesses and industries was central to the economic reform era of the 1980s and 1990s that revived Australian prosperity. The ACTU now pejoratively calls this “neoliberalism” and wants to neuter the body that called out the union’s successful push for a return to “pattern bargaining” workplace laws as an anticompetitive drag on productivity. That ensured that the Productivity Commission was not invited to the Albanese government’s job summit last year.

Mr Barrett needs to demonstrate that his appointment is designed to protect a great Australian economic institution from such attacks, not to surrender to them.

After the billions of dollars Labor wasted on subsidies to make “green cars” in Australia while Mr Swan was Treasurer, the Productivity Commission already has called out the Albanese government’s fantasy of propping up an electric vehicle battery manufacturing industry in Australia.

Mr Barrett could demonstrate his independence by quickly calling out the Andrews’ Labor government’s $125 billion-and-counting Suburban Rail Loop Project, financially supported by Mr Albanese’s government, that has yet to pass any credible cost-benefit study.

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
July 25, 2023 8:19 am

Just a thought, following Mark Dice style Hollywood Propaganda theory.
“Argo” came from Hollywood, got lotsa Acadamy Awards, was used to justify Libyan coup.
“Zero Dark Thirty” came along, Oscars for something or other, contained ahistorical torture methods for some weird reason, along came Obama’s Surge into Afghanistan.
“Oppenheimer”…
What ideas is it laundering? “Nukes bad mmmkay, so only Cluster Munitions for Ukraine” ?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 8:22 am

Construction union wants 40pc super profits tax to fund housing

Phillip Coorey – Political editor

The CFMEU is demanding a Greens-style super profits tax designed to raise more than $500 million within the next two decades to fund the construction of almost 1 million homes.

Citing the Albanese government’s $10 billion affordable housing policy as inadequate, CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith will take his proposal to next month’s ALP national conference in Brisbane, and back it up with a national campaign.

As the government prepares to do battle next week in parliament over its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, Mr Smith will tell the National Press Club on Tuesday Labor should instead levy a 40 per cent tax on “excess profits” earned by companies in the mining and non-mining sectors with an annual turnover of more than $100 million.

Backed by modelling conducted by Oxford Economics Australia, the policy would raise $511 billion in today’s dollars between 2023 and 2041. During that period, it would spend $28 billion to build 52,600 homes each year, for a total of 947,000 homes, which is the estimated shortfall in affordable and social housing by 2041.

The policy is similar to the Green’s “tycoon tax” which proposes a 40 per cent super profits tax on corporations with more than $100 million in turnover. It would apply to Australian companies and the Australian share of a multinational’s operations.

“I know the corporates and the status quo defenders will cry wolf,” Mr Smith will say on Tuesday.

“That’s their job, but they should understand it’s actually in their interests to get on board.

“The tax we propose can only sting you if you’re already lucky enough to be making super profits. For 99.7 per cent of Australian businesses this will never be an issue.”

Opposed by the Greens and the Coalition, the government cannot secure Senate passage of its $10 billion Housing Australia Affordability Fund. They would invest $10 billion with the Future Fund with at least $500 million a year in earnings used to build 30,000 social and affordable homes.

The Oxford Economics modelling says more is needed.

“Current government policies are not enough to close the housing gap,” it says.

“Australia’s state and territory governments have announced an estimated 30,000 new social dwellings earmarked for completion over the next five years.

“These policy aims are still well shy of the 750,700 dwellings needed to fill the current housing gap.”

The government argues the HAFF is just one element of its approach to housing affordability, noting it gave the states $2 billion last month to be spent straight away.

The Greens will pass the legislation unless the government commits to spend more on housing and orchestrates a national rent freeze.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pointed out repeatedly the Commonwealth cannot order the states to act on rents, although some are moving individually.

The ACT has already put caps on rent increases and Victoria is proposing limiting rent increases to once every two years.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said Victoria’s plan “demonstrates that momentum is building towards national rent controls”.

“With the Victorian Premier now considering the Greens policy to freeze rent increases for two years and cap rents after that, the Prime Minister can no longer pretend that states aren’t open to taking national leadership on rent control,” he added.

“The party is calling on Anthony Albanese to provide funding to ensure the state adopts these reforms, and to encourage other states to follow suit.”

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 8:25 am

Super profits tax equals less dividends in your super funds boys.
Don’t do it.

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 8:34 am

The CFMEU is demanding a Greens-style super profits tax designed to raise more than $500 million within the next two decades to fund the construction of almost 1 million homes.

Surely that should be 500 Billion and not 500 Million.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 8:37 am

In Contradiction in Terms news:

‘His way or the highway’: PM Albanese acting stubborn on housing policy

Greens Housing Spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is acting stubborn on housing policy and needs to “negotiate responsibly” with the Greens to find a solution.

Not in any way sympathetic to Albanese’s plight, but this would be like ‘negotiating responsibly’ with toddlers, waaay past bedtime and high on birthday cake and red cordial.
Controlled crying and turn the TV volume up loud.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 8:41 am

In Controlled Crying #2 – When Your mates Give You Advice news:

Construction union secretary Zach Smith to launch campaign for tax on super profits

The top construction union boss says more than half a trillion dollars is needed to meet Australia’s demand for social and affordable housing, and the only way to raise the funds is to introduce a “circuit-breaker” tax.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining And Energy Union (CFMEU) will today launch a nationwide campaign to encourage the federal government to introduce a tax on super profits, which it argues could end the housing crisis.

Under the idea, a tax would be applied to the excess earnings of national corporate giants.

The union claims the plan would only affect a small percentage of Australian businesses, with the tax only kicking in when “corporations make astronomical profits

“By taking back just a slice of exorbitant profits gouged from hard-working Australians, we can transform society to benefit all.”

And for the benefit of the CFMEU, who will be building the housing.
Half a trillion dollars of OPM. Where the loose change down the back of the sofa is measured in millions.

What could possibly go wrong?

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 8:45 am

Hercules and the girls are all doing well in the poundage stakes.

Phrasing.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 8:48 am

The top construction union boss says more than half a trillion dollars is needed to meet Australia’s demand for social and affordable housing, and the only way to raise the funds is to introduce a “circuit-breaker” tax.

What a kind hearted community group with absolutely no vested interests.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
July 25, 2023 8:48 am

I liked this headline.

White House on judicial reform: Unfortunate that vote took place with slimmest majority (25 Jul)

The legislation was passed 64-0.

Sort of like saying Pell’s HC result of 7-0 was close.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 8:50 am

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith will take his proposal to next month’s ALP national conference in Brisbane

Keep an eye on this conference; it could see the Socialist Left gaining dominance on the National Executive, which, among other things, controls pre-selections.

Beertruk
July 25, 2023 8:50 am

Top Ender
Jul 25, 2023 4:26 AM
The rules posted inside the front gate of the walled estate we’re staying at in Granada:

STANDARS OF CONDUCT FOR CORRAL DEL CONDE

Thank you
CORRAL DEL CONDE MANAGEMENT

The staff and management?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 8:54 am

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act boosts Voice to Parliament’s No Vote
Josh Zimmerman & Katina CurtisThe West Australian
Tue, 25 July 2023 2:00AM

The Voice referendum is on track for a crushing defeat in WA – and the shambolic implementation of refreshed Aboriginal heritage laws is driving down support for the proposed Indigenous advisory body.

An Utting Research poll of 1000 West Australians found 58 per cent intended to vote no in the upcoming referendum.

Just 29 per cent indicated they were in the yes camp, while 13 per cent said they remained undecided.

The survey also lays bare the disastrous impact of the heritage laws on the Voice, with 54 per cent of respondents saying the new regime had made them “less likely” to support the constitutional change.

Only 16 per cent said the heritage laws had increased their probability of voting in favour of the Voice, while 23 per cent said the new legislation made no difference to their voting intention and 7 per cent were unsure.

Premier Roger Cook and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – both avid supporters of the Voice – have repeatedly stressed the Indigenous advisory body proposed by the referendum is an entirely separate issue to the heritage laws.

However, the polling suggests the issues have become intertwined in the minds of many West Australians and that negative sentiment over the heritage laws is acting as a major drag on the Voice vote.

A pair of cancelled tree plantings and revelations the chief executive of a Perth-based Aboriginal corporation had threatened to withhold heritage approvals while pursuing completely unrelated Federal Government grant funding have made national headlines.

And in a further illustration the issue is reverberating beyond the State’s borders, the South Australian Liberal Party last week released a statement welcoming a commitment from the Malinauskas Government not to follow WA’s lead on heritage laws.

The collapse in support for the Voice picked up by the Utting poll comes after the Resolve Political Monitor Survey – commissioned by Nine newspapers and released on Saturday – found four states were now heading towards a no vote.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 8:55 am

Ukraine’s frustrating summer

We are at best in the middle stages of a war that is unlikely to reach a Hollywood-esque ending

Ukraine is not at war for our entertainment. It is engaged in an existential struggle to survive as a nation. So when I say that its summer counteroffensive has so far been an anticlimax I am referring as much to our hyped expectations as to the military situation on the ground.

I spent last week in the rarefied Rocky Mountain air of the annual Aspen Security Forum. (Full disclosure, the FT is the ASF’s print media partner and my wife, Niamh King, is its director.)

One of its participants, James Cleverly, the UK’s foreign secretary, made the beguilingly simple point that wars are not like movies. They do not proceed in emotional sequencing for the benefit of its audience. They are messy, tragic, confusing and take longer than expected to reach that quality of exhaustion which brings most wars to an end.

We are nowhere near that point yet. But it was hard to miss the sense of impatience last week with the US government for allegedly foot-dragging on weapons supplies and with Ukraine itself for the so far anaemic results on the ground.

I recall exactly the same bipolar western mood swings last summer, which began in a triumphalist spirit over Ukraine’s repulsion of Russia’s invaders, then switched during the summer months to gloom over the apparent stalemate on the ground, before flipping back to euphoria in the autumn when Ukraine made big gains in the east and south.

It is conceivable that we are witnessing a repeat of 2022 with Ukraine making late summer breakthroughs having spent the previous months probing Russia’s weak points. But I have little evidence to back that up.

The likelier picture is that whatever gains Ukraine makes before this winter, the challenge of regaining its lost territory will get harder as time goes on. It is so much more difficult to attack than to defend.

I drew two conclusions from the last few days. The first is that the focus on the supposed lack of western long-range artillery and planes — Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and F-16s — is a bit of a red herring.

In my fireside conversation with Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, which you can watch here,

he convincingly made the point that neither was critical to Ukraine’s war effort. They will be important to Ukraine’s long-term defences, which is why the US has given the green light for other countries to transfer F-16s.

But this fight will neither be won nor lost in the skies. Ukraine’s immediate need is ammunition.

Sullivan said that he spent the first half an hour of each White House morning focusing solely on the 155mm shell supply problem.

Even if Ukraine does make significant inroads in the next three months, which seems like a reasonable bet, another winter will move both sides, plus their backers, closer to the point at which jaw-jaw will feel like an increasingly tempting alternative to war-war.

At some point, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke to us by video last week, will need to sit down with Vladimir Putin, or his successor, to reach a deal.

There was also plenty of speculation on how far Putin’s grip had been weakened by the fact that Yevgeny Prigozhin, his former caterer and chief mercenary, had so far got away with his life for last month’s aborted march on Moscow. As CIA director Bill Burns told us, either emperor Putin has no clothes or he is taking a long time to get dressed. Putin’s fragility may be the biggest wild card of the coming months.

In keeping with Cleverly’s analogy, I have no cinematic conclusions to offer. We are at best in the middle stages of a war that is unlikely to reach a Hollywood-esque ending in which the aggressor is banished forever.

But the reality is that the US and its allies are providing an unprecedented range of support to ensure Russia loses this war, even if Ukraine’s ultimate victory will not be sweeping.

In addition to defanging Russia as an adversary, my guess is that this “special military operation” has made China’s Xi Jinping considerably less gung-ho on the prospect of a full-scale amphibious invasion of Taiwan — one of the conference’s other obsessions that I will write about soon. Do read my colleague, Felicia Schwartz, on the Ukraine news from Aspen.

Rana, my question to you is whether the US and its allies could realistically be doing anything more than they are already given that our supply lines are running at full pelt.

Is US “Ukraine fatigue” a danger?

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 8:55 am

4. Back to the Beetroot. I now prefer David Littleproud as National leader. I think he is much more measured and is much more consistent with his message than the rambling Beetroot.

Cassie, I also was not thrilled with Littleproud’s promotion but must admit he has done much better than Barnaby and has more principles.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 8:56 am

“By taking back just a slice of exorbitant profits gouged from hard-working Australians, we can transform society to benefit all.”

Why stop with a mere slice then?

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 8:59 am

132andBush
Jul 25, 2023 7:59 AM
I spoke to my friend at Walgett on the weekend who stated the voice debate has set back relations by a generation already.
Being told by people they have grown up with that “when the voice gets up you’ll be paying us rent”.

It’s political power at any cost in this country right now.

The aboriginals who carry on like that don’t realise that they will be blamed when the whole thing falls apart, that they scared the horses who then bolted.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:00 am

Which Country is the Largest Weapons Producer?

The NATO proxy war in Ukraine has become a testing ground for weapons makers from across the world. Who are the top five largest arms manufacturers and are they worth their salt?

The Ukraine conflict has given a boost to defense contractors on both sides of the Atlantic. Russian enterprise KB Mashinostroyeniya – part of the High Precision Complexes Holding of Rostec State Corporation – has ramped up the production of some of its weaponry by up to 2.5 times since 2022. KB Mashinostroyeniya is famous for its cutting edge 9K720 Iskanders (NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone), a mobile short-range ballistic missile system.

American producers of Javelins, HIMARS, and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) are racing against time to produce more weapons as Ukraine burns through these arms faster than the US can manufacture them. European arms makers are trying to catch up as the Old Continent’s industrial base is “still in tatters” following decades of underinvestment, per the Western press. So, which are the top five countries mastering themselves in weapons production?

Which Country is the Biggest Weapons Manufacturer?

Many countries around the world produce excellent weapons, but the top five manufacturers calling the shots in the global arms market are:

1.The United States
2.Russia
3.France
4.China
5.Germany

The top five US defense contractors benefitting the most from the nation’s weapons exports are: Lockheed Martin Corporation; Raytheon Technologies Corporation; The Boeing Company; General Dynamics; and Northrop Grumman Corporation.

The list of Russia’s six largest defense contractors in terms of highest total sales include: United Aircraft Corporation (fixed-wing airplanes); United Shipbuilding Corporation (submarines, corvettes, frigates, aircraft carriers); Tactical Missiles Corporation (air- and naval-based missiles); United Engine Corporation (military aviation, rocket engines, and marine gas-turbine engines); and Uralvagonzavod (main battle tanks).

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 9:02 am

The aboriginals who carry on like that don’t realise that they will be blamed when the whole thing falls apart, that they scared the horses who then bolted.

Marcia Langton is scary enough, thank you.

Cassie of Sydney
July 25, 2023 9:04 am

From the Oz…

Liberals battle for values in Higgins
eli greenblat

Wouldn’t it be a great idea if a Liberal member of parliament actually stood up for traditional Liberal values? This is what the party members of Victorian federal electorate Higgins are asking themselves when over the weekend the unofficial starting gun was fired for preselection for the once blue-ribbon seat.

Higgins was one of the handful of traditional Liberal seats that fell to the teal-ALP left wing wave in the last federal election as citizens of some of Melbourne’s wealthiest suburbs turfed out Liberal member Katie Allen and put in (gasp, clutch one’s pearls) a Labor member, Michelle Ananda-Rajah.

The preselection is likely to be held at the end of the year, with about 800 party members eligible to vote.

Two candidates are the front­runners and, metaphorically speaking, will soon be parading before local members like a peacock proudly displaying their feathers to a prospective mate.

William Stoltz has the type of CV that looks to have been written for the times with a potent mix of national security and cyber intelligence experience. He is an Australian national ­security professional and security scholar, a lecturer and expert ­associate at the ANU’s National Security College and a senior manager at leading cybersecurity firm, CyberCX.

A graduate of the local prestigious St Kevin’s College, his LinkedIn feed is full of the type of activity that would make any true Liberal happy.

A member of the Liberal Party his entire adult life, he only publicly “outed” himself as a Liberal this month, as he felt it best to keep it quiet while he was in the public service. He has reflected that it was reminiscent of the anxieties surrounding him coming out as gay.

His chief rival for the hearts and minds of Higgins’ Liberal members is likely to be Marcus Pearl. Pearl is a classic Liberal with a focus on the economy and a track record of the type of economic and political achievements that would make Robert Menzies grin.

Pearl was the first ever Liberal mayor of Port Phillip Council – which neighbours Higgins – so has a track record of beating Greens and the ALP at local politics. Port Phillip Council, where he remains a councillor, also has no debt and $150m in reserves. It was the only council in Victoria not to pass on the rate rises to residents in the most recent round of government-approved rate hikes.

So it’s no surprise that if and when Pearl gets to chat to Higgins’ Liberal members he will be pushing a strong and hard line on fiscal responsibility. Pearl, who is moving into the electorate, is also a former senior executive at ANZ and Allianz and the current CEO of financial advisory and consulting services firm QMV.

Oh, and he has a son called Menzies – now that’s commitment to the cause!

As for former member Allen, locals believe she is keen to run again. But her decision to cross the floor last year on amendments to the religious discrimination bill and sit with the then ALP opposition has upset many Liberal true believers.

Making matters worse, she later appeared on the ABC Q&A program, where she explained her reasons for not supporting the then Liberal government on the floor of the house, to which she received a round of applause from the overwhelmingly lefty ABC audience.

It looks like other possible Higgins contenders Georgina Downer, daughter of one-time Liberal leader and former foreign minister Alexander Downer, and Roshena Campbell, noted barrister who ran unsuccessfully for the federal Aston by-election earlier this year, will sit this one out.

NO to Katie Allen, failed female ex-member of Higgins, crosses the floor to vote against religious freedom, loved to sit, when interviewed on Sky, in front of a bookcase adorned with books written by Michelle and Barry Obama. Doesn’t even have the excuse of losing to a Teal, she lost Higgins to Labor.

NO to Georgina Downer, two times failed female candidate for Mayo in SA, daughter of Dolly.

NO to Roshena Campbell, failed female candidate for Aston.

NO to female failures. Enough, pick one of the males.

Indolent
Indolent
July 25, 2023 9:04 am
Digger
Digger
July 25, 2023 9:05 am

This is a response I gave to Muddy yesterday but it was just before the OT closed so here it is again in case anyone is interested in getting more info about my book.

On the topic of subject matter here is a look at the foreword written by retired Chief of Navy, VADM Russ Crane.

I think the title: ‘Bubbles, Booze, Bombs and Bastards, A Clearance Divers Story’ largely captures what we did as Clearance Divers in the RAN and who we did it with and that in turn spilled over to a large degree into my post navy career.

I have self published the book and only the printing was outsourced. I had it printed in Hobart because China already has enough bullets and doesn’t need any more of our money. I had it reviewed by a few notable entities before printing including the Cats own Top Ender.

I am selling the books direct from my place and can be contacted on Messenger under Larry John Digney if anyone is interested in receiving more info. I have only marketed it through FB and have sold most of this print run to fellow divers, EOD Techs, SEALS and civilian work colleagues here, in the US and UK.

Foreword

I am both delighted and privileged to be invited to provide a foreword to Larry’s work titled ‘Bubbles, Booze, Bombs and Bastards’. Given the intriguing title, my curiosity motivated me to quickly set time aside to read and digest his work. I was not disappointed.

This story starts with a quintessential young Australian lad living in northern Tasmania and then chronicles his journey, from humble beginnings, through his remarkable service as a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Clearance Diver (CD), in one of the harshest and most unforgiving environments on offer in the RAN for employment.

Larry records his perceptions of the challenges and opportunities presented by the CD Branch interwoven with his professional insights and personal experience. Many who have served alongside Larry or during his time might recall some of the challenges the CD Branch experienced during this time.

Larry records, in some detail, his exciting and tremendously successful RAN career as a Clearance Diver, in both peace and war, domestically and overseas, culminating in his promotion to Warrant Officer CD, the most senior and sought after rank as a senior sailor in the Clearance Diving Branch.

Following his retirement from full time employment with the RAN, Larry goes on to recount his many experiences during civil employment in areas somewhat associated with this employment as a CD.

The story is enthralling, forthright and tells of a journey, warts and all, that many young Australian men growing up in his timeframe may clearly relate to. It tells the story of the men and more recently, women, who routinely, during peace and war who volunteer to put themselves in harms way.

Larry tells of many professional challenges and some lighthearted experiences, essential in performing one of the toughest jobs in one of the harshest environments on the planet, all of which shaped his personal development. It is a story of trials, tribulations, success, some failures, but most importantly it is a story of determination, grit, and perseverance! It is a success story, of a young Australian boy who learnt from many early experiences and developed into a national asset.

Larry Digney (or Digger as he is known to his mates) is one of the RAN’s more colorful characters who, like many of his generation of junior sailors, experienced a few somewhat turbulent years in the early part of his career in the RAN. Digger however, with a little external but predominately internal personal motivation, managed to turn his early challenges into learning experiences and developed, in his more senior years, into one of the most respected and sought-after senior sailors in the CD Branch and RAN.

His retirement from the permanent RAN and transition into civil employment was a loss for the RAN and CD Community generally but his expertise in the areas of safety, compressed air breathing and diving continued to serve the RAN and the broader Australian community extremely well during his civil career. This is testimony to the skills and experience Clearance Divers are able to bring to bear in their, usually seamless, transition from military to civil careers.

Digger’s inability to simply accept the status quo and push harder in all that he does underpins the outstanding results he has achieved in all that he has undertaken in his career both service and civilian. The story starts with challenging beginnings and leads to great success through hard work, personal sacrifice, determination and a never give up approach to challenge.

It is a fascinating and informative read, which I applaud!

RH Crane
Vice Admiral AO, CSM, RAN (retired)

Indolent
Indolent
July 25, 2023 9:09 am
OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:10 am

Eurozone economic downturn deepened in July, business survey indicates

Influential poll of purchasing managers points to sharp decline in activity in the region’s manufacturing sector

The eurozone’s downturn deepened at the start of the third quarter, according to a closely watched business survey that suggested the region’s economy is shrinking.

The HCOB flash eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index, a measure of activity at companies across the 20-country bloc, fell to an eight-month low after a sharper than expected slowdown in services and a steeper decline in manufacturing in July.

The result is expected to add to calls for the European Central Bank to stop raising interest rates after a quarter percentage point rate rise expected on Thursday.

The euro fell 0.4 per cent against the US dollar to $1.108, while Germany’s two-year bond yield dropped 0.05 percentage points to 3.17 per cent as investors dialled back their bets on further tightening.

By falling to 48.9, down from 49.9 in the previous month, the PMI index dropped further below the 50 mark that separates contraction from expansion and raised fears of a potential recession in the eurozone economy after two quarters of mild contraction.

The flash eurozone reading was well below the 49.7 forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. 

The UK economy is also slowing sharply, according to a separate PMI survey published on Monday that showed the index of British business activity fell to a seven-month low of 50.7, down from 52.8 in June.

“The eurozone economy will likely move further into contraction territory in the months ahead, as the services sector keeps losing steam,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, adding that there was “an increased probability” of the German economy sliding into recession in the second half of this year.

The bloc’s services sector remained in growth territory, despite a drop in its PMI reading to a six-month low of 51.1.

The decline in the manufacturing sector deepened further after its reading fell to a 38-month low of 42.7.

Weakening demand triggered the steepest decline in manufacturing orders since 2009, while the services sector suffered its first drop in orders for seven months. Job growth continued, albeit at the slowest pace for more than two years.

Economists think this week’s expected rate rise by the ECB could mark the end of its 12-month monetary tightening cycle if a downturn weakens the labour market and causes wage growth to slow.

However, the central bank has said in recent weeks it is concerned high wage growth and rising services prices could keep inflation above its 2 per cent target for too long.

Unemployment in the eurozone fell to a record low of 6.5 per cent in May and hourly labour costs in the eurozone rose 5 per cent in the first quarter, down from a high of 5.6 per cent in the previous quarter.

The PMI survey showed wholesale prices fell sharply in the eurozone manufacturing sector, in contrast to sustained rises in prices for services, which reflected companies passing on higher labour costs to customers. However, the rate of services inflation was the lowest since October 2021.

Claus Vistesen, an economist at research group Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the PMI survey would be “grist to the doves’ mill” in the case for the ECB to pause its rate rises after this week. But he added a “nasty” increase in second-quarter wages could still push it to raise rates again in September.

Eurozone inflation slowed more than expected to 5.5 per cent in June, it’s lowest level since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over a year ago, and it is expected to keep declining when July pricing data is published next week. But the ECB has said it wants to see convincing evidence that core inflation — a measure that excludes energy and food costs, and is seen as a better gauge of underlying price pressures — is falling towards its target before it stops raising rates.

Bert Colijn, an economist at Dutch bank ING, said the PMI survey showed “rising wages continue to keep price pressures elevated for services”. That, he said, “keeps hawkish concerns about the effect of wages on inflation alive”.

Why does the purchasing managers’ index matter?

Based on a monthly survey of senior executives at hundreds of companies in each country, the purchasing managers’ index shows if output, employment, orders, supplier delivery times and stocks have increased, decreased or been flat since the previous month.

More timely than hard economic data, the PMI survey is closely watched by central bankers and analysts for early signs that an economy is changing direction. Readings above 50 indicate that businesses are seeing activity rise, while readings below 50 suggest the opposite.

Frank
Frank
July 25, 2023 9:13 am

Marcia Langton is scary enough, thank you.

The freshly emerged from the crypt look, having slept badly.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 9:15 am

Incidentally, Langton was a member of the Communist League, a Trotskyist organisation.

Eddie Mabo was a Member of the Communist Party of Australia, as was Faith Bandler, who was instrumental in the 1967 referendum campaign.

The significance of these facts – not least being the role of the hard Left in indigenous activism – is something you won’t see discussed in the mainstream media.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 9:15 am

The details in OldOzzie’s 8:22 link to the AFR are revealing:

– “750,700 dwellings needed to fill the current housing gap“;
– “947,000 homes, which is the estimated shortfall in affordable and social housing by 2041.“;
– “$28 billion to build 52,600 homes each year“.

So, we have 80% of the next 20 years’ housing shortfall problem going on right now.
Which the CFMEU proposes to reduce by ~6% annually – by punching out a new town worth of $500,000+ homes each year for the next 18 years.

Not mentioned:

1) How to manage the queue of people wanting to move into their new, government-provided McMansion now, not in 2041?

2) What happens when the excess profitability tax dries up and businesses relocate somewhere not run by robber barons?

3) Who gets to run this exciting initiative and apply a 20% deadhead administration charge to the joke?

Zach Smith looks like a fairly young rooster. Presumably the backwash into his trough will see him out to a well-earned retirement.

Top men.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 9:16 am

I spoke to my friend at Walgett on the weekend who stated the voice debate has set back relations by a generation already.

The “Voice” and the Aboriginal Heritage Legislation, have divided the community here most bitterly. The activists claim that “you whitefellas need to understand that our sites are as sacred to us as a church or cathedral are to you,” and “you should be proud to walk in the footsteps of the oldest living culture.” Anyone who points out that a circle of stones is hardly the equivalent of Notre Dame, or you have to walk in the footsteps of the oldest living culture – they never invented the wheel – is condemned as “not respecting our culture.”

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 9:17 am

The freshly emerged from the crypt look, having slept badly.

The divisive bile that issues from her lips, rather.

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 9:20 am

Now that we know the Bidens took $10M+ in bribes from Ukraine do you understand why President Trump was impeached for a single phone call to Zelensky asking about Biden’s financial dealings?
Nancy launched impeachment proceedings the next week and came up with the reason later
Trump was digging around in their Deep State laundromat and the regime punched back

That is why the indictments are piling up and speeding up, he cannot be allowed near the White House again as he will then have the power to fire the lot of them. Some people are saying that if he fires them all the country would stop and my answer is that the only thing that will stop is the persecution of anything Trump. These people are not doing their proper jobs now so if they were not there the country will go on normally. There are too many bureaucrats as it is.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 9:21 am

In Walgett local farmers and businesses owners have been paying the rent for generations already.
Thanks to the ABC we have a very good idea of indigenous life in Walgett.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 9:22 am

The significance of these facts – not least being the role of the hard Left in indigenous activism – is something you won’t see discussed in the mainstream media.

I’ve unearthed my copy of Geoff McDonald’s “Red Over Black” – the “Marxist manipulation of the Aboriginal land rights movement.” The same names keep recurring…

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 9:24 am

Roger
Jul 25, 2023 9:17 AM
The freshly emerged from the crypt look, having slept badly.

The divisive bile that issues from her lips, rather.

Where to find an exorcist?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:35 am

🚤 Reggie Love?

It’s Martha’s Vineyard. The whitest place in the USA.

How many black males not related to Barack Obama are on the Island?

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 9:38 am

In Just in case you think that Their ABC is all about Green politics news:

Scammers posing as popular psychics target social media users

Celebrity psychic Cael O’Donnell has built an extraordinary audience on social media with claims he can channel spirits and forecast the future.

Scammers have used Mr O’Donnell’s identity to trick people out of money ranging from $70 to $1,000.

Rachel Butland, a mother of four, fell prey to a scammer impersonating Mr O’Donnell on social media.

She was unwinding after a hard day at work when she received a message on TikTok from an account that was using Mr O’Donnell’s name and photograph and offering a reading — as long she donated to a “temple”.

She transferred $70 to the account provided before realising she had been scammed.

Which raises an important philosophical question: what’s worse? Being scammed by a scammer, or being scammed by a celebrity psychic?

(Advertisement: Anybody requiring a $70 whole-of-body scam can contact me via dover.)

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:40 am
Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 9:40 am

From 132andBush’s post at 7.59am:

Being told by people they have grown up with that “when the voice gets up you’ll be paying us rent”.

It’s political power at any cost in this country right now.

Stripped of the crap, the Voice is simply a political power grab and, according to the polls, a majority of Australians now oppose it because they don’t trust politicians.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:40 am

Putler’ Strikes Again: Signs Law Banning “Gender Reassignment” In Russia

BY TYLER DURDEN

After a long time in process, Russia has implemented a law banning gender reassignment surgeries, which also includes legislation barring transgenders from adopting children.

President Vladimir Putin signed the new law into effect Monday, making attempts to “change sex” via surgical procedures or other medical interventions like hormones illegal.

The law prevents “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person” and makes “the state registration of a change of gender without an operation” illegal. This means a person’s gender cannot be changed on legal documents such as birth records, as is happening in some instances in the West.

This would also apply to all identifying documents such as passports, which would only reflect the true biological sex of a person.

It passed both houses of Russian parliament rather quickly earlier in July, and has now become law of the land with Putin’s signature.

There is a key exception to the law – it doesn’t apply in cases of medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies, such as the rare condition of Hermaphroditism.

When first proposed the law had been framed as being necessary to protect traditional family values, per TASS:

The bill was initiated by speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin and the leaders of the five factions.

During a meeting of the Council of Legislators in April, Volodin asked lawmakers to submit their proposals to address issues linked with gender-affirmation matters. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told TASS earlier that a ban on changing gender in passports and other documents would be one of the first steps to enshrine family values into national law.

As for treating potential birth abnormalities in children, the bill’s language says this intervention is allowable “upon a decision from a medical commission of a federal state-run public health institution.”

Already, Russian has strong laws against what’s dubbed “LGBTQ propaganda” – which is intended particularly protect children.

Last December, President Putin signed into law a bill that expanded on prior legislation. After this, it became illegal to publicly promote same-sex relationships, or to present non-heterosexual orientations as “normal”, according to CNN reporting at the time.

Putin has in recent years grown bolder in his rhetoric condemning the encroaching “values” of the West, and previously spread in Russia via NGOs operating under deceptive means. Top Kremlin officials have also repeatedly echoed that NATO’s expansion east reflects a broader trend of the West seeking to destroy traditional Russian Orthodox Christian values.

But to be expected, Western media reports are seeing in this new law yet another ‘Putler’ moment and example of a “tyrant’ cracking down on Russians’ “freedom”.

From the Comments

– Is Russian language hard to learn?
Asking for a friend.

– It can be difficult (I started a few months ago).

– I am trying to drink more Vodka but thats all the farther Ive gotten on my Russian,,,,,

– What’s not to like about Russia ?

– Remind me why I’m supposed to hate Russia again?
– Because MSM said so.

– Just signed your death warrant Vlad
The trannies are going to get together
and glue themselves to the NATO missiles

– lol I enjoyed that mental image way too much.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:43 am

Sydney University to dish out scholarships to foreigners
Monday, 24 July 2023

Your tax dollars at work.

You’ll be happy to know that the University of Sydney has just been granted permission to provide exclusive financial scholarships to students from the following countries:

Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan
Turkmenistan
Tajikistan
Azerbaijan
Kyrgyzstan
China
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Sri-Lanka
Nepal
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
Myanmar
Lebanon
Mexico
South Korea
Cambodia
Mongolia
Taiwan
Turkey

The scholarships will cover the costs of tuition fees.

All of this approved by the Anti-Discrimination Commission.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 9:44 am

seeker of truth said…

Here’s a write up in Honi Soit in May 2021 when they became aware of the first anti-discrimination exemption granted to the University of Sydney.

https://honisoit.com/2021/05/university-granted-anti-discrimination-exemption-for-international-student-discounts/

The University of Sydney is not the only university in NSW that has been granted an anti-discriminsation exemption when it comes to financial tuition scholarships for international students from specified countries. Their names appear under “university” on this list of exemptions granted by the NSW Anti-Discrimination Commission.

https://antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au/anti-discrimination-nsw/organisations-and-community-groups/exemptions-and-certifications/current-exemptions.html

University of New South Wales had an exemption order published in the NSW Government Gazette.

https://gazette.legislation.nsw.gov.au/so/download.w3p?id=Gazette_2021_2021-596.pdf

That exemption list makes interesting reading.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
July 25, 2023 9:46 am

I don’t know who first used ‘The Invoice’ here but it should be standard practice.

Black Ball
Black Ball
July 25, 2023 9:47 am

Joe Hildebrand on I don’t know what:

In one of the great existential laments of the ages, Abe Simpson offers his son Homer the following words of warning.

“I used to be with it but then they changed what ‘it’ was,” old Abe says. “Now what I’m with isn’t it and what’s it seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!”

Sure enough, like so many Simpsons’ prophecies, this too is coming to pass. And perhaps fittingly it is coming to pass at the ALP National Conference, which is all about things passing and not much else.

Like all Labor conferences, no motion hits the floor until the deal has already been done and the desired result achieved. The famous maxim is that this makes everybody happy: the Right gets to win and the Left gets to go down fighting.

And then of course there is the added layer of protection that whatever is passed at conference is routinely ignored by the government of the day anyway.

But for the first time in generations it is no longer the Right that is in charge of Labor’s nominally supreme policymaking body. This time the Left has the numbers, and this poses a very tricky challenge for the once-minority faction: what does it do when it is actually in charge?

Ironically – and there will be a lot of ironies here so strap in – the answer has been emphatically delivered by the most powerful left-faction Labor has ever produced: absolutely nothing.

Yes, having finally entered the winner’s circle with one of their own, the Left has discovered that what they are with isn’t it and what it is seems weird and scary.

Because Anthony Albanese has been anything but a typical left-wing Prime Minister, steering Labor determinedly towards the aspirations of suburban middle Australia and mainstream Australian values.

He has committed to the Stage 3 tax cuts, which the urban left intelligentsia hate with a passion, he has pursued spending restraint, which has even had some on the Right criticising him for not splashing enough taxpayer cash, and in an interview with none other than Piers Morgan he emphatically condemned cancel culture – a creation of the with-it woke Left.

Indeed – another irony here – the only issue on which he is being punished by voters is the only part of his agenda that is perceived as being woke or radical, namely the Voice. That charge is wrong but it is an instructive lesson in what the Left thinks is popular and what the real world has to say.

But the one issue that sends the Left most batty generally — and the Labor Left batty in particular — is nuclear power. This is both a generational and cultural phenomenon for a subsection of Baby Boomers who never came back from Woodstock, thought The China Syndrome was a documentary and feared that nuclear warheads could destroy their beloved Soviet Union.

Thus when Albo not only stood by but strengthened Australia’s nuclear submarine deal with the imperialist UK and the capitalist US the Left’s collective head started to spin.

This brings us back to the upcoming national conference in Brisbane where a group of left-wing delegates from Victoria – where else? – are threatening to challenge the PM over the AUKUS deal. Were they to bring such a motion – let alone were it to pass – this would be hugely embarrassing to Albanese and the government’s second most powerful Left figure in Foreign Minister Penny Wong, thus proving that whatever the Left’s incompetencies they are uniquely gifted at eating their own.

This again is a masterclass in the Left’s relationship with power.

When they are forced to stop reciting useless dogma and actually make decisions they end up destroying either the country or themselves.

Fortunately Albo is far too old and wise a headkicker to allow that to happen and so has told the Bolsheviks to pull their heads in.

Whether and how far they do will be an interesting internal test for his leadership but the external test he has already passed with flying colours.

What fears those in the Right of the party may have once had that Albanese would default to leftist tropes have been utterly unfounded, to the point where the running joke is that he is effectively Labor Right in all but name.

Of course an old warhorse like Albanese – who is nothing if not loyal – will never renounce the Left moniker but with the Left numbers machine that he runs now actually having the numbers, he may do something even more profound in forcing the Left to shift to the centre.

If this means sacrificing a couple of inner-city seats to the Greens, so be it. The rewards in suburban and regional Australia will be far greater.

And if it means cutting loose more radical and hateful party members then so much the better. Like Grandpa Simpson, they can go and shake their fists at clouds.

Albo is changing what “it” is. And it is magnificent to watch.

FMD

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 9:53 am

[Psychic] Cael O’Donnell says there are frauds in the industry. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)

This raises what is known in moral philosophy as “Costanza’s Paradox”:

‘If you really believe it, it is not fraud’

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 9:54 am

Marcia Langton is scary enough, thank you.

Marcia Langton has done the “NO” vote an invaluable service, with her claim that a defeat in the referendum would be the end of “Welcome to Country.’

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 9:58 am

Daily Mail

Bruce Lehrmann addresses rumours he’s eyeing up a run for office in one of the Liberal Party’s most important seats

Bruce Lehrmann is ‘flattered’ to be linked with Wentworth
He said Malcolm Turnbull’s time as the MP was ‘unfortunate’

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
July 25, 2023 9:58 am

Joe Hildebrand on I don’t know what:

If, in 9 months, we start seeing Hildebrand walking around with a baby a patchy beard, a Kiddy-Korsett, a lisp, and which vomits on ‘toweeth’, it will make complete sense.

Frank
Frank
July 25, 2023 9:59 am

The divisive bile that issues from her lips, rather.

She is the full package.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 10:11 am

Sydney University to dish out scholarships to foreigners

Back in the day, when I was indulging the notion of a PhD, I discovered that Norway was offering full scholarships to foreigners.

But they could afford to do so.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
July 25, 2023 10:13 am

“you whitefellas need to understand that our sites are as sacred to us as a church or cathedral are to you,”

“We see the Wagyl as being as sacred as Jesus Christ is to you whitefellas.”

P
P
July 25, 2023 10:13 am

Feast of Saint James the Apostle – 25th July

James, the brother of John the Evangelist, was the first Apostle to be martyred. He was beheaded by order of Herod of Agrippa. The Gospels tell us that the two brothers left their father, Zebedee, and followed Jesus as soon as He called out to them.

James was one of the three Apostles who were particularly close to the Lord. He was there with the Lord and his brother, John, and Peter at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

CNA

Tom
Tom
July 25, 2023 10:17 am

Joe Hildebrand on I don’t know what

Joe Hildebrand is Ruperdink Mudrock’s nominated Australian apologist for the ALP.

Today’s gas-lighting aims to dumb down the proletariat into believing that, even though Elbow’s left faction runs federal government policy, there’s nothing to fear because — guess what? — Elbow is actually closet conservative who doesn’t believe in all that radical stuff.

Pull the other one, Joe.

johanna
johanna
July 25, 2023 10:18 am

A political appointment to the Productivity Commission

New chairman Chris Barrett needs to demonstrate that his appointment is designed to protect a great Australian economic institution from such attacks, not to surrender to them.

There ain’t no such animal. True, the PC has done some good work (notably its hatchet job on recycling and ‘the circular economy’) but no public sector agency deserves that accolade. It exists at the whim of legislators, and has a constantly changing cast of characters.

Treasury used to comprised of jut-jawed hard-asses who scorned the pursuit of political advantage over the overall welfare of the economy. Look at it now.

By all means, call out the politicisation of appointments, but not because a public sector agency is sacrosanct. That leads to banging pots and pans for the ghastly NHS.

Bar Beach Swimmer
July 25, 2023 10:20 am

Because Anthony Albanese has been anything but a typical left-wing Prime Minister, steering Labor determinedly towards the aspirations of suburban middle Australia and mainstream Australian values.

What is this man drinking/smoking? Nett zero; the InVoice; more spending and bigger government leading to high inflation.

in an interview with none other than Piers Morgan he emphatically condemned cancel culture – a creation of the with-it woke Left.

Hasn’t Joe heard of speaking the language the audience – a Piers Morgan-Sky News audience – understands? Besides, Luigi’s got legions of underlings and on-the-ground forward operators doing that for him. “I fight Tories”.

H B Bear
H B Bear
July 25, 2023 10:21 am

Keep an eye on this conference; it could see the Socialist Left gaining dominance on the National Executive, which, among other things, controls pre-selections.

The dominance of the Liar Left faction across the country at State and Federal level is not helping good governance anywhere. In WA Cook looks like a return to the mean.

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 10:27 am

I feel as though the camera is almost a kind of voyeur in Mr. Bean’s life, and you just watch this bizarre man going about his life in the way that he wants to.

– Rowan Atkinson

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 10:29 am

Nett zero; the InVoice; more spending and bigger government leading to high inflation.

Don’t forget empowering ACMA to police free speech

(I expect a constitutional challenge to this, depending on how it plays out in practice.)

H B Bear
H B Bear
July 25, 2023 10:29 am

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha at 9:58

Daily Mail
Bruce Lehrmann addresses rumours he’s eyeing up a run for office in one of the Liberal Party’s most important seats

Lehrmann would be well advised to get a real job and get on with things. NSW Lieborals are so hopeless this would not surprise me.

areff
areff
July 25, 2023 10:30 am

I always understood the term to be ‘Lardarse’ a la Juliar Gizzard.

According to the anatomy books, the correct term is ‘prawnism’.

As in ‘the meat is in her arse, the shit is in her head’

Johnny Rotten
July 25, 2023 10:31 am

Luigi’s got legions of underlings and on-the-ground forward operators doing that for him. “I fight Tories”.

There are no Tories in Australia. They are/were in England (now the Conservative Partee). Tennis Elbow doesn’t know what he is talking about, as usual.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 10:36 am

Indeed – another irony here – the only issue on which he is being punished by voters is the only part of his agenda that is perceived as being woke or radical, namely the Voice. That charge is wrong but it is an instructive lesson in what the Left thinks is popular and what the real world has to say.

Which seems to place Hildebrand himself outside of the ‘real world’.

Bar Beach Swimmer
July 25, 2023 10:38 am

areff, have you changed you email? I sent you something. But no worries if it’s no good or I should have sent elsewhere.
BBS

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
July 25, 2023 10:38 am

Don’t forget empowering ACMA to police free speech

Plus the move to destroy casual and contract labour. Classic left faction stuff.

Business leaders criticise Labor’s casual worker changes (Sky News, 25 Jul)

Businesses leaders are criticising the Albanese government’s plan to allow casual workers to seek permanency faster. Under the changes – casuals would be given the option to become permanent workers after just six months in a job.

Business uproar at casual changes (Paywallian, 24 Jul)

Employers warn the changes will restrict their ability to engage casuals to work regular and predictable hours.

ALP Left faction and the unions (but I repeat myself) detests casual labour and contracting. A lot of people are going to suffer because the companies will just stop employing people rather than risk them being glued unremovably to their balance sheets.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 10:39 am

Dot

Jul 25, 2023 8:48 AM

The top construction union boss says more than half a trillion dollars is needed to meet Australia’s demand for social and affordable housing, and the only way to raise the funds is to introduce a “circuit-breaker” tax.

What a kind hearted community group with absolutely no vested interests.

Yes.
All to be built under the “Big Build” EBAs with TA’s pulling $200k.

johanna
johanna
July 25, 2023 10:40 am

Not mentioned, Dr Faustus – where are the materials to build all these houses coming from, at what cost?

More importantly, given the supply of house-building tradies and labourers, what will happen to their wages and income, not to mention the flow-on costs to purchasers? How about the effect on inflation?

The CFMEU carefully avoids demand side issues like immigration and overseas students.

Grifters.

areff
areff
July 25, 2023 10:43 am

BBS — I’ll check. May have been buried in the 200+ daily emails — mostly rubbish from PR outfits — that flood in every day.

Perplexed of Brisbane
Perplexed of Brisbane
July 25, 2023 10:45 am

OldOzzie
Jul 25, 2023 9:44 AM
seeker of truth said…

That exemption list makes interesting reading.

Are there enough ATSI people around to fill all those jobs?

Cassie of Sydney
July 25, 2023 10:46 am

Lehrmann would be well advised to get a real job and get on with things. NSW Lieborals are so hopeless this would not surprise me.”

He’s denied it. He’s just said he’d be happy to help the Liberals. He’s currently studying law.

As for getting a real job, he was terminated from a real job back in early 2021, when Knickerless went public with the Amphibian. After being terminated, he couldn’t get a real job, no one would touch him. Last year he was chopping wood on a friend’s father’s property. I’m pretty sure that given what he’s endured over the last two and a bit years, Lehrmann would be more than happy to be sent back in a time capsule to that real job he had back in early 2021, however Knickerless, Shazza, the Amphibian, her ghastly husband, Samantha Maiden, along with many many others, including former PM Scumbag Morrison, Laura Shingle and the other rodents at their ABC, decided to destroy his life.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 10:48 am

Flanneryism:

Even all the international university scholarships will not be enough to fill the University of Sydney’s diversity quotas. 😛

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 10:51 am

The AFR View

What’s Burke’s IR plan to save jobs?

The focus of any workplace relations minister now should be to help entrench a jobless rate of 4 per cent or less as the Reserve Bank seeks to squeeze inflation out of the economy.

Former union organiser Tony Burke’s third wave of workplace “reform”, including forcing employers to offer permanent jobs to casual workers, further prosecutes the ACTU’s false “insecure work” scare at a time when the jobless rate is its lowest in half a century.

Like Labor’s “pattern bargaining” shake up, the proposed “same job, same pay” laws, changes to independent contracting rules and the crackdown on the gig economy are designed to shore up the power of organised labour.

For Mr Burke, they politically shore up support from the trade union movement that still mostly runs the Labor Party.

It all piles even more onerous rules and regulations on top of what is already one of the world’s most rigid, inflexible, prescriptive and conflict-based industrial relations frameworks.

Mr Burke and business groups will argue back and forth over the merit and demerits of Labor’s workplace reregulation.

The point is that the so-called reforms are going in the wrong direction.

The focus of any workplace relations minister now should be to help entrench a jobless rate of 4 per cent or less as the Reserve Bank seeks to squeeze out inflation, and to help Australia’s high wage economy compete in the global marketplace.

That can best be done by encouraging business and their employees to co-operatively find ways to improve productivity at the shop floor level and to share in the gains.

While Labor may have ended its knee-capping of Paul Keating’s enterprise bargaining system, its pattern bargaining rules will encourage anti-competitive collusion, not drive productivity through competition.

And by clamping down on casual engagement, Labor will just make businesses more wary of hiring those who most need to get a foothold in the job market.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 10:52 am

An insider tells me that Collie’s transition to no coal (has been a coal town for 100+ years) is not on-track to be coal-less by 2027 as McClown said.

They reckon, at minimum, another 15 years, perhaps more….

IMHO, the town will die and there’ll be no “transition” to a tourism/innovation economy there…. its a sh!thole.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 10:56 am

Casuals to get ‘the whip hand’ under Labor’s six-month conversion test

David Marin-Guzman – Workplace correspondent

Business says casual workers will get the upper hand under Labor’s proposed rights for regular casuals to convert to permanent employment every six months.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke on Monday detailed the proposal for employees to have the choice to convert to permanent after just six months in a job – and every six months after that – if they can prove they have regular working patterns.

The right, which would cover an estimated 850,000 casual workers, is on top of existing requirements for employers to offer every casual employee permanent employment after 12 months in the job unless they have reasonable business grounds not to.

The new six-month test – where casuals could trade their 25 per cent loading for permanent benefits such as annual leave – follows Mr Burke’s assurances that he would not change the law to so that regular casuals could claim back pay for annual leave, redundancy or other entitlements.

However, employers and experts have raised the possibility businesses could still be on the hook for back pay if they misclassify permanent employees as casuals.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus welcomed the six-month test as “a sensible change” and a “big step”, although she flagged unions would continue to push for more rights.

“I’ll just say … one step forward at a time,” she told the ABC on Monday.

“Of course, in the union movement, we would love to go 100 per cent now and have a situation where you could just say that they couldn’t put people on casual in the first place.

“But it seems to me, from what I’ve read, that the government’s taking more of a middle line on this.”

Employers welcomed the government ruling out back pay, but raised concerns about how regular working patterns would be defined in the legislation, given most casuals eventually settle into regular shifts to fit their availability.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said the change “really does move the needle away from the fundamental test established around the primacy of the employment contract”.

“It means it will be much more difficult to know whether the businesses’ circumstances are going to change,” he said.

“If the employee is working regular shifts or hours, [businesses are] at risk that person will have the whip hand in determining whether or not they convert – that means a lot of flexibility that many small businesses currently enjoy will be gone.”

The government is planning to repeal the former Morrison government’s casual definition, which held that a casual was a casual simply if their contract stated they were, rather than the underlying reality of their work, reflecting a landmark High Court judgment on the primacy of the contract.

“I want to go back to what the definition always was before … and that’s a practical definition where effectively you ask what’s really going on,” Mr Burke said.

While he said the new rights would apply to an estimated one-third of 2.5 million casuals, he predicted that “most casuals won’t take [it] up”.

“The number of people who even businesses say they expect to take up this offer is a very small proportion of the number of casuals who are working regular shifts,” he said.

Mr Burke said the six-month test was to address the current situation where, if an employer refuses to convert a casual after 12 months, the employee “never gets to raise the issue again”.

He rejected it would be a cost to business, as “the concept of huge back-pay claims and things like that, none of that’s on the table”.

Mr McKellar said it was positive that the government was ruling out “double dipping” – casuals claiming retrospective permanent entitlements on top of their loading.

However, he cautioned, “that doesn’t resolve risks in all cases – there are some residual risks there, particularly if there’s a misclassification”.

A statutory review of the Morrison government’s casual laws by KPMG last year recommended that the government consider specific laws against “casual sham contracts” after considering the current law could allow employers to carefully draft contracts to satisfy the casual definition but not reflect the reality of the work.

University of Adelaide law professor Andrew Stewart said he believed the six-month test would address the common situation of casuals in retail and hospitality settling down into fairly stable shifts and that back pay would be ruled out in those cases.

But he expected misclassification or sham contract provisions would address casuals rostered on full-time rosters well in advance, such as in the mining sector.

“I would still assume that yes, there could be back pay of leave entitlements, in the misclassification situation,” he said.

Professor Stewart expected the bar would be whether the employer genuinely and reasonably believed the worker was a permanent employee but still classified them as a casual.

“If you’re a business that takes on legal advice, or a small business that’s operating on advice from an accountant, it may very well be that that advice is incorrect. But as long as it’s reasonable to rely on it, then you would still have a shield.”

A spokesman for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said that the government had flagged it would consider the findings of the KPMG review when it implemented a definition of a casual.

“This includes ensuring casual work arrangements are not misused or misrepresented,” the spokesman said.

“The legislation drafting process is underway; specific details of drafting will be settled as part of this process.”

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 10:56 am

An separate Esperance friend tells me private company shut down the only gas pipe supply that goes to Esperance cos *emissions*

Now, its only gas, is shipped in by trucks… yeah… real “green solution.”

(Not an invitation to start Truck V Train debate)

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 10:57 am

…including former PM Scumbag Morrison

Speaking of whom, I see the media were camped outside his house yesterday awaiting his return from a European summer holiday to ask him questions about robodebt.

I wouldn’t normally condone this, but an exception in this case might be warranted.

Annoying for the neighbours, no doubt.

H B Bear
H B Bear
July 25, 2023 11:01 am

Plus the move to destroy casual and contract labour. Classic left faction stuff.

Tony Burqa working quietly in the shadows rewarding da bruvvas.

Top Ender
Top Ender
July 25, 2023 11:04 am

Club Med or Colditz? You pays your money and takes your choice. On Saturday, the Mail’s Sam Greenhill gave us a guided tour of the luxury liner kitted out to accommodate 500 male asylum seekers in Portland harbour, Dorset.

The three-storey Bibby Stockholm has 222 en-suite bedrooms, flat screen TVs, a David Lloyd-style gym and a free all-you-can-eat buffet offering everything from pancakes to paella.

Menu options also include potato soup and Irish stew, presumably for the benefit of those who have come to Britain via Dublin, rather than France, and are claiming to be fleeing the potato famine.

They’ve installed European electrical sockets so that the vulnerable migrants, many of whom have crossed the Channel illegally, can charge up their mobile phones and call home, perhaps to all those unfortunate women and children they’ve left behind in some far-flung hell-hole.

Elf’n’safety has even agreed kindly to waive mandatory fire drills, just in case the alarms trigger dormant trauma in those escaping war zones.

More at the Daily Mail

Digger
Digger
July 25, 2023 11:05 am

Top Ender
Jul 25, 2023 4:06 AM
Digger’s book is an excellent read.

I’m quoting from it in my own book Cyclone Tracy and the Armed Forces – out late next year for the 50th anniversary – as he was part of the dive team deployed to Darwin after the cyclone.

Apart from that, his career was fascinating and varied. Well worth your time Cats.

Thanks TE. Much appreciated, mate.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 11:07 am

Tony Burqa working quietly in the shadows rewarding da bruvvas.

We could use an invective-laced Paul Keating media intervention on this.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 11:07 am

Dear Champ,

We hope this email finds you well and enthusiastic about the future of our organization.

You might have already noticed the transformation – we have a new name and branding! This change came about through a democratic process, with an overwhelming 86% of our members voting in favour of the new name at the recent AGM, surpassing the required 75% threshold. We truly appreciate your participation and support during this important decision-making phase.

Introducing our soft rebrand: This interim measure allows us to unveil our new name and temporary branding while we work diligently on a comprehensive and professional rebranding process. We want to ensure that our future logos and branding perfectly capture the essence of our organization and align with our mission and values.

Following the recent name change, we have taken the next big step towards shaping our organization’s future – we’ve committed to partnering with a professional branding firm.

This esteemed firm will be leading us through a comprehensive research and discovery phase. Their expertise will help us gain deep insights into our current brand positioning and perception, both internally and externally. Understanding where we stand now is crucial to charting a successful course for the next stage of our branding journey.

We firmly believe that rebranding is not just about a new name or logo; it’s about defining our collective identity, aspirations, and values. With the help of this professional firm, we are committed to crafting a strong and authentic visual identity that resonates with our mission and vision.

Of course, such an endeavour requires financial investment. In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to all of you with an opportunity to contribute to the rebranding process. Your support will be vital in making this transformative project a resounding success.

In the meantime, we invite you to embrace our new name and temporary branding, and share it widely with your friends, family, and social networks. Together, let’s build anticipation for the final unveiling of our long-term logos and branding in the near future.

Thank you for being an essential part of our community. Your dedication and enthusiasm drive us to continually strive for positive change and progress. We’re looking forward to an incredible journey ahead, and we’re grateful to have you with us every step of the way.

If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We value your input and are here to listen.

With warmest regards,

Rick Westgarth

Federal Campaign Director

Libertarian Party

https://www.ldp.org.au/

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 11:10 am

You might have already noticed the transformation – we have a new name and branding!

Hammer and sickle?

Delta A
Delta A
July 25, 2023 11:14 am

Congratulations, Digger, on a truly great achievement.

Wally Dali
Wally Dali
July 25, 2023 11:22 am

I’m massively disappointed that the Lib Dems have gone for such an undifferentiated name…. and are now p*ssing away money on Gruen Transfers to polish it up.

Rufus T Firefly
Rufus T Firefly
July 25, 2023 11:26 am

The time for ‘elensky to talk with “Putin” was Feb 2022.
Regrettably, the rivers of cash, that have flowed into the puppet’s pockets, has washed away any empathy, ‘elensky may have had, for the average Ukrainian.

Just 11 days ago, the US Congress threw out an initiative, to conduct an audit on where all the cash has gone! (Why would you want to know that? C’mon man!)

Ukraine launched its “much vaunted” offensive on June 4th. It is a disaster.
Still, the Ukes are not out of the grey zone, ie, they have not even reached the first line of Russian defence, ….., anywhere. Cost* = 26,000 dead.
* That is a Russian account, but lets say it is only 1/3 of that, 9,000.
Oh great! What a success!
Also, the dead are not only Ukes. Lots of different accents are involved now.

‘lensky is, (and has for some time), trying every possible tactic, to draw NATO, fully into the conflict.
Recall the two Polish farmers killed by a Uke S300, that the puppet swore was a Russian missile, or
The missiles that landed in Belorussia, that he also claimed were Russian. Nope.

The reason the collective West, (mainly uncle Sam), is “slow” to provide weapons to the most corrupt nation in Europe, is that it has none left to provide.
Nada, zilch, zero, bugger all. The cupboard, ….., she is bare.
Hence, you get the “pure as the driven snow” US, supplying cluster bombs to Ukraine.
How will historians view that decision? Cluster bombs FFS!

The planners of the Ukraine Army, (Nuland, Sullivan, Von der Crazy, Borrel et al), are seeing their “dream” of a Russia, defeated and dismembered, bleeding out into the Steppe.
Every member of the EU has acted against their own nation’s best interest, (UK and Germany in particular), their economies are in the toilet, the de-dollarisation of the world economy has accelerated greatly AND, the Russian economy, according to the World Bank, will grow at above 2% in the next year.

So, just like the lockdowns in 2020-2021, the “sanctions” imposed by a dying empire have been a disaster, for the collective West.
Most of the world are either neutral toward Russia, or actively support them. In the southern hemisphere, only Aust and NZ have their nickers in a twist, over a war that does not concern anyone, south of the equator.
Brazil, (4th largest economy in the world), has just announced, it will trade in Yuan).

Biden was handed a speech by his minders, (Oh-Bummer?), in Jan where he declared: “We will support Ukraine as long as it takes!”. It is July now.

Even if the hair sniffer in Chief, had anything to give, the electioneering for next November will begin in earnest soon. Public opinion in the US, from a low benchmark, is fading.
Its going to be “F#$k off Volodymyr!” pretty soon.

At that point, St Volodymyr the Pure, will realise that those goons standing near him are NOT there, to protect him.
Good riddance.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 11:33 am

I remember when Putin didn’t dare invade Ukraine and Zelensky and Trump were on friendly terms.

The good old days.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 11:33 am

More importantly, given the supply of house-building tradies and labourers, what will happen to their wages and income, not to mention the flow-on costs to purchasers? How about the effect on inflation?

Indeedy. And that there is the quiet part, spoken out loud.

The proposed additional annual 53,000 CFMEU houses represents about 25% to 30% of total annual Australian private residential construction. There is no way that can fail to have a massive impact on general construction costs, timing, and quality – flowing through to productivity issues and inflation.

It seems that if you are set with the CFMEU, downstream issues are someone else’s problem.

Probably the meeja will point all this out after the Press Club speech…

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 11:34 am
OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 11:36 am

Subscriber Mailbag Answers – 7/24/23 [Part 1]

SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
24 JUL 2023

Q5 – Thank you for doing this – I only have one question,

following from your predictions, that is really frightening: what are the conditions on the European continent that they will further allow the USA to push them….ending in “a continental European war”. I am aware that the answer is impossible, but this possibility is really scary.

There are two related questions that I’ll roll into one; I’ll post the other one afterwards.

The conditions are simple: the European super-state is a continent-wide deepstate that pretty much controls all the governments from within, whether via the EU mechanisms or from simply controlling the elections in the same way they’re controlled in the U.S.—a combination of vote manipulation schemes with media censorship.

The most powerful tool of course is the media, which is totally controlled by most of the same parent corporations with an allegiance to the globalist cabal at the top which ordains decisions and events.

This is why no candidate can be elected in virtually any European country who goes against the deep-state / war party.

As you know, the MSM is able to almost entirely control public discourse and sentiment around elections which means they almost always are able to manipulate the results into getting the desired candidate to win.

Thus, all of Europe is subordinated to the U.S. and globalist-banker conglomerate, which is why no European country is truly sovereign and which is further why—to answer your question—war can be manufactured at any time through this method.

They simply install whichever leader is capable of doing their bidding, usually a leader they have the most kompromat on, or is simply the most corrupt and amenable to bribery.

Ukraine is a rare example of where we got a ‘peek behind the curtain’ of how this works, much more in the open, partly because the corruption was so rampant, and the corrupt officials so easily bribed and manipulated that the U.S. officials dealing with them did so fairly artlessly without even worrying about scruples and nuance.

So we got gems like the Nuland tapes (“Yats is our guy”) or the new Burisma-Biden revelations, which now prove that Biden was simply paid $5M to get rid of Shokin, the prosecutor who was on Burisma’s case.

Biden did so easily by simply threatening the highly corruptible Poroshenko, who immediately did his master’s bidding.

My point is this:

the same techniques witnessed so openly in Ukraine are utilized daily all throughout Europe. It’s simply that European politicians are typically much more sophisticated than the artless swine of the Ukrainian persuasion, and so we don’t get as much of an unbridled look into the same dealings which drive Europe toward war and disaster on a daily basis.

So the answer to your question is, those are the ‘conditions’—it’s the infinite corruptibility of compromised European politicians who are elected as part of fraudulent ‘elections’ entirely controlled by the globalist-bankster class elites which own the MSM which itself entirely steers the narratives revolving around any ‘election’.

Any opposition member or party who rises up against this is very simply decried and ridiculed by this entirely colonized MSM, with accusations like “nationalist, supremacist, bigot, etc.” and basically deplatformed into obscurity or irrelevancy.

Le Pen and many others are examples of this. She was only allowed to ‘come back’ to an extent once she began to ‘play along’ and denounce Russia.

Now, you can see Nigel Farage as an example, being completely deplatformed by his bank for heterodox views. Other politicians who have less power are simply smeared as ‘crackpots’ and completely erased from existence.

Just look at how they’re already deleting RFK Jr’s recent videos from YouTube and elsewhere, just like they entirely deleted/deplatformed Ron Paul back in the day, wiping out his campaign chances (same for Tulsi Gabbard and many others, as well).

Those are American examples but the same goes on in Europe, in fact even worse because Europe has even more repressive ‘anti-free speech’ regimes.

However, I will say that slowly but surely, the dissident often-but-not-always rightwing coalitions are gaining power, just look at German AfD’s recent surge in the pollings.

The tide is slowly turning and so there’s a chance that things will begin to truly crack before the globalists are able to precipitate WW3.

Roger
Roger
July 25, 2023 11:36 am

Thanks for the update, Russian embassy guy.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 11:37 am

Um

Russia didn’t lock down, only the West (well, actually, Sweden did not)?

If I don’t care about Ukraine, why should I care about the Brazilians using the unreliable joke Yuan currency?

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 11:39 am

They simply install whichever leader is capable of doing their bidding, usually a leader they have the most kompromat on, or is simply the most corrupt and amenable to bribery.

And leaders, such as Meloni, who don’t do their bidding get threatened by EU/European Parliament… and, unfortunately, quickly “fall into line.”

johanna
johanna
July 25, 2023 11:40 am

The housemaids here at the motel are ‘permanent casuals’ and it works well for everyone.

They get a good hourly rate, they can swap shifts among themselves, and the proprieter can manage costs according to the volume of business. For instance, some Friday nights the carpark is full, others it is almost empty, Some weekends (when housemaids get paid double time) a group is here for a wedding or other event, others not.

All of them have family responsibilities and don’t want full time jobs, nor do they want to work inflexible hours. It suits everybody.

Enter the unions. They couldn’t care less about what workers want, or the survival of their employers. They have their own agenda – control.

Given their ever lessening percentage of the workforce covered by unions, this power grab should be seen for what it is.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 11:41 am

FEEL GOOD STORY OF THE DAY: “JUST STOP OIL” GETS PUNK’D

Last Saturday’s TWiP included this sensible t-shirt suggestion:

There have been several videos of fed-up motorists dragging Just Stop Oil protestors who block roadways, but today someone decided to punk the Just Stop Oil nuts at one of their own meetings. Enjoy:

Just Stop Oil gets a taste of their own medicine.

Counter activists tie rape alarms to balloons and let them go in a Just Stop Oil meeting.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 11:41 am

Vladimir Putin was a crazy COVIDian Karen like Cuomo, Whitmer, Dan Andrews, St Jacinda, etc.

It was Sweden, freedom-loving US States and busted-arse African countries that ignored this cult of soyence.

Zatara
Zatara
July 25, 2023 11:45 am

More to the Just Stop Oil story from twitchy.

LOL! Just Stop Oil gets a taste of their own medicine

Morsie
Morsie
July 25, 2023 11:45 am

Just read the article about the NSW polling and the abusive texts.
Ignoring the party affiliation is everyone in Australian politics a raving psychopath?

Bar Beach Swimmer
July 25, 2023 11:47 am

its a sh!thole.

Lysander, the dam wall is well worth a trip – nothing else though.

Roger,
on Scummo, camping out the front of his place is also acceptable if they ask him about covid decisions.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 11:49 am

Thus, all of Europe is subordinated to the U.S. and globalist-banker conglomerate, which is why no European country is truly sovereign and which is further why—to answer your question—war can be manufactured at any time through this method.

Please. I can’t find a kosher dog whistle big enough. But Stephen Bandera!

So we got gems like the Nuland tapes (“Yats is our guy”) or the new Burisma-Biden revelations, which now prove that Biden was simply paid $5M to get rid of Shokin, the prosecutor who was on Burisma’s case.

Biden did so easily by simply threatening the highly corruptible Poroshenko, who immediately did his master’s bidding.

This means Trump and Zelensky were innocent, doesn’t it?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 11:49 am

Roger
Jul 25, 2023 11:36 AM

Thanks for the update, Russian embassy guy.

Just for you Roger

Consulate General of the Russian Federation

9 Fullerton St
Woollahra, New South Wales

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8845079,151.240748,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sRzoAb-m7uCTp2Uh-LP4d7Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DRzoAb-m7uCTp2Uh-LP4d7Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D166.04863%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

You walk down the pathway and present your Aussie Passport for Visa at Window on left just through the Door

Having done Volga Dreams Cruise Moscow to St Petersburg

Might I suggest https://www.volgadream.com/cruises/moscow-to-astrakhan/

My aim for next year – you will be pleasantly surprised by now nice Moscow & the Russians are – Give it a Go

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
July 25, 2023 11:55 am

Marcia Langton is a bit outdated if she thinks churches and cathedrals are still sacred. You can vandalize them and burn them down in Victoria with complete immunity.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 12:03 pm

…the reason you’re a crap journo for a failing online “news” website Stephen Bartholomeus:

https://www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/elon-musk-doubles-down-on-his-deluded-plan-for-world-domination-20230725-p5dr0v.html

And another sh!t journo times in:

https://www.watoday.com.au/technology/elon-musk-is-not-a-poison-for-twitter-he-s-a-parasite-20230724-p5dqtr.html

Meanwhile, Musk is happily sending rockets to space and back.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
July 25, 2023 12:05 pm

Army of pensioners.

Putin raises maximum age of soldiers sent to Ukraine frontline to 70 years old (19 Jul)

New laws set by Moscow mean reservist males who hold the highest ranks such as General can be called back to the front up to aged 70 instead of 65.

Lesser ranking officers, such as seniors, can be drafted back into service aged 65 and junior officers can be sent to the frontline at the age of 60.

Ordinary troops who have completed compulsory service and are now reservists can be dragged back into the military aged 55 maximum, rather than 45.

Vlad isn’t alone in being short of warm bodies of course, as Ukraine has been sending press gangs around. The Donetsk “republic”, such as it is, seems to’ve stopped doing that since they hit total bottom. There weren’t any more guys to draft. Maybe they ran out of WW1 rifles for them. It is interesting though that Russia, with a population three times that of Ukraine, is having problems finding guys.

johanna
johanna
July 25, 2023 12:05 pm

Just stepped outside to enjoy sunlight and a brilliant blue 360 degree sky.

The Cherman tourist emerged from next door and said: ‘People in Europe spend thousands to see a sky like that.’ He did.

The ‘this is a terrible country’ crowd need to come up with viable alternatives or shut up. I am eternally grateful that my olds chose to come here in 1958, and I am 100% Australian with the odd streak of love for Dutch food and expressions.

And of course, European culture. Italians do opera, Dutch do art. Time Dover did a bit of Dutch/Flemish painting!

Politics is crap everywhere. Thank goodness my parents decided to leave a place which is almost permanently overcast, and often raining, to come here. It meant a drop in living standards in the economic sense, but a much better life in every other sense.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 12:06 pm

Rachel Butland, a mother of four, fell prey to a scammer impersonating Mr O’Donnell on social media.

She was unwinding after a hard day at work when she received a message on TikTok from an account that was using Mr O’Donnell’s name and photograph and offering a reading — as long she donated to a “temple”.

OK.
I can do this.
“Rachel, I can foresee lots of little losses in your future, culminating in one yuuuge catastrophic loss.”

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 12:07 pm

Russia’s Surgical Strike On The Moldovan-Romanian-Ukrainian Tri-Border Sent Several Messages

Big Serge
@witte_sergei
Last night Russia hit shipping infrastructure in Reni, literally right across the Danube from Romania.

Russian precision is good enough to attack targets 500 meters from a NATO country, yet we’re asked to believe that they blindly lob these missiles at residential areas.

And just for Roger the West View from AFR

Russia hits new grain port close to NATO territory

Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Andrew Higgins

Kyiv | Russian drones hit a Ukrainian port town on the Danube River, local authorities said on Monday (Tueday AEST), destroying a grain hangar in an apparent escalation of efforts to cripple Ukraine’s ability to export agricultural products, one of the country’s leading industries.

The explosions in the town of Reni — just across the river from Romania, a NATO member — would be the closest Russia has come to hitting alliance territory and risking a more direct confrontation with the United States and its European allies.

Ukrainian officials and Romania’s president blamed the attack on Russia, which has spent the past week bombarding Ukrainian ports near the city of Odesa after pulling out of a deal that enabled Ukraine to ship its grain across the Black Sea.

The origin of the drones could not be independently verified, and Russia’s defence ministry made no reference to an attack in the Odesa region in its daily update about the war.

But the strike on a river port about 112 kilometres from the coast appeared to signal that Moscow had expanded its campaign against Ukraine’s agricultural exports by targeting alternate routes for grain to reach world markets.

Global wheat prices, which rose last week after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea deal, rose around 6.2 per cent in Monday afternoon trading.

A local news website in Reni, a town of around 18,000 people, published a photograph of the aftermath. The town is more than 200 kilometres southwest of the city of Odesa, the focus of recent attacks on shipping infrastructure, and lies on the east bank of the Danube, just a few hundred yards from Romania.

Russia has previously fired on western Ukraine near the border with Poland, also a NATO member, but had not hit Ukrainian facilities so close to territory covered by the military alliance’s commitment to respond jointly to an attack on a member state.

President Klaus Iohannis of Romania said on Twitter that he condemned an attack by Russia on Ukrainian infrastructure close to his country’s borders and said the “recent escalation poses serious risks to the security in the Black Sea,” as well as affecting Ukrainian grain shipments and global food security. He did not specifically mention the drone strike in Reni.

Romania’s Ministry of Defence said it was maintaining a posture of “enhanced vigilance” with its allies along the alliance’s eastern flank.

“There are no potential direct military threats against our national territory or Romania’s territorial waters,” the ministry said in a statement.

The attack came after a week of increased hostilities in the Black Sea region, with Russia sending a nightly barrage of missiles into the city of Odesa, while first Russia and then Ukraine warned that they might target ships heading to their adversary’s ports.

Pro-war Russians praised the Danube strikes as a further step toward destroying Ukraine’s economy and blocking Western arms deliveries. They said that Ukraine had been taking advantage of the Reni port’s proximity to NATO territory — and the fact that ships can approach it along the Danube without having to sail through Ukrainian territorial waters in the Black Sea — as a way of continuing to export grain and other goods.

“It looks like they’re blocking this way of evading the sea blockade of Kyiv,” a Russian talk show host, Olga Skabeyeva, said Monday on the Rossiya state television channel. “And soon they’ll completely deny Ukraine access to the Black Sea.”

A popular pro-war blog, Rybar, said the port was being used to supply Ukraine’s military while also serving as a channel for exporting grain. A Russian state television war reporter, Yevgeny Poddubny, wrote on Telegram that the strikes were part of the “critically important” mission of “breaking every thread of Ukraine’s maritime traffic.”

The chances the grain initiative could be revived have grown increasingly slim over the past week. On Monday, Russia’s FSB, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, claimed that it had evidence that, in May, Ukraine had imported explosives across the Black Sea to one of its Danube River ports. The claim could not be independently verified.

The drone attack occurred over the course of four hours, Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that three drones were shot down by Ukraine’s air defences. Seven people were injured, he said.

The Danube River delta, a network of waterways crisscrossing the border region between Ukraine, Romania and Moldova, was rarely used to export Ukrainian grain before Russia started its full-scale invasion in February 2022, but has over the past year become an indispensable freight lifeline.

Ukraine has been exporting around 2 million metric tons of grain per month through its Danube River ports, according to Benoît Fayaud, deputy executive director of Stratégie Grains, an agricultural economy research firm.

The attack on Reni could deter commercial vessels from using the port in the short term and could raise the cost of insurance, he said.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 12:13 pm

Bruce of Newcastle
Jul 25, 2023 12:05 PM

Army of pensioners.

Putin raises maximum age of soldiers sent to Ukraine frontline to 70 years old (19 Jul)

Bon – Interesting – A Question just on that Topic

Subscriber Mailbag Answers – 7/24/23 [Part 1]

SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
24 JUL 2023

Q2. What is the state of Russia’s equivalent to the USA’s VA (Veteran’s Administration)?

How well are wounded (psychologically and physically) veterans treated? Are medical issues properly addressed and done so in a timely manner?

What does this body do well, and where can they improve?

Secondary but related question: are there homeless vets in Russia? If so, how are they treated by the government and society at large?

Has this topic been broached in the Russian political discourse?

I ask because here in America the VA has been rightfully criticised for decades for falling short in terms of giving proper treatment to American vets.

This war is still relatively new and Russia hasn’t had a conflict to truly test this system in a long time.

Recall that Georgia was in 2008, but it lasted for barely a week and there was no longstanding negative consequences as far as veterans because Russia took few casualties, wounded, etc.

And if we take it all the way back to the Chechen Wars, then that’s too long ago to be relevant to your question as I assume you’re asking about the current state of things in this regard, and the contemporary administrative advancements in this regard are on a completely different level than they were back then in the hellacious 90s. Just from the standpoint of pay, for instance, Russian soldiers currently enjoy massive pay increases compared to anything back then, so the two periods can’t really be compared.

With the little general info I have from the ‘current’ time though, it does appear like Russian leadership expends a lot of effort on this and does not neglect this area. We can tell this by the fact that Putin has made many statements, typically every few months, in regard to some new improvement to veterans, whether it’s increasing their benefits or increasing families’ bereavement pay for killed soldiers, which has happened in recent memory as well.

So, my perception on some of your questions is more from an ‘indirect’ angle in seeing how seriously the administration treats the subject of taking care of the soldiers in general, and extrapolating that out to the more specific areas like psychological care, etc., which I consequently assume is likewise being handled with serious attention.

There is a large amount of constant talk in the background about improvements to various soldier benefits that I typically don’t mention in my reports, which relates to this.

For instance, in the past month or two there were major inroads made for giving ‘veteran’ status to various types of ancillary units, such as Russian border guards, volunteer forces, PMCs, etc., with the attendant benefits, which can include much greater payments to families of killed soldiers and general veterans benefits. This includes things like free apartments, reduced mortgage/loans, free land, etc., for veterans, some of which was announced recently:

“Last year, all Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine were granted veteran status, which allows them to receive monthly cash payments, tax benefits, free travel and priority medical services.”

Recently, Putin even pushed a new initiative to give civilian combat journalists and doctors veteran status so they can receive various benefits as well:

And of course, just last month Putin again raised the pay for all soldiers, which Western media cynically called a ‘desperate ploy’:

Russian soldiers’ pay is now likely the highest in the world, not only per capita, but in general even compared dollar to dollar. They now make upwards of 210,000 rubles per month starting salary. Given the average Russian salary can be as low as 30k rubles per month up to maybe 40-70k for a median, this means that Russian soldiers’ starting pay is the equivalent of a U.S. soldier making something like 120-200k a year, which in the U.S. only the highest O7s and O8 generals can expect to make.

Also, there is generally nothing like the mass veteran homelessness, suicides, etc., like in the U.S. But part of this also has to do with the fact that the Russian healthcare industry is far superior and offers free healthcare to people, so veterans with medical problems can actually be treated at a government clinic for free.

Moreover, in the U.S. a lot of the issues seem to stem from the horrible mistreatment and neglect of Vietnam era veterans. The U.S. suffered tremendously more casualties in Vietnam than Russia did in any post-WW2 wars. There were around ~50k killed but somewhere around ~400k total casualties in terms of wounded of various degrees in Vietnam. Many of those wounded are the ones who end up as medically compromised homeless veterans who are forgotten on the streets of the U.S.

In the Afghan war, Russia only had 9-14k killed and ~50k wounded so the scale is not even comparable. The Chechen wars in the 90s likewise didn’t produce large amounts of casualties.

Ultimately, I believe that no country in the world currently treats their soldiers with as much respect and dignity as that of Russia in the present day and age.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 12:14 pm

H B Bear

Jul 25, 2023 10:29 AM

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha at 9:58

Daily Mail
Bruce Lehrmann addresses rumours he’s eyeing up a run for office in one of the Liberal Party’s most important seats

Lehrmann would be well advised to get a real job and get on with things. NSW Lieborals are so hopeless this would not surprise me.

None of the participants in that tawdry affair are suited to high office.
Including Bruce.
An attempted hatchet job by the Canberra Council DPP is sad, but doesn’t warrant a reward of pre-selection.

Crossie
Crossie
July 25, 2023 12:15 pm

If this means sacrificing a couple of inner-city seats to the Greens, so be it. The rewards in suburban and regional Australia will be far greater.
And if it means cutting loose more radical and hateful party members then so much the better. Like Grandpa Simpson, they can go and shake their fists at clouds.
Albo is changing what “it” is. And it is magnificent to watch.

FMD

FMD indeed. Has Hildebrand forgotten that Albo’s is one of those inner-city seats?

Wally Dali
Wally Dali
July 25, 2023 12:37 pm

The “keep off our rocks, they’re like your churches” false equivalence sh*ts me.
One, a church is man-made
Two, churches are famous for being open-door refuges and sightseer spots
Three, considering the “keep off” commandments come with locked gates, trespasser prosecution, carve-outs for the initiated and exclusions for wimmin, a more sensible comparison would be Mosques.

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 1:00 pm

In other words Wallt
‘You didn’t build that’

Diogenes
Diogenes
July 25, 2023 1:03 pm

The explosions in the town of Reni — just across the river from Romania, a NATO member — would be the closest Russia has come to hitting alliance territory and risking a more direct confrontation with the United States and its European allies.

Considering that Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have banned direct Ukrainian sales of agricultural products, and the rail linesfor transhipment are at capacity this could get interesting.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:04 pm

It is interesting though that Russia, with a population three times that of Ukraine, is having problems finding guys.

Not sure the average person knows much about the war (including bloggers quoted from both sides here). Putin upping the age of conscription to 70 could be a bad sign that he’s running out of military legs on-the-ground or, alternately (not “alternatively”*), a sign that he’s amassing numbers for a big “push.”

*another word I’m hearing a lot of these days is “orientated” which is incorrect, the correct word is “oriented.” As the Procurator of St Mark’s in Venice told me: “Oriented” means you’re balanced and on the right path. The word comes from “Orient” which is where you’d face toward the area of Christ’s death and resurrection (and, be on the right path).

Fun fact for Cats… 🙂

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 1:07 pm

If this means sacrificing a couple of inner-city seats to the Greens, so be it. The rewards in suburban and regional Australia will be far greater.

Has Hildebrand forgotten that Albo’s is one of those inner-city seats?

A terrible sacrifice, obviously: but, on balance, I think I can probably man-up and accept it.

Digger
Digger
July 25, 2023 1:08 pm

Delta A
Jul 25, 2023 11:14 AM
Congratulations, Digger, on a truly great achievement.

Thank you Delta A, very much appreciated.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:09 pm
Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:11 pm

Scientist John Clauser, who won a Nobel prize in physics last year, had been scheduled to give a speech at a climate seminar hosted by the International Monetary Fund, according to the CO2Coaltion’s website.

https://www.newsweek.com/nobel-prize-winner-who-doesnt-believe-climate-crisis-has-speech-canceled-1815020

He will now own nothing, and be happy.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:14 pm

The Obama Chef who was drowned was a prolific swimmer and drowned in a pond that was… 8ft deep.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:14 pm

Wow… three posts in a row… so let’s go for four… but more seriously:

Congrats Digger, a great achievement and I look forward to reading it!

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:17 pm

Great strategy by the No campaign:

The No campaign is prepared to bypass Victoria in its bid to kill the Voice to parliament, with three prominent campaigners arguing the nation’s second most populous state is not needed to block the constitutional change.

An exclusive Resolve Political Monitor published last week showed the Voice referendum is headed towards defeat, with NSW becoming the fourth state in which a majority of voters have indicated they will vote No in the referendum.

Why waste your efforts in Vicslumisbad.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 1:19 pm

Dr F, I’ve had to mark your homework down, I’m afraid.
You seem to be operating under the misapprehension that this housing thingy is about meeting demand for houses.
Refer to the butcher’s paper attached to your homework folio.
The key objective in the formula is to maximise the quantum, duration and salary for variable J … “Union Jerbs”.

John H.
John H.
July 25, 2023 1:19 pm

Wally Dali
Jul 25, 2023 12:37 PM
The “keep off our rocks, they’re like your churches” false equivalence sh*ts me.
One, a church is man-made
Two, churches are famous for being open-door refuges and sightseer spots
Three, considering the “keep off” commandments come with locked gates, trespasser prosecution, carve-outs for the initiated and exclusions for wimmin, a more sensible comparison would be Mosques.

We do not regard churches as sacred. Churches that are closed are no longer special places, the buildings are often sold. We respect a church to the extent it is used. The sacred sites of indigenous people should be subject to the same standard. How often are ceremonies held there? Do they have shamans who lead the rituals? How many people and from what tribe are in attendance at the rituals? What beliefs are relevant to that sacred site?

How can they expect us to take seriously their concept of sacred when they in no way by their behaviors respect that purported sacredness?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 1:20 pm

Am I the only one here not writing books?

Rosie
Rosie
July 25, 2023 1:21 pm

The Obama Chef who was drowned was a prolific swimmer and drowned in a pond that was… 8ft deep.

I think we all know what the real cause of death is.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:26 pm

Am I the only one here not writing books?

Seems that way Sancho.

My next epitome is on the history of gypsum. 😛

johanna
johanna
July 25, 2023 1:27 pm

The Obama Chef who was drowned was a prolific swimmer

Sorry to single you out, but the misuse of ‘prolific’ is one of my pet hates.

It means ‘capable of producing lots of offspring’ believe it or not. It does not mean numerous, as it is usually misused in the illiterate MSM.

he Obama Chef may have been prolific, but only his spermatozoa were possibly good swimmers. 🙂

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
July 25, 2023 1:28 pm

Ukraine and the U.S. Response: Flooding the Zone

“This self-defeating behavior, so the argument goes, must be the result of warped domestic politics.” – John Mearsheimer

Flooding the zone in American football usually means putting more pass receivers on one side of the line than the other team can reasonably cover. In literature, the cliché usually means too much of everything – or anything.

If we had to give a name to NATO strategy in Ukraine today, we might call it “flooding the zone” with damn near everything – a reckless infusion of money and weapons into a barely functional client with more than a whiff of neo-Nazi politics and a tradition of corruption thought to be the worst in Europe.

America and the EU cannot possibly cover all of the unintended consequences of a prolonged feckless war in Europe.

Bipartisan unanimity in America, the European Union, and the British Commonwealth on the Ukraine war is more than offset by Russia’s cordial relations with the rest of the world.

China, India, the Muslim world, and the Third World are either indifferent or hostile to America’s surrogate war in Ukraine.

Surely, economic sanctions are not working against Russia.

And just as clearly, a majority of the world’s population does not support NATO’s latest military boondoggle.

Most observers know that NATO’s transparent objective in East Europe is to destabilize the Kremlin regime, not to save a corrupt Kyiv.

The recent jubilation in the western press over the coup that wasn’t in Russia is probative. Yevgeny Prigozhin ran some of his Wagner mercenaries up the road towards Moscow – and then it was over. Prigozhin, an irregular, predictably doesn’t play well with the Russian General Staff. Putin handled the “crisis” by expelling Prigozhin peacefully to Belarus and repurposing Wagner mercenaries as a kind of “Afrika Korps” for duty outside of Ukraine for the moment.

Seems that Putin has taken a page out of the CIA playbook. Indeed, if Prigozhin steps out of line again, it will probably be his last misstep.

Beyond coup fantasies, the grinding war in Ukraine is not going well for Brussels and Washington. Summer is waning and Ukraine’s much ballyhooed “Spring” offensive seems to be stuck in the Dnieper River mud. The south is flooded, the grain embargo is back in force, and Moscow is ratcheting up her own economic sanctions by confiscating western assets in Russia, from beer makers to drilling equipment.

If the Ukraine/Russia grain embargo provokes a famine amidst the underdeveloped nations; given the legacy of colonialism, victims are likely to blame the EU, not Russia. And given the mayhem we see in Paris and other European cities, a restive immigrant Jihad seems to be taking a bigger toll on European Union stability than NATO might be trying to provoke in the Russian Federation.

Muslim migrants are flooding the zone across a borderless Europe and few member states in the EU know what to do about national and European cultural erosion.

As in America, the inclusiveness promised by unfettered migration seems to have come a cropper.

The European assumption that male Muslim migrants would be assimilated has not materialized.

In a European street fight, what kind of warrior do you think might prevail; a seasoned, yet successful, thug from Moscow or an ego-driven poseur from Bethany Beach? Joseph Robinette Biden’s only real accomplishment is actually Beltway tenure, little else.

Vladimir Putin, in contrast, literally remade the Russian Federation since the turn of the 21st Century out of the ash heap that was the Soviet Union. And we should not forget that in the early going, Putin sought integration with the EU and NATO. America’s intemperate rebuff of the Kremlin and the expansion of NATO, are the bellwether fails that led to the current imbroglio in Europe.

A historic opportunity was ignored at the turn of the 21st century. Nevertheless, Russia still has more in common with Europe and America than it will ever have with the Muslim world or China.

So, where to from here?

Realistically, nothing changes, except maybe the body bag count, until after the American presidential election in 2024. If Biden wins the 2024 election, it’s business as usual. If America votes for change in Washington, the Ukraine war might be an instant casualty.

C.L.
C.L.
July 25, 2023 1:29 pm

Joe Biden is all done.

He won’t be the nominee in 24.

Could Kennedy skate his way to a Bradbury win?

mc
mc
July 25, 2023 1:29 pm

keep off our rocks, they’re like your churches

After climbing cathedrals in milan,Venice and Rome a couple of months ago, I can’t see the problem climbing Ayres rock even if it is sacred. Personally I have no interest as long as tax payers aren’t funding it to be locked up.

C.L.
C.L.
July 25, 2023 1:32 pm

Re Biden, see Miranda D on X and scroll…

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
July 25, 2023 1:33 pm

the Voice is simply a political power grab

. and if it gets up it will be Labor in power in perpetuity. That’s what this is about. A one party state.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:34 pm

Am I the only one that finds it a bit “suss” that the AEC has said indigenous enrolment rate increase over the last month has been “magical” and never seen before?

If so, I’m sure (sarc) all of these people will now be issued fines for every election that are legally mandated to vote in?

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:42 pm

You mean this CL?

https://nypost.com/2023/07/24/joe-bidens-a-liar-hunters-a-grifter-devon-archer-testimony-proves-it/

The White House sharply changed its tune on Monday, saying that Joe Biden “was never in business” with his son.

For nearly three years, the president has insisted that he didn’t know anything at all about Hunter’s dodgy foreign grift, let alone do business with him.

Why the change of tune? Because the lies are finally starting to fall apart.

Biden has had the Teflon advantage to date…

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 1:43 pm

Dr F, I’ve had to mark your homework down, I’m afraid.
You seem to be operating under the misapprehension that this housing thingy is about meeting demand for houses.
Refer to the butcher’s paper attached to your homework folio.
The key objective in the formula is to maximise the quantum, duration and salary for variable J … “Union Jerbs”.

But, but, but – What a kind hearted community group with absolutely no vested interests. – I took Dot at face value.

Dot
Dot
July 25, 2023 1:48 pm

This is such BS.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/24/intermittent-fasting-diet-could-cause-type-2-diabetes-new-study/

Intermittent fasting is not about eating at 10 PM close to bed time.

“Eat all the time, don’t eat meat and don’t exercise too hard…”

But then I’d look like the obese, unmarried 50 year old women who dominate the APS.

Lysander
Lysander
July 25, 2023 1:49 pm

The West Australian today brings further results from the Utting Research poll, finding 58% planning to vote no on the Indigenous Voice compared with 29% for yes and 13% undecided.

The Utting Poll aint the most reliable poll but 29% “yes” vote even with a 20% error margin doesn’t get “yes” over the line in WA..

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
July 25, 2023 1:50 pm

The White House sharply changed its tune on Monday, saying that Joe Biden “was never in business” with his son.

High school debating 101: put up an adjacent true statement as a rabbit hole defense against awkwardness in the central proposition.

We have our own version running strongly with the Voice: “It is not a power of veto“. No, it’s not.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
July 25, 2023 1:52 pm

Surely….not coincidental.

Arkansas Special Naval Assassination Squad?
Aquatic arkancide on demand.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
July 25, 2023 1:55 pm

But, but, but – What a kind hearted community group with absolutely no vested interests. – I took Dot at face value.

You did what?
You silly, silly man.

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  1. As Chip Bok observed this morning. Luigi Mangione simply expresses the global left’s infatuation with godlessness and mass murder as…

  2. If only more of our politicians were of the Kevin Andrews calibre https://x.com/HonTonyAbbott/status/1867736608457601495?t=LtXMDtzuxNcXqEfAnG6rEw&s=19

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