Open Thread – Tues 22 Aug 2023


Spring, Pieter Bruegel the Younger, 1632

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H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:54 am

Ideally you’d want Western (not CIA) DNA results. Probably not the WDA or WHO either.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 10:55 am

Not that any of this would apply to you…….!

“The Years between 60 and 80 are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.” T.S. Elliot

“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us; at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us; …at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” Ann Landers

“The important thing to remember is that I’m probably going to forget.” Unknown

“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” Andy Rooney

“The older I get, the better I used to be.” Lee Trevino

“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me — they’re cramming for their final exam.” George Carlin

“Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old, it’s the knowledge that he’s married to a grandmother that does.” J. Norman Collie

“To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable.” Oscar Wilde

“The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.” Will Rogers

“We must recognize that, as we grow older, we become like old cars – more and more repairs and replacements are necessary.” C.S. Lewis

“Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.” Jennifer Yane

“I’m so old that my blood type is discontinued.” Bill Dana

“The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. Mark Twain

“Old people shouldn’t eat healthy foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” Robert Orben

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:57 am

Please. No lived experiences thank you.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 11:00 am

“The children and youth of Australia seem to have an innate understanding that it is our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage that make this country unique.”

Two responses…

1. That “understanding” is not innate, it’s drilled into them in the classroom.

2. If our indigenous culture is unique, why is so much of the indigenous agenda borrowed wholesale from Canada?

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 11:04 am

DrBeauGan
Aug 25, 2023 1:37 AM

Wotsa yot?

A yot is a bote wif sails.
‘Boat’ is short for Bring Out Another Thousand.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 11:07 am

What happened to the tattoos??

Maybe that guys with SS isn’t this guy

Utkin was 53, so not the guy on the right of the photo. I’m guessing a very old photo, possibly from his VDV days. Or it’s someone else entirely.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 11:07 am

“The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.” Will Rogers

Amen.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 11:09 am

What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning.

Also LOL at anyone who believes he weighs 215 pounds.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:11 am

Hoo Boy: Unearthed Posts Show DA Fani Willis Pushed Election Conspiracies, Including One You’ll Remember

As Donald Trump was being booked and processed for a fourth time on a fourth indictment, this time in Georgia, old social media posts of DA Fani Willis emerged. What they contained provided a view into the rabid partisan nature and hypocrisy of the prosecutor now trying to put the former president behind bars.

Specifically, multiple posts show Willis spreading conspiracy theories about Georgia’s elections. She even went so far as to claim there were “water leaks” during the 2020 election counting in Fulton County, suggesting that ballots were being thrown out. You’ll probably remember that one because Republicans ended up adopting that theory as well in the aftermath of the election.

Look, I realize that the actual charges against Trump do not center on simply claiming the election was stolen (the RICO conspiracy supposedly leads to the alternate electors scheme), but anyone who can read the above post and not laugh has no sense of humor. Think about it. While Willis lectures Trump at press conferences about daring to tarnish the supposed sanctity of Georgia’s elections, she was out there talking about busted water pipes and claiming the election might be stolen from Democrats. I mean, come on. You can’t script irony any better than that.

There’s more as well. Willis suggested several times in 2018 that election shenanigans were afoot.

Going back to her 2020 posts, Willis agreed with false racist claims that only “white people” were voting, suggesting that they make up “116 percent” of the voting pool.

Are you starting to get a picture of who Willis is, yet?

We aren’t talking about some run-of-the-mill Democrat public servant. We are talking about a rabid partisan activist who has actively participated in the very things she denounces others for. That’s who is leading the charge to jail a former president.

P
P
August 25, 2023 11:12 am

Cassie @ 10:38 am

Further, at last week’s CPAC, among the many interesting speakers, was the founder of Hartford College, Tim Mitchell, who spoke eloquently and passionately about how he and some other parents founded Hartford, and the values the school was founded on. Hartford College is a private Roman Catholic boy’s school for Years 5-12, and the school is based in Sydney’s South East. The school is growing rapidly.

Thank you for this update on Hartford.

Parents go to the top of the class in plans for new Catholic school
June 9, 2021

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:17 am

Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Scolds Fellow Republican Vivek Ramaswamy on Ukraine

Enter Republican Presidential Candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The two candidates clashed pretty heatedly on their different stances on the war, or at least on our involvement in it. On one hand, Ramaswamy took the stance of essentially cutting off financial and military support for Ukraine and utilizing those funds and resources to protect our southern border.

On the other hand, Haley ripped Ramaswamy apart for not supporting Ukraine because they’re a “pro-America” country and we need to support them to defeat Putin. That’s the gist of their arguments.

I believe Ramaswamy is correct in his views, at least when it comes to eliminating our continued support for Ukraine, and Haley is dead wrong.

She showed her true colors as what is commonly referred to as a NeoCon when she doubled down on her support for Ukraine.

caveman
caveman
August 25, 2023 11:17 am

What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning

Heard on nien this morning that Donald Trump is the alleged “King Pin”

Hard to keep a straight face with what’s going on , popcorn n smiles.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 11:20 am

You know what strikes me about the my grandma was a kidnapped slave narrative?
How little respect is shown for the intelligence of their ancestors.
Just because someone lacked the opportunity for a western style education and lived in a comparatively simple culture doesn’t make them dull witted.
Yes, as dark emu agreed, very early in the piece some were kidnapped and some were hoodwinked but it would only have taken one person to return for the rest of the population to have a very good understanding of what the pay and conditions were, and clearly many opted to go and then opted to stay permanently.
There would not have been over fifty years of slave taking.
And my great uncles went north and worked as cane cutters before enlisting in WWI, the work would have been no more difficult and arduous for Vanuatuans than it was for Victorians.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 11:20 am

As most western nations chase the World Economic Forum’s priority around ‘climate change’, the BRICS alliance hedges for more traditional energy sources (oil, natural gas, coal).

Can we please join the BRICS too?

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 11:22 am

Oh look, the pervert apologist appears.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:24 am

Here is where I take umbrage at Haley and her attack against Ramaswamy, and it was the moment when she scolded him for “having no foreign policy experience and it shows[ing].”

Well, Mrs. Haley, I have some foreign policy experience, and I consider it up to par to debate with you on your stance.

As a Combat Veteran, I took part in the institution of America’s foreign policy with force.

It was political elites like Haley, with a huge foreign policy background, that sent us to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and sent forces into Libya, Syria, and other places around the world.

If that’s the “foreign policy” you admire, then people need to dissociate themselves from you post haste.

First, Ukraine is not an “American-friendly” nation, they only like us because we give them money and arms.

Using that metric, who the hell wouldn’t love us? We came in with money and ammunition, and they not only took it but demanded more.

And Elitists like Haley just wrote check after check to the tune of almost $80 billion, sent shipment after shipment, with no congressional oversight, and no safety measures put in place to prevent accountability with the money.

It doesn’t take a genius to show how corrupt the government of Ukraine was and continues to be.

Why should it be the policy of this Nation to support crooks and criminals?

Ukraine offers no strategic value to the United States.

They offer no resources we want/need, they do not contribute to our economy with exported goods or manufacturing.

They can’t be compared to Israel as the sole democracy in Eastern Europe.

All they do is provide a buffer between Russia and the NATO states in Western Europe.

The money we’re spending on that war could be better used here domestically, where the lower and middle classes are struggling to keep their heads above water.

As for the military assistance, I can speak to that directly.

America is at war once again, but this time it’s by proxy.

We send ammo and other weapons to Ukraine for one reason and one reason alone: we are testing our weapon systems on the very targets they were designed to be used on.

We send them to Ukraine so they can use them and tell us what worked and what didn’t, and how well it performed or didn’t.

It is a classic combat weapons test without putting American lives on the line.

There is a massive downside to that scenario that nobody likes to talk about. It is draining our military’s resources for combat and training.

America is not officially at war, so we technically cannot justify increasing our military production lines for weapons and ammunition.

This creates a massive shortfall in our ability to not only train for a war but to respond to one as well.

My point is when we send over the amount of ammunition and equipment that we do, we start to drain our reserves for training.

That is the biggest threat to our national security, not giving it to Ukraine.

Nikki Haley doesn’t understand this; as a matter of fact, the majority of the Republican field doesn’t either.

But her words really struck a chord with me in a bad way.

Her ideas of foreign policy come with a price, and it isn’t financial.

The price is the blood of our Warfighters when we get sent into another war or “police action” that we shouldn’t be getting involved in.

I fully support our military and the defense of this great nation.

But I do not support being used as pawns and guinea pigs to test Haley’s foreign policy theories.

Our military is being decimated by low recruiting numbers, woke policies, and this never-ending war in Ukraine.

And if we follow Haley’s advice or most of the Republicans in the Presidential race so far, it will continue to decline.

Nikki Haley, you’re wrong.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 11:25 am

m0nty
Aug 25, 2023 11:09 AM
What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning.

Also LOL at anyone who believes he weighs 215 pounds.

Three cheers for lived experience!

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
August 25, 2023 11:27 am

With Wiluna mining I’m just saying it’s an interesting story, not a buy option unless you check it over yourself.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 11:27 am

So another day and the USA becomes even more like the USSR.

Diogenes
Diogenes
August 25, 2023 11:31 am

The greatest tragedy is that Australia, despite its natural talents and resources, is an underachieving nation proud to put sport before intellect.

Amen! Agree with every word.

The school I am currently at has about a million dollars worth of HiTech kit (3d printers, laser cutters, cad cam machines, cad lathes etc etc) which cannot be used because we only have 2 computer classrooms and kids can’t get into them because they are timetabled for the computing classes. No, we don’t need more says our business manager, because every kid has an iPad as a personal device!

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 11:33 am

m0nty
Aug 25, 2023 11:09 AM
What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning.

Also LOL at anyone who believes he weighs 215 pounds.

Wait for the Hiden crime family mugshot as a group pic, Fatboy. I bet you won’t be showing here trolling.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 11:33 am

Depends how you define intellect.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:35 am

Miltonf
Aug 25, 2023 11:27 AM

So another day and the USA becomes even more like the USSR.

A Permanent Stain on Our Republic – Rudy Giuliani Speaks After His Arrest in Fulton County, Georgia

August 24, 2023 | Sundance

There is no way to look at these events and not find us looking mournfully at the shattered remnants of the American judicial system.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the man who cleaned up New York City, removed the crime syndicate from power and held the prayerful hands of our nation during 9/11/01, is brought before a corrupt judicial system in Fulton County, Georgia, treated like a common criminal and targeted because of his politics.

This is shameful beyond words.

Plus

<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12442927/Director-Black-Voices-Trump-held-jail-WITHOUT-bond-Harrison-Floyd-MAGA-ally-booked-bars-Georgia-election-fraud-case.html”>Director of Black Voices for Trump is held in jail WITHOUT bond: Harrison Floyd becomes first MAGA ally to be booked behind bars in the Georgia election fraud case

Former Black Voices for Trump director Harrison Floyd was held in jail without bond Thursday in Fulton County, Georgia

. Floyd was charged with racketeering, conspiracy to solicit false statements and influencing witnesses
. He is accused of pressuring poll worker Ruby Freeman to confess to voter fraud crimes she didn’t commit alongside a former publicist of Kanye West

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 11:37 am

So another day and the USA becomes even more like the USSR.

They never had to worry about rigging elections in the USSR.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:38 am

Coalition blasts ‘no coherent reason’ for Labor’s Qatar flight refusal

Ayesha de Kretser
Senior reporter

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has put the Albanese government’s move to block more Qatar Airways flights to Australia on the political agenda, saying it had provided “no coherent reason” for the decision.

“I’ve got real questions over the Qatar decision. We’ve heard no coherent reason from the government.

If you’ve been reading Joe Aston recently in [The Australian Financial Review], I mean, it is quite remarkable, and there’s been no decision given that is logical and additional capacity in the system and that competition will bring downward pressure on prices,” he said.

The carrier had requested permission to operate an additional 21 flights a week into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, but was rejected last month. Those supporting the application – including tourism groups and airports – say more flights will bring down the high cost of international travel.

“Anyone flying to Europe or Asia or the Americas at the moment realises that the prices are astronomical, so more competition and more flights on those routes will help,” Mr Dutton said in an interview on Nine’s Today.

Qantas has claimed allowing more Qatar Airways flights would “distort” the local market. Wolter Peeters

His comments, the strongest intervention from the Coalition in the debate to date, came on the same day that Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka told her staff that there was no understandable reason why Qatar had been denied additional landing rights as she responded to suggestions from Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce that it would “distort” the market.

In an internal video issued to Virgin Australia staff on Friday, Ms Hrdlicka said that airfares were “just too high in Australia for international travel that’s long-haul in nature” and that prices are being driven by capacity.

“Qatar is one of the only airlines in the world that could overnight put four additional services per day and for some reason they were denied. There’s no understandable reason why they were denied those rights, and so we’re very disappointed,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“The value of that is $500 million a year to Australians and mostly that goes to small and medium-sized businesses throughout this country, many of whom are based in Queensland. All of the tourism operators will tell you that they’re really hungry to get international tourists back because they spend money differently than we would when we’re travelling domestically.”

The decision comes as a blow for Virgin Australia, which has a strategic partnership with Qatar to deliver its domestic passengers to Europe.

On Thursday, Mr Joyce said Qatar could “distort” the market for competition. Qantas argues the extra flights sought by Qatar would have doubled the capacity of a state-subsidised airline at a time when the other carriers were seeking to return to 100 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity.

Qantas and its partner Emirates control 52 per cent of flights to the United Kingdom, where Ms Hrdlicka said prices remain 50 per cent higher than pre-pandemic and have been twice as expensive.

“Qatar are a great partner for Australia, they’re a great partner for Virgin Australia and their inbound feed with tourism obviously fills our planes too, so it’s important to all of us,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 11:39 am

The mugshot is monty’s sexual gratification.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 11:41 am

Pretty much. A poisonous individual.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 11:44 am

What monty doesn’t realise is that all of these antics are making a martyr out of the great man. And more and more people are repulsed by the alleged President now, the Maui response being the latest along with his astonishing graft from bad foreign actors.
Get out from the basement Bad Boy Bubby.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 11:49 am

A reminder from Mr Orwell:

He was a fattish but active man of paralysing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms — one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 11:50 am

Leaves me breathless that they would stoop so low and prosecute a political opponent. I would never had thought it possible. Very Soviet.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 11:51 am

Ha ha Parsons. But I think Parsons was probably nicer than Monty.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:52 am

Over 2,000 Children Missing From Lahaina Public Schools Two Weeks After Maui Fire: Report

The Hawaii State Department of Education issued a report Thursday stating that 2,025 students are not accounted in the Lahaina public school system in the wake of the August 8 fire that ravaged the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.

The four schools, two elementary, one intermediary and one high school that comprised the Lahaina school district had a total of 3,001 students enrolled before the fire. The schools are closed due to damage from the fires, with one elementary school heavily damaged and not likely to re-open for some time. The other three suffered damage from high winds, debris and soot.

The report does not mention whether–or even the likelihood–many of the missing children were killed in the fire.

The report states that as of August 21, out of the 3,001 students enrolled as of August 8, 538 have “re-enrolled in other public schools”; 438 have “enrolled in the State Distance Learning Program (SDLP), English and Hawaiian language immersion”; and says of the 2,025 not accounted for: “Remainder of students who have not re-enrolled in another public school or opted for distance learning (may have moved out of state, enrolled in private schools)”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported one private school on Maui has received about 1,000 new applicants since the fire. However the article also mentioned a private school with 200 students had been destroyed by the fire (excerpt):

Government officials have not been forthcoming on the number of children killed in the fire. Two weeks out they still only report 115 official deaths and anywhere from 850 to 1,100 people of all ages missing. Officials have not released a list of those presumed missing.

School children in Lahaina were kept home that day due to high winds from an offshore hurricane, with many home alone because their parents were at work.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday on a father who was able to rescue his children from the fire but is anguished because he wasn’t able to save his neighbors’ children (excerpt):

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 11:57 am

A person with the dimensions of Trump and the age of Trump is in all the red zones for a range of conditions.
Would you be surprised if you woke up tomorrow to find he had keeled over?

Biden is more decrepit but he doesn’t carry the weight that Trump does.
Same deal, could be gone tomorrow.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 11:58 am

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: The CIA Is The Biggest Funder Of Journalism In The World

Posted By Tim Hains
On Date August 24, 2023

What is known — During the Cold War, the CIA compromised some 400 American journalists under Operation Mockingbird. What is less known — Operation Mockingbird is alive and well today. pic.twitter.com/nzmsiyxrgl

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 23, 2023

During an interview with “Project Veritas” founder James O’Keefe, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked about how the CIA influences the U.S. media. Watch the full interview below:

ROBERT F. KENNEDY:

There’s a provision in the CIA charter that says that the CIA can not propagandize the American people. President Obama adopted, in 2016, that essentially reopened the door for Operation Mockingbird so that the CIA began once again to propagandize the American people.

High-level intelligence officials or people associated with the intelligence industry are running those journals, like Noah Schlackman, who runs Rolling Stone, who came from Daily Beast. Daily Beast was run by John Avalon, who has, as you know, deep ties to the intelligence agencies. But even journals like Smithsonian, National Geographic, Nature, the Washington Post, the New York Times appear to be compromised by the CIA. We know from the Twitter Files that both the FBI and CIA were operating portals within the Twitter and Facebook that allowed them to manipulate information and deplatform people and silence certain people they didn’t like in the Social Medias.

Operation Mockingbird was an operation to compromise American journalists. There were some 400 editors, journalists, from all the largest publications, the New York Times had been compromised, the Washington Post.

The high level people at those journals were actually working for the agency or had signed secrecy agreements with the CIA. At CBS, ABC, NBC, after 1975 when it all came out, during the Church Committee hearings, the CIA promised that it would not longer compromise American journalists. It continued the program to compromise journalists all over the world, and today the CIA is the biggest funder of journalism in the world. They fund it through USAID. In that little twilight zone before I fall asleep every night, I’m thinking about what I’m going to do in the first weeks when I get into office about fixing these agencies one at a time. That’s something I’m excited about.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 11:59 am

When McCain ran in 2008 he was in his early 70’s.
Chris Rock has a bit back then along the lines of “you can’t start a presidency when you’re over 70, you can’t even start a sandwich at that age without thinking will you finish it”.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:01 pm

Unrelated to Haley’s performance in the first debate, would you be surprised if the 2024 campaign was Newsom v Haley?
I wouldn’t.
Trump & Biden could both be dead or incapacitated by then.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 12:03 pm

Hey pervert apologist, whatever happened to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s march on Moscow? I remember, just two months ago, you were here all the time, feverishly excited and feverishly posting comment after comment about how Prigozhin was going to take Moscow and terminate Putin, except of course, that scenario didn’t happen, did it?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 12:04 pm

They are not the same person, BoN.

Dover – I’ve seen the reception photo and it’s obviously him. He’s in a suit, so you wouldn’t see his…decorative bits. Recall he was the field guy whereas Prigozhin was the businessman. Thirty years active service in the sun leaves a certain amount of wear and tear. The photo of the two guys in the pool does look quite old, possibly even on a film camera, whereas Utkin’s selfie obviously was taken with a phone, as you do.

On the other hand I can imagine, very very slightly, why Russian milbloggers might want to minimize the neo-nazi links of Wagner and Rusich. Utkin’s colleague from the 76th founded Rusich, and Rusich eventually became part of Wagner. They’re even more notorious neo-nazis.

That’s not to say Ukraine doesn’t have a neo-nazi problem. They do. Azov obviously. But it’s a fine irony that the nearest place that needed denazification was Putin’s own country. But he needed a justification of some sort, and WMDs had already been used.

(Btw in checking the tweet link you gave I only see the tweet itself, since I’m not signed up to X-twitter. If you are referring to other entries in that thread you’ll have to individually link them. But as I said I’ve seen the reception photo. There aren’t many photos of Mr Utkin, he was fairly careful to keep in the shadows. Given their business that would figure.)

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:04 pm

One thing that I think about US election cycle after election cycle.
Why isn’t there a genuine native American candidate somewhere?
A real one (unlike Warren) who is 40-50% indigenous.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 12:04 pm

The higher the number of missing children being claimed, the less I’m inclined to believe that narrative.
Give us some names, even one would do, otherwise you are in Canadian residential school territory.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 12:06 pm

What does it matter what Trump weighs and who are you to scoff about someone else’s weight?

caveman
caveman
August 25, 2023 12:08 pm

Trumps mug shot has got to be put on a t-shirt

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 12:08 pm

What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning.

I think it’s a great photo. He was told not to smile, so he did the opposite in a fine over the top way. Very Trumpish.

Sekulow to Newsmax: Trump Should Not Smile for Mugshot (24 Aug)

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 12:09 pm

What does it matter what Trump weighs and who are you to scoff about someone else’s weight?
And it doesn’t appear that Trump made the claim but Georgia officials chose to record.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 12:14 pm

New NAPLAN Scoring Developed By Expert Teachers
National, Senate Estimates

n the May-June Senate Estimates, I asked David de Carvalho, CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) Iwhy the National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will no longer report progress through the NAPLAN ban system so that parents can see how their child is progressing relative to others?

In light of the latest disappointing NAPLAN results, which shows one in three children failing literacy and numeracy, I thought you’d be interested to hear his response.

Transcript

Senator Roberts: Thank you for appearing again. Why will NAPLAN no longer report progress through the NAPLAN bands so parents know how their child is progressing relative to other children?

Mr de Carvalho: Ministers decided on 10 February this year to move to a much better reporting system, which actually provides more meaningful information for parents. They will now be getting information that indicates where they are in terms of proficiency standards, which were agreed would be introduced as part of the national school reform agreement. The bands, if you go back to 2008, when they were set up, are essentially a statistical construct. We had a scale of around 1,000 points. The mean we set at 500. It was essentially divided into 10 bands. That number was relatively arbitrary. It could have been more. It could have been less. It’s a kind of a goldilocks number, if you like—a nice round number. The cut points in the bands themselves, unlike the new system, which we are introducing, didn’t have inherent educational value other than simply to be kind of marker points on a scale. It’s bit like telling a parent about their child’s height. They’ve moved from the zero to 20-centimetre band into the 21- to 40-centimetre band. Or, with weight, they’ve moved from the zero to 10-kilogram band into the 11- to 20-kilogram band. What parents really want to know is: is my child actually progressing at the normal rate or do they need additional support? These new standards—

Senator Henderson: I would disagree with that, actually.

Mr de Carvalho: The teacher view has been used to say,

‘What questions should children be able to answer to meet a challenging and reasonable expectation?’

We’ve used professional teacher judgement as opposed to a statistical or arithmetical division to identify the standard expected.

That’s the one that we road-tested with parents.

We asked them, ‘Would you prefer to see an individual student report with the numerical bands or this more meaningful information?’

They were quite unequivocal about it. They preferred the latter.

It’s also not correct to say that parents won’t see their progress. Each individual student report has never reported progress.

You need to keep the previous reports.

Even if you are in year 3 and then year 5 under the new system, you may increase your NAPLAN score, say, from 250 to 300. You may still be reported in year 5 as strong whereas you were also strong in year 3 but the descriptors associated with ‘strong’ will indicate a higher level of capability.

Parents will still be able to see that their child has progressed into a higher skill set. There will be more detailed information, more meaningful information, for parents through the new system.

Senator Roberts: Thank you for that.

There are things in there that sound attractive, but I don’t understand it well enough.

Perhaps you could tell me what is wrong with this description. Instead of providing a reading score in band 3, 4, 5 or 6, giving parents an idea of exactly where their child is in terms of progression, all of those bands will be replaced by the word ‘developing’.

ACARA has said parents found the bands confusing. Isn’t that just an indictment on your failure to explain the more accurate band reports? Could you go into more detail? Tell me what is wrong with that.

Mr de Carvalho: I will go back to the point I was trying to make at the start. Those bands were simply arithmetically derived.

Senator Roberts: So a child was placed in there numerically?

Mr de Carvalho: There is a scale of, say, zero to 1,000. You set the mean at 500 and then you have your statistical categories, your differentials, set just by picking 100 or 200 or whatever the scale is to deliver 10 categories.

But what we’re doing this time is using teacher professional judgement.

We’ve consulted professional expert teachers about where on the scale they expect children to be based on what they’ve learned in previous years. We have asked which questions they should be able to answer to be able to say, ‘Yes, they’re meeting expectations.’

That was not the case under the previous 10-band regime. Parents will be able to see at a glance. What is really important about the new system is that particularly those children who are genuinely struggling will be identified as needing additional support.

That is crucial, because under the old system, we had a category called the national minimum standard. It was broadly recognised that the national minimum standard was set too low.

There was a relatively small percentage of children below the national minimum standard. It wasn’t really a call to action.

Now we will have more students identified in that bottom category and it will be clear through the name of the category or the name of the level that those children need additional support. It will be a prompt to parents to have a discussion with their teachers about what needs to be done. I think that is a real, important change.

Senator Roberts: So the parent will be able to see the areas in which the child is deficient or strong?

Mr de Carvalho: The descriptors will also be part of the individual student report.

It is a paper based report, and you can only put so many words on a paper based report.

There will be high-level descriptions for each domain—that is, reading, writing, numeracy, spelling and grammar—and what it means if you are in each of those levels.

If you want more fine-grained information, you will be able to go to the ACARA website and get more and more fine-grained information. With that, teachers will be able to have good conversations with parents about what needs to be done.

Senator Roberts: Thank you. It looks like there is more understanding to be gained on my part.

Speedbox
August 25, 2023 12:15 pm

Calli – You got it! Mrs Speedbox has a pronounced Russian accent when speaking English (not naturally femme fatale version) but when she was talking about Prigozhin last night it was a very matter-of-fact. ‘You insulted Russia and embarrassed Putin – what did you expect would happen?’

Mind you, she is capable of doing the femme fatale version when she is wickedly teasing me and it’s alluring.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:15 pm

Malice raised a good point in that post debate show.
Everyone says that Trump changed the rules, but we’re about to find if Trump did or if he only changed the rules for him.
It was in relation to Vivek using a lot of Trump style outsider lines during the debate.
Time will tell if the Vivek narrative sticks like Trump’s clearly has.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:18 pm

Did Pence really say “we fight Russia over there so we don’t have to fight them over here”.
Genuine question as someone who didn’t watch.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:19 pm

From.
Not as.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 12:21 pm

Rita Panahi has 2 articles. Number 1:

Once again ‘yes’ advocates have been caught spreading dangerous and divisive disinformation; this time the lie was so brazen that the pro-Voice ABC had to issue a correction.

Former AFL star Adam Goodes – a man given the honour of being named Australian of the Year in 2014 before telling his fellow countrymen “remember whose lands you are on” and smearing footy fans as racists for booing him – claimed at a Qantas ‘yes’ event that his “mother was part of the flora and fauna act when she was born”.

On Friday the ABC issued the following correction under the headline “Flora and Fauna Myth”.

“The Drum: On August 14 the program included a news clip of Adam Goodes stating that stated (sic) Indigenous people were once governed by the flora and fauna act. This is inaccurate – Indigenous people in Australia have never been covered by a flora and fauna act.”

It is remarkable that in 2023, in the midst of a national debate about constitutional change we are still having this ugly untruth uttered, often by activists who should know better and that includes Goodes.

Five years ago I wrote about this urban myth that has been repeated time and time again by politicians and a host of moral posturing sporting stars and celebrities including ABC host Charlie Pickering and actor Aaron Pedersen.

The ABC itself did a fact check debunking the flora and fauna lie.

Shamefully, the Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney is guilty of repeating this myth, and more than once.

It’s not a harmless lie; it’s one designed to shame the country and its history and to push further grievance and division along racial lines.

Earlier this month, a key architect of the Voice, academic and activist Marcia Langton wrote about the public square being “flooded with egregious lies about the referendum proposal.”

What she failed to mention is that many of those lies come from the ‘yes’ camp and not just from random social media trolls with six followers but from prominent people with a significant voice.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 12:25 pm

Part deux:

The Australian Electoral Commission appears determined to damage its good name and standing by engaging in pro-yes chicanery.

The AEC has again raised the ire of the ‘no’ camp, this time for declaring that a tick will count as a ‘yes’ vote in the race based referendum but a cross will not count as a ‘no’ vote.

It’s the sort of bias from officialdom you’d expect to see in a despot nation.

Cynical souls have concluded that ‘the fix is in’. Call me naive but one must not automatically ascribe to malice what may be adequately explained by gross incompetence, if I may borrow from an old adage.

Of course there is a level of ideological capture at the AEC as evidenced by a recent public campaign that they say was meant to lift Indigenous representation on the electoral roll but looked a lot like pro-yes messaging.

However, this latest misstep is so monumental that I’d be shocked if it is not reversed, and quickly.

On Wednesday AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers was on Sky News assuring Australians that his organisation was “spending a lot of time talking to the community about what constitutes a valid vote”.

He also made this remarkable comment: “But I need to be very clear with people, when we look at that it is likely that a tick will be accepted as a formal vote for yes but a cross will not be accepted as a formal vote,” he said.

So, the brains trust at the AEC has determined that if a voter misunderstands the requirement to write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or if their English is so poor that they can only use a symbol, then they can only cast a valid vote for ‘yes’.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called the decision “completely outrageous”. He said: “Australians want a fair election, not a dodgy one.”

How can a tick be considered yes but a cross not be considered no? It’s one or the other. Either both are invalid or both are valid. Otherwise the referendum will be unfairly skewed in one direction.

We already have an uneven playing field with the cashed-up ‘yes’ camp backed by the big corporates including ANZ, CBA, Westpac, NAB, Rio Tinto, BHP, Qantas, Transurban, Telstra, Coles, Wesfarmers and Woolworths as well as major sporting bodies like the AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia and the usual cavalcade of virtue signalling celebrities and activists.

To have the AEC skew the vote is a step too far.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 12:29 pm

caveman
Aug 25, 2023 12:08 PM

Trumps mug shot has got to be put on a t-shirt

Done

THE DON T-SHIRT

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 12:29 pm

They’re just not the same person

Same guy, different ages, different camera angles. The selfie in particular is taken from slightly below (since he’s holding the camera). The ears are the same, but vary consistently – looks like he may be a side sleeper or became one. Snoring maybe. As I recall the reception photo was fairly old too, just after the Donbass LGM exploit.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 12:29 pm

Cassie of Sydney

Aug 25, 2023 8:26 AM
I make my cakes from scratch, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract etc. Not hard.

The issue is more the cost of the power to run the oven while cooking the cake. When the price of my favourite bread went to $4.50, I exchanged an old TV with a breadmaker from old mate next door. Fairly sure I’m well ahead on power costs.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 12:32 pm

And Terry McCrann before I must ready myself for work:

Treasury’s Intergenerational Report elevates analytical idiocy to truly Olympian, indeed Mt Everest, heights.

Let me give you the core projection from the very first of these utterly pointless exercises – an exercise sold by then Treasury head Ken Henry to a rather gullible Treasurer Peter Costello in 2002.

By 2042 – the 40 years from that report’s date – Australia’s population was projected to increase to “over 25m people”.

We actually went past the 25m in 2018 – just 24 years earlier than Treasury had projected.

As they say in the classics: missed, by just that much. And it rendered everything, and I mean everything, in that 2002 report embarrassingly and woefully wrong, irrelevant, and completely useless for policy-making.

This report now projects we will go past 40m people by 2063. Hmm. What if we once again get there 24 years early? In 2039?

It would, again, render everything in this report – in those famous words from the Nixon presidency in the US – ‘no longer operable’.

And why should we be surprised?

For indeed, this IGR explicitly renders everything in the previous IGR, that was released just two years ago, in 2021 – and so, didn’t have the excuse of ‘being ambushed by Covid’ – ‘no longer operable’.

The 2021 IGR had assumed productivity across the economy would increase by 1.5 per cent a year, every year, over the 40 years.

This IGR, just two years later, says: forget that, productivity will be growing at just 1.2 per cent a year over the next four decades.

Over 40 years the difference is huge. For everything – for the budget, the deficit, the government (and private) debt, the size of the economy, incomes, interest rates. Everything.

Now, the first of these IGRs, in 2002, had similarly assumed productivity growth of 1.5 per cent a year through the decade of the 2010s.

It turned out to be just 1 per cent a year – coinciding with, indeed directly caused by, the combination of the deliberate destruction of our cheap energy and the ‘soft option’ of massive population growth and ‘building things’ rather than high productivity.

This IGR layers the climate change insanity over the top of the basic analytical idiocy.

Earth to treasury – and treasurer and PM: Australia can do nothing, zero, zip, nada about climate change.

If China and India are going to keep ‘pumping more and more CO2’ – and they are, right through the next 40 years – the consequences will be what economists call an externality’, a fixed, immovable given, so far as Australia is concerned.

If we had a sane polity, this really would be the last of these exercises.

True, in a sense, their basic ‘saving grace’ is that this IGR will sink, like a stone, like all its predecessors.

Almost literally, no-one will ever look at it again. And certainly not in 40 years, to assess how accurate it turned out to be.

Just like indeed the Business Council’s ‘grand plan’, released on Monday. Indeed, that’s already sunk out of sight.

Yes, many of the issues highlighted in both are basic and challenging, Like an ageing population; like exploding disability payments; like low productivity.

But we know that: deal with them.

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
August 25, 2023 12:32 pm

The Victorian police investigating a Socialist Left MP?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-25/police-investigate-will-fowles-labor-mp-assault-allegation/102775716

Let’s see how long that lasts!

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 12:38 pm

Mugshots Are Great Again.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
August 25, 2023 12:41 pm

Old Lefty Aug 25, 2023 12:32 PM
The Victorian police investigating a Socialist Left MP?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-25/police-investigate-will-fowles-labor-mp-assault-allegation/102775716

Let’s see how long that lasts!

It may be a fair dinkum investigation, or even a lynching.
Apparently the female victim is an insider/friend of Daniel Andrews.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 12:44 pm

Great article by McCrann. Canbra dilettantes getting it wrong again and again. They take are money to paid these malicious incompetents to write this garbage. So will there be another igr in two years rendering this one irrelevant?

Caveman
Caveman
August 25, 2023 12:44 pm

Thanks OLd Ozzie just saw the merchandise.
How’s Jenna Ellis’ mugshot , its like she’s on holiday and won powerball

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 12:45 pm

As most western nations chase the World Economic Forum’s priority around ‘climate change’, the BRICS alliance hedges for more traditional energy sources (oil, natural gas, coal).

Can we please join the BRICS too?

No need to beg, BRICS+ is coming to us.

China’s major push over the past 5-10 years has been to displace the dominance of petrodollar, preferably with a petroyuan. They’ve had significant direct (Saudi) and indirect (India:Russia on rouble oil settlements) success over the past couple of years – courtesy of Washington’s proxy war with the Poot.

It’s a matter of time before Australia comes under pressure to accept Yuan settlements.

Ah, so sorry, resumption of our trade in [barley, wine, lobsters] would be much more mutually beneficial if it were done in a win-win-win currency…

Ah, given huge win-win-win success of yuan-denominated agricultural trade, please consider the yuan spot price for [thermal coal, iron ore]…

The ironing is that China’s growing hegemony at the expense of US is coming because China is easily able to point out that the US can’t defend its own.

When the Big Guy looks like an oceangoing shitshow on the international stage, the fringe players queuing up for BRICS (now down to the corruptocrats and shitholistans) don’t look too deeply into what’s really on offer.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 12:46 pm

Germans gotta German.

YOU WENT FULL WEIMAR, GERMANY. NEVER GO FULL WEIMAR (24 Aug)

What is it about leftism and depravity? Over and over.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 12:47 pm
DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
August 25, 2023 12:48 pm

Mugshots Are Great Again.

M0nty is so funny. His total failure to grasp anything that goes on in US politics is comical.

Miltonf
Miltonf
August 25, 2023 12:50 pm

Correction – They take our money and pay these malicious incompetents to write this garbage.

Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 12:53 pm

Beaugy at 12.48pm, may a swarm of upticks clean your windscreen!

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 12:55 pm

Who won the GOP debate? President Trump

By Monica Showalter

A bit differently from my colleague, Andrea Widburg, I enjoyed the presidential debate.

All the candidates had their moments, all displayed certain strengths.

The pair who had the weakest performances — Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie — were the Trump-haters. All they did was offend, and Christie just kept talking and talking as the audience overwhelmed him with boos. He kept digging, glibly calling booing a part of ‘democracy.’

That underlined what this debate was really about Who was going be President Trump’s understudy.

Who would be there to replace Trump if the prosecutors and their leftist juries snapped him away? That was what this was about.

Because as Laura Ingraham remarked in the after-show commentary, the candidates were strong and most did well, but none were strong enough to make anyone want to switch their vote from President Trump.

I can’t see anyone rising to frontrunner status after this.

Nobody had the energy, the fire and the electricity of President Trump, who drew over two hundred million views on his Tucker Carlson debate alternative interview on Twitter.

This was essentially a vice presidential audition for the benefit of President Trump.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 12:55 pm

It’s a matter of time before Australia comes under pressure to accept Yuan settlements.

There’s a contract you can currently settle in that is gold backed.
It’s quoted on one of the Shanghai exchanges.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 12:58 pm

Where are the 650 children of King Kamehameha Elementary school?

By Susan Daniels

Governor Josh Green, while pushing the climate change narrative on news show Face the Nation, said that King Kamehameha Elementary school burned to the ground. He said that 650 students attended the school. How many are accounted for?

Residents of the scarred island told me that everything on the news is a lie.

The mayor of Maui, Richard Bissen, said that 850 people are still missing. The same day the governor said 1,100 are missing. If they actually know how many are missing, then they must know who is not. Where are the children of Lahaina?

The truth is they have no idea how many people are missing because there is no way to gauge how many tourists were in Lahaina when the fire swept through.

And in 2022, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hawaii had the fourth highest homeless rate in the nation and most of them, I am told, were in Lahaina.

Bissen was asked by reporters ten days after the disaster how many children were missing. He responded: “I don’t know.” When pushed by increasingly angry reporters he said he’d tell them if he knew. He knows or has a good idea. His body language says so.

It is now common knowledge that the schools were closed that day and children were either home alone or with grandparents since their parents were all at work.

We have all seen the hundreds of burned-up cars lining the single road in and out of Lahaina, yet the politicians claim that only 111 people have died. So where are all the elementary-aged kids? The inept mayor doesn’t want people to know.

We are told that cars melted in the heat in the 2000-degree heat. A body is cremated at between 1400-1600 degrees. The smaller the body the less time it takes. Ashes and bones were shoveled into body bags, according to residents, and they ran out of the 450 bags they had. But only 111 people died?

Stationed on the neighboring island of Oahu are 27,000 military troops who could have been sent immediately to help:10,000 Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, 12,000 Navy sailors, and 5500 Air Force personnel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. That was not done.

When President Joe Biden finally showed almost two weeks after the fire, he made things worse. Biden told the crowd: “Jill and I have a little sense of what it’s like to lose a home,” and then tells the story of when lightning struck his house in 2004 and says “I almost lost my ’67 Corvette and my cat.” It was a kitchen fire that was extinguished within minutes.

He told that to people who lost everything except the clothes on their backs and still hoping to find the bodies of their loved ones.

The biggest lie came from now-unemployed Emergency Manager Herman Andaya about why he didn’t activate the siren warning system.

He claimed they were used for tsunamis and he was afraid people would run uphill into the fire. He also did not regret not using them. The governor parroted what he said about using them for tsunamis.

Maui County has 80 sirens and from its instructional site it says.

The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
August 25, 2023 1:00 pm

The guy on left is not the same as the other 3. Different shaped head. Proportions completely different. Saw Prigozhin on tv recently, older version of suited guy.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
August 25, 2023 1:01 pm

Trump is back on Twitter! He’s just made his first post since he was banned two & a half years ago.

He’s posted his mugshot.
First. Class. Trolling. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:04 pm

Bank of China and China Construction Bank have branches here in Perth. Theres no need to call Beijing or Hong Kong.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 1:04 pm

The Fart Car. Blackout Bowen’s newest venture – LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ0RT350bBM

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
August 25, 2023 1:05 pm

“What is it about leftism and depravity”? Ask Mutley.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 1:08 pm

How Fiji got a nasty lesson in Chinese authoritarianism

The Pacific nation watched in shock as Chinese security agents marched what it said were 77 criminal suspects onto a plane and flew them away for detention in China.

Michael E. Miller and Matthew Abbott

When four Chinese detectives breezed into police headquarters in Suva in the middle of 2017, it quickly became apparent they weren’t in Fiji’s capital merely to help with an inquiry. Instead, the officers planned to carry out the investigation – into Chinese nationals suspected of running internet scams from the South Pacific island – pretty much as if they were back in China.

“Everything was done by them,” said a former Fijian police officer who was in the Suva headquarters at the time, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Fiji police was only there to assist in the arrest, nothing else. All the statements, recordings and the uplifting of all exhibits was done by the Chinese.”

The case was a harbinger of China’s ambitions in the wider Pacific as well as its willingness to conduct investigations and project its police powers overseas, sometimes with little regard for local authorities. But the case also became a catalyst for Fiji to stand up to Beijing and assert its sovereignty.

Weeks after the initial four landed in Fiji, scores more Chinese police officers arrived on the island, and 77 suspects, many of them young women, were marched in handcuffs and hoods across the tarmac at a local airport before being flown to China.

None was given an extradition hearing. There was no proper documentation, no Interpol involvement, the former Fijian officer said.

“They just came in and did what they wanted,” added another, more senior former officer.

China’s domineering role in the investigation, followed by arrests that human rights activists and Fijian opposition leaders likened to a mass kidnapping, was the culmination of Beijing’s most extensive security partnership in the Pacific, one based on a secretive memorandum of understanding on police co-operation between Beijing and the government of then-prime minister Frank Bainimarama.

It was also a moment that began to sour some Fijians on the growing activities of Chinese officials in Fiji, an example of how Beijing can overreach as it attempts to build its global influence.

“We didn’t even know there was an agreement,” Aman Ravindra-Singh, a lawyer who was one of the few public figures in Fiji to speak out against the arrests at the time, said of the memorandum.

“The next thing we knew, there were knocks on people’s doors in [the city of] Nadi and there were Chinese people in full uniform arresting people. It was unheard of. It’s almost like we were invaded.”

The police co-operation between China and Fiji that began in 2011 with the six-page MOU would continue for more than a decade.

More than 100 Fijian police officers would train or study in cities across China. Almost two dozen Chinese officers would make the opposite journey, embedding in the Fijian police force for months at a time.

The police agreement provided a blueprint for China to grow its security presence 9000 kilometres away in Fiji – from the soft power of people-to-people exchanges to the hard power of arrests, extrajudicial deportations and the transfer of high-tech equipment such as closed-circuit cameras, surveillance gear and drones.

The MOU would also serve as a template for other Chinese efforts in the Pacific. Beijing last year tried – but failed – to forge a sweeping security pact with 10 Pacific island nations.

China is seeking to create an alternative security network across the Pacific.

— Anna Powles, Pacific expert, Massey University

It has had more success in the Solomon Islands, where China has ramped up police assistance recently, despite objections from Australia and New Zealand. Last year, a security agreement between Beijing and the Solomon Islands inflamed fears that China wants to establish a military base in the strategically important archipelago and, more broadly, become the overarching political power in the region.

At the same time, China has been stepping up its security presence in other countries, including establishing unofficial police stations across North America and Europe to keep tabs on Chinese nationals.

But its actions have been particularly noticeable in this part of the world.

“China is seeking to create an alternative security network across the Pacific,” said Anna Powles, a Pacific expert at New Zealand’s Massey University, noting that in a part of the world where few countries have militaries, the police are a key avenue of influence. “In that respect, the early MOU signed with Fiji in 2011 laid the groundwork.”

China’s push into the region – it is interested in these tiny, underdeveloped Pacific countries not only for their votes at the United Nations but also for their large territorial waters – appears to have taken the United States by surprise, leading to a sudden spurt of engagement by Washington.

The United States and its close ally Australia are boosting aid and diplomacy – as well as promoting their own security agreements – in the Pacific.

President Biden, who hosted Pacific Island leaders at the White House last year, abruptly cancelled what would have been a historic trip to the region in May to deal with debt ceiling talks, but has scheduled a second summit in Washington this northern autumn.

The moment may be opportune as some Pacific Islanders question the nature of their relations with Beijing.

The police agreement in Fiji, in particular, had coincided with increasingly harsh rule by the Bainimarama government.

In December elections, however, Bainimarama lost the prime minister’s office to Sitiveni Rabuka, a longtime rival who ran a campaign critical of China.

And in January, in one of his first acts, Rabuka announced he intended to terminate the police agreement with Beijing.

In an interview in Suva, Rabuka said he made the decision because he feared that the MOU risked “treading on people’s personal rights”.

He also suggested that his predecessor’s close ties to China had undermined Fijian sovereignty and increased corruption.

“We were so weak, we wanted to befriend them so badly,” he said, “that we turned a blind eye to a lot of the bad things going on.”

When Fisi Nasario was offered the chance to study in China, the Fijian police officer felt he couldn’t refuse. Nasario normally couldn’t afford to do a master’s degree in Fiji, let alone abroad. But Beijing was offering to pay for his travel, tuition and expenses for two years. He would return home to a promotion and a raise. It was all the result of the policing agreement with China.

Fiji was an international outcast when it signed the MOU in April 2011. The United States, Australia and New Zealand had imposed sanctions after Bainimarama staged an armed takeover five years earlier.

Isolated by traditional allies, Bainimarama turned to a country that didn’t care about his coup: China. (Rabuka also seized power in a coup in 1987, for which he later apologised.)

Today, Suva bears the hallmarks of Beijing’s influence. Bainimarama’s “Look North” policy brought in almost $300 million in Chinese aid between 2011 and 2018, though much of it was concessional loans that saddled the island nation with debt.

By the time China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, visited Suva in 2014, Fiji was fully aboard what Xi called “China’s express train of development”.

China built a hulking embassy and a Confucius Institute at the university to teach Chinese language and culture. It renovated Suva’s civic centre and constructed what was supposed to be a state-of-the-art hospital. On a single day in 2018, Beijing unveiled not one but two major bridges in the capital.

End of Part 1

Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 1:09 pm

Hahaha. Today’s Pauline Hanson Please Explain cartoon. They keep getting better!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 1:10 pm

Who won the GOP debate? President Trump

Daily Mail did a quickie poll, a real one albeit with a lowish total no. of respondents. They found Vivek won, with Trump only 1% behind. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t, like, actually there.

Given base voters probably don’t answer pollsters I’d say that headline is factually accurate in more ways than one.

Post-Republican Debate Poll: Vivek Ramaswamy Deemed ‘Real Winner’ (24 Aug)

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 1:12 pm

What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning

I doubt thats genuine (having been mugshotted mice elf) .

.you have to stand perfectly square, from the.front and the side, and have a height scale behind you

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 1:12 pm

Black Ball
Aug 25, 2023 11:49 AM
A reminder from Mr Orwell:

He was a fattish but active man of paralysing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms — one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended

Amazing that Orwell was able to describe precisely the fat fascist fool decades before his birth.

Truly a propjet!

pete of perth
pete of perth
August 25, 2023 1:18 pm

The two hosts of Planet America will have to hide their raging boners with cushions on the next show.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 1:19 pm

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
http://DONALDJTRUMP.COM
Image
11:38 AM · Aug 25, 2023
·
25.7M
Views

That’s in a little over two hours and it’s now 11.17 pm on the East Coast. I’m guessing this time tomorrow it’ll be past 100 million. 150 million?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 1:22 pm

2021: covid
2022: monkeypox
2023: turtles

So Now We Need the CDC to Tell Us Not to Make Out with Turtles (24 Aug)

The CDC has some important advice for people who would rather not catch salmonella: Don’t kiss turtles. Specifically, don’t kiss very small turtles.

“Turtles with shells less than 4 inches long are a known source of illness,” the CDC’s website warned late last week. So I guess if you’ve got a turtle much larger than four inches, go on and knock yourself out — but first, make sure the turtle consents.

I can understand this. On rare occasion I get long-necked turtles wandering around, having left the confines of the creek in the nearby reserve. I have to take them back to that creek though because there aren’t any other creeks nearby. The one notable thing about them is they pong. Really really pong.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 1:22 pm

Old Ozzie:

Perhaps someone in the comments can chime in—is it normal to dip your speed like that, up and down as seen above?

If you are dodging an I/R missile, perhaps. A fairly old one that has only I/R targeting.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 1:23 pm

Trump using twitter will trigger a lawsuit from Truth Social.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:24 pm

I clicked on it JC….I have a ‘man crush’ on The Trumpster’…

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 1:26 pm

The Jenna Ellis mugshot is the best I’ve ever seen.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/08/23/look-mugshots-in-trump-georgia-election-case.html

Scroll down.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 1:28 pm

On Wednesday AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers was on Sky News assuring Australians that his organisation was “spending a lot of time talking to the community about what constitutes a valid vote”.

It’s in your specific written instructions, Mr Rogers, the words “Yes” or “No” written in the voting box are valid, nothing else is.

If other options are in the legislation, please quote the relevant clause numbers; if there is an acceptance outside the legislation that letters or ticks are acceptable, please quote the authority for that acceptance. That authority cannot be a bureaucrat deciding, it needs to come from a court, the relevant one being the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.

Otherwise, pull your stupid, partisan, head in.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 1:28 pm

I doubt thats genuine (having been mugshotted mice elf) .

Duk, all the other mugshots are similar. I suspect it’s how they do things ‘way down in Georgia.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:32 pm

…”.The devil went down to Georgia, he was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind
And he was willin’ to make a deal..” Trumps new Anthem…

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 1:36 pm

Haha, 1.2 million affordable houses news.

This City Made Developers Build Affordable Housing or Pay Up. They All Paid. (23 Aug, via Instapundit)

A law designed to build affordable housing in Montreal—and which an elected official predicted would lead to 600 new units a year—has led to zero units of affordable housing, according to the city’s data. The law required developers to either build housing or pay into a fund. Every developer chose the second option.

Obviously they can do a spreadsheet, although those critters seem to completely defeat all pollies and their youthful advisors. Weirdly I don’t like Luigi’s chances of building 1.2 million cheap pads.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:37 pm

“Fire in The Whitehouse” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House of the
house That Biden Runs ,Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:39 pm

“Fire in The White House” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House That Biden runs,
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.. Thats better.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 1:41 pm

“Fire in The White House” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House that the Bidens run
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no..thats better.

Rabz
August 25, 2023 1:43 pm

On Wednesday ALPEC Kommissar Tom Rogers was on Sky News assuring Australians that his organisation was “spending a lot of time talking to the community about what constitutes a valid vote”

“Yes” or “No” in the box being the only two possible “valid votes”, you useless incompetent and utterly shamelessly corrupted z-grade knobhead.

In any just world you never would have been appointed to the position in the first place and if you had been, you’d have been summarily jobsacked immediately after your appearance on Fordham’s show.

Anyway, what wonderful news – we now now that the ALPEC has been utterly corrupted and will pull out all stops to ensure the yes vote gets up in Albansleazey’s racist referendumb.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 1:44 pm

Well my name is Donny and it might be a sin
But I’ll take your bet
You’re gonna regret
When MAGA comes back again

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 1:47 pm

Perth Trader
Aug 25, 2023 1:24 PM
I clicked on it JC….I have a ‘man crush’ on The Trumpster’…

Trader, I saw a clip about CNN, and the imbeciles were beside themselves wondering how it was possible Trumpster’s polling goes up every time there’s an indictment. The American left are beside themselves.

Kneel
Kneel
August 25, 2023 1:48 pm

“What a perfect mugshot of Trump this morning”

I agree with Dan Bongino that Trump should have refused to pay bail money – they would have had to remand him in custody.
That would result in two things:
first, the secret service would have demanded AT LEAST one wing of the prison be emptied of EVERYONE, including guards (they have the right to declare any area under a federal protection order while their protectee is in it or likely to be, and thereby gain unfettered control over it) and would have allowed no-one except SS approved individuals to enter.
Second, because that prison is already an overcrowded shithole of a place, the resulting movement of prisoners would have been not just inappropriate, but basically impossible, and the resulting prison riot would have seen the SS remove Trump immediately for his own protection.
No-one, not even the President, can gainsay a secret service action where protectees are concerned – if they think their protectee is in danger, they can pretty much do whatever they want and justify it later if they have to. If Georgia refused to do as SS asked, they’d likely say “Fine. Our protectee will NOT be going there in that case – don’t care what you say.” I guarentee you the SS has more and better arms and other equipment available to them than the Georgia state prison system and the court bailiff do, and they are not afraid to use it.

Rabz
August 25, 2023 1:49 pm

The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened.

A certain illegitimate parasitic syphilitic geriatric.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 1:56 pm

Let the wookie win.

Michelle Obama 2024 Details Released – ‘Replacement’ plan underway! (24 Aug)

As President Joe Biden continues to slide in the polls, Democrat insiders are allegedly working to convince a former first lady to throw her hat in the ring. Sources reportedly told RadarOnline that the desperation is building up behind the scenes, with some “begging” Michelle Obama to consider running for the Oval Office.

It makes sense given the current Administration resembles the Mos Eisley cantina during happy hour.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 2:03 pm

Michelle Obama would get destroyed by Trump.

Do it you mad sons of bitches.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 2:05 pm

Guy with tatts looks like he’s older than 53.

Dover, he’d been in the field from Donbass to Syria to Africa for thirty years. Turns a man sort of leathery. Office guys like Prigozhin may look businesslike at that age but a 50 year old carpenter looks like Utkin (minus the tatts).

Yes I know Russia supporters are embarrassed by him and Rusich and Wagner. Get over it. The real world is what it is. Some people are given to be dragons teeth, like Utkin and Mike Hoare.

Kneel
Kneel
August 25, 2023 2:06 pm

““Fire in The White House” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House That Biden runs,
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no..”

When the Joey finished, Donnie said
“Well you’re pretty good old son,
but sit down in that chair right there
let me show you how it’s done!”

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 2:07 pm

Their ABC peers into its crystal ball – and sees Eloi:

Intergenerational Report: Six charts that show what Australia could look like in 40 years

Based on projections from data from the past 30 odd years.

The takeaways:

• A massive increase in degree/diploma qualified workforce;

• A massive increase in “non routine cognitive” occupations;

• A massive decrease in what was once called ‘work’;

• A steady decrease in labour productivity.

• Australia turns from Orange to fiery Red as the climate burns the joint up. (Presumably this indicates that the PC expects Chris Bowen to fail miserably.)

Clearly a sign that more taxes and more taxpayers are required so that government can keep its rightful place in our lives.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 2:08 pm

OldOzzie

Aug 25, 2023 11:24 AM
It was political elites like Haley, with a huge foreign policy background, that sent us to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and sent forces into Libya, Syria, and other places around the world.

Multiple upticks.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 2:11 pm

Thefrolickingmoll:

Aug 25, 2023 11:27 AM
With Wiluna mining I’m just saying it’s an interesting story, not a buy option unless you check it over yourself.

Surely will – I had a quick look at it last night but I’ll have a closer look this afternoon.

Razey
Razey
August 25, 2023 2:12 pm

Hartford College is a private Roman Catholic boy’s school for Years 5-12, and the school is based in Sydney’s South East. The school is growing rapidly.

Doesn’t mean they wont be supporting the alphabet people. Plenty of so called Catholic Schools do. They’d get more respect if they actually followed the bible instead of picking and choosing bits out of it.

caveman
caveman
August 25, 2023 2:13 pm

Tom Rogers

Possible Chairman’s Lounge inducte.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 2:13 pm

The Left Elite dont understand that people are over being told your racist if your white , being told that your house sits on stolen land , that we cant climb a Rock cos its spiritually important, being told that because we worked hard and saved we owe the brats something, we degraded the land to grow food, that building a dam to water a town or city was wrong, that looking after your own people first is selfish, that a man cant be a woman just cos he wears lipstick and I’m not a pig if I want 2 scoops of ice cream. Now F O swampy.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 2:16 pm

What time does the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix start in Australia?

Round 14 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1® season.

Australia EST

Fri 25 Aug – Practice 1 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Sat 26 Aug – Practice 2 12:00 AM -1:00 AM

Sat 26 Aug – Practice 3 7:30 PM -8:30 PM

Sat 26 Aug – Qualifying 11:00 PM -12:00 AM

Sun 27 Aug – Race 11:00 PM

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 2:17 pm

Room 101.

Jordan Peterson Ordered by Canadian Court to Undergo Reeducation (24 Aug)

On Wednesday, Dr. Jordan Peterson lost a court battle against the College of Psychologists of Ontario. The case centered on Peterson’s comments on Twitter/X and during personal appearances. … Those included formal complaints and those aired via Twitter. Many of the issues were regarding race, transgenderism, overpopulation, and COVID-19.

Can you just imagine the re-education sessions? You could sell tickets for such an epic contest. I suspect upon emergence from the re-education room it will’ve been the re-educators who’ve been re-educated.

Perth Trader
Perth Trader
August 25, 2023 2:18 pm

‘I Use Roundup’….I feel better just sayin” that…

Razey
Razey
August 25, 2023 2:21 pm
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 2:34 pm

Speaking of the average Conservative:

BUSTED – Fox News and Martha MacCallum Caught Presenting Koch Brothers Activist as Fake GOP Voter in Wisconsin to Support Ron DeSantis (22 Aug)

Usually it’s the Dems who bring out “average Republican voters” who more in sorrow than in anger have decided that the GOP is too extreme to vote for in this election. Who then turn out to be their own activists. It’s amusing that Fox News has now been caught doing this.

Lee
Lee
August 25, 2023 2:35 pm

Can you just imagine the re-education sessions?

I can imagine Peterson telling them to go f@#k themselves.

Or words to that effect.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 2:41 pm

They’d get more respect if they actually followed the bible instead of picking and choosing bits out of it.

Aren’t you the person that told us being unvaxxed gets you on the high table in heaven?
Any biblical reference for that?

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 2:42 pm

Can you just imagine the re-education sessions? You could sell tickets for such an epic contest.

It would be that BBC interview on steroids. Hopefully someone uploads it to YouTube.

Razey
Razey
August 25, 2023 2:45 pm

Aren’t you the person that told us being unvaxxed gets you on the high table in heaven?

It’s obvious. Just another confirmation that you have never read the bible properly.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 2:47 pm

Razey
Aug 25, 2023 2:45 PM
Aren’t you the person that told us being unvaxxed gets you on the high table in heaven?

It’s obvious. Just another confirmation that you have never read the bible properly.

Okay cite where this is, or stop talking mad shit.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 2:47 pm

He is the red mark on the door, painted by the voting conservative, that we don’t even want these parasites as internal opposition. They are banished.

A purge! Excellent. That’s really gonna build a winning coalition.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 2:48 pm

H B Bear
Aug 25, 2023 2:42 PM
Can you just imagine the re-education sessions? You could sell tickets for such an epic contest.

It would be that BBC interview on steroids. Hopefully someone uploads it to YouTube.

Peterson has apparently said that he will record all sessions.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
August 25, 2023 2:49 pm

No point in looking at WMC as it’s suspended. Why can’t they process the stuff here unless it is borderline profitability? I gotta say when and if it starts processing you want to get in quick. I used to follow Sundance for the volatility. Pure luck I wasn’t in when the plane went volitile. Traded it for years.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 2:51 pm

The photoshop someone did of Trumpist indictees as Batman rogue’s gallery wins the internet for today.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 2:53 pm

A purge! Excellent. That’s really gonna build a winning coalition.

Since the current “coalition” consists of the two sides of the Uniparty (Leftards and pseudo non-leftards), it is no wonder that the fat fascist fool likes it. It has certainly been a winning coalition for the cheating leftards.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 2:54 pm

Peterson has apparently said that he will record all sessions.

Good one. I always feel I missed out not being sent for reeducation.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 2:56 pm

m0nty
Aug 25, 2023 2:51 PM
The photoshop someone did of Trumpist indictees as Batman rogue’s gallery wins the internet for today.

Trump’s sense of humour us such that he will probably use it as a meme.

Leftards are too stupid to do winning memes.

shatterzzz
August 25, 2023 2:57 pm

I’m normally pretty laid back when it comes to Father’s Day (or any Dad gifts for that matter) but this one impresses even me ….. just WOW! ..
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGtwqGQpJzmwJrLvzZNFQskBcXr

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 3:00 pm

https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/08/24/dont-tug-on-supermans-cape/

Peterson discussing his persecution by the Ontario College of Psychologists, noting it is now *mandatory* for registered psychologists to lie to their clients, and parrot govt policy …. and if that sounds unbelievable, remember its what AHPRA did to Drs here: read the official script, or get deregistered.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 25, 2023 3:02 pm

Further on the leftard “Batman” meme, I thought leftards were opposed to “violent vigilantes” like Batman?

But their principles have been shown to be flexible., as demonstrated regularly by the fat fascist fool, who is again demonstrating that he is insane by repeatedly posting leftard rubbish, presumably in the vain hope that he will convert someone, anyone, here to leftardism. Not gonna happen, idiot.

hzhousewife
hzhousewife
August 25, 2023 3:06 pm

He claimed they were used for tsunamis and he was afraid people would run uphill into the fire.

LOL. I once worked in a long skinny retail business. A junior ( who was intent on winding everyone up), asked me where the fire rallying points were. I responded, well, if we were here and the fire was between here and the back alleyway, where would you run? Then I asked, if we were here and the fire was between us and the main road out front, where would you run? She worked it out and I gave her a gold star.

shatterzzz
August 25, 2023 3:11 pm

shatterzzz
Aug 25, 2023 2:57 PM
I’m normally pretty laid back when it comes to Father’s Day (or any Dad gifts for that matter) but this one impresses even me ….. just WOW! ..

The original link won’t work the one below is the one I should have used ..!
https://sydneyzoo.com/experiences/lion-encounter/

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 3:21 pm

Luke 18:9-14 describes the situation nicely.

I can’t claim to have read my Bible “properly”. But I have read it.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 3:34 pm

Trumpist indictees as Batman rogue’s gallery

If Trump is the Joker and Joe is Batman I wouldn’t want to be Robin.
The Batman character is kinky enough as it is.
Here have a present!

Lysander
Lysander
August 25, 2023 3:39 pm

So…I’ve been busy what did I miss?

Has the Cat come to a consensus on who won the RNC debate? Was it the sheila with the stripper’s name? Christie? DeSantis? From my glimpse at it (and it was a mere glimpse as I was watching Tucker instead) Vivek seemed to be the most articulate but he also got the most boos….

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 3:46 pm

BoN, how long has the photo been circulating for?

I think it was taken around 2020, when the NGOs were investigating Wagner for fruitiness. Maybe 2019. I’d have to go searching for the links which I haven’t bothered to save.

Try taking a selfie from belt buckle level. The perspective is quite different. And as you get older you lose flesh – I suspect for a fit guy like Utkin that would be even more true for him than for me.

I’m not saying you are wrong but the evidence from a wide range of sources is fairly conclusive, primary in the case of Utkin himself, secondary in the case of Rusich and Wagner and tertiary in the case of the well-known St Petersburg neo-nazi community.

Rodnovery and Rusich (wiki)

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 3:48 pm

Double Jeopardy

Jack Smith’s indictments of Donald Trump are unconstitutional because, among a litany of other reasons, he was already tried – and acquitted – in the Senate of any wrongdoing.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 3:51 pm

The Rusich coat of arms features a double swastika btw.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 3:56 pm
feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 4:00 pm

Remember there was a lurker who posted once when Alec Baldwin shot that bird on set.
He was an armourer on tv & movie sets.
If still lurking, it would be great to hear more stories.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 4:01 pm

Sad to say, actual environmentalism is a very low priority for them. Inconsequential, in fact. Michael Crichton in State of Fear, published in 2004, made that abundantly clear.

Green activists have hurt the environment by letting Hawaii and California burn

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 4:03 pm

Utkin was a Rodnover adherent if you didn’t already know. Not all are neo-nazi, many are neo-communist. Choose which lefty religion you like best.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
August 25, 2023 4:05 pm

Noongar trust sells El Caballo lifestyle village at huge $4.5m loss sparking investigation
Rebecca Le MayThe West Australian
Fri, 25 August 2023 12:00PM

A lifestyle village next to the long-defunct El Caballo Blanco Resort that was once earmarked for an Aboriginal rehabilitation facility has been sold at a massive loss, prompting an investigation.

The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council-founded Noongar Charitable Trust bought the Spanish-themed resort and neighbouring residential development at Wundowie, spanning 6.5ha some 60km east of Perth, for $12 million in 2020.

In a statement on Friday, SWALC said it was advised earlier this month that the lifestyle village had been sold for $4 million — a huge $4.5 million loss on its $8.5 million purchase price — and an investigation it requested by the WA Charitable Trusts Commission was underway.

SWALSC, which is the central services corporation for the $1.3 billion South West Native Title Settlement — the largest in Australian history — says it did not request or approve the purchase of any property.

SWALSC says it had endorsed an ambitious plan to buy properties to house Indigenous people who were homeless or recovering from substance abuse, but “did not undertake to support the use” of the El Caballo properties “for any purpose”.

duncanm
duncanm
August 25, 2023 4:06 pm

Indolent
Aug 25, 2023 3:49 PM
Biden DOJ Goes After Musk’s SpaceX in What Many Believe Is Political Targeting

Trump was, of course, right. They’re not going after him, they’re going after YOU.

As Musk points out, they can’t hire non citizens due to International Arms Trafficking regulations regarding rocket technology.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1694873272029221197

Pogria
Pogria
August 25, 2023 4:08 pm

Perth Trader
Aug 25, 2023 2:18 PM
‘I Use Roundup’….I feel better just sayin” that…

I have always maintained that, after the wheel, mankind’s 2nd greatest invention is Roundup.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 4:11 pm

Trump is like an orange hydra.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 4:12 pm

Someone hasn’t read their classics.

cohenite
August 25, 2023 4:15 pm

I must say Trump looks very handsome in his mugshot.

May every demorat and RINO involved in this disgrace get cancer of their genitals.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:16 pm

Bear, he was quite blonde with no orange tinge in the Tucker interview. The comb was a little lopsided though, with the top part of the comb-over falling a little over the side.

Would he do the color or would he get someone else to do it. I’ve often wondered.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 4:26 pm

Who Killed Wagner Boss Prigozhin?

“Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly died in a plane crash on Wednesday afternoon. The plane crashed south of Kuzhenkinskoe in Russia’s Tver region, instantly killing all ten aboard. News outlets are pointing to Vladimir Putin. After all, Prigozhin did attempt to stage a coup two months ago. Other outlets claim the Wagner boss has faked his death. Russia is launching an investigation into the crash, but we may never have answers.

“An investigation of the Embraer plane crash that happened in the Tver Region this evening was initiated. According to the passenger list, first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in this list,” Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said in a statement.

So why would Putin not have had him arrested or killed after the coup on June 23 that he deemed treasonous? Some may say Putin wanted to maintain a cool head and appear unbothered as if his leadership was never questioned. But why would he choose to take out Prigozhin at this stage? The two men were personal friends. Prigozhin apologized for the attempted coup, claimed he went crazy, and allegedly met with Putin after the incident to apologize.

Prigozhin was allegedly in Belarus with his eyes on Poland. Yet, Russia has not been concerned about Poland. There is an ongoing proxy war between the West and Russia playing out in Niger. There we saw a coup that overthrew the government while chanting “Wagner” and raising Russian flags. He was spotted in Africa on August 21 in a video, which was his first time addressing the public since the failed coup.

“We are working. The temperature is plus 50 [Celsius]. Everything’s the way we like it. PMC Wagner is conducting reconnaissance, making Russia even greater on every continent – and Africa even freer,” Prigozhin said in the video. “Justice and happiness for the African nations,” he said. “We are messing with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other banditos. We hire real supermen and continue working on tasks that were set to us and we promised to carry out.”

There is a long list of people who would have wanted Yevgeny Prigozhin dead. The White House and others are blaming Putin, but I do not believe it is that cut and dry, although it is mysterious that the plane crashed in Russia. Russia would retaliate against any country or organization found responsible, but they would not be so careless as to attack a NATO nation. So the question remains — who killed Wagner boss, Prigozhin?”

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/war/who-killed-wagner-boss-prigozhin/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 4:30 pm

If only Prigozshin was a Marty subscriber. Can you afford not to be?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 4:30 pm

In idle searching found a new article with an Utkin photo I’ve not seen before – looks even more like the selfie, especially when you check out his ears.

The Man Called ‘Wagner’: Dmitry Utkin, The Mercenary Field Commander Reported Dead In Russian Plane Crash (24 Aug)

Lysander
Lysander
August 25, 2023 4:32 pm

I have always maintained that, after the wheel, mankind’s 2nd greatest invention is Roundup.

I realised I didn’t have a “green thumb” when I applied roundup to my entire backyard lawn thinking it only targeted weeds.

To say I poured hot coffee and half a ciggy over myself when I saw an entirely brown backyard early the next morning is an understatement. That was 6 years ago and it still hasn’t fully recovered….

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:37 pm

I wonder if Priggsie took the cannoli or left them in Moscow on his way to St Petersburg?

If there’s going to be an investigation, the best way to find out who done it, is to find out if Putin asked him to leave the cannoli in Moscow.

Figures
Figures
August 25, 2023 4:40 pm

Okay cite where this is, or stop talking mad shit.

Jesus hung out with lepers.

He told all His followers to lay hands on the sick.

He admonished the Jewish leaders for obsessing over hygiene.

He didn’t believe in contagion and He would call all vaccinations what they clearly are – an offering of our children to Satan.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 4:43 pm

I must say Trump looks very handsome in his mugshot.

He looks like he just filled his Depends.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:45 pm

May every demorat and RINO involved in this disgrace get cancer of their genitals.

Dude!

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 4:45 pm

Figures knows God better than God Himself.
Not surprising really.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 4:45 pm

He didn’t believe in contagion and He would call all vaccinations what they clearly are – an offering of our children to Satan.

Counterpoint: Jesus Christ is himself the apotheosis of a vaccination. He died so that you may live. You ungrateful bastard.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:47 pm

Monster, did you ever get COVID?

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
August 25, 2023 4:48 pm

From a mate who is ex Army but still has links through old colleagues. Rumour is the axe is coming to the Army big time. Sleazy & slimy Marles are looking to undo some of what the LNP did when in government especially with the rumoured already depleted numbers. Oh and apparently all the gender and ATSI sideshow is back with a vengeance after Dutton dispensed with it.

Apparently will be some announcements over the next few months. What’s a bet some of the new toys will be delayed…

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:49 pm

He didn’t believe in contagion and He would call all vaccinations what they clearly are – an offering of our children to Satan.

Yeah, he woulda loved polio stricken toddlers.

m0nty
m0nty
August 25, 2023 4:51 pm

I copped COVID once last year when the whole family did, JC. The wife just got it for the second time, the rest of the family didn’t.

I’m overdue for my fourth shot.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 4:55 pm

I realised I didn’t have a “green thumb” when I applied roundup to my entire backyard lawn thinking it only targeted weeds.

I like lawn diversity. Mowed a few days ago and was rewarded by a sea of glorious star-like pink onion grass flowers. It was very jolly. The onion grass, dandelions and various other interesting herbiages fight it out amongst themselves, with occasional Darwinian extinction events brought to them by my Bunnings Victa lawnmower.

Interestingly my local cockies seem to’ve decided they like to eat onion grass bulbs. That’s fine by me, saves on mowing.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:55 pm

m0nty
Aug 25, 2023 4:51 PM

I copped COVID once last year

Does Sutton know, because in your condition the Vic health department diktat was that you were to remain in the basement until further notice. In fact you should still be in there now!

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 4:57 pm

People who criticize DeSantis, look at this thing of beauty. DeSantis appointed the dude.

Florida Surgeon General: Do Not Cooperate With Mask Mandates – Floridian Press

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 5:01 pm

He looks like he just filled his Depends.

Wrong President, Monty. Ask Pope Francis about that.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 5:04 pm

Measles mumps rubella polio tuberculosis smallpox diphtheria whooping cough tetanus are all just figments of the imagination.

cohenite
August 25, 2023 5:05 pm

May every demorat and RINO involved in this disgrace get cancer of their genitals.

Which of course assumes they have any.

rickw
rickw
August 25, 2023 5:10 pm

Toowoomba cats, Grays have a Maximat VP10 and Hercus 9” being auctioned.

Both would clean up ok I think. The Hercus 9” is fully loaded, fixed and travelling steadies, vertical milling slide and at least some of the collet set and drawbar.

https://www.grays.com/lot/0114-7046333/mechanical-workshops/maximat-v10-p-bench-lathe

https://www.grays.com/lot/0039-7046333/metalworking-and-fabrication/hercus-9-inch-precision-lathe

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 5:11 pm

Both of those photos are in the photo I posted on the lsst page.

Were they? Looked kinda fuzzy. Funny that.

If you examine Utkin’s photo on the memorial in Novosibirsk today you’ll see the crescent shaped crease on the right side of his face about an inch from his mouth. Then there’re the creases from half way down his nose going at 45 degrees away.

If you now look at the selfie, which is older, he has those three features, plus a matching crease on the left side of his face, not quite so pronounced. He’s a few years older. The ears are further squished (I know about such things as I’m a side sleeper too).

The new story has another selfie that I haven’t seen before: he had really serious tatts! That’s a lot of artwork.

Either he has an identical twin or that is Utzin with the SS artwork. It’s obvious.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 5:12 pm

Rosie
Aug 25, 2023 5:04 PM

Measles mumps rubella polio tuberculosis smallpox diphtheria whooping cough tetanus are all just figments of the imagination.

Well according to figgsie, toddlers who’ve been vaccinated for those are literally the spawn of the devil. Presumably it also applies to grownups who’ve been vaxed too. FMD, most of the world is heading straight to hell if Figgsie is correct. I wonder if he’s been vaxxed for those. No wide open pearly gates for him if that’s the case.

Figgsie, I guess we’ll see you in the equivalent of Death Valley, huh?

rickw
rickw
August 25, 2023 5:14 pm

I’m overdue for my fourth shot.

Please get on it, you’re endangering everyone.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 5:17 pm

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mr Virginia Vitrioli makes an appearance iin this week’s Media Watchdog on the question of what is a document. Woof woof.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 5:19 pm

And the importance of correctly labelling your hats.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 5:19 pm

If Christ “didn’t believe in contagion”, why did he cure it?

He could have told the poor lepers to go back to their homes and tough it out.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 5:22 pm

I’m overdue for my fourth shot.

Well that answers the question of the sort of people still getting them.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 5:23 pm

Big fat Rob Reiner (aka Meathead) appears jealous

Referring to Trumpster’s weight.

Rob Reiner
@robreiner
·
6h
215 pounds? No f.king way!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 5:23 pm

If Christ “didn’t believe in contagion”, why did he cure it?

Someone has to do the cooking.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 5:25 pm

My return to a number of cafes and beer gardens appears not to have dramatically increased infection rates.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 5:25 pm

Lol, Bruce!

Mark from Melbourne
Mark from Melbourne
August 25, 2023 5:32 pm

Michelle Obama would get destroyed by Trump.

Even assuming it was a scrupulously fair election, I just can’t see any way that stacks up.

Genuinely interested to hear the alternate view.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 5:39 pm

Rosie

Aug 25, 2023 10:23 AM

When my dad played VFL payment was the odd spot of cash from generous supporters.

Some allege Carlton hasn’t entirely abandoned that system.

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