Open Thread – Tues 22 Aug 2023


Spring, Pieter Bruegel the Younger, 1632

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MatrixTransform
August 24, 2023 10:49 pm

Earlier this week I got 2/10 in the daily quiz in the Oz.

i won $5 on a scratchie

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
August 24, 2023 10:50 pm

Watched Mastermind on the SBS with the kids for a change.
Contestant 1- specialty- Dr Who. Podgy, unshaven, manky t shirt.
Contestant 2- specialty, the movie Joker. Podgy bint (crashed out of whole competiton with only 3 correct answers, inc a whole round on her specialty)
Contestant 3- specialty, Simon Pegg films like Shaun of the Dead. Podgy, ginger, weird beard.
Contestant 4- podgy, unshaven, maybe Aboriginal, didn’t listen to his specialty cos I was cooking.
Clocked back in for the general knowledge rounds- in all honesty, only didn’t know about three questions in the 4 x 12 he asked, and two muffed answers The kids were unsurprised, told me again I should go on myself and amused themselves sledging me as to what my specialty subject would be.
I’m fully aware that the whole Mastermind show is pitched to have audience thinking “man, I could do that…” but the bar is so low, it’s dumbfounding. (there were also enough questions to do with Aboriginal Australia to strike me as obviously heavy handed).
But uuuuh, the specialty subjects- at least three out of four were essentially just screen binges, infantile fandom of the soy generation.

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 10:50 pm

thefrollickingmole
Aug 24, 2023 8:55 PM

Interesting job interview today with the worlds most unlucky company.
Have vast tenements, good production, in an unusual move they send their gold bearing ore/concentrate to a 2nd country for processing while they firm up their reserves and coin cash to expand further.

Want more detail.
A name would be fine.
Ask Db for my email.
It had better not be Deep Yellow…

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
August 24, 2023 10:53 pm

Moley- Sundance?

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:04 pm

Arky

Aug 24, 2023 9:00 PM
where no act is too low in order to defend and grow their control and oppression over us. I’m despising them all, equally.
At the end of the whole thing I thought and said to others “why did I ever put my hand up to serve this country? I was an idiot to do so”.

Arky, when we volunteered to serve the nation, and signed the Unlimited Liability clause, we were pledging our lives and our service to defend a nation that no longer exists.
I don’t regret doing so, but I also acknowledge my oath of allegiance no longer holds.

Louis Litt
Louis Litt
August 24, 2023 11:08 pm

Tintarella 24/8 5:56am
Feminism starts from men a women are no equal.
Catholicos teaching does not create this inequality but teaches that we are compamentary it, my parents did not live like that – battle often sexes – every day In business I see the male battling the horde while in the background the wife comes up with the most insightful observations and actions – removed from the cut and thrust. When it’s the females business the male is there supportive in a different way , more sympathetic and assuring.

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:10 pm

Bruce of Newcastle

Aug 24, 2023 9:17 PM
Relatively. I do read stuff. I think Russia is a fascinating country, since Kievan Rus times. Plus the Viking influence. The very fact that Tsar/Czar is a derivative of “Caesar” is very interesting and says a lot about the history. The T-34 is my favourite tank of all time. Amazing beast.

The T34/85 is what took Russia to the Brandenburg Gates. The T34/76 was seriously under gunned until then. But yes. The T34/85 was a damn fine weapon.

Arky
August 24, 2023 11:12 pm

we were pledging our lives and our service to defend a nation that no longer exists.

..
I would allow a little more time to elapse between the recent craziness and a final decision on that one.
Again, we still have to live here.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 24, 2023 11:13 pm

Wally Dalí

Aug 24, 2023 10:53 PM

Moley- Sundance?

Speaking of fuel leaks.

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:27 pm

Arky

Aug 24, 2023 9:59 PM
Geez Arky you kill-joy

..

I’ve done worse.

I hope you are ashamed of the fact that every time I use an apricot spread on my toast, I think of your battle against the apricot tree in your backyard?
Bastard.

Arky
August 24, 2023 11:30 pm

I hope you are ashamed

..
Not even a little.

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:34 pm

Speedbox
Aug 24, 2023 10:33 PM
Had an amusing conversation with Mrs Speedbox when she came home tonight:

Pardon me for intruding on a domestic scene, but I LOLLED out loud at the Mrs Speeedbox reply.

Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:37 pm

Salvatore, Iron Publican
Aug 24, 2023 10:34 PM
Earlier this week I got 2/10 in the daily quiz in the Oz.
I once scored 11/33 in the review quiz in the Weekend Oz.

I got a 128 in the school IQ test, and thought “I chucked a coin for most of the questions and no one noticed?”

Indolent
Indolent
August 24, 2023 11:38 pm
Indolent
Indolent
August 24, 2023 11:39 pm
Indolent
Indolent
August 24, 2023 11:41 pm
Indolent
Indolent
August 24, 2023 11:43 pm
Indolent
Indolent
August 24, 2023 11:44 pm
Robert Sewell
August 24, 2023 11:45 pm

Arky

Aug 24, 2023 11:30 PM
I hope you are ashamed..
Not even a little.

Bastard.

I hope the armadillo pisses in your fuel tank.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 12:03 am

Arky
Aug 24, 2023 11:12 PM
we were pledging our lives and our service to defend a nation that no longer exists.

..
I would allow a little more time to elapse between the recent craziness and a final decision on that one.
Again, we still have to live here.

Our pledge remains to the society we gave it to…

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
August 25, 2023 12:07 am
Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 12:10 am

Here’s an interesting site for all you budding astronomers…
Good graphics, and intelligent conversation.

Robert Sewell
August 25, 2023 12:18 am

thefrollickingmole
Aug 25, 2023 12:07 AM
Wiluna mining.
https://wilunamining.com.au/

OK. I’m in.
Maybe it will buy me another yot like PNA did.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
August 25, 2023 1:37 am

Maybe it will buy me another yot like PNA did.

Wotsa yot?

Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:10 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:11 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:12 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:13 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:14 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:16 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:17 am
Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 4:18 am
Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 4:22 am

Thanks once again Tom. Happy Friday.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 4:26 am

Leak is ‘Brillo’ once again. Top stuff.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 4:40 am

Crime Rose 82% in Chicago in 2 Years – Controlled Chaos in Blue Cities

“It was hard to imagine a mayor WORSE than Lori Lightfoot, but Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson managed to surpass her in corruption and crime as Chicago crumbles. Johnson’s first three months on the job, compared to Lightfoot’s, saw 4,321 more car thefts, 41 more murders, and 38 more deadly shootings. Crime in Chicago is up 82% since 2021, according to the Chicago Police Department. Let me explain why the rise in crime is a deliberate attempt by the government to expand its power.

For starters, no one even wants to be a police officer in Chicago as the mayor forbids them from arresting blatant criminals. There are stories of murderers getting a slap on the wrist. Over 1,000 officers have handed in their badges and left the force. The city spent $126 million in overtime pay for the dwindling police force, and they expect to surpass an additional $210 million in 2022. Crime is up, but there has been a 50% drop in arrests in 2019.

“The Democratic Party as a whole definitely can model its work off of what we’re doing in Chicago,” Johnson told Politico, as he believes all blue cities should look to Chicago for advice on enticing chaos and empowering criminals. Unlike other Democratic mayors, Johnson is not backing down on Chicago’s “sanctuary city” status. He has no plans for funding the influx of migrant, or Chicago’s already growing homeless population. Johnson believes he has done such a incredible job paving the way for rapidly demolishing cities that he created a blueprint for other Dems. Chaos is needed for the Great Reset.

As for helping the city economically:

“The Economic Vitality and Equity subcommittee uplifts the importance of addressing wealth inequality as manifest in Mayor Johnson’s references to the ‘tale of two cities.’ They suggest both conventional and innovative community-centered strategies to generate revenue, allocate resources, build community wealth, and combat poverty and all its attendant ills. Economic vitality and equity are essential to realize the goals of all the other subcommittees.

Greater economic vitality will require revitalizing commercial corridors and galvanizing development and infrastructure improvements throughout our neighborhoods, with local advisory panels to make sure development projects meet community needs. A thriving downtown hub continues to be important, but one that feeds into neighborhood development and is accessible to all.”
This sounds like the suggestion of a pageant queen requesting world peace despite never having left her small town. The report later states:

“The 2022 Global Cities Index ranks the Chicago metro as 7th in the world, just behind Los Angeles and Beijing. We have conflicting narratives about our city’s economic reality. On one hand, we have a thriving economy with the 2nd most Fortune 500 companies of any U.S. city; over the last 2 years we saw over 100 corporate relocations and over 200 significant corporate expansions; in 2021 & 2022 we received record level of investment influx into Chicago based startups (close to $20B in Venture Capital and Private Equity Investments in each year). On the other hand, we continue to see a significant gap in wealth, employment, and opportunities between decades-long underinvested neighborhoods on the South & West sides and the rest of the city, resulting in inequitable access to housing, education, justice, and healthcare along racial and ethnic lines.”
Not for long! Companies are fleeing Chicago as crime grows rampant. The rich are always the first to flee when a city or nation crumbles as dictated by the annals of history. The section about public safety focuses on police accountability, not the responsibility of the people not to commit crimes. How can Chicago dream of competing against Beijing when people are afraid to travel there due to the crime? Los Angeles is already in ruin – who compiled this list of the 2022 Global Cities Index? Upon further digging, it was none other than the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM! Kearney, the company that compiled the report, lists the WEF as their top partnership.

Chicago is following the plan of strategic chaos, as discussed in the Cloward-Piven Strategy. They are allowing chaos to ensue so that the government can take control over that chaos in time. Allowing mass immigration when resources are null ensures that the state’s welfare system will become overburdened. Cloward and Piven noted that civil unrest was necessary to create change and encouraged the government to antagonize the masses. “The poor are most visible and proximate in the local community; antagonism toward them (and toward the agencies which are implicated with them) has always, therefore, been more intense locally than at the federal level.”

The media has successfully created a generation of entitled victims who believe their crimes are justified. The family unit has been demolished if not demonized, and the schools cannot raise the youth, who are the main perpetrators. The government has permitted the crime to occur and punishes anyone who dares to interfere. The strategy also involves class and racial warfare to conquer and divide the people so that they do not see the real enemy – government.

“Once eligibility for basic food and rent grants is established, the drain on local resources persists indefinitely,” the Cloward-Piven Strategy states. Soon, they will claim that the housing crisis and poverty leave cities like Chicago with no choice but to adopt 15-minute cities where people are housed in ADUs, abandon the need for cars, and receive free public transportation. Everyone will be dependent on government and, therefore, will be under its thumb.”

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/corruption/crime-rose-82-in-chicago-in-2-years-controlled-chaos-in-blue-cities/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 4:52 am

I did not watch the debate.
I did watch this post debate discussion.

Dave Rubin hosts with Michael Malice, Glenn Greenwald, Jordan Peterson.
54mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS6SP_GrZQw

Top Ender
Top Ender
August 25, 2023 5:34 am

Meanwhile in Tasmania, someone forgot something:

AAD icebreaker RSV Nuyina too big for Tasman Bridge, forced North to refuel this season

The Australian Antarctic Division’s icebreaker has been refused access to refuel in Hobart because the research vessel is “too big” for the Tasman Bridge. What they plan to do.

Australian Antarctic Division’s icebreaker RSV Nuyina will have to travel hundreds of kilometres North to refuel because the vessel is too big to fit under the Tasman Bridge.

The 160m-long research vessel has been refused permission by TasPorts to refuel at Selfs Point because it cannot sail under the Tasman Bridge despite Hobart being the main gateway to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.

“The Australian Antarctic Division has received advice from TasPorts that RSV Nuyina is not permitted under the Tasman Bridge to refuel at Selfs Point,’ an AAD spokesperson said.

“RSV Nuyina will refuel in Burnie for the upcoming summer season.

“The Australian Antarctic Division is working with the Tasmanian Government on long-term Hobart-based refuelling options.”

RSV Nuyina, which cost $529m, is scheduled to refuel in Burnie in October and November for the upcoming summer season. The return trip to Burnie port to refuel is about 1200km.

TasPort’s Tasmanian Harbour Master Mick Wall said Nuyina did not meet the minimum safety criteria to sail under the Tasman Bridge after a Non-Standard Vessel Assessment (NSVA) was conducted.

Hobart Mercury

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 5:37 am

TheirGreensALPBC don’t even bother hiding their rabid support for everything anti-conservative.

Today’s Paywallion:

ABC management and Leigh Sales intervene in debate on Uluru Statement and argue it’s a ‘one-page document’

By SOPHIE ELSWORTH
MEDIA WRITER
1:07AM AUGUST 25, 2023

ABC management and top journalist Leigh Sales have instructed staff at the public broadcaster that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a “one-page document” and given them tactics to quash any arguments contrary to this.

The intervention from Sales and ABC management comes days after the broadcaster’s Media Watch program criticised attempts to label an editorial from Sky News host Peta Credlin arguing that the Uluru Statement was 26 pages long as “false information” on Facebook.

In correspondence sent by ABC management on Thursday, editorial policy chief Mark Maley said he wanted to “pass on some advice from one of the ABC’s best interviewers, Leigh Sales” on how to handle misinformation in interviews, including the length of the Uluru statement.

In the email, the former 7.30 host said a recent ­example of misinformation was “the claim that the Uluru statement is a 26-page document”.

“That is inaccurate”, she said. “The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a one-page document.”

The Uluru statement’s length has become a fierce topic of debate between pro and anti-voice camps. Pro-voice advocates, including Anthony Albanese, have derided claims it is more than one page; No supporters – including Credlin and opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman ­Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – point to FOI documents and statements from voice proponents to back claims it is 26 pages.

Sales even provides an exact script to ABC presenters and reporters on how to shut down the claim it is 26 pages long and counter No camp complaints of bias.

In the email, she told ABC staff that the “source of this misinformation is an FOI search relating to the Uluru statement which produced 25 pages of minutes from meetings held with Indigenous communities”.

“These were part of a consultation process that helped to inform the final – one-page – Uluru statement,” Sales wrote.

“Those pages do not form part of the final Uluru statement.”

Sales’s claims are at odds with Media Watch host Paul Barry, who on Monday said a “disputed” label should have been put on Credlin’s editorial that the Uluru statement is 26 pages long.

“The Uluru statement is expressed on one page, but there are many more pages of notes and background – where matters like a treaty and reparations are raised,” Barry said on Media Watch.

“And given that there may be some point in what Credlin is saying, we think a disputed label would be more appropriate.”

In the email to staff, Sales said “journalists should not be afraid to stand up for the facts and correct misinformation”.

“It can be intimidating to do this live or to find a clear set of words under pressure,” she said.

Sales outlined phrases on what to say to interviewees if the 26-page Uluru claim arose.

“Ms X, respectfully, I’ll correct your claim that the Uluru statement is a 26-page document.

“It is a one-page document, the other 25 pages were minutes collected during a consultation phase that do not form part of the final document.”

Sales said the journalist should then “move on … to your next question”.

She said if the interviewee attacked the ABC journalist, including calling them “biased”, they should then say things such as “It is inaccurate to ­suggest I am correcting the record ­because the ABC is ‘biased’ ” or “The ABC is far from the only ­organisation to call out the spread of this misinformation”.

An ABC spokeswoman said “The email to staff is self-explanatory and we have nothing further to add”.

Sales was contacted for comment.

The RMIT University’s Fact­Lab, which deemed Credlin’s reporting that the Uluru statement was 26 pages as “false information”, earlier in the week explained on its website that it worked “hand in hand” with RMIT ABC Fact Check.

However, The Australian can reveal FactLab has completely overhauled its website since, removing the “hand in hand” reference, deleting images of the RMIT FactLab’s staff and having no mention of the ABC on its homepage.

The website has also slapped on a disclaimer at the top of its homepage: “To keep up with the rapidly changing media landscape, we’re always updating our website. Stay tuned!”

The RMIT ABC Fact Check and RMIT FactLab are both run by director Russell Skelton but he too has been removed from the FactLab’s homepage.

An RMIT spokeswoman on Thursday said the website was “regularly reviewed to ensure staff, students and the public have access to the most up to date information about the university’s operations”.

“FactLab is an RMIT-operated research hub dedicated to debunking misinformation online and developing critical awareness about its origins and spread,” she said.

“RMIT ABC Fact Check is a jointly funded partnership between RMIT University and the ABC, dedicated to determining the accuracy of claims by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions.”

The FactCheck quashing Credlin’s claim the Statement was 26 pages long this week added an editor’s note: “This article was updated on August 20 to include up-to-date information, including quotes from Professor Megan Davis, to provide more context”.

Voice architect Professor Davis publicly said at the Sydney Peace Price last year that the statement was more than one page but has in recent weeks said the Uluru statement is “one page. It’s that simple.”

SOPHIE ELSWORTH MEDIA WRITER

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 5:53 am

Voice architect Professor Davis publicly said at the Sydney Peace Price last year that the statement was more than one page but has in recent weeks said the Uluru statement is “one page. It’s that simple.”

SOPHIE ELSWORTH MEDIA WRITER

How can the ‘Voice’ have an architect?

“An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose.”

More BS from the ‘Voice’ and only one page? LOL. There are many pages of this BS.

The horse has already bolted and shutting the gate won’t work. LOL.

Crossie
Crossie
August 25, 2023 5:58 am

Voice architect Professor Davis publicly said at the Sydney Peace Price last year that the statement was more than one page but has in recent weeks said the Uluru statement is “one page. It’s that simple.”

SOPHIE ELSWORTH MEDIA WRITER

There you go, she said so. How dare you peasants question her? The arrogance is astounding.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 6:16 am

Only enough to carry and distribute the hundreds of millions in $’s to make it happen. And Russian speakers would do just as well.

You’re just imagining this happening with no proof at all.

It’s quite pathetic, really.

It’s not like when we saw the suitcases of unregistered mail ballots turn up at 2 AM in 2020.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 6:42 am

Rosie
Aug 25, 2023 6:34 AM
Pretty much.
All about power’: Voice proposal motivated by desire for ‘payback’ for ‘original sin of Australia’s settlement’, argues Tony Abbott

This is original sin –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Q3cp3cp88

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
August 25, 2023 6:43 am

Yevgeny Lives!

KevinM
KevinM
August 25, 2023 6:55 am

Knuckle Dragger
Aug 25, 2023 6:43 AM

Yevgeny Lives!

Not sure about that, not a lot of people would be shedding tears for him.
Spent a lot of years in jail early in his life and came out more brutal than when he went in.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 7:06 am

Just read out Speedbox/Mrs Speedbox conversation to the Beloved.

Sorry. I just had to do Mrs in “Natasha Fatale” voice!

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 7:07 am

feelthebern
Aug 25, 2023 4:52 AM
I did not watch the debate.
I did watch this post debate discussion.

Dave Rubin hosts with Michael Malice, Glenn Greenwald, Jordan Peterson.
54mins.

Ta Bern.
The discussion got more interesting when Dr Jordan Peterson came on, especially when he talked about his upcoming ‘re-education’ about social media by a ‘government approved social media expert.’

Diogenes
Diogenes
August 25, 2023 7:09 am

Love Morten Morland toon. Image if ‘our*’ team came first and not fourth.

* I have no interest in any sporting competition so don’t need to boost my ego by associating myself with the success or otherwise of any team.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 7:15 am

7/10 in the Oz quiz today.

Vicki
Vicki
August 25, 2023 7:16 am

Saw “Oppenheimer” last night. An ordeal at some point as it was detailed to distraction. But soon realised that was the point. It was dealing with genius &, ultimately, the greatest moral and intellectual dilemmas. It was worth the process. Great movie.

As the Ukraine situation moves perilously closer to nuclear involvement it is a timely reminder of what that means.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 7:18 am

It was my grandson’s 14th birthday yesterday, so I gave him a call last night.

Imagine my surprise when a gruff stranger answered the phone! 😀

Farewell childhood.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 7:18 am

Well said Mr Ramaswamy.

Fox Pushed Climate Change, Candidates Pushed Back (Newsmax, 23 Aug)

Alexander Diaz, from Catholic University, wanted to know how the candidates would calm young people’s fears that the GOP doesn’t care about climate change.

After Diaz’s question, MacCallum asked the GOP candidates to raise their hands if they believed “in human behavior causing climate change.”

No candidate raised his or her hand before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke up.

After DeSantis said he had not raised his hand to MacCallum’s question, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spoke.

“Let us be honest as Republicans. I’m the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for so I can say this,” Ramaswamy said. “The climate-change agenda is a hoax. The climate-change agenda is a hoax. And we have to declare independence from it.

“The reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. The reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

At last a candidate is saying what 80 or 90% of Republican voters know! Fox management must be gritting their teeth. De Santis’s response was pretty good also, but too safe. Listen up Libs and Nats.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
August 25, 2023 7:29 am

And supplied numerous links for people to read too. Yet no one has bothered to discuss any of that.

Bruce, people may read things without wanting to enter into further discussion. Don’t worry about it. Most people aren’t expert on anything, but some may have read more or have had some experience or study in a field that’s worth reporting. Some may have simply come across an interesting book or movie. I see it all as simply grist to a discussion mill. This is a blog, not a PhD viva.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 7:31 am

All those African and Mexican migrants who are rocket scientists are unhappy with Elon.

US Sues SpaceX for Discrimination Against Refugees (24 Aug)

The U.S. Justice Department Thursday sued Elon Musk-owned rocket and satellite company SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylum seekers and refugees in hiring.

No doubt he’ll be sued for not employing enough qwerties too.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 7:35 am

A bare pass on the Oz quiz.
Maybe I’m not going to mini-Harvard on the back of my mini-GMAT after all.

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 7:36 am
Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 7:36 am

Some random ranting thoughts for the day……..

I got home last night, checked my mailbox and lo and behold, I’d received my “referendum booklet”. I’ve skimmed through it, will peruse it in more details later but I do note that on the back of the booklet, it says very clearly, that to make your ballot count, you have to write YES if you approve the proposed change, and NO if you do not approve the proposed change. I don’t see any ‘ticks’ mentioned.

At CPAC last Saturday, at afternoon tea, I sat down and talked with a prominent person. A cautious person (unlike me), this person said that whilst the referendum trajectory is heading ‘downwards’, however the battle for NO ain’t over until the polls close on referendum day. He also said that he believed that whilst NO will prevail, it needs to be a solid NO, say 60/40, because the left will not accept a result if NO wins marginally. If the NO vote is a narrow win, it’ll be time for Australia’s version of Brexit and post-Trump won in 2016, the left will daily agitate and stir up trouble, in the case of far-left radicals, we need to expect violence. Once upon a time a win was a win, but as we’ve seen with Brexit, with Trump and so on, the left no longer accept election results that don’t go their way.

I had a thought yesterday, as the West (and Australia’s) cultural revolution continues it’s march through everything, slowly and surely destroying everything good in our culture. If the YES vote prevails, you watch this emboldened Sleazy government replace Australia Day with the date of the referendum in October as our National Day. You heard it here first. How long will it take? A matter of months, just like talk of paying reparations and taxes will begin in earnest very quickly.

Further to this cultural revolution, at work yesterday I sat down to a kind of company feel good shindig, along with hundreds of others. We have these feel good get togethers once a year (two were delayed by Covid). My firm talks about profits, targets etc, however in the first three minutes (I kid you not), our head honcho mentioned, after the ubiquitous “acknowledgement of country”, how the firm supported the Voice, but she did kindly add the caveat that whilst the firm and management supported the Voice, she understands that individuals within the firm will “make up their own mind” on the day, hmm, how very generous of her, nice to know she remembers that we live in a democracy (for how long I’m not so sure). But it got worse, half way through the shindig, there was a video of various employees, alas not me, and one woman said that she’s indigenous and she looks forward to voting YES to the Voice. My head swivelled in dismay, firstly at her claims to be “indigenous”, because I look more indigenous than she does, and secondly, “WHY MENTION THIS?”. And therein lies the rub, ALL of this is pure propaganda, no different to what ensued in the Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany, or what’s happening today in North Korea or China. This propaganda comes in all guises, it’s overt, and it’s subliminal.

Yesterday news came in that a Canadian court is going to force Jordan Peterson to undergo “social media” sensitivity training otherwise his license to practice psychology will likely be terminated. You see, the Canadian College of Psychology has taken umbrage at Peterson’s political opinions and have targeted him for “silencing” and “cancelling”. I won’t go into it in details, it’s early in the morning and I have to get ready for work, but I’ll just say that this is yet another reason why the West has now plunged into soft totalitarianism. And this is why I cannot and I will not support the West in Ukraine, apart from the fact it’s simply now a proxy war to attack Putin and Russia, the West now has ZERO moral authority and credibility on anything.

Lastly, further to “soft totalitarianism’, if the Voice gets up it will simply further empower our own progressive class to further ramp up and enforce the soft totalitarianism in this country, and after the Voice is enacted in parliament, passed by Labor, the Greens, the sTeals, and some spineless twats in the Liberal Party, don’t expect a continuation of this soft feather duster totalitarianism, get ready for hard totalitarianism on steroids. We will not know what has hit us.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 7:37 am

“And supplied numerous links for people to read too. Yet no one has bothered to discuss any of that.”

It’s easy to copy and paste

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 7:39 am

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare

Aug 25, 2023 7:29 AM

And supplied numerous links for people to read too. Yet no one has bothered to discuss any of that.

Bruce, people may read things without wanting to enter into further discussion

Speaking of unread links, mine’s a latte, no sugar.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 7:40 am

Yesterday news came in that a Canadian court is going to force Jordan Peterson to undergo “social media” sensitivity training otherwise his license to practice psychology will likely be terminated.

There are many states in the US where Peterson can practice.
Why does he bother staying in Canada.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 7:41 am

In the email to staff, Sales said “journalists should not be afraid to stand up for the facts and correct misinformation”.

Sales outlined phrases on what to say to interviewees if the 26-page Uluru claim arose.

“Ms X, respectfully, I’ll correct your claim that the Uluru statement is a 26-page document.

“It is a one-page document, the other 25 pages were minutes collected during a consultation phase that do not form part of the final document.”

Ms Sales, respectfully, I’ll correct your claim:

The “minutes collected during a consultation phase” from 13 documents (86 pages) each document titled “Record of Meeting”.

These are in addition to the 26 pages that form Document 14, titled “Ulu?u Statement from the Heart”.

The 25 pages of notes are a distillation of “the Dialogues” not minutes of meetings in any sense.

The 25 pages explain the rationale and terms used in the one pager, which summarises the requested ‘reform proposals’ at a high, symbolic level.

Document 14 expressly states that they are “Guiding Principles” that “governed our assessment of reform proposals”.

But you knew that.

Someone should try to control the misinformation flowing from the ABC.
Sadly it appears that nobody is interested.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 7:42 am

Cassie of Sydney

Aug 25, 2023 7:37 AM

“And supplied numerous links for people to read too. Yet no one has bothered to discuss any of that.”

It’s easy to copy and paste

Not if you have too many tabs open and you do fifteen in a row.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 7:45 am

“There are many states in the US where Peterson can practice.
Why does he bother staying in Canada.”

As Peterson’s good friend and fellow Canadian Gad Saad says, the reluctance to leave Canada is because it’s where you’ve grown up, and it’s where you have family and friends (Saad lives in Montreal).

But I think this court ruling will be the final nail in the coffin. I reckon he will leave Canada.

duncanm
duncanm
August 25, 2023 7:48 am

Voice architect Professor Davis

ah yes..

Claimed lived experience of black-birded grandparents.

That Megan Davis.

https://www.dark-emu-exposed.org/home/the-megan-davis-story-part-2-zf7a9-fh86j-6eclt

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 7:49 am

I scored 97.3% on a “Are You Great In Bed? – only 1% can Say Yes” quiz that popped up on a ‘30 Years On: You will be shocked at what these 20 celebrities look like’ link I was researching.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 7:50 am

ABC management and top journalist Leigh Sales have instructed staff at the public broadcaster that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a “one-page document” and given them tactics to quash any arguments contrary to this.

Seems Leigh is under the false impression that because the ABC is described as the “national broadcaster” it can shape national debates.

You’re preaching to the choir, Leigh.

Nobody else is listening.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 7:51 am

The 25 pages explain the rationale and terms used in the one pager, which summarises the requested ‘reform proposals’ at a high, symbolic level.

Therein lies the problem for Elbow.
He can wing it on the high level document and avoid awkward questions on treaty, Macarena and reparashunsh.
Because he knows the Yes vote is in trouble, but talk of the detail, particularly reparashunsh, will kill it stone dead.
But watch this space.
If Yes gets up, the backing pages will be resurrected and re-stapled to the back of the “modesht and generoush proposhal to change the Conshishushun”.

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 7:52 am

US Sues SpaceX for Discrimination Against Refugees (24 Aug)

FFS, Musk himself is African-American!

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 7:56 am

it needs to be a solid NO, say 60/40, because the left will not accept a result if NO wins marginally.

The left NEVER accept ANY vote that goes against them – they either keep running it till they get the result they want, or implement it anyway. The same will happen for the ‘(in)-VOICE’.

Hell, they dont even accept votes that go their way, in the sense that it never ends there, all such votes are merely the latest stop on their trainride to hell.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 7:57 am

The government has launched a review of national competition policy.

I suggest they start with QANTAS.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 7:58 am

feelthebern
Aug 25, 2023 7:15 AM
7/10 in the Oz quiz today.

You didn’t. You got 7 out of 7 once to ignore questions like , who came third in the Queensland women’s basket ball association in 2019.

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 7:58 am

“There are many states in the US where Peterson can practice.
Why does he bother staying in Canada.”

I spoke to a friend yesterday who originally hailed from Canada – I compared him to the Rhodesian Orthopaedic Surgeon I used to work with – both have now seen their countries disappear before their very eyes. Australia is of course on the same track 🙁

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 7:58 am

Yesterday news came in that a Canadian court is going to force Jordan Peterson to undergo “social media” sensitivity training otherwise his license to practice psychology will likely be terminated.

Dr Jordan Peterson said that he is going to record every ‘re-education training’ turnout he attends and release it publicly.
Ezra Levant did this back in 2009? when he and Mark Steyn were forced to defend themselves over a complaint lodged by an ‘offended minority group person’ in a stoush’ with the Canadian Human Rights Commision.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 7:59 am

In Comrade Obvious news:

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner chief purportedly killed in plane crash, “a man of complicated fate,” Putin says

Breaking: Yevgeny Prigozhin purportedly appointed Chancellor of Burkina Faso University.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 8:01 am

More on Mr Ramaswamy, this time from Elizabeth Stauffer.

Debate performance changed my mind on Ramaswamy | Power Line (24 Aug)

It’s worth reading even though she’s decided she doesn’t like him. You could do a find-and-replace of his name with a certain other name and the article would be nigh on identical. And he’s appealing to the ordinary people in the same way. But she thinks he’s a jerk. It’s funny how people react with their ovaries not their noggins.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 8:02 am

flyingduk
Aug 25, 2023 7:56 AM

A page of upticks. Quality ones too.

shatterzzz
August 25, 2023 8:03 am

Read this morning that the over-worked battlers at the Reserve Bank have knocked back a 10.5% wage increase .. cos doesn’t come up to cost of living inflation .. yet, here am I, and lotza other oldies, looking forward to a 2.2% increase in the OAP come September 20 cos the same gummint that has offered the RB mob 10.5% sez the cost of living for OAPs is 8.3% lower ……
Do we OAPs shop and live in a different “bills” world to RB wukkas?

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 8:04 am

“I spoke to a friend yesterday who originally hailed from Canada – I compared him to the Rhodesian Orthopaedic Surgeon I used to work with – both have now seen their countries disappear before their very eyes. Australia is of course on the same track ?”

Yep.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:05 am

Michael Long (ex Essendon footballer) on The Front Bar last night banging the Yes drum. Long has been on twice this year pushing it.
Professional buffoon Mick Molloy* was waving the pom-poms … “Let’s get this thing over the line!”
The other two hosts weren’t quite as effusive, and lukewarm audience reaction.
I think the Yes PR campaign will fail on the sporting arena. All will be well until someone starts spouting it into a microphone on AFL/NRL Grand Final day and is drowned out by loud and sustained booing.
….
* Mick is fond of displaying his SJW cred and lecturing others about morals and ethics. Mick also pissed off on his partner just after she had given birth to twins.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 8:07 am

Looks like Sales just instructed her colleagues at ALPBC to lie.

Forget gaslighting and sneaky propagandising. It’s all out and proud now.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:07 am

You didn’t. You got 7 out of 7 once to ignore questions like , who came third in the Queensland women’s basket ball association in 2019.

Toowoomba Crocodiles.
8/8 for me.

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 8:09 am

feelthebern
Aug 25, 2023 7:15 AM
7/10 in the Oz quiz today.

Funfact, I passed every single test/exam I ever sat, from school maths tests all the way up to Medical Speciality exams which had a 25% pass rate …. except ONE:

When doing the SA Ambulance ‘Aboriginal Cultural Awareness’ module (aka white man bad training), and answering the assessment questions honestly, I scored only 9%!

This put me in a bind – I was ‘not yet competent’, which shocked me as a proud ‘Bass Strait Islander’ man (with the yard time to prove it), yet I found the original module offensive to me, hence I could not repeat it as required.

Fortunately, telling my manager the above seemed to be the end of it – by taking offence, I had proven that I had understood the overall thrust of the training, even if the details had eluded me 😉

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
August 25, 2023 8:09 am

Do we OAPs shop and live in a different “bills” world to RB wukkas?

A little self-reliance wouldn’t go astray.

There are recipes online for nutritious soups made from grass clippings and newspaper. We’re all in this together.

shatterzzz
August 25, 2023 8:11 am

Thinkin’ on cost-of-living increases I, usually, bake my own cakes sooo! .. Woolies this morning .. Green’s cake mix .. Tuesday $2.50 & for several months (last jump around March from $1.80) .. today $3.50 .. close to 100% jump in 6 months .. FFS!

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 8:13 am
calli
calli
August 25, 2023 8:15 am

Anything that does not advance the Narrative is now labelled “Disinformation”. We see it wherever there is a pushback from the Right, or even just the simple truth.

What was once more or additional information crucial to understanding what is being discussed is now dismissed out of hand.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 8:16 am

The ABC reports:

‘Forest conservation carbon offsets being significantly overestimated, new study finds

Researchers looked at projects run by the largest forestry certification program in the world

The majority of projects analysed stored no additional carbon, despite generating millions of carbon credits

The offsets which were all issued by Verra are used by some Australian companies to achieve carbon neutral certification’

Will Leigh Sales deem this to be misinformation and instruct ABC journalists not to cover it further?

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 8:16 am

And, in Zerohedge:

Americans now have to increase their wages by at least 25%-30% on average to maintain the same standard of living they had three years ago…

That means the (still unpaid by the AFP) $25k in court costs awarded to me in Canberra last November, have shrunken in purchasing power by a couple of grand.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:17 am

Megan Davis should be very grateful to learn so much about her family history from Dark Emu Exposed.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 25, 2023 8:19 am

These guys say that Trump won the debate. Which I think is pretty accurate.

200 Million & Counting… Trump Triumphant, Ramaswamy Runner-Up, DeSantis Dud (24 Aug)

…the idea of a normal politics-as-usual primary season was ridiculous from the start. The 2020 presidential election was undeniably the most unfair election in modern history – it necessarily produced an illegitimate outcome. That Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Chris Christie (and the rest) are behaving as if all of that does not matter, or that somehow the problems that got us in this dire situation as a country would miraculously vanish if Trump were removed from the picture is the ultimate indictment of their credentials.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the only spark of life.

The candidates smothered viewers with platitudes about new leadership, stopping Putin, liberal tax and spend policies, and how bad Biden is – something all Republicans already agree on. It could have been a debate from 2012. Fox beclowned itself with a segment on climate change, and dedicated just a few minutes to the issue of the day: the persecution of the opposition leader, Donald Trump.

On that question, the only candidate to defend Trump was Ramaswamy.

DeSantis and Tim Scott dodged with abstractions about “the weaponization of justice,” all without mentioning public enemy number one. DeSantis refused to say whether Mike Pence was correct to certify Biden’s bogus victory. Instead, DeSantis said Biden loves that Republicans are still talking about January 6th, and it’s time to move on. The political prisoners languishing in the D.C. gulag would like a word.

There seems to be a yearning amongst long time senior Republicans to go back to the good old days. The ordinary voters know that isn’t going to happen, which is why if you put Trump and Ramaswamy’s primary numbers together you are approaching three quarters of all Republican voters.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 8:22 am

She’s the one with the granny from Vanuatu?

Which makes me indigenous…even more than she is. 🙂

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 8:24 am

Yes Sancho, Molloy is unwatchable.
I went to watch Bulldogs play Port Adelaide a while back. Not sure it was an advert for the Yes23 campaign, or welcome to country, but had the ridiculous sight of Bontempelli putting on the face-paint among other players doing same. The groans were audible.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 8:25 am

why if you put Trump and Ramaswamy’s primary numbers together you are approaching three quarters of all Republican voters.

If Trump is the nominee, the turnout could hit 80 to 90% on the GOP side with the indictments.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:26 am

You might have to unbury some of that cash hidden in your garden Shatterzzz.
I was thinking the OAP must be very generous if people can still save on it.
It’s probably cheaper to bake from scratch than to buy packet mixes, though I fully understand the convenience.
I buy the Betty Crocker muffin mixes when they are on their regular half price specials but add extra fruit otherwise they are a bit meh.
My mother was a bit miffed after saying they were nice and I told her they were ‘packet mix’.
Nearly as bad as bought biscuits.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 8:26 am

I make my cakes from scratch, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract etc. Not hard.

shatterzzz
August 25, 2023 8:26 am

How can the ‘Voice’ have an architect?

HOW DARE YOU! .. to question the time & effort the multi talented and industrious folk who have spent 60 000 or maybe 126 000 years give or take a millenium developing a VOICE!
In 1770 a, despicable, Englishman, Jimmy Cook, of the white variety, descending on the peace luvvin’ natives of the Utopian Antipodes called Dreamland (since renamed Australia by the usurpers) and decimated its land, infrastructure and gentle-folk for all times …
Like everything else the original VOICE paperwork was destroyed in the savagery that ensued and now after 250 years it has been reproduced, after lotza painstaking effort and the heart-wrenching tears of our Elders for all to worship and what happens ,,, DISSENT by those not qualified to interpret such importance …….!
SHAME. SHAme, shame!

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:27 am

There you go, she [Professor Davis]said so. How dare you peasants question her? The arrogance is astounding.

Prof. Davis and her fellow Voice travellers are about to feel the power of the pencil.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:28 am

I was going to make a smart remark about being golden brown but as Marcus Stewart amply demonstrates, skin colour had nothing to do with being blak.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 8:29 am

“It’s probably cheaper to bake from scratch than to buy packet mixes,”

Snap Rosie.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:29 am

RMIT ABC Fact Check is a jointly funded partnership between RMIT University and the ABC, …

aka Mr Virginia Vitrioli.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 8:33 am

Avi and Rukshan DESTROYED the RMIT/ABC “Fact” checkers.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:33 am

Not to mention, I think the pension is indexed twice a year so the payrise isn’t that dissimilar.

The in-principle agreement includes a 5 per cent wage increase for workers earning less than $100,000 a year, followed by another 5 per cent in 2024, 4 per cent in 2025 and 3.5 per cent in 2026.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:33 am

The ALPBC’s nepotism would put Keating’s old mate Suharto to shame.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:34 am

Roger

Aug 25, 2023 8:16 AM

The ABC reports:

‘Forest conservation carbon offsets being significantly overestimated, new study finds

Researchers looked at projects run by the largest forestry certification program in the world

What?
All those offset Nigerian trees I bought?
They’re not real?

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 8:34 am

I’m sure Lisa Wilkinson will take the lass under her wing. Maybe a book deal in the offing. Shannon Deery takes it up:

An alleged serious incident in a city hotel is believed to be at the centre of an investigation into axed MP Will Fowles.

Almost three weeks since the Ringwood MP was forced to resign from the parliamentary Labor Party the Herald Sun can reveal his alleged female victim has met with sex crime detectives.

While the woman is yet to make a sworn statement, sources close to the case said she had made a series of serious allegations against Mr Fowles, who strenuously denies the claims.

They had prompted police to begin making preliminary inquiries including gathering evidence, sources said.

“She met with sex crimes detectives within days of the incident but asked police to not use language in media responses that makes it obvious,” one source said.

“She’s disclosed what happened to them and they’ve started preliminary inquiries. She just hasn’t signed a statement.”

The circumstances around the allegations have remained shrouded in secrecy, with even senior government staffers unclear of the detail.

A complaint was first lodged with the Premier’s private office on Thursday, August 3.

Sources told the Herald Sun that the previous evening, in the hours before the alleged incident, Mr Fowles’ behaviour in the parliament bar was “super sleazy”, “rude” and “erratic”.

It was claimed, at one point the MP pulled a can of gin and tonic out of his pocket because he was frustrated at having to wait to be served at the bar.

The alleged victim, who is a friend of Premier Daniel Andrews, was seen with Mr Fowles for some of the evening.

It is understood they left the bar together before an incident at a city hotel.

Sources close to the Premier have urged the protection of the alleged victim’s identity.

The Herald Sun has chosen not to identify the name of the city hotel or the alleged victim’s connection to Mr Fowles or the government.

Following a two-day investigation the government referred the matter to Victoria Police.

Mr Andrews said at the time that the delay had allowed time for his office to make inquiries and have a chance to speak to the alleged victim to ensure their wishes were followed.

“Mr Fowles was (then) called in and informed that we had referred the matter to Victoria Police,” Mr Andrews said.

“His resignation was sought, it was received moments later, and a statement went out just a little bit (after) that.”

Mr Fowles has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“I was shocked and distressed to learn last night that an allegation of assault has been made against me,” he said on the Sunday after the incident.

“The details of the claim have not been put to me. I strenuously deny any allegation of assault. It is not true. There was no assault.

“I was asked to stand aside as a member of the Parliamentary Labor Party, a situation I expect will be temporary.”

He told a Ringwood ALP branch meeting this week that the situation had taken a toll on his mental health.

He has yet to confirm if he will remain an independent MP.

A resignation would force a by-election in Ringwood, which Labor won at last year’s state election with 57.5 per cent of the two party preferred vote.

Mr Fowles, who was elected in 2018, has previously been open about his struggles with depression and anxiety.

Would be interested in the outcome of the investigation. Fowles of course is entitled to the presumption of innocence and have the investigation take place.
But let’s not do a Higgins.

calli
calli
August 25, 2023 8:34 am

I’m an equal opportunity cake mix/scratch baker. Depends on how much time I have up my sleeve.

Neat trick – Aldi vanilla mix. Make up, put half in tin. Layer sliced granny smiths and sprinkle with apple spice mix and some raw sugar, add the rest of the mix. Sprinkle with sugar/spice mix and bake. Goes crusty.

Mmmmm.

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 8:35 am

On JoNova today:

https://joannenova.com.au/2023/08/sales-of-old-fossil-cars-are-booming-in-ultra-low-emission-london/

So, my 40 year old V8 Hilux is looking good 😉

Razey
Razey
August 25, 2023 8:36 am

But I think this court ruling will be the final nail in the coffin. I reckon he will leave Canada.

Quoting Yuri Bezmenov: Once the USA falls, there will be nowhere else to defect to.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 8:36 am

When discussing the US constitution, you realise how little you know when you come across someone who’s an expert in the Federalist papers.
I realised this many years ago when I saw John Yoo destroy some chap in some debate.

To discuss the Uluru statement without even knowing about the background document (let alone its content) would be a similar but different folly.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 8:36 am

I was going to make a smart remark about being golden brown but as Marcus Stewart amply demonstrates, skin colour had nothing to do with being blak.

Ah, yes…the identifying white chap who said Jacinta must hate aboriginals.

Yet another activist ratbag inadvertently promoting the No case.

We should be very thankful for their complete lack of self-awareness.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:37 am

Avi and Rukshan DESTROYED the RMIT/ABC “Fact” checkers.

Teh Paywallian had quite a good editorial on it. Perhaps the Rip van Lieborals might wake from their slumber and decide there is some votes in getting medieval on the ALPBC.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:40 am

Black Ball

Aug 25, 2023 8:24 AM

Yes Sancho, Molloy is unwatchable.
I went to watch Bulldogs play Port Adelaide a while back. Not sure it was an advert for the Yes23 campaign, or welcome to country, but had the ridiculous sight of Bontempelli putting on the face-paint among other players doing same. The groans were audible.

I see they now exchange some possum/’roo skin thingy at the toss of the coin now.
But, yes, I think ramming it down people’s throats at the Grand Finals will kill it.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:41 am

Black Ball at 8:34 – the real crime is a G&T in a can!

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:42 am

Packet mix vs home-made!
This could be bigger than Trucks vs Trains!
Although I suspect shatterzzz will cop a handbag flogging and it will all be over very quickly.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
August 25, 2023 8:43 am

Ah, yes…the identifying white chap who said Jacinta must hate aboriginals.

The identifying white chap who says that Aborigines can be quite fair-skinned, you don’t have to have dark skin to be Aboriginal.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
August 25, 2023 8:43 am

Mick is fond of displaying his SJW cred and lecturing others about morals and ethics. Mick also pissed off on his partner just after she had given birth to twins

Molloy was at his best in the D Gen’s Late Show. 30 years ago.

It’s been downhill since, including but not limited to his own TV show which featured him pretending to be shitfaced and pissing on a couch on stage. That particular televisual feast died quicker than a Doug Mulray video special.

If one were around the leafy East Melbourne area in the late 90s, one would oft observe Molloy’s old Holden parked up outside one of the squillion-dollar terrace houses there.

Unsurprising that his on-screen persona doesn’t match the off-screen one, nor that they’ve started merging.

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 8:44 am

It was claimed, at one point the MP pulled a can of gin and tonic out of his pocket because he was frustrated at having to wait to be served at the bar.

At a pub with a mate who got pissed off with the poor bar service that he rang the pub from the main bar and when they answered, words to the effect ‘can we get a barmaid to pour us a beer, we are dying of farking thirst out here.’
Fixed the problem.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 8:46 am

Sancho Panzer
Aug 25, 2023 8:07 AM
You didn’t. You got 7 out of 7 once to ignore questions like , who came third in the Queensland women’s basket ball association in 2019.

Toowoomba Crocodiles.
8/8 for me

Harvard Man!

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 8:46 am

When discussing the US constitution, you realise how little you know when you come across someone who’s an expert in the Federalist papers.

Which should be read in tandem with the anti-Federalist papers.

Probably all on-line now, but for people who prefer physical books, Signet Classics, an imprint of Penguin Random House, still publishes inexpensive paperbacks of both collections with helpful historical introductions.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:47 am

Prior to getting Ringwood pre-election Mr Fowles iirc was member for Burwood.
There was an incident in Canberra involving an unreasonable door, despite having some issues Mr Fowles was able to get preselection for Ringwood after Burwood was disappeared.
I’d have thought it was him that was mates with Andrews.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 8:48 am

If one is having difficulties reaching the MCG members the walk from East Melbourne is quite agreeable.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:49 am

Planning our 2024 holiday to the USA.
Part of it will be visiting an Amish community and watching a traditional barn-raising.
Apparently the highlight is towards the end, when a wispy bearded Amish elder arrives to deliver the traditional blessing …

Youse wooden no. Wez the wirin’ ‘n pipin’?

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 8:49 am

Toowoomba Crocodiles.
8/8 for me

Harvard Man!

There are no crocodiles in Toowoomba.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:52 am

H B Bear

Aug 25, 2023 8:48 AM

If one is having difficulties reaching the MCG members the walk from East Melbourne is quite agreeable.

I always coveted those terraces in that little pocket on the corner of Punt Rd and Wellington Parade (but well back from Punt Rd).
Pop home for a G&T (not from a can) at lunchtime in the crickit, eh, what?

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 8:53 am

Hmmm

Allegations but no statement after three weeks?

“Make a statement regarding your allegations after we’ve talked to the person of interest…”

Seems like a stitch up and coached.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 8:54 am

There are no crocodiles in Toowoomba

No doubt why they finished third.
Limited names available.
Toowoomba Dodgers. Gone.
Toowoomba Shirkers. Uh-uh.
Toowoomba Tent-Slayers. Also taken.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 8:56 am

Unsurprising that his on-screen persona doesn’t match the off-screen one, nor that they’ve started merging.

You mean he is Neville Bartos?

No wonder the realistic and true to life & factual biography Chopper was a laff riot.

…but seriously, who honestly thinks “Masala and coke” is an excellent choice?

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 8:59 am

I think I knew someone back in the day that drank Marsala and Coke
marsala and coke, another reason to return to Sicily.

Dot
Dot
August 25, 2023 9:01 am

From the boxed wine and cat food laydees at Medium:

Here’s What Happens When You Call a Woman “Hot”

It’s not a compliment.

Okay sweet cheeks. You’re an absolute mongoloid with rank farts and a hairy, pus filled back and thunder thighs.

Okay, now what?

Beertruk
Beertruk
August 25, 2023 9:03 am

Toowoomba Dodgers. Gone.
Toowoomba Shirkers. Uh-uh.
Toowoomba Tent-Slayers. Also taken.

Lining up at Centrelink or Cash Converters, Toowoomba branches.

Jorge
Jorge
August 25, 2023 9:05 am

Is Trump at the courthouse door yet ?

Easier to watch Indians landing on the moon than Trump preparing for his mug shot.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:05 am

I always coveted those terraces in that little pocket on the corner of Punt Rd and Wellington Parade (but well back from Punt Rd).

Well into the “If you have to ask the price …” category. A few terraces around Lake Albert fell into that category as well.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 9:05 am

but I’ll just say that this is yet another reason why the West has now plunged into soft totalitarianism. And this is why I cannot and I will not support the West in Ukraine, apart from the fact it’s simply now a proxy war to attack Putin and Russia, the West now has ZERO moral authority and credibility on anything.

Cassie, I agree with your whole post but on the topic of “soft” totalitarianism –

HOLD YOUR BEER: Biden Regime Considering Strict New Booze Guidelines to Pressure Americans to Limit Alcohol Consumption

Biden’s alcohol czar warns Americans could soon be told to limit themselves to just two beers per WEEK under strict new booze guidelines

Sean Davis
@seanmdav
They arrested him for asking for the phone numbers of legislators on behalf of the president of the United States. What they are doing to this man is pure evil, and they need to be held to account for it.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 25, 2023 9:06 am

In my younger years I went through a stage of drinking a Banrock Station red from a box.
But it was a classy box made from recycled cardboard.
Lasted about about 6 months.
The stage that is, not the wine.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 9:09 am

Where are the children? There have been multiple stories about police blockades stopping people from leaving the danger zone.

2,025 Lahaina students not enrolled

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:10 am

Err, Albert Park. You know.

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 9:12 am

Sports and politics should never mix. But when sports codes get political, then expect some government meddling. Herald Sun:

Australian sports are battling changes to the Fair Work Act they say will have a devastating effect, making it almost impossible to hire and fire coaches, employ younger players and fill a wide range of support positions.

Several sports organisations, including the AFL and NRL, have been frustrated by discussions with the Albanese government ­regarding looming changes in relation to fixed-term contracts terms and conditions.

From December, the new laws will limit the use of fixed-term ­contracts for the same role beyond two years or two consecutive contracts, whichever is shorter, including renewals. The provisions allow employers to use fixed-term contracts for legitimate purposes, while providing appropriate protections to employees.

The sports are concerned they will be caught out by the changes and have been locked in negotiations with federal government ­officials for several months but have become increasingly frustrated that no clear definition of sporting roles and club responsibilities have been included in legislation. One major sports executive said: “The unintended consequences of this legislation being introduced would absolutely kill sporting clubs at both elite and community level.

“We’re not sure the government fully understands the gravity of their actions and the flow-on impacts it will have.”

A spokesperson for Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said on Thursday: “The minister is working with the sporting codes to make sure these problems do not occur.”

Fixed-term contracts are ­standard practice in sport, executives of the leading codes say, given that players and officials leave and join clubs at different points in time for varying durations. Any legislative changes that put that fluid nature at risk would be detrimental to competitions, the sports say.

The sports have called for ­exemptions to the act that would include reference to professional sporting contracts, including for specific events with an end date, such as a tournament, or subject to third-party funding or grants.

Roles such as players, match ­officials, recruitment staff, team managers, video and statistical ­analysts and community project officers related to sports competitions, teams and governing bodies should also be noted in the ­exemptions, the sports say.

Some sports teams have written to government officials and local authorities, saying “the legislation will restrict the use of fixed term contracts by employers, such that the club will be unable to engage its football department staff or its players on a fixed-term contract that exceeds two years”.

The letters, seen by The Australian, say that while some ­exemptions will apply they are ­“either insufficient to capture or unclear in their application to ­persons engaged in high-­performance environments.”

Clubs and sports say the ­process of player recruitment, selection and trade would be ­“completely undermined” and that in its current form the legislation would “have a devastating effect” on their sports.

The sports say the flexibility of the fixed-term contracts they ­currently offer players, coaches and support staff are integral to maintaining the facilitation of movement of players and officials between teams and assisting competitive balance between the clubs.

A spokesperson for the ­Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, which represents the AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia, Netball Australia, ­Tennis Australia and Rugby ­Australia, said their organisation had been working with the ­federal government since the legislation was introduced to find a resolution. “From discussions to this point we understand the government appreciates the issues specific to sport and we are working through them constructively to find a resolution as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Burke has said the number of workers on fixed-term ­contracts has increased by more than 50 per cent since 1998. More than half of all employees ­engaged on fixed-term contracts are women; and more than 40 per cent of fixed-term employees have been with their employer for two or more years.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 9:14 am

H B Bear

Aug 25, 2023 9:10 AM

Err, Albert Park. You know.

Top spot.
We had a terrace there for a while.
If one must have a city residence, that is the place. Nicely tucked away. Apart from Beach Rd, there are no through roads to anywhere.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:15 am

An Andrews hamburger was about all I could ever afford in Albert Park. Nice place for a coffee or a beer though.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
August 25, 2023 9:16 am

Knuckles you forgot Toowoomba Hell Miata Drivers.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 9:17 am

Australian sports are battling changes to the Fair Work Act they say will have a devastating effect, making it almost impossible to hire and fire coaches, employ younger players and fill a wide range of support positions.

As much as I love Terry Daniher, I don’t think the idea of him working through to retirement at 65 as a centre-half-forward really works.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:22 am

The AFL should be thought of as a gig economy. Gillon McPolo-Pony is really just a jumped up Uber driver or organ grinder.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 9:22 am

H B Bear

Aug 25, 2023 9:15 AM

An Andrews hamburger was about all I could ever afford in Albert Park. Nice place for a coffee or a beer though.

Consistently rated best hamburger in the Free World by Age food reviewers who had never been there.
Very good.
But not Best Evah.

Indolent
Indolent
August 25, 2023 9:23 am

An Expose article with a roundup of recent Covid links, including Eris in Germany article above.

Covid Related News

duncanm
duncanm
August 25, 2023 9:27 am

The voice needs to be de-platformed for cultural appropriation.

Using written English, for starters.

duncanm
duncanm
August 25, 2023 9:35 am

I tend to get into cake making when the dead bananas in the freezer are taking up too much space.

Roger
Roger
August 25, 2023 9:36 am

“We’re not sure the government fully understands the gravity of their actions and the flow-on impacts it will have.”

Welcome to the world of the average citizen.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 9:40 am

LOL. The ABC presenter on the ABC News was going on about the prune season being impacted by the bees having a mite disease. Doesn’t the ABC know that a prune is a dried plum. Just like anyone that works at the ABC. LOL.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:43 am

Yep. If the Australia Council didn’t keep returning my mail there is a great novel to be written exploring the relationship between The Age, Andrews hamburgers and the re-election of the Andrews government.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 9:43 am

I tend to get into cake making when the dead bananas in the freezer are taking up too much space.

Try some of those dead bananas taking up too much space in Guv’ment in every State and Territory of Australia.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 9:47 am

It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians.

– Henrik Ibsen

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 9:49 am

I tend to get into cake making when the dead bananas in the freezer are taking up too much space.

I went through a banana bread phase where I would carefully age bananas for the purpose. Lost a few to the worm bin over the journey. Which were no doubt appreciated.

flyingduk
flyingduk
August 25, 2023 9:50 am

The in-principle agreement includes a 5 per cent wage increase for workers earning less than $100,000 a year, followed by another 5 per cent in 2024, 4 per cent in 2025 and 3.5 per cent in 2026.

and all whilst you purchasing power goes backwards at over 10% per year…. AND you pay more tax on your ‘higher’ income…

Makka
Makka
August 25, 2023 9:53 am

apparently Nikki Haley won.

Shouty.

Delta A
Delta A
August 25, 2023 9:57 am

the Rip van Lieborals

Stolen.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
August 25, 2023 9:59 am

H B Bear

Aug 25, 2023 9:43 AM

Yep. If the Australia Council didn’t keep returning my mail there is a great novel to be written exploring the relationship between The Age, Andrews hamburgers and the re-election of the Andrews government.

It was really funny.
The Age used to regularly run “The Best Ten xxxxx in Melbourne” articles.
Usually it comprised the current author’s favourite one or two xxxxxx’s, with the remaining 8-9 being (ahem) “reheated leftovers” from the previous year’s article.

Makka
Makka
August 25, 2023 10:00 am

NAPLAN shows one in three school students not meeting numeracy and literacy expectations | ABC News

Our Marxist riddled education system continues to deliver outstanding results. The last thing the political class of parasitic worms wants is a nation of intelligent voters.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 10:03 am

Tucker Carlson
@TuckerCarlson
Ep. 19 Debate Night with Donald J Trump

Aug 24, 2023

243M
Views

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
August 25, 2023 10:06 am

The last thing the political class of parasitic worms wants is a nation of intelligent voters.

Well said!

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:07 am

Social media has really killed those 10 Best type articles. My preferred bakery (which I found through Istagram) has a line extending into an arcade of empty shops in this failed arcade on the wrong side of Subi train station. Retail property is being turned on its head too.

Diogenes
Diogenes
August 25, 2023 10:09 am

The identifying white chap who says that Aborigines can be quite fair-skinned, you don’t have to have dark skin to be Aboriginal.

And what’s more you don’t need a drop of ancestry either. Iirc there was a German chap in the NT whose missus was full blood and he was accepted by the tribe and again if iirc he was initiated into the men’s business as well.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 10:11 am

I reckon numeracy and literacy standards (and results) are higher, much higher, in Russia than here in Oz.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 10:11 am

Special Report: The Curtain Closes On Yevgeny Prigozhin

SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
24 AUG 2023

An Embraer Legacy business jet registered to Prigozhin on its way from Moscow to Pulikovo airport outside St. Petersburg crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino, in Tver region northwest of Moscow.

The earliest reports jumped the gun claiming Russian air defense shot it down, which spurred theories that this was payback for the Russian airmen killed in Prigozhin’s revolt on June 23. But we’ll get to that theory.

Let’s start with what we know. For now, there are reports from “sources” that the bodies of Prigozhin and Utkin have in fact been identified, but this is not confirmed by more reputable or official reports yet:

The plane with Prigozhin was blown up. The bodies of Prigozhin and Utkin were identified – the source of Tsargrad in the commission of the Federal Air Transport Agency

This was later changed to:

One law enforcement official who is now at the scene of Prigozhin’s plane crash said:

“The identification of Prigozhin and Utkin is nothing but fiction. It is known that they were on board. However, it is too early to talk about identification. Inspection of the scene and identification has not been carried out yet.

Now they have arranged lights, waiting for everyone from Moscow. The inspection has not been carried out yet, several corpses without heads, inside and away from the cabin, mixed parts of corpses. Personal belongings have not been searched. The explosion technicians are still examining everything around”.

Let’s examine all the theories and possibilities one by one, and make some projections about potential outcomes of this event.

Firstly, it can’t be ignored that this occurred on 8/23 while the Wagner coup was on 6/23, the day when the Russian airmen were killed. Someone could be making a symbolic gesture to redeem the memories of the killed airmen.

Now as to the AD missile theory. A number of images have been released of the wreck. Some like the following show what appear to be fragmentation perforations from an AD missile:

Some may recall the infamous MH17 shoot down, with the fragmentation holes all over the cockpit:

However, other photos from the Prigozhin jet crash site seem to show no such evidence at all:

Interestingly, if I’m understanding the photos correctly, the tail empennage completely separated from the rest of the craft while still in the air, which could imply an internal explosion that neatly blew the plane apart at the rear or center.

Edit: this new video appears to show the tail and airframe/fuselage intact up until it breaks up near the ground and the tail separates:

Eyewitnesses describe 2 to 3 explosions, one man seemingly implying the plane just exploded on its own:

Another eyewitness video shows the plane falling, apparently without its empennage. You can hear the loud sound of a jet engine, which led some to assume it was a “fighter jet nearby” that shot the business jet down, though it’s far more likely it’s the sound of Prigozhin’s plane’s engines:

However, a noteworthy fact is that there does appear to be a sort of contrail in the air roughly commensurate with an AD missile explosion.

It could also be something else, from an internal explosion of the plane itself—it’s impossible to tell for certain

A subscriber noticed an interesting detail after analyzing data from the Flight-Radar service. According to the radar records, even before the crash, the plane managed to lose 100 knots of speed and sharply increase it, despite the fact that the altitude all this time continued to increase.

In simple words, such metamorphoses took place even before the moment of the fall. It is also difficult to explain such a change in characteristics by the fall itself: usually the stall speed is less than 150 knots.

All this, of course, does not allow determining the exact cause of the business jet crash: it will be determined by the commission. However, in any case, the version with an emergency situation on board against the background of the absence of large traces of striking elements on the fuselage will also be considered on an equal basis with the others.

I’m not a civilian airline expert. Perhaps someone in the comments can chime in—is it normal to dip your speed like that, up and down as seen above?

Reportedly, Prigozhin usually flew with 2 planes and switched between them, with only a tiny circle knowing which plane he would be on at any given time:

Valery Chekalov, who died along with Prigozhin, was the only one who knew about the businessman’s movements – it was he who led the transport logistics

According to a Readovka source, Valery Chekalov, who died along with Prigozhin, is the only one who knew exactly where the businessman was and at what time. He was responsible for all movements and transport logistics. However, he himself had nothing to do with the security service.

In addition, Chekalov was Prigozhin’s deputy for a number of important issues – in particular, he was one of those responsible for the supply of ammunition. As a rule, Chekalov and Prigozhin flew on different aircraft, but this time he was on the same plane as the businessman.

Such tactics of course are standard for high profile VIP individuals. Prigozhin’s penchant for disguises and things of that nature was already uncovered last time.

The one puzzling thing it does bring up however is that if the act was carried out by way of explosive planted on the plane, how would the perpetrators know which plane to “mine” if he infact kept it hidden up until the last moment? There was a report stating that Russian authorities now recovered footage, presumably from the airport, showing exactly which plane he boarded in an effort to confirm his death. So if it was a governmental hit job, they would have known at the last minute which plane he boarded, but this would not have given enough time to plant an explosive on it.

Of course, both planes could conceivably have been mined with an explosive. Or Prigozhin himself could have somehow accepted an explosive device, unbeknownst, in the same way that Vladlen did when he accepted the statue/bust of his likeness.

So now let’s use that to segue into theories of who or how it could have been done. Cui bono and who stands to gain or lose from this?

Firstly, let’s state the obvious: if Putin or the FSB wanted to “off” Prigozhin, they likely would not have done so in such an obvious way, over Russian territory, near Moscow, etc. That style of assassination stinks of the laughable Boris Nemtsov CIA type of hit, on the steps of the Kremlin as fodder for the gullible Western masses who could possibly buy that Putin would assassinate someone literally on Kremlin grounds.

So the Prigozhin hit has indications of being an outside force trying to frame Russia with the presumable intention of starting, or continuing, the internecine war between the Wagner-loyal faction and the Kremlin/MOD. Of course, it’s possible that a rogue S-300/400 commander used the opportunity to get one back “for the boys” killed by Prigozhin’s people on June 23. However, given what we now know about Prigozhin’s devious plane-hopping, such a rogue commander would not know which plane to target, given that 2 of Prigozhin’s planes were in the air at the same time, one of which returned and landed in Moscow after the first one’s downing.

We could perhaps argue that the “rogue commander” was being fed precise info by a military faction in the form of some general who wanted revenge, and they had more accurate information on exactly which plane to shoot down. That is possible. However the debris photos seen above don’t appear to indicate an AD missile in my view. The 2 or 3 explosions heard by eyewitnesses is also an intriguing and peculiar clue, particularly given that if an onboard explosive device was used, it would likely not lead to several explosions of that sort.

Take it with a grain of salt but we have the following rumors:

CHVK-OGPU:

“Relatives of flight attendant of Prigozhin Kristina Raspopova, with reference to the words of the girl, was told about strange manipulations with the plane before the last flight. It was taken away for some short-term and incomprehensible repairs.”

And:

They’re both from the VChK-OGPU propaganda outlet, but it’s something to chew on.

As I said, the June 23 to August 23 symbolism would appear to point to “pay back”, however this can also be taken advantage of and utilized by a 3rd party in order to frame Russia.

But could Ukraine/CIA or some such 3rd party have carried this out? It’s difficult to believe them gaining access to Moscow airport in a way that would allow them to plant a bomb there, though the above claims he was lured with an expensive wine gift, perhaps playing to his vanities in the same way that Vladlen’s statue/bust played to his. But it’s still hard to believe the SBU could have somehow fooled the notoriously cunning and suspicious Prigozhin with an explosive package of some sort—though we can’t discount anything.

Could they have shot the plane down in the sparsely populated region with some type of anti-air capability smuggled from Ukraine? Well, the plane’s altitude appeared to be nearly 30k feet at the time of the catastrophic “event”. There is almost nothing in existence that you could smuggle over a border that can shoot an object down at that height.

Manpads top out at 12-15k, give or take. No drone in existence can reach that altitude, other than the gigantic American RQ-4 Global Hawk or something like that. You’d need a Buk or S-300 type system to reach that altitude, and that would be impossible to hide.

In general an air defense missile shot at the craft would be difficult to hide as there would be a contrail at least part of the flight (for the early booster stage) visible by many people, so the likelihood of an AD missile shoot down is low. Some will point to the alleged Buk shoot down of MH17 but a rural village in the most sparse part of Donbass does not quite compare to the region outside Moscow.

Thus my conclusion is the plane likely exploded from within, and if that’s the case, it would point more strongly to the FSB as I would find it difficult to believe that Prigozhin would have fallen for accepting some kind of disguised explosive device from someone like an SBU member on the ground, nor would such a device be easily triggered at 30k feet as it would be nearly impossible to use any of the most common methods like a cellphone trigger, etc.

The mystery remains. The only other conceivable option is an inside job of some sort. Someone on Prigozhin’s own team who knew he had to go, for whatever reason. A close trusted associate who knew all his boss’s ins and outs would be a candidate for being able to effectively plant an explosive of some kind. A piece of luggage from a person like this would not trigger Prigozhin’s suspicion, for instance.

The sound of multiple explosions is still problematic but there could have been some kind of secondary blasts from the engines or something else perhaps.

Lastly, I want to mention the possibility—remote as it is—that Prigozhin and Utkin are not even dead.

For the record, as of this writing it has been emphasized that identification of the bodies has not yet occurred, as the explosives specialists were first on site gathering evidence and determining fault.

Yes, I know many channels posted confirmations from various people including those “close to Wagner”, etc.

But there’s always the possibility that either the trickster staged his own death to escape what he saw as a likely fate, or for whatever reason the Russian gov’t itself was complicit in offgridding him; particularly given the odd indeterminate trickery of the two planes both belonging to him in the sky at the same time, and later reports that he was actually on the flight logs of both planes.

In this game, I don’t trust anything I don’t see with my own eyes, and I didn’t see who debarked when the second plane landed back in Moscow.

Most likely him and Utkin are dead, but I’m simply putting it out there to cover all bases.

Who knows, maybe Putin, in a final moment of forgiveness showed mercy on Prigozhin and allowed him to fake his own death in exchange for disappearing and handing Wagner over to Shoigu/Russia. Stranger things have happened.

Moving on.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 10:12 am

Now the ABC Talking Head states that the USA is the World’s biggest democracy. LOL. It’s India you Wally. More Miss Information from the ABC. Close it down and save over 1 Billion South Pacific Pesos a year. More money for the Age Pensioners here.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 10:12 am

Special Report: The Curtain Closes On Yevgeny Prigozhin

SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
24 AUG 2023

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:16 am

Conversely if you do something well word soon gets around. I split my coffee between 2 cafes, one run by these great young guys who roast out of an industrial unit somewhere and have a nice (but cheap) barebones cafe in Subi. They get bread and pastries in from 2 other similar outfits.

Tom
Tom
August 25, 2023 10:19 am

Tucker Carlson

@TuckerCarlson
Ep. 19 Debate Night with Donald J Trump

Aug 24, 2023

243M
Views

In TV ratings terms, that’s a year and a half of Carlson’s show on Fox News — axed by the Mudrock kiddies even though Carlson led the cable news ratings.

I wonder if Ruperdink in his final years realises what a disaster they have been to the empire he spent a lifetime building.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:22 am

So Prigozhin may be dead? Or he may not be. More to come.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 10:23 am

When my dad played VFL payment was the odd spot of cash from generous supporters.
Now we have to have ongoing employment contracts.
Can you imagine the unfair dismissal cases?

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 10:23 am

In a nutshell thank you Bear.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
August 25, 2023 10:25 am

BRICS Economic Bloc Expands Adding Iran, Argentina, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Ethiopia During Summit

August 24, 2023 – Sundance

The original BRICS economic alliance between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expanded today. During the summit held in South Africa, the group which is home to about 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of global gross domestic product, voted to accept the applications of Iran, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia.

What we see forming now is further evidence of the great energy cleaving.

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).

China will benefit the most as the Western industrial economies will not be able to compete in a global market using windmills and solar panels.

H B Bear
H B Bear
August 25, 2023 10:26 am

243M
Views

And on the net you know when, where down to the last individual. No guesswork or carpet strollers.

Jorge
Jorge
August 25, 2023 10:27 am

OldOzzie
Aug 25, 2023 10:17 AM

Thanks, OldOzzie.

Rosie
Rosie
August 25, 2023 10:28 am

Exactly Bear, there is a new bakery across the road from my daughter’s, run by a former employee of a famous bakery in Seddon.
Can’t bake fast enough.
And an oddly named Malaysian place round the corner from me the local Chinese are ordering massive takeaways from, though she said she had a restaurant somewhere else so they might have followed her.

Makka
Makka
August 25, 2023 10:30 am

I reckon numeracy and literacy standards (and results) are higher, much higher, in Russia than here in Oz.

Cassie, my family was with me in Russia during our time there in the 2000’s. Daughter was just 4 years old. She went to Russian kindy there and we also had a qualified English teacher visit regularly just to keep up those literacy and basic numeracy skills in English. A very intelligent young lady.

Russian kindy was amazing- an all day thing with meals and afternoon naps in the creche. Lots of outdoor activities, both winter and summer combined with fundamental child scholarly work, geography, arithmetic, writing , reading puzzle work, drama/dancing/art stuff. Very broad activities. And full on. Daughter absolutely loved it. The teachers were fantastic, made my daughter feel very welcomed and the kids too. Parents were quite friendly.

The things that stood out for me was the pace of early learning and the emphasis put on handwriting. Not pressure but well organised. I found almost all Russians had beautiful fluid and uniform penmanship- no matter what your social background.

From what I could gather there, Russian high school starters were around the equivalent of our HS Y10 leavers. So I definitely agree with your comment 100%.

JC
JC
August 25, 2023 10:31 am

H B Bear
Aug 25, 2023 9:15 AM
An Andrews hamburger was about all I could ever afford in Albert Park. Nice place for a coffee or a beer though.

There’s no better burger? in the galaxy. And the chips are perfect. Mouth watering just thinking about them. I may just head over later on.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
August 25, 2023 10:32 am

Quadrant magazine.

As befits an honest reviewer, I should hasten to note that there are quite a few parts of the Handbook that I genuinely like. In a solo-authored chapter on what the Voice means to him, Mayo reports from the classroom, where the five-to-seven-year-olds can be more easily shaken out of their constitutional conservatism: “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.”

Black Ball
Black Ball
August 25, 2023 10:33 am

I detect heresy! Heresy I say! Paul Williams with an article which really outlines Australia’s decline. Daily Telegraph:

Did you hear about Singapore’s latest sporting success? What about Estonia’s? Or Finland’s? Or Slovenia’s? No? Me either.

Those countries enjoy their sports, but they’re not known for their athletic prowess. What they are known for is thrashing Australia in the OECD’s PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) global rankings of schoolchildren’s academic performance.

In 2018’s survey (the last before the Covid-19 pandemic), Australia ranked 16th in kids’ reading, 17th in science and a shameful 29th in mathematics – well below South Korea, New Zealand, Poland and many other countries.

The year before, UNICEF ranked Australia 39th out of 41 nations on overall academic performance, with only Romania and Turkey rating lower. Only 70 per cent of Australia’s 15-year-olds met the most basic levels of education.

And, just this week, NAPLAN results revealed 20 per cent of Queensland’s Year Nine kids don’t meet the most basic literacy standards.

I’ve been thinking about those numbers since Australia’s most recent saturnalia of sporting adulation. But before I proffer the most unpopular opinion in Australia – get ready keyboard warriors in your green-and-gold capes – credit where credit is due.

Hats off to the Matildas for their personal success – fourth-best in the world’s most-played game is an amazing achievement – and even more so for raising the profile of women’s sport in an overtly masculine nation. That the Matildas have become role models for Australian girls everywhere hardly needs repeating.

But what sort of role model are we promoting? Is such a model realistic for millions of young girls? Is it even in the national interest?

I found it depressing to hear girls, interviewed at the height of Matildas madness, declare their aspiration to “be” a Matilda as if it were a career description. Last time I checked, employers weren’t clamouring for soccer goalies or rugby forwards.

But we can’t blame kids for wanting to be celebrities amid the public adulation we heap on sports stars in this country.

Australian culture has always placed sporting success far above any other, with us mere mortals prostrate at the athlete’s smelly feet.

Sadly, should we ever popularly elect a republican head of state, it’s inevitable we’ll suffer a mumbling washed-up footballer as our first national president.

No, the sports professional is an inappropriate role model simply because that career path is so unlikely. Despite the improbability of sport translating into a well-paid career, millions of kids will continue to eschew school as they dream of sporting glory.

But how many actually go on to represent their country on the international stage?

And, of those who do, how many are financially rewarded for the training hours invested?

And, of those who are, how many struggle financially when, aged in their 30s and without qualifications, their bruised and battered bodies finally give out?

No, promoting sportspeople as “heroes” for simply being the strongest or fastest or most adroit ballhandlers is a cruel con that does neither children nor the nation any good.

And, sadly, our schools are complicit. I still wince at the number of hours I was forced to waste at school running, jumping and throwing, all the while wondering when I was going to get the extra help in calculus I so desperately needed.

Worse, physical education teachers lauded the athletically-inclined and openly ridiculed lesser-abled kids.

It’s even more concerning that our promotion of sport as an aspiration for young girls comes as Australia is gripped by an acute skills shortage. We are crying out for more (especially women) engineers, software programmers, cyber security analysts, and secondary maths and science teachers.

It’s these skills, not basketball or backstroke, that build businesses, create employment and generate valuable export dollars so today’s kids can live in an economically competitive Australia tomorrow.

Instead of pledging national holidays or erecting Matildas statues, how about our pollies promote science as a career choice for girls?

And how about stumping up some of the cash now splashed on school swimming pools and spending it on state-of-the-art libraries, science blocks and computer labs?

But sport builds teamwork and fitness, you say? Sure, but it also teaches kids that human worth comes principally from being the fastest, strongest or most physically – but not intellectually – adroit.

As for teamwork and fitness, why not promote collaborative project work inside the classroom, and individualised callisthenics outside it?

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

It’s time Australia grew up. Your kids’ future depends on it.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
August 25, 2023 10:33 am
Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 10:38 am

Nice piece in the Oz…gives me hope….

Campion College names library after Gina Rinehart
The Gina Rinehart Library at Campion College.

Australia’s first liberal arts tertiary education college, Campion College at Toongabbie, west of Parramatta, has named its new ­library after Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting.

Mrs Rinehart, who has supported medical research, and sporting, veteran, health and educational organisations for many years, secured naming rights to the two-storey library.

It was opened on Thursday as part of the college’s new academic centre, which also gives the college’s 150 full-time-equivalent undergraduate and postgraduate students a grand hall, a new lecture theatre, media room and six additional classrooms.

“We are deeply honoured and thankful to Mrs Rinehart for her transformative contribution to Campion College,’’ college president Paul Morrissey said.

“As we stand here before these awe-inspiring buildings, we are reminded that they have been meticulously built to last and inspire generations of current and future students. I am confident that students and scholars who study in these rooms will find solace in the wealth of resources housed within the Gina Rinehart Library.’’

The library includes 25,000 books, including hundreds ­donated by Sydney priest Paul Stenhouse, the former editor of Annals magazine and a scholar of Islam and at least 10 biblical, Middle Eastern and European languages. He died in November 2019. Stenhouse helped develop the college and gave occasional lectures there. Campion began in 2006 with 12 students. It was ­established by retired Brisbane businessman James Power, with a classical curriculum based on the study of the “great books’’ of Western civilisation, covering history, literature, philosophy, science, Latin, maths and ­theology.

Dr Morrissey said Campion was an independent institution of higher education, offering a transformative undergraduate experience that inspires students to think critically, engage in rigorous intellectual discourse and develop transferable skills for success in a wide range of industries and professions.

Its graduates to date are working in teaching, medicine, law, ­academia, business, journalism, the Catholic priesthood and ­religious life.”

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.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
August 25, 2023 10:45 am

My kids going from Primary, secondary and College followed the same teacher, head teacher then Principal as she failed upwards. Her body language exuded smarmy school maam without saying a word. We were called in often to listen to her woke dream of how woke beats truth anyday. Not only as it turned out every single time, it was the other kid causing the problem but ours had to endure the punishment as well. Not on our watch. Wife ripped her a new one each time even going to the Education dept when she got worse. Dept told her it was not up to her and not be so obnoxious. I do have to admit my kids are good baiters. Didn’t lie and only answered the question. The truth only made this woman worse. It was the first case of woke I ever encountered that I recognised as such. Some of the teachers were brilliant. Our kids excelled with them and each looked forward to being in their class when moving up.

Johnny Rotten
August 25, 2023 10:47 am

So they’ll appear in the field sometime in late ’24/ early ’25.

The Russian ‘Police Action’ will be over by then.

Cassie of Sydney
August 25, 2023 10:51 am

“Makka
Aug 25, 2023 10:30 AM”

I’m sorry Makka, but what would you know? You’ve only lived in Russia, and you’ve only sent a child to pre-school in Russia. Gosh, to be an expert on Russia you’ve just got to have read some books on Russia, that’s the only thing that can make you an expert on Russia, according to one or two people here!

Oy vey!

  1. A market opportunity. Lease a thousand acres of prime mountain/river wilderness and set up 2 week adventure packages for teens.…

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