Open Thread – Wed 27 Sept 2023


The Old Burgtheater, Gustav Klimt, 1889

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Vicki
Vicki
September 28, 2023 11:37 am

I remember back in 2019, attending the first CPAC here in Sydney, as I was speaking to Campbell Newman, a young CPAC attendee came up the stairs and said that he recognised one of the violent far-left rabble downstairs, blocking access to the conference, intimidating attendees, and that this protester, a young women, was the daughter of a well known corporate bigwig. Embarrass the daughter and the parents.

Cassie – this is part of the problem. Rather than rebel from their parents’ views, they seem to be emulating them. On the north side of the Harbour corporate Lefties are thick on the ground.

Peter Greagg
Peter Greagg
September 28, 2023 11:38 am

I give up.

I have been trying to copy a column in the Oz from Daniell Wood. She is wery wery hurt that people have been rubishing her previous work suggesting that taxes need to rise.

For myself, I would take her seriously if she had shown how we could easily cut spending by 2.5 -3 percent of GDP.

For example, do we really need to subsidise childcare for households earning up to half a million a year?
Also, why is the NDIS not means tested?
Cats could easily add to the list.

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 11:42 am

“Cassie – this is part of the problem. Rather than rebel from their parents’ views, they seem to be emulating them. On the north side of the Harbour corporate Lefties are thick on the ground.”

Same here in eastern suburbs, but I think the mud should be thrown back.

They crap in their parents, and I want to see those pants rubbed in their faces.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 28, 2023 11:42 am

PR Guy is almost certainly one of Dan’s minions in the Premier’s office.

He says he isn’t.

Twitter troll PRGuy17 reveals himself as Jeremy Maluta in a bid to raise money for a potential defamation battle (Jun, 2022)

The pro-Labor account has gained more than 95,000 followers since joining Twitter in March 2020.

The account has been highly critical of mainstream media and is a staunch supporter of Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, using the hashtag #IStandWithDan as he implemented one of the world’s harshest lockdown restrictions.

Mr Maluta, who spoke in an hour-long interview with FriendlyJordies, told followers he has no PR or social media experience and has no connections to Mr Andrews.

“I don’t actually have any PR experience, I don’t actually have any social media experience or media experience of any kind,” he said.

“I can confirm I don’t work for Dan Andrews or any political thing whatsoever. Those theories are completely cooked.”

Make of that what you will. I haven’t bothered trying to find out who Mr Maluta is or what he does, apart from being a lefty troll.

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 11:52 am

That should read “they crap in their pants”

lotocoti
lotocoti
September 28, 2023 11:54 am
Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 12:01 pm

PR Guy. That drip was interviewed on the friendlyjordies YT channel sticking the boot into Avi.

I note both of the pr*cks have backed of from that. FJ’s is a pasty face loser attacking Avi Yemeni.

No doubt he regrets it.

Tom
Tom
September 28, 2023 12:04 pm

On the north side of the Harbour corporate Lefties are thick on the ground.

We’ve always assumed people running big businesses have been schooled in how the capitalist free market works.

It turns they’re as susceptible to political fads as the dumbest wannabe-communists and haven’t been taught anything of significance about how the free market works.

The only thing most of them love about Big Business is the size and that the bigger the business, the more it gets to behave like the ultimate monopoly, the government.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 12:09 pm

However, there is still moisture in the soil here and reasonable Spring growth.

Farmers in these parts have good sub-soil moisture to see them through summer.

If good rain doesn’t fall in the meantime, they’re well adapted to extended dry periods.

shatterzzz
September 28, 2023 12:09 pm

Also, why is the NDIS not means tested?

I’d guess this is because most NDIS recipients aren’t well off .. maybe their parents/families are but it’s the recipient that the benefit applies too not the family unit .. If taking family wealth into account you’d have to “means test” across all the forms of benefits for “fairness” ..

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 12:16 pm

Absolutely brilliant.

Those keeping these planes alive. RESPECT!

—-

Bobsurgranny:

28 Sept 2023
A neat selection of rarely seen vintage aircraft flybys over a small village in England during a nearby airshow.

AIRCRAFT IN THE VIDEO INCLUDE:

BBMF Lancaster
Spitfire
Hurricane
P-51 Mustangs
B-17 Sally B Flying Fortress
Hawker Fury
P-47 Thunderbolt
Vampire Jet
RAF Red Arrows

Rarely Seen Vintage Aircraft Flybys Over The Tree Tops at English Airshow Village

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 12:21 pm

“If taking family wealth into account you’d have to “means test” across all the forms of benefits for “fairness” ..”

Why? I disagree. And if someone has paid taxes their whole lives, they, and particularly their family home should not be means tested for the pension.

I’m sorry, but there should be rewards for those who pay taxes their whole lives, and who don’t take from the government.

I don’t know about others, but when I hear feel good talk about “fairness” (a rubbish concept), I get the shivers, much like I got the shivers yesterday when I heard the new premier of Victoria very deliberately state how she believed in “equality of outcome”.

And here’s a plain truth, life isn’t fair. Oh, and what is fair anyway?

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 12:25 pm

I’d like to have ten million dollars, it’s not fair I don’t.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 12:28 pm

PRGuy17 was definitely traced to PM and Cabinet. A couple of his tweets during LockDans belled the cat that he had inside knowledge.
Mr Maluta is no doubt a Labor friendly with no assets (making litigation futile) who has assumed ownership of the account to take the heat off.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 12:32 pm

I note the LDP stands for Limp Dicks Partay among shooters, after their success cannibalising the SFFP in their early runs.

The SFFP won a State LC seat recently and Borsak and Lleyonhjelm hate each other.

Cannibalised? Maybe in Robert Borsak’s head.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 12:33 pm

I still want the mail on the ACP implosion. I think they got screwed over.

The old Joan Collins special, and I’m not talking about bourbon, lemon, sugar syrup and soda.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 12:36 pm

Sheep passed in yesterday at auction, no bid, auctioneer asking $15 per head, gave up.
.. “…. fifteen…?..?.. Leave them there also..”

The price of sheep here, in the Wild West is at it’s lowest since 2007 – sheep that were worth between 100 to 150 dollars a head are now down to less then FIVE DOLLARS a head, but oh, no, it’s nothing to do with the plan to ban the live trade.

There are fools, damn fools and then there are Labor politicians….

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 12:37 pm

What about Lleyonhjelm’s implosion? Totally unnecessary.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 12:37 pm

Oh, and what is fair anyway?

Politicians’ salaries and pensions should be paid at a base rate with bonuses (or penalties) tied to their performance as measured by days attended, speeches made, constituents met with, corruption/expenses scandals avoided or not, and more generally inflation, unemployment, credit ratings, cost of living and general well-being.

That would be fair and I’m sure there are smart people who could work out algorithms to ensure it’s all calculated in a disinterested, apolitical manner.

Dan Andrews walking away at 51 with a pension of $300k p.a. after wrecking the state not fair.

shatterzzz
September 28, 2023 12:38 pm

And here’s a plain truth, life isn’t fair. Oh, and what is fair anyway?

So why isn’t the “means test” applied to the parents/relatives if a dole recipient lives at the same address or to an OAP living with family members ……

cohenite
September 28, 2023 12:38 pm

Trump responds to that fat, black kunt and the idiot judge who convicted him on asset valuations.

This is the fat, black kunt declaring she is going to get Trump before she was elected as NY ag.

This shit is just the entrée. When the election campaign starts proper and Trump is far ahead of anyone else bullets and/or unlit, unvideoed prison cells a la Epstein will come into play.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 12:41 pm

Cassie of Sydney

Sep 28, 2023 12:37 PM

What about Lleyonhjelm’s implosion? Totally unnecessary.

Unnecessary, futile, achieved nothing and burnt a lot of goodwill.

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 12:43 pm

No surprises…

A Sri Lankan cricketer who has been stuck in Australia for almost a year as he fought a “stealthing” charge in court will be free to return home after he was found not guilty of sexual assault without consent.

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
September 28, 2023 12:43 pm

Support for the Voice has fallen to 36 per cent, while the No vote rose nationally to 56 per cent.

Gotta find that wishy-washy 8% of the country who are still undecided and put the fear of Mayo into them. Ask them whether there is any circumstance in which a new racist institution should be set up by the government, paid for by taxpayers, and enshrined in the constitution – with heavy implication the answer is No.

Tell them the proposal is a blank cheque for bad people and the only way to hold out for a better deal is to say no to the first bad deal.

Convert! Convert!

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 12:44 pm

Mr Maluta could also be a completely unrelated party running a scam GoFundMe.
He claims to be collecting money to defend litigation by Avi Yemeni.
Except Avi says there is no litigation.
Hmmmm.

Rosie
Rosie
September 28, 2023 12:49 pm

Most NDIS recipients are children. Every other taxpayer benefit to dependent children is means tested, more or less.

Rosie
Rosie
September 28, 2023 12:50 pm

Not most, but many. I think its the biggest growth area.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 28, 2023 12:52 pm

Re PRGuy and Kamahl, to borrow words from an erudite man, is this another “High tech lynching of an uppity black”?

Rosie
Rosie
September 28, 2023 12:53 pm

Pr guy used to claim he was working in the trade, some Canberra experience.
I agree probably operated by one of the many employed in the bloated premier’s office but nominally held by a third party.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
September 28, 2023 12:55 pm

Winston asked for this a while back:

Flag 1: true meaning?

Lysander
Lysander
September 28, 2023 12:56 pm

Sheep passed in yesterday at auction, no bid, auctioneer asking $15 per head, gave up.

Agree that sheep are cheap and many farmers are shooting them on site as they’re not worth the cost in food/water nor transport. But can someone tell me, then:

-Why is lamb still so fricking expensive at the shops when you could literally drive an hour out of any city and buy a whole live sheep for fifteen bucks???

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
September 28, 2023 12:56 pm

Unnecessary, futile, achieved nothing and burnt a lot of goodwill.

Almost had him washing dishes for SHY.

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 12:57 pm

“Most NDIS recipients are children. Every other taxpayer benefit to dependent children is means tested, more or less.”

That is my understanding. I have zero problem with means testing for NDIS.

Delta A
Delta A
September 28, 2023 12:57 pm

Headline fromThe Australian:

No means ‘more of same mess in Aboriginal affairs’: Burney

Burney admits that she is not capable of effecting change with the $4 billion plus per annum allocated to her Indigenous Afairs department.

I suspect that Jacinta would be far more optimistic and effective in that position.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
September 28, 2023 12:59 pm

Flag 2: humbug edition

Flag 3: full humbug

Lysander
Lysander
September 28, 2023 12:59 pm

Politicians’ salaries and pensions should be paid at a base rate with bonuses (or penalties) tied to their performance

I quite liked a proposal put forward by an MP in the UK in the 1990’s. He proposed that every successful MP/party get a certain $ amount for each vote they got, the total would go into a pool that the party would determine who got paid what (dependent on standing, self-sufficiency, if in a safe seat or not, performance etc..).

It may be a little idealistic but there’d be plenty of popcorn time for the viewing public!

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
September 28, 2023 12:59 pm

Ukraine fatigue laid bare on both sides of the Atlantic

As the NATO Secretary General says enlargement of the military alliance drove Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine, there are increasing questions in the US about funding the war.

James Curran – International Editor

On both sides of the Atlantic recently, there are two stark realities about the Ukraine war that have been laid bare.

In Brussels, the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said publicly that enlargement of the military alliance prompted Vladimir Putin to illegally attack Ukraine.

It was a startling statement; until now, to acknowledge this in polite company typically invited howls of derision.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Republican lawmakers openly questioned new American funding for the war during a visit to the US Capitol by Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to a joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Stoltenberg said,

“President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And [that] was a pre-condition [to] not invade Ukraine. Of course, we didn’t sign that … So, he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders’.

The statement flies in the face of what has become an article of faith in some quarter about Putin’s invasion, namely that it was unprovoked. And it underlines once more that there were diplomatic channels to avoid the war that were clearly not exhausted.

Yet, NATO enlargement has been a taboo subject in discussing the causes of the war and the peace that might emerge from it. Just ask University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer. Or former prime minister Paul Keating. Or, if you must, hold a séance with the distinguished American diplomat George Kennan, who also often warned in the late 1990s of the risks of stoking Russia in expanding NATO eastwards towards its border.

The future of American primacy

Forty-three percent of Ukrainians equate total victory with the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders, Bloomberg reported. Others want reparations from Moscow and war crimes trials for Russian military commanders. But Russia will neither relinquish Crimea or the Donbas nor tolerate Ukraine becoming part of NATO.

The intransigence and brutality on both sides is ensuring the destruction of Ukraine.

In Washington, the focus is also on the war’s implications for 2024, and for American primacy.

An increasing number of Republican legislators now oppose President Biden’s latest request to Congress for an additional $US24 billion ($37.2 billion) of aid to Ukraine. That will not prevent the money or selected weaponry flowing to Kyiv.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy asked publicly after meeting Zelensky, “Where is the accountability on the money we already spent?” and “What is the plan for victory?”

Existing US appropriations run out next week.

Republicans are not unified. Minority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell says, “American support for Ukraine is not charity” since “it’s in our own direct interests not least because degrading Russia helps to deter China”.

His line retains the strongest hold on Washington because it relates to US primacy. Harder heads know the war will be deemed a strategic failure for the United States if Putin were to come out even marginally on top.

Indeed, US confidence and primacy is on the line more than at any time since Vietnam.

Worthwhile to keep funding the war?

While for the moment it is only Republicans, and Democrat presidential candidates like such as Robert F Kennedy Jr invoking “accountability”, the trend is worth watching.

Because it shows much more than bean-counting. It connects to a deep stream in US foreign policy thinking about when a war that Americans fight or fund does not go the way US ideals dictate.

In the aftermath of the Chinese civil war in the late 1940s, for example, the dominant US narrative held that if only the Chinese nationalists had not disregarded the advice of General George Marshall, or embarked on such an ambitious military campaign, or if only US aid had been better managed by Chiang Kai-shek’s forces, China might not have been lost to Mao’s Communists.

Similar arguments were made following American defeats in South Vietnam, Iraq and more recently Afghanistan, when Biden said that “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves”.

In all of these cases, Washington had to pull out because it could not sustain the costs in money and troops, or disregard wilting public support at home.

Other countries too are turning up the heat on Kyiv, linking future war funding to greater progress from Zelensky on battling graft and corruption in Ukraine, and ushering in serious law and judicial reform.

He’s made some progress on these fronts, but not enough. And pressure to do more will intensify as discussions continue about Ukraine’s potential NATO and EU accession.

The disquiet about funding fatigue in Washington is also spilling over into Kyiv’s key relationships in Europe, especially Poland, which holds elections next month.

Polish authorities have decided not to arm Ukraine with new weapons, and will send Ukrainian refugees back next year.

This is no doubt of pre-election mollifying of angry Polish farmers, who are enraged over the influx of cheaper Ukrainian grain driving down their own profits. But Hungary and Slovakia last week followed Warsaw in banning sales of Ukrainian agricultural goods within their borders.

It’s not new for EU farmers to raise their hoes in anger. But any fracture in the European position on Ukraine would come at the worst possible time for Kyiv, as another long winter looms.

Lysander
Lysander
September 28, 2023 1:01 pm

No means ‘more of same mess in Aboriginal affairs’: Burney

In other words: “Langton, Pearson, Reid, Mayo (and others) receiving tens of millions of dollars per year is a mess” 😛

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 1:20 pm

The problem with the left is that they not only believe money grows abundantly on trees, but they also believe that throwing abundant monies at problems, be it indigenous issues or education, will solve everything whereas the reality is, and the evidence proves it, that this magic pudding model flops every single time. We know indigenous communities are in crisis, we know educational standards are falling, despite the billions of bucks thrown their way.

Until Dutton and others on the right grow a spine, stand up and say that all the money in China will not fix any of the problems, nothing will change and the gravy train will continue.

Peter Greagg
Peter Greagg
September 28, 2023 1:25 pm

The Mocker from the Oz.

PM’s ‘comprehensive’ Covid inquiry: the farce unravels

Following the abortive press conference in which he announced his long awaited Covid-19 inquiry will not examine the “unilateral actions” of the states and territories, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese again fronts the media.

——-

Albanese: I’ve called this press conference because a lot of rubbish has been said about my decision to hold an inquiry into the Commonwealth’s response to Covid. Let me be clear, I make no apologies for being determined to examine what went wrong or for protecting Australians. So fire away with your questions.
ournalist: Prime Minister, you said on July 12, 2020, and I quote: “I would be very surprised when all of this is over and life is returned to normal, if we don’t have a very comprehensive inquiry into the handling of this.” But your inquiry won’t even be able to compel witnesses to answer, and neither can it examine the actions of the states. How is that a very comprehensive inquiry?

Albanese: Look, I get it. Thousands of Australians died from Covid. Businesses went bust and livelihoods were destroyed. A generation of kids lost their chance to learn social skills at the most impressionable time of their lives. It was the biggest social upheaval since WWII, and for all we know another pandemic could be just around the corner.

Journalist: Then why not a royal commission?
Albanese: Because royal commissions should only be used for very serious matters.

Journalist: Prime Minister, we now know most of these lockdowns and border closures were unnecessary. The epidemiologists and other experts who incessantly demanded them have been discredited. What’s more, decisions affecting people’s lives were made by faceless bureaucrats. And to make matters worse, often it wasn’t the science that was behind the closure of borders, but rather secret polling commissioned by Labor staffers. Can you understand why the public is so disillusioned?
Albanese: It is very important that people do not lose faith in the system. That is why I have arranged for this independent inquiry to be overseen by an epidemiological expert, a bureaucrat, and a former Labor staffer who demanded hard lockdowns.

Journalist: Prime Minister, during the pandemic, the Morrison government was hamstrung because it had no power to direct a co-ordinated and nationwide response, which resulted in the states becoming individual fiefdoms. Shouldn’t we be talking about amending the constitution to stop this autocratic fracturing from happening again?

Albanese: Exactly. And that is why it is crucial that next month Australians vote for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Journalist: Prime Minister, what is your response to the claim by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that this inquiry is a farce?
Albanese: As I said last week, “The Coalition are addicted to saying ‘no’ to everything, and that’s why I think the Coalition of yesterday have been turned into the Noalition of today”.

Journalist: So just to clarify, the Coalition not only want the inquiry to scrutinise the actions of the state premiers, but also to be in the form of a royal commission?

Albanese: That is what they have asked for.

Journalist: And you say, “We’re not going to allow that”.

Albanese: It’s not happening. No way.

Journalist: So your steadfast refusal to allow what they and many others are calling for means the Coalition is addicted to saying no?

Albanese: Yes – no – I mean, next question.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you said last week that this inquiry, quote, “should not be a source of conflict”. But as the Opposition says, isn’t that just an excuse for not examining the decisions of the states, many of which were extremely controversial?

Albanese: Look at the Opposition’s motives. They don’t want to contribute anything constructive. Tories only want to engage in conflict. That’s what they do.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you accused the Morrison government of recklessly spending billions in taxpayer funds during the pandemic. Yet in August 2021 you as Opposition Leader demanded the federal government pay $300 to every Australian to get vaccinated, a policy that would have cost $6 billion had it been implemented. Will that rash demand of yours also be examined in this inquiry?

Albanese: You want to co-opt the institutions of the state to attack your political opponents? That has no place in our democracy. This is not about shaming the Opposition of 2021.

Journalist: Then what is it about?

Albanese: It is about shaming the Opposition of 2023.

ournalist: Prime Minister, commentators are saying your narrow terms of reference for the inquiry are a blatant political ploy to protect current and former Labor premiers, particularly Daniel Andrews. What’s your response?

Albanese: I reject that entirely. My government is one of honesty and transparency.

Journalist: Is it true you don’t have the gumption to do anything that might get Daniel Andrews offside?

Albanese: Not at all. I am never afraid to offer constructive criticism, even in Dan’s case.

Journalist: What do you think he could have done better in the pandemic?

Albanese: Holding 120 consecutive press conferences was a phenomenal effort by Dan, but it nearly killed him. That is what happens when you sacrifice yourself for others. Had he turned it down just a notch, Victorians would still have the most brilliant premier the state has ever had. And to Dan’s credit, he would cop that criticism on the chin.

Journalist: Did former WA Premier Mark McGowan do everything right?

Albanese: Mark’s a great bloke who did a fantastic job. But he didn’t remind us enough that Western Australia kept the entire country going financially during the pandemic. I want all WA residents, especially those in marginal federal seats, to know I’ll always be grateful for what they did.
Journalist: Prime Minister, that’s hardly criticism. What about Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her refusal to let a grieving Canberra woman attend her father’s funeral, even though the ACT had no Covid cases at the time? She didn’t relent even when then prime minister Scott Morrison implored her to.

Albanese: Well as I said last week, the inquiry is going to look at the actions of the previous government, and I hope that would include the attempted bullying and intimidation of the Queensland Premier by Scott Morrison.

Journalist: You’ve not one criticism of Ms Palaszczuk’s actions in shutting people out?

Albanese: (Pauses) Well, maybe just one. Annastacia allowed footy teams from interstate to enter. She also let Dannii Minogue in and allowed her to quarantine at home. She even let in Hollywood stars like Tom Hanks. Do you see where I’m going?
Journalist: I think so. You want to know why ordinary Australians were denied …

Albanese: I want to know why Shaquille O’Neal missed out.

Journalist: Prime Minister, what do you have to say to those who suffered because of state governments making arbitrary and heartless decisions during the pandemic? Families such as the public housing residents of Flemington and North Melbourne who were surrounded by armed police without notice and unlawfully confined to their tiny apartments for up to 14 days but haven’t received so much as an apology from the Andrews government?

Albanese: I say to them, “Never lose sight of your dream.” On that note, let me tell you a story about the son of a single mother who grew up in public housing …

According to The Mocker, who can never be taken seriously.

The Beer whisperer
The Beer whisperer
September 28, 2023 1:27 pm

The only thing most of them love about Big Business is the size and that the bigger the business, the more it gets to behave like the ultimate monopoly, the government.

Proof that capitalism isn’t an ideology. As competitors, they’re capitalists, until they achieve market dominance, upon which they become socialists to protect their patch.

To be fair though, they don’t become ideological. Their socialism is purely out of self-interest, and they’re smart enough to fool less wealthy socialists.

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 1:32 pm

That Mocker piece is so good you’d almost think it was real.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 1:32 pm

From Indigenous
September 27, 2023
15 minute read
110

What happens to more than half of the Northern Territory’s $1.179bn education budget is information buried somewhere on the 14th floor of a Darwin office building people refer to as “Carpetland”.

The NT Department of Education’s airconditioned offices are a long way from the on-the-ground realities of remote schools. With a supermarket, jeweller and sushi place in the shopping centre below, public servants are at a distance from the remote teachers who sometimes drive through several croc-infested creek crossings to reach their students.

Educators have told The Australian this is a problem because the department has the most power to decide where the money is spent.

Of the 2021-22 NT education budget, less than half ($558.5m) went directly to schools, according to government data released in response to a parliamentary question in writing. The remaining $620.5m was managed centrally.

“It’s just not a good look” is how John Guenther, research leader for education and training with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, describes the breakdown of spending.

As The Australian has reported, schools across the Territory are the most underfunded in Australia, and many are cutting essential programs and teachers.

“The allocation to corporate services has been increasing well above the inflation level,” Guenther says. “And I don’t see that there is any sort of justification for that because they’re not actually providing any more service.”

It’s hard to ascertain the size of the NT Department of Education, which classifies its bureaucratic or “corporate” staff as “non-service based” and its on-the-ground staff, such as teachers, as “service-based”. The distinction is not clear because some staff work across both categories.

According to the department’s 2021-22 annual report, of 4400 positions, 483 (11 per cent) were non-service based.

However, 2022 Productivity Commission data, which uses a different classification, shows 704 staff “not active” in NT public schools. Analysis by the Australian Education Union NT reveals that for every 1000 students, the NT has 24 non-school staff, compared with nine in the ACT and eight in Tasmania (other small jurisdictions).

The Australian Education Union NT also reports Territory Department of Education spending on non-school staff rose 81 per cent between the 2015 and 2020 financial years, to $123.1m.

At a Darwin press conference this week NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles defended the size of the bureaucracy, saying: “In terms of our agencies, we need to make sure that they have the support to do their job. If we can have people out of agencies and on the ground in schools, that’s absolutely what I want to see. But we, as a government, have certainly invested back into schools, more teachers in our classrooms, more resources for our teachers and more infrastructure for education.”

The NT Education Department says central and corporate spending does funnel into schools, directly and indirectly. It covers costs for things such as principals’ salaries, some staff leave entitlements and allowances, and urgent minor repairs or new works.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 1:37 pm

Federal Court blocks Woodside work after Indigenous challenge
Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper, who is one of the founders of Save Our Songlines, had launched the court action after arguing that Woodside had failed to adequately consult with her as required.
Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper, who is one of the founders of Save Our Songlines, had launched the court action after arguing that Woodside had failed to adequately consult with her as required.

By paul garvey
Senior Reporter
@PDGarvey
1:26PM September 28, 2023
No Comments

Aboriginal campaigners have succeeded in using the Federal Court to block seismic works at Woodside Energy’s big Scarborough gas project, with the oil and gas heavyweight potentially facing “immediate, significant, and irrecoverable economic loss” as a result.

Justice Craig Colvin on Thursday morning ruled that the Federal regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority or NOPSEMA, had invalidly exercised its powers when it gave Woodside the all-clear to start a seismic survey program across its Scarborough gas fields.

Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper, who is one of the founders of Save Our Songlines, had launched the court action after arguing that Woodside had failed to adequately consult with her as required.
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Ms Cooper is a former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, the body set up to represent the traditional owners of the Burrup Peninsula region. Since leaving MAC, she has been leading Save Our Songlines in their protests against ongoing development in the rock art-rich area.

The seismic work is part of Woodside’s plans to develop the large Scarborough gas field off WA’s northwest coast. Environmental and Indigenous groups have argued that the seismic program could have a negative impact on sea life in the area, including migrating whales.

The gas from Scarborough will be fed into Woodside’s liquefied natural gas plants as part of its broader $50 billion Burrup Hub plan.

Ms Cooper said she was “elated” with the decision.

“I want my mob back home to be empowered by this day today. This is bigger than me, it’s about my people and our history,” she said.

“We’ve been forgotten and treated so badly. I want the old people to remember we are warriors.”

Should do the “YES” campaign for the Voice no end of good.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 28, 2023 1:38 pm

Took the new pup for a run around a mob of sheep.
Calm and collected, followed the orders the former owner/trainer sent me and came back to me on command.
Four hundred sheep under his control with what seemed like little effort at an easy loping gait.
Currently sitting in the ute under the shade with a FIGJAM expression.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 28, 2023 1:39 pm

Then again, did Bosi just lose his mind or was he the op?

A diet of onions & rice will do that to you.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
September 28, 2023 1:49 pm

Gez, how long before he’s best boy?

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
September 28, 2023 1:55 pm

Mate of mine related about his SiL who brought a dog from NZ. Absolutely useless. Wouldn’t do a thing right. He rang the previous owner to complain, turned out it was a whistle dog. SiL had to learn how to whistle.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
September 28, 2023 1:56 pm

I love to see a dog work sheep.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 2:01 pm

I love to see a dog work sheep.

Almost theological argument, which breed made the best sheepdogs – kelpies or border collies.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 2:02 pm

Aboriginal campaigners have succeeded in using the Federal Court to block seismic works at Woodside Energy’s big

This country is f&cked. Time go after the Judges with steel cap boots.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 2:04 pm

Time to go after the Judges with steel cap boots.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 28, 2023 2:05 pm

Collies are paddock specialists and a Kelpie is best in yard and shed. Few collies have the push needed in yards.
Crosses make useful allrounders.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
September 28, 2023 2:07 pm

The same cabal of warmongering pundits, foreign policy specialists and government officials, year after year, debacle after debacle, smugly dodge responsibility for the military fiascos they orchestrate.

They are protean, shifting adroitly with the political winds, moving from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and then back again, mutating from cold warriors to neocons to liberal interventionists. Pseudo-intellectuals, they exude a cloying Ivy League snobbery as they sell perpetual fear, perpetual war and a racist worldview, where the lesser breeds of the earth only understand violence.

They are pimps of war, puppets of the Pentagon, a state within a state, and the defense contractors who lavishly fund their think tanks — Project for the New American Century, American Enterprise Institute, Foreign Policy Initiative, Institute for the Study of War, the Atlantic Council and the Brookings Institution.

Like some mutant strain of an antibiotic-resistant bacteria, they cannot be vanquished.

It does not matter how wrong they are, how absurd their theories, how many times they lie or denigrate other cultures and societies as uncivilized or how many murderous military interventions go bad. They are immovable props, the parasitic mandarins of power vomited up in the dying days of any empire, including ours, leaping from one self-defeating catastrophe to the next.

They, and their coterie of fellow war lovers, went on to push for the expansion of NATO in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, violating an agreement not to extend NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany and recklessly antagonizing Russia.

They advocated for air strikes in Serbia, calling for the U.S. to “take out” Slobodan Milosevic. They were the authors of the policy to invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Robert Kagan and William Kristol, with their typical cluelessness, wrote in April 2002 that “the road that leads to real security and peace” is “the road that runs through Baghdad.”

They continue to call for a war with Iran, with Fred Kagan stating that “there is nothing we can do short of attacking to force Iran to give up its nuclear weapons.” They pushed for the overthrow of President Nicolás Maduro, after trying to do the same to Hugo Chávez, in Venezuela. They have targeted Daniel Ortega, their old nemesis in Nicaragua.

They embrace a purblind nationalism that prohibits them from seeing the world from any perspective other than their own. They know nothing about the machinery of war, its consequences or its inevitable blowback. They know nothing about the peoples and cultures they target for violent regeneration.

They believe in their divine right to impose their “values” on others by force.

Fiasco after fiasco. Now they are stoking a war with Russia.

“The nationalist is by definition an ignoramus,” Yugoslav writer Danilo Kiš observed.

“Nationalism is the line of least resistance, the easy way. The nationalist is untroubled, he knows or thinks he knows what his values are, his, that’s to say national, that’s to say the values of the nation he belongs to, ethical and political; he is not interested in others, they are no concern of his, hell — it’s other people (other nations, another tribe). They don’t even need investigating. The nationalist sees other people in his own images — as nationalists.”

The Biden administration is filled with these ignoramuses, including Joe Biden. Victoria Nuland, the wife of Robert Kagan, serves as Biden’s undersecretary of state for political affairs. Antony Blinken is secretary of state. Jake Sullivan is national security adviser.

They come from this cabal of moral and intellectual trolls that includes Kimberly Kagan, the wife of Fred Kagan, who founded the Institute for the Study of War, William Kristol, Max Boot, John Podhoretz, Gary Schmitt, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Frum and others. Many were once staunch Republicans or, like Nuland, served in Republican and Democratic administrations. Nuland was the principal deputy foreign policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.

They are united by the demand for larger and larger defense budgets and an ever-expanding military. Julian Benda called these courtiers to power “the self-made barbarians of the intelligentsia.”

They once railed against liberal weakness and appeasement. But they swiftly migrated to the Democratic Party rather than support Donald Trump, who showed no desire to start a conflict with Russia and who called the invasion of Iraq a “big, fat mistake.” Besides, as they correctly pointed out, Hillary Clinton was a fellow neocon. And liberals wonder why nearly half the electorate, who revile these arrogant unelected power brokers, as they should, voted for Trump.

These ideologues did not see the corpses of their victims. I did. Including children. Every dead body I stood over in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Gaza, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen or Kosovo, month after month, year after year, exposed their moral bankruptcy, their intellectual dishonesty and their sick bloodlust. They did not serve in the military.

Their children do not serve in the military.

But they eagerly ship young American men and women off to fight and die for their self-delusional dreams of empire and American hegemony.

Or, as in Ukraine, they provide hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry and logistical support to sustain long and bloody proxy wars.

Historical time stopped for them with the end of World War II.

All enemies, from Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin, are the new Hitler. All U.S. interventions are a fight for freedom that make the world a safer place. All refusals to bomb and occupy another country are a 1938 Munich moment, a pathetic retreat from confronting evil by the new Neville Chamberlain. We do have enemies abroad.

But our most dangerous enemy is within.

The warmongers build a campaign against a country such as Iraq or Russia and then wait for a crisis — they call it the next Pearl Harbor — to justify the unjustifiable.

In a bizarre interview immediately after 9/11, Donald Kagan, the Yale classicist and right-wing ideologue who was the father of Robert and Fred, called, along with his son Fred, for the deployment of U.S. troops in Gaza so we could “take the war to these people.” They have long demanded the stationing of NATO troops in Ukraine, with Robert Kagan saying that “we need to not worry that the problem is our encirclement rather than Russian ambitions.” His wife, Victoria Nuland, was outed in a leaked phone conversation in 2014 with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, disparaging the EU and plotting to remove lawfully elected President Viktor Yanukovych and install compliant Ukrainian politicians in power, most of whom did eventually take power. They lobbied for U.S. troops to be sent to Syria to assist “moderate” rebels seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. Instead, the intervention spawned the Caliphate. The U.S. ended up bombing the very forces they had armed, becoming Assad’s de facto air force.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, like the attacks of 9/11, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Putin, like everyone else they target, only understands force. We can, they assure us, militarily bend Russia to our will.

In short, don’t worry about going to war with Russia, Putin won’t use the bomb.

I do not know if these people are stupid or cynical or both.

They are lavishly funded by the war industry. They are never dropped from the networks for their repeated idiocy. They rotate in and out of power, parked in places like the Council on Foreign Relations or the Brookings Institution, before being called back into government.

They are as welcome in the Obama or Biden White House as the Bush White House.

The Cold War, for them, never ended. The world remains binary, us and them, good and evil.

They are never held accountable.

When one military intervention goes up in flames, they are ready to promote the next.

These Dr. Strangeloves, if we don’t stop them, will terminate life as we know it on the planet.

Speedbox
September 28, 2023 2:08 pm

feelthebern
Sep 28, 2023 6:26 AM
If Zelensky gets his way, what a conundrum for the UK. Arab & African refugees get to stay with all the protections & social safety net because of how “unsafe” their countries of origin are. But young, male Ukes get forcibly sent home. Makes sense.

PS. This is a big “if”. It’s one thing to send resources to Ukraine. It’s another to send unwilling people.

A couple of weeks ago there was a Ukrainian chap who had decamped to Ireland who had received his notice of intention to cancel his visa and deport him to Ukraine. It gave him the various options including fighting it in the courts.

But I doubt they will ‘catch’ too many. Germany says it has 163,000 young men who are Ukrainian ‘refugees’. Goodness knows how many in Poland! Not to mention, France, Spain, Netherlands Belgium, England etc. Hungary will have many thousands. And that assumes they have ‘registered’ on arrival – many will have friends/family in those countries and will have simply blended into the background.

It’s an impossible task to round them up. They will all be entitled to appeal the cancellation of their visa (assuming they have one and/or their whereabouts are known) and will choke the local courts for years hearing the appeals. Separately, I can’t imagine the local authorities setting out nation-wide dragnets to capture Ukrainian men and send them back to fight in a war.

Estimates vary, but the number of Ukrainians who have fled west into Europe is believed to be around 8-10 million. The number who fled east into Russia is believed to be around 5 million. So, Ukraine’s population of approx 42 million pre-war is probably now around 27-29 million. Even today, young men are still trying to sneak out of Ukraine despite the borders being closed. Some get through, some get caught. But, there are probably some 3-5 million men of military age who have left Ukraine and I think we can presume they have no intention of returning any time soon.

Then of course, there was the ‘cash for exemption’ scheme in Ukraine that has seen tens of thousands of young men secure exemption from military service on medical grounds. That scheme has been shut down and those certificates are now worthless but it was popular for a while.

There is a social media platform that tracks the location of the police and military ‘recruiter’ groups that sweep in and out of clubs/bars etc where they question the young man as to whether they have registered for military service. This is a LIVE app. According to reports, young men will suddenly leave a bar and disappear into the night. Minutes later, one of these recruiting groups will enter the bar.

The guts of it is this – those who had the money/resources to flee into Europe have already done so. The others who remained behind and don’t wish to serve, play a game of cat and mouse with the authorities.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 2:12 pm

Rosie

Sep 28, 2023 12:53 PM

Pr guy used to claim he was working in the trade, some Canberra experience.
I agree probably operated by one of the many employed in the bloated premier’s office but nominally held by a third party.

No doubt the account was closely connected to Hunchback’s office.
I think there will be a massive clean-out of Hunchback loyalists in Premier and Cabinet.
No way Jacinda could afford to have the remnants of the old regime hanging around.

Peter Greagg
Peter Greagg
September 28, 2023 2:13 pm

From the Oz.

This won’t be a surprise to Cats.

The Voice changes Australian law and risks reparations
ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN

ormer ALP president later turned Liberal, Nyunggai Warren Mundine, has declared the Uluru Statement from the Heart a declaration of war against modern Australia.

Immediately other Indigenous Australians disagreed. But this week I was privileged to receive a detailed legal opinion on the implications of the Uluru statement for modern Australia from Terence Cole, KC, one of Australia’s best known jurists having been a judge on the NSW Supreme Court and presiding over a number of royal commissions.

Many KCs in Australia are reluctant to comment publicly on the Voice referendum because they fear they would lose their government jobs. Cole is now retired so can speak frankly. Cole does not endorse Mundine’s war prediction but warns Australians about the future reparations they may face and the fundamental changes that implementation of the Uluru statement would bring to the Australia’s legal system.

He concludes: “The potential for great and irremediable harm to Australian society means that The Voice should never be incorporated in the constitution.”

Cole points out that some Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders want much more than recognition. They want the constitution changed to incorporate their Uluru claimed rights so that in the future, those Uluru rights cannot be abolished.

And already three demands of the Uluru statement have accepted entirely by our Prime Minister – the Voice body, a Makarrata commission and “truth telling about our history”.

But Cole says Uluru also claims Aboriginal “ownership of the soil … of sovereignty based on prior occupation”, and asserts that such sovereignty has never been ceded or extinguished and co-exists with the sovereignty of the crown.

Cole concludes that when asked to vote to amend the constitution to incorporate the Voice, Australians need to understand that some will use it to support the demands for recognition of coexisting sovereignty, a Makarrata commission designed to produce a treaty, monetary compensation for past events, and a rewriting of Australian history.

Cole might not attach Mundine’s description of Uluru as a “declaration of war” but he shows how the proposed changes to property rights will create deep divisions among the population.

Cole explains that the Uluru statement appears to be a claim that there presently exists an unextinguished and unlimited claim of ownership of the soil concurrently with the well recognised sovereignty of the Commonwealth Australia over Australian territory.

Under existing Australian law, ownership of soil and land and water is determined not by Indigenous spiritual notions but by the statutes of the Commonwealth states and territories.

It seems the Voice will seek to change this basic structure of our governance and society.

The Uluru statement claims for reconciliation, a Makarrata commission and a treaty are based solely on race differential. They split Australians into two racial groups on a permanent basis. The first race comprises those identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the second the remaining 97 per cent of Australians.

Makarrata is an Indigenous concept of coming together after conflict and to date it has played no part in modern Australian law, politics, life or security. The Voice seeks to change that.

Cole points out that the 97 per cent of Australian non-Indigenous citizens, all born here since federation or arriving here as migrants and acquiring citizenship, are not in conflict with Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders.

However, it is assumed by some Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander interests that because of their disposition, the injury or harm done to them and the destruction of their then primitive way of life by the infusion of different cultures, there needs to be a reconciliation between Australia and its present citizens and Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

The Makarrata commission is to work on a final settlement and reconciliation between indigenous and other Australians by addressing history, culture, empowering Indigenous people to take responsibility for their communities, creating commercial opportunities for Indigenous peoples and concluding agreements between government and indigenous peoples.

Coles points out that many people believe these objectives are desirable but it is not clear what any of them have to do with some supposed dispute between Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and the remaining 97 per cent of Australians.

Then he concludes with these chilling words: “Perhaps the answer is found in the 5th objective of concluding agreements with governments no doubt with significant monetary consequence.”

I add that if those “monetary consequences” are significant it may indeed be a “war declaration”.

Cole says in the process involved a Makarrata inquiry looks backwards and trawls over events, legislation, policies and administrative actions of the last 225 years, seeking to discover areas of discontent in the minds of presently living Aborigines about events, many in the distant past, and no doubt judging situations of the past by the attitudes of the day.

To achieve this and more, Aboriginal interests want a Voice enshrined in the constitution. It is the tool which will enable achievement of the Aborigines’ objectives. but it is difficult to contemplate a “process more designed to cause descent and disunity within the Australian community”.

Finally in considering the Voice proposal the central question is whether we wish to consider Australia in the future as one people with each having the same rights, obligations and privileges, or do we wish to consider Australia as a number of siloed groups with one or more groups having a different status with different rights and privileges.

If it be the latter, then future unity within our society is improbable.

Whatever may have occurred in the past, in 2023 all Australians live in a democracy. Central to that concept is that each person has one vote. Each person is free to join such association as he or she wishes and each person is free either individually or through some association to make representations or advocate for such policies as they regarded desirable. All Australians, including Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander at present have this right.

Cole concludes that it is not clear why either race or length of forebears occupation should constitute grounds for confirming an additional right to have a further Voice to the parliament or government.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 2:15 pm
Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 2:24 pm

I’d take great delight in beating the sh8t out of these / Federal / HC Judges.

I wouldn’t though.

Public humiliation is what counts.

The MSM will not do it. They are useless.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 28, 2023 2:24 pm

Aboriginal campaigners have succeeded in using the Federal Court to block seismic works at Woodside Energy’s big Scarborough gas project, with the oil and gas heavyweight potentially facing “immediate, significant, and irrecoverable economic loss” as a result.

Justice Craig Colvin on Thursday morning ruled that the Federal regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority or NOPSEMA, had invalidly exercised its powers when it gave Woodside the all-clear to start a seismic survey program across its Scarborough gas fields.

Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper, who is one of the founders of Save Our Songlines, had launched the court action after arguing that Woodside had failed to adequately consult with her as required.

For the non-energy adjacent, the Scarborough gas field lies 200km offshore in the Indian Ocean. Well outside coastal waters, over the horizon, but clearly well inside the reach of traditional songlines.

Aunty Raelene must have found someone with deep pockets to help fund her claim – possibly people whose own songlines coincide with hers.

Yes or No, this is Australia’s future.
No more nice things for you.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 2:30 pm

What happened to Hunchback, and why was it so sudden?
I could be wrong but I don’t think it is some looming external scandal.
I think it was power shifts within the ALP generally and his Left faction in particular.
Hunchback governed for his specific constituents – public servants, inner city socialists/greens and, above all else, construction unions aligned to his left faction. Unions aligned with other factions (AWU, TWU, Shoppies) got crumbs from the table.
I think there had been a few “leadership handover false dawns”, with Hunchback promising to go “soon” or “before the midpoint of this term”.
This time, I think Allan has garnered the numbers (including the Right) and issued the ultimatum.
Go now, or it’s a spill next Monday.
I can’t believe he voluntarily walked without a “stick it up ’em” victory lap.
The only snag is the Right (via Ben Carroll) then flipped on the smooth transition to a Left Premier and Deputy.
In other words, factional “Trooble at Mill”.
A fair bit of this is driven by Hunchback putting factional enemies (Somyurek and Kairouz) to the sword over branch-stacking but shrugging off the same offence committed by Left ally Lily D’Ambrosio.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
September 28, 2023 2:31 pm

Speaking of American Wicked Witches of the West – Another one who pops up regularly creating havoc

‘CIA cutouts’, big money grants and biolabs: The depth of US interference in Armenia explained

Washington has sunk tens of millions of dollars into the Caucasian nation, which is a treaty ally of Russia

Within days of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power touched down in Yerevan with promises of “support for Armenia’s sovereignty.”

RT explores how USAID is attempting to reshape the country with the aid of its pro-Western prime minister.

1. How did we get here?

In the face of a military onslaught by Azerbaijani forces, the ethnic Armenian leadership in the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed last week to lay down arms and allow the territory to be subsumed into Azerbaijan.

Although Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to prevent the Azerbaijani attack, he had already recognized the territory as Azerbaijani, and sought to distance himself from his traditional allies in Moscow and ingratiate himself with the US by holding military exercises with American forces and sending aid money to Ukraine.

What is USAID doing?

Power and US State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim visited Yerevan on Monday. According to a press release from the State Department, the visit was intended “to affirm US support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and democracy and to help address humanitarian needs stemming from the recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Last year, USAID spent $33.7 million on Armenia, according to the agency’s website. Almost half of this amount was directed to government and civil society projects. The agency stated that it intends to speed up the country’s “strategic transition to a more inclusive, democratic, and economically resilient society.”

USAID is Washington’s primary distributor of civilian foreign aid. With a yearly budget approaching $30 billion, the agency is active in over 100 countries. While some of its missions involve the straightforward provision of food or medicine to developing countries, it has been accused of financing hazardous biological research, and in the words of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, is a “CIA cutout.”

USAID is currently seeking contractors for tourism, disaster response, and PR projects in Armenia. However, other US government agencies have already spent millions of dollars rebuilding the Armenian government and civic society in the image of the US.

3. American influence

According to the US government’s contracting website, the State Department currently plans to hire a legal consultant to rewrite Armenian labor laws, spend $1.5 million on anti-corruption initiatives, and purchase a firearms training simulator for Armenian police, which Pashinyan has vowed to use in a “tough response” against protesters. (Didnt know Diktator Dan was in Armenia?)

The State Department has already paid a think tank funded by USAID, the EU, and the UK almost $30,000 to “debunk manipulations and smear campaigns in Armenia,” in addition to funding anti-”propaganda” training for Armenian journalists. Another $70,000 has been spent promoting American state media on Armenian television, while $25,000 has been allocated for “LGBT support” programs.

Additionally, the Pentagon is currently seeking to build a “biological threat reduction” facility in Armenia.

While the description of this facility provided by the Pentagon is vague, Russia has accused the US of using similar laboratories in Ukraine to research and manufacture biological weapons.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 2:33 pm

Gabor:

Sep 28, 2023 2:18 AM
WTF happened?
My comment wasn’t worth repeating.

Yes it was.
I’ll chuck a thousand dollars into the pot for a self administered site – not that I have a clue how it’s done.
Free speech is worth every cent it can raise.

Tekweni
Tekweni
September 28, 2023 2:35 pm

I still have the green SA ID card and the pass book. I am bitterly opposed to the voice having being born and brought up under apartheid. The hatred and division created by this form of racism will destroy race relations in this country. Even as a white English speaker we were discriminated against. I began my career as a high school teacher and was in constant conflict with the Broeder Bond driven white teacher registration body which was created while I was a teacher. Refused to join as I said I was a Christian and all people were equal in the eyes of the Lord and Christian’s they would understand this. For 3 years I had my little battle with them and when I resigned to pursue a business career I still had not joined. Got invoices from them for years which they claimed I owed them! With no love for the ANC either who are anti white racists we left in 1994.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
September 28, 2023 2:38 pm

Sancho Panzer
Sep 28, 2023 2:30 PM

What happened to Hunchback, and why was it so sudden?

I could be wrong but I don’t think it is some looming external scandal.
I think it was power shifts within the ALP generally and his Left faction in particular.

Sancho,

One theory put forward yesterday

$300,000 a year’: Daniel Andrews to walk away with eye-watering pension

Daniel Andrews’ snap press conference on Tuesday stunned Victorians – now his fiercest critic has aired a theory behind the timing of his shock resignation.

Daniel Andrews will walk away with an eye-watering annual pension of at least $300,000 a year under a lucrative scheme available to fewer than 20 state politicians.

The timing of the Victorian Premier’s shock retirement announcement on Tuesday, after nine years in the top job and more than two decades in parliament, may have been influenced by his pension scheme payout, 3AW host Neil Mitchell has suggested.

Victorian MPs elected before 2004 fall under the so-called defined benefit superannuation scheme when they leave politics, entitling them to hefty annual payments starting from $84,000 and increasing based on factors such as years served and additional parliamentary offices held.

Around 200 former MPs receive payments under the pre-2004 defined benefits scheme and as of 2020 there were only 17 currently serving veteran politicians, including Mr Andrews, who were still eligible to access the perks when they retire.

Mr Andrews was first elected in the southeast Melbourne seat of Mulgrave in 2002 and has served as Premier since 2014.

The defined benefits scheme was scrapped by the Bracks government in 2004 in favour of a more traditional “accumulation” superannuation arrangement.

In 2020, the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal (VIRT) rejected requests by serving Labor MPs to bring back the historical pension scheme, describing it as “out of step” with “community standards” and with superannuation arrangements in the broader economy.

Appearing on Nine’s Today on Wednesday, Mitchell — a longtime critic of Mr Andrews — said he had sensed the Premier was going to call it quits.

“His performance at press conference was off — he was making political errors, he was making factual errors, he was getting snarly,” he said.

Daniel Andrews will walk away with an eye-watering annual pension of at least $300,000 a year under a lucrative scheme available to fewer than 20 state politicians.

The timing of the Victorian Premier’s shock retirement announcement on Tuesday, after nine years in the top job and more than two decades in parliament, may have been influenced by his pension scheme payout, 3AW host Neil Mitchell has suggested.

Victorian MPs elected before 2004 fall under the so-called defined benefit superannuation scheme when they leave politics, entitling them to hefty annual payments starting from $84,000 and increasing based on factors such as years served and additional parliamentary offices held.

Around 200 former MPs receive payments under the pre-2004 defined benefits scheme and as of 2020 there were only 17 currently serving veteran politicians, including Mr Andrews, who were still eligible to access the perks when they retire.

Mr Andrews was first elected in the southeast Melbourne seat of Mulgrave in 2002 and has served as Premier since 2014.

The defined benefits scheme was scrapped by the Bracks government in 2004 in favour of a more traditional “accumulation” superannuation arrangement.

In 2020, the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal (VIRT) rejected requests by serving Labor MPs to bring back the historical pension scheme, describing it as “out of step” with “community standards” and with superannuation arrangements in the broader economy.

Appearing on Nine’s Today on Wednesday, Mitchell — a longtime critic of Mr Andrews — said he had sensed the Premier was going to call it quits.

“His performance at press conference was off — he was making political errors, he was making factual errors, he was getting snarly,” he said.

“You could just sense, or I could just sense, there was something wrong. I reckon that he made his decision probably earlier this year.”

Mitchell said “part of it might even be to do” with the fact that “if he stayed 20-and-a-half years as a member of parliament he gets more in a pension payout”.

“I don’t know if that’s the reason,” he said.

“As it is he’s going to take about $300,000 a year out in pension, and by staying the extra time he gets more. I don’t know that that’s the reason but I reckon he decided a while ago he’s on the way out.”

The value of the pension under the defined benefit scheme is calculated using a formula that includes a variable which is based on the MP’s aggregate length of service, ranging from 36 per cent to a maximum of 75 per cent once they reach 20-and-a-half years.

“Generally speaking, the longer a former MP served the higher the pension they will receive,” the VIRT says. “The highest pension is paid to former MPs who served an aggregate of at least 20.5 years.”

Mr Andrews entered office in November 2002, meaning he passed the 20-and-a-half year mark in May this year.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 2:43 pm

Razey

Sep 28, 2023 6:26 AM
What lunacy this gender stuff is
I still don’t understand how these people got so much power.

We gave it to them with the Gay Marriage stunt, and continue giving it to them by not enforcing the laws against grooming and Paedophilia.
It’s pretty simple Razey – we prefer to see our kids abused rather than be called names.
It’s intellectual and moral cowardice.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 2:52 pm

OO at 2:38.
That is why it may have been put to him a couple of weeks ago.
Leave immediately after you tick over the magic pension date, and commit to it in writing, otherwise we pull the rug now.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 2:59 pm

Link to Pogrias story from Red State re the US Korean War veteran kicked out of his nursing home to make way for illegal Immigrants.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 3:05 pm

OO, that only talks about aggregate service as an MP of 20.5 years, which Hunchback passed in May this year.
All that means is his pension factor (75%) doesn’t increase beyond that date.
That doesn’t add up to an imperative to leave suddenly four months after meeting that milestone.
Nanny Neil Mitchell is making that up as he goes, I think.

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 28, 2023 3:17 pm

Hmmmm. Maybe he was trying to break out:

A 48-year-old man has been arrested for attempting to break into the ABC’s Sydney headquarters.

Police were called to the Ultimo studios on Harris Street on Wednesday afternoon and arrested the man.

“Officers attached to Sydney City Police Area command arrived to find a 48-year-old man had allegedly shattered a glass door,” a NSW Police spokesman said.
The Australian has confirmed no staff, contractors or visitors were injured.

“A person damaged a speedstile while trying to get through the foyer. He was immediately monitored by security and arrested by police and did not pose a threat to the site,” an ABC spokeswoman said.

The man was refused bail.

Johnny Rotten
September 28, 2023 3:29 pm

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Sep 28, 2023 2:01 PM
I love to see a dog work sheep.

Almost theological argument, which breed made the best sheepdogs – kelpies or border collies.

Border collies in the UK and the borders.

Kelpies in Australia.

The sheep are different yer’ know.

johanna
johanna
September 28, 2023 3:33 pm

The cost of keeping Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, Eraring, open beyond its 2025 closure date could be $1.7 billion a year in economic, social and environmental damages, according to a cost-benefit analysis based on overseas carbon pricing, which the New South Wales government recommends.

If an ASX company used figures like that, the directors could go to jail.

Johnny Rotten
September 28, 2023 3:36 pm

GreyRanga
Sep 28, 2023 1:56 PM
I love to see a dog work sheep.

Plenty of sheep to be worked these days in the West and plenty of dogs to do it in the WEF. Woof, woof.

caveman
caveman
September 28, 2023 3:36 pm

Aboriginal campaigners have succeeded in using the Federal Court to block seismic works at Woodside Energy’s big Scarborough gas project, with the oil and gas heavyweight potentially facing “immediate, significant, and irrecoverable economic loss” as a result.

60,000 year old people wouldn’t have known they were walking over iron ore or knew about gas under ground. In 60,000 years I bet they never once lit their own fart.
Why would you let all those royalties go to waste?

Razey
Razey
September 28, 2023 3:42 pm

Robert Sewell
Sep 28, 2023 2:43 PM
Razey

Sep 28, 2023 6:26 AM
What lunacy this gender stuff is
I still don’t understand how these people got so much power.

We gave it to them with the Gay Marriage stunt, and continue giving it to them by not enforcing the laws against grooming and Paedophilia.
It’s pretty simple Razey – we prefer to see our kids abused rather than be called names.
It’s intellectual and moral cowardice.

How do we put them back in their rightful place (at the bottom)?
I feel that there is no turning the ship around at this stage. The ice burg is dead ahead. Perhaps we can build off a No win (I still think the Yes will cheat). The young don’t appear interested in putting a stop the LWNJ march to full communism.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
September 28, 2023 3:46 pm

GB News: Ever wondered how to steal the Crown Jewels?: Jeffrey Archer explains his latest crime novel Traitors’ Gate [14:32]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utt5DcUSwrA

Well worth a listen. (As someone who’s yet to read one of his books!)

Johnny Rotten
September 28, 2023 3:48 pm

Interesting stuff on The Business ABC programme last night.

Apparently, Quaintarse has only managed to make a 117 million dollar profit over the last 15 years which is the same time as A Joyce’s time as the CEO.

During that time, Quaintarse has paid a shed load of dividends and bought back a load of shares. Lots of billions there.

So how did Quaintarse manage to do that?

Well, apparently it’s debt increased by around 1 billion dollars.

And, they managed to get 2.7 billion dollars from the poor old Australian Taxpayer (pretending to be the Feral Guv’ment) as support during the Virus Crisis with no strings attached and no need to pay the money back. Nice work when you can get it. The Mafia would be proud.

Sounds to me like the poor old Australian Taxpayer now has shares in Quaintarse. So, where is that dividend for the Taxpayers and BTW Mr. Joyce, how did you get that bonus again?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 3:53 pm

60,000 year old people wouldn’t have known they were walking over iron ore or knew about gas under ground.

This is an argument NO-ONE has ever been able to refute…

Alamak!
September 28, 2023 3:58 pm

J.Rotten> Also note the average age of the fleet has almost doubled in that same timeline. See the chart here. Tyhe aging fleet is described like this:-

“So [fleet age] has almost certainly increased over time. And that would have been a conscious decision about managing capital by the board”

Can’t blame the Irish left-footer for not spending capital when it could be applied to his shares and bonus payments but what wasd the Q board doing all this time?

johanna
johanna
September 28, 2023 3:59 pm

For the non-energy adjacent, the Scarborough gas field lies 200km offshore in the Indian Ocean. Well outside coastal waters, over the horizon, but clearly well inside the reach of traditional songlines.

Aunty Raelene must have found someone with deep pockets to help fund her claim – possibly people whose own songlines coincide with hers.

Yes or No, this is Australia’s future.

Unlike Torres Strait Islanders, Aborigines were not a seagoing people. ‘Aunty Raelene’ (tries to avoid smirking at the name, fails) and her relatives have no connection whatsoever to places 200km offshore. They are having a lend.

How ironic that the luvvie class who reject conventional religious beliefs as without basis, primitive and superstitious avidly embrace this bullshit.

Alamak!
September 28, 2023 4:01 pm

A 48-year-old man has been arrested for attempting to break into the ABC’s Sydney headquarters.

Managing Director trying to gain access to the workplace he oversees.

JMH
JMH
September 28, 2023 4:05 pm

Currently sitting in the ute under the shade with a FIGJAM expression.

Love it. Sounds like a top purchase, Gez.

JMH
JMH
September 28, 2023 4:07 pm

Currently sitting in the ute under the shade with a FIGJAM expression.

Love it. Sounds like a top purchase, Gez.
Forgot to ask – is he responding to his new name, Ted?

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 28, 2023 4:08 pm

Aboriginal campaigners have succeeded in using the Federal Court to block seismic works at Woodside Energy’s big Scarborough gas project, with the oil and gas heavyweight potentially facing “immediate, significant, and irrecoverable economic loss” as a result.

Give them a Mercator map, and ask them to draw their “songlines” on it. Would they use straight lines, or great circle routes (noting their limited mathematical skills pre-settlement).

Fair Shake
Fair Shake
September 28, 2023 4:15 pm

Dissappointed in the Oz rejecting another one of my comments. Article was about Michelle Obama running for POTUS. I said she was ‘ a Top man.’

Cmon.

Johnny Rotten
September 28, 2023 4:21 pm

The seismic work is part of Woodside’s plans to develop the large Scarborough gas field off WA’s northwest coast. Environmental and Indigenous groups have argued that the seismic program could have a negative impact on sea life in the area, including migrating whales.

When did the Aborigines learn about migrating whales 200 kms offshore? 60,000 years ago? Since Woodside came about? Or last year?

And what about those migrating whales in the waters along the east coast of Australia and the planned Wind turbine towers in the ocean thereabouts. Who is looking after them along with all the other sea creatures.

Which ‘mob’ cares about that? Not the ‘Laybore mob’ or Blackout Bowen or T Plebersuck that’s for sure. And not any Aboriginal ‘mob’ that’s for sure.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 28, 2023 4:25 pm

Aprops of sheepdogs, mention of Kelpies, Border Collies, & so on, bring to mind the Scots breed: Collie. (eg Lassie)

And that brings us to …….. the most successful trannie, cross dressing masquerade ever pulled off in front of kids.

Lassie, a female character, was always played by a male dog, never a female.

Take that, you trannie qwerty-people who think you’re trailblazers! Heh 🙂

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 28, 2023 4:26 pm

The dog is starting to get used to Ted.
He’s riding in the ute all day and got the end of my lamb & gravy roll for lunch.
You know the old saying ‘you can call me anything but not late for dinner.’

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 28, 2023 4:34 pm

Doing it tough in Tassie…a fearsome weapon was employed….

A parent of two Tasmanian high school students says his children have been left “shaken” after their school was plunged into lockdown on Wednesday, prompted by a student bringing an implement to school and allegedly issuing threats to another student.

Riverside High School principal Jeanna Bolton wrote to parents confirming an incident took place, although the letter was vague on details.

“A student exhibited concerning behaviour whilst at school [on Wednesday],” she wrote.

“We appreciate and acknowledge the actions of staff and students who were able to remain calm so that staff could manage the situation.

“The school enacted the Department’s Lockdown procedures to keep students safe.”

The letter said the student “has received appropriate support,” although it was not clear whether Ms Bolton was referring to the student who brought the item to school, or the student who was allegedly subject to the threats of harm.

Ms Bolton advised parents that if their student was “showing signs of being anxious,” they should contact the school’s Support Team.

“Student and staff safety is the highest priority for our schools,” she wrote.

While some parents believed the lockdown may have involved a knife, the Mercury understands the implement wielded by the student was a wooden spoon.

A Riverside High School parent told the Mercury the incident occurred during second period.

“The school went into full lockdown. Teachers were all told to lock doors, children were hiding under their desks,” he said.

“They could all hear the screaming of a kid looking for another kid.”

According to the parent, the student with the implement was heard yelling, “Where is he, I’m going to kill him when I find him.”

He said his children were left “shaken” by the incident. His daughter was not on campus at the time of the lockdown, but she was “concerned about her brother,” who was.

Tasmania Police confirmed an incident took place, but was also vague as to exactly what occurred.

“Police attended a disturbance at a Launceston school about 11.40am [Wednesday],” a spokeswoman said.

“Nobody was physically threatened or injured during the incident, and the matter was resolved quickly.

“No charges have been laid, and the matter is being handled by the school.”

Hobart Mercury.

I know of a primary school that used to go into “lockdown” because a 7 year old was in the habit of throwing rocks. Rather than a teacher restrain him, they let him routinely smash windows.

Indolent
Indolent
September 28, 2023 4:37 pm
Makka
Makka
September 28, 2023 4:38 pm

Activist woke judges. The same grubs who won’t adequately punish indigenous miscreants and criminal behaviour. On top of the kleptocracy in Canberra.

You can write this country off.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 4:41 pm

BHP Dividend day!
Not as tasty as recent years but still not too bad.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 28, 2023 4:47 pm

How ironic that the luvvie class who reject conventional religious beliefs as without basis, primitive and superstitious avidly embrace this bullshit.

Yes.
Possibly more of a concern is that governments, passionately wooing the feelz class, have created a set of rules which now creates legal support for expressed animist belief.

Once you’ve gone there, there are no rational boundaries.

johanna
johanna
September 28, 2023 4:58 pm

Salvatore, Iron Publican
Sep 28, 2023 4:25 PM

Aprops of sheepdogs, mention of Kelpies, Border Collies, & so on, bring to mind the Scots breed: Collie. (eg Lassie)

Let me mention the smaller version, the half size collie. One of my books (currently in storage) recounts the real life story of a girl who grew up in rural Scotland in the early C20th with her little collie, Fly. Fly was assigned to her when she was a toddler, and early in the piece dragged her out of a stream.

Fly was an accomplished sheepherder and also a ratter. In one episode, she teamed up with the author (Janet)’s ferret Angus to get rid of the rats at a local shop. Visible holes were stopped up, and then Angus was sent down a remaining one. Fly would listen, head cocked to the ground, and follow the escaping rats, which were dispatched with a quick neckbreaking flick over the shoulder as they emerged.

I’ll leave the discussion of Scottish dogs taking sheep to market on their own for another day. 🙂

Fair Shake
Fair Shake
September 28, 2023 5:04 pm

My local member (no penis jokes pls) has up and quit not even half thru his contract. Dan the xunt member for Mulgrave up and gorne. Be interesting to see who the reds put up. Dans strangle hold in the mono culti enclaves of Springvale may slip but I doubt it. The local warlords do like their coin.

Since the last debacle i have left (more fled) the SFLs.
In the meantime will man a booth for the No to Apartheid referendum.
Pesutto do the right thing and fk off.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 28, 2023 5:04 pm

SpaceX wins first Pentagon contract for Starshield, its satellite network for military use

https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/09/27/spacex-wins-first-pentagon-contract-for-starshield.html

Elon Musk is the most productive human on the planet.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 28, 2023 5:06 pm

Nanny Neil Mitchell is making that up as he goes, I think.

Yep. Defined Benefits Schemes are often a multiple of final salary which makes resigning as Premier an attractive option if you’re not certain of the numbers.

Tom
Tom
September 28, 2023 5:09 pm

Thank God Sharri Markson is back fronting her 5pm show on Sky instead of that nerdy bloke from Adelaide after missing the first three weekdays of this week.

God knows what’s going on at home as Markson tries to train her newborn son to be vegetarian by denying him meat protein.

Nothing against the stand-in, but he doesn’t have Markson’s energy for breaking stories unique to her show, which has become compulsory viewing for me.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
September 28, 2023 5:14 pm

no penis jokes pls

What?

Ah geez.

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 28, 2023 5:17 pm

no penis jokes pls

The pen is mightier than the (pork) sword?

johanna
johanna
September 28, 2023 5:19 pm

Tom, you need to get out more. 🙂

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 28, 2023 5:21 pm

We lucked into a little village where we skied for a week. The locals kept asking how we got there ( being Aussies) – we were like aliens to them.

That may have been forty years ago, Vicki, but surprisingly it is still the same today. They tend to see us as people from very far away and nowhere that they ever intend to visit. Such long in a plane, they say, looking heavenwards. One good thing, Italian culture is insular, and alive and well. It is held together by wine, pride in the local product, and of course the intensive sense of history each area holds to itself.

JC
JC
September 28, 2023 5:25 pm

Yep. Defined Benefits Schemes are often a multiple of final salary which makes resigning as Premier an attractive option if you’re not certain of the numbers.

Why wouldn’t you be “not certain of the numbers” as I believe a DBS has the characteristics of a pension, which is obviously formula based?

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 5:26 pm
Tom
Tom
September 28, 2023 5:34 pm

Tom, you need to get out more.

Johanna, I don’t know about you, but the news media starves me of need-to-know facts and the only place I can currently find them on TV is on Sharri Markson’s show on Sky.

The only place I need to visit more is my favourite butcher, 30 kms away, which I will drive to early tomorrow morning to pick up two eye fillet steaks and half a dozen chicken wingdings.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 28, 2023 5:40 pm

Why wouldn’t you be “not certain of the numbers” as I believe a DBS has the characteristics of a pension, which is obviously formula based?

The numbers of remaining Preimier or taking a 150k pay cut going to the back bench.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 5:41 pm

Top Ender

Sep 28, 2023 9:47 AM
The Voice will fix it:
A shocking photo of a razor wire fence needed to protect the residents of a retirement village has exposed the desperate truth about an Outback Australian town.
The Old Timers facility in Alice Springs now shelters its elderly residents behind a razor wire fence that looks more like it should be keeping criminals in a prison rather than out of a retirement home.

It won’t protect them, Top Ender.
The ‘family’ visit every pension day and the Staff can’t refuse them. The Pension cards are taken, and they leave to get on the piss while the oldies lie terrified in their beds. Or they are left in the hospitals, unvisited, until a tidy sum has been built up and the ‘family’ demand they be allowed to take them home, where they are neglected and the family loots the funds. A week or two later, the ‘family’ rings the ambulance – usually staffed by the hospital workers and nurses – to pick ‘im up. ‘e doan look real good.”
This is usually because the poor bugger has been dumped on a filthy mattress, is covered in shit and piss, and is back to being a skeleton because no one will feed him, no one will even bother giving him or her a drink of water. And now they look like they’re dying, they get sent back to the hospital because no one wants him dying in ‘their’ house, and if he does, the pension payments stop.
The Aboriginal Health Workers stand by and let this happen because they are too frightened of retribution from the ‘family’.
And the cycle continues, day after day after day.
This is the price the Fauxaborigines are happy to pay for their aircon and obscene wages.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 28, 2023 5:41 pm

I am sitting here this morning looking through a window over to a series of scattered cyprus pencil pines edging a hillside vineyard, while a mass of other bushy trees rise up to the top of the high mountain itself under which nestles our gulley and into which those trees also descend. Small birds flutter around the four-sided peak of the church tower, a picture in softly muted ombre-grey, while three rooftops of very old terra cotta tiles, blackened into modern art by age, tell the story of Rome in each of their pipe-rounded pieces, for the Roman tiled roof remained in Italy when it had died in much of Europe post 420AD. These tiles also tell the story of the autostradas, for small farms were displaced by them, and the derelict farmhouses of stone and terra cotta along the autostradas are sad reminders of the human cost of these new Roman roads.

Tom
Tom
September 28, 2023 5:50 pm

I am sitting here this morning looking through a window over to a series of scattered cyprus pencil pines edging a hillside vineyard, while a mass of other bushy trees rise up to the top of the high mountain itself under which nestles our gulley and into which those trees also descend.

Wish I was there, Lizzie — mostly for the Ryder Cup, which is being staged this year at a dinky little golf club 30kms from downtown Rome.

I’m kicking myself for never having visited Italy, one of the fonts of Australian culture.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 28, 2023 5:50 pm

Chris Christie WTF.
Donald Duck?
You’ve had a month to work on that.
Just awful.
F.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 5:52 pm

Bruce O’Nuke:

gold has fallen fifty bucks this week, and silver around two bucks.

Are you talking about US or Australian dollars?
Gold. or Silver?

Lysander
Lysander
September 28, 2023 5:54 pm

Well done Tom.

I like Markson but there’s something that puts me off a bit and I can’t quite put my hand on it… I still watch her most nights…

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 5:54 pm

https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/09/so-im-told.html

Seems, with a bit of black insulation tape, every 110 Km speed limit sign between Tennant Cree and Katherine has become “NO.”

Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum
September 28, 2023 5:56 pm

no penis jokes pls

The pen is mightier than the blue vein junket pumper.

Jorge
Jorge
September 28, 2023 5:59 pm

The Aboriginal Health Workers stand by and let this happen because they are too frightened of retribution from the ‘family’.

That’s a bit pissweak, isn’t it ? Although of course if the Health workers are all women it’s different. Try using the word ‘no’ or ‘f*ck off’.

I know, I know, the chances of that happening are about zilch.

Lysander
Lysander
September 28, 2023 5:59 pm

The “No” douches are on Fitzgerald Street every morning in Perth looking for supportive honks… I’m yet to hear one yet…

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 6:01 pm

Farmer Gez

Sep 28, 2023 4:26 PM

The dog is starting to get used to Ted.
He’s riding in the ute all day and got the end of my lamb & gravy roll for lunch

$6k and he can’t drive the ute?
Ripped off.
Saw a show on TeeVee a while back which featured a segment on sheep dogs.
The farmer said, “These dogs are addicts, and the drug is sheep.”

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 28, 2023 6:02 pm

That’s a bit pissweak, isn’t it ? Although of course if the Health workers are all women it’s different.

I’m not sure you would say that after talking to a copper who has spent any time stationed somewhere with a reasonable aboriginal population.

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 6:03 pm

God knows what’s going on at home as Markson tries to train her newborn son to be vegetarian by denying him meat protein

Isn’t she the one who forgot her wedding dress and wore underwear instead?

Nothing surprises me.

eric hinton
eric hinton
September 28, 2023 6:03 pm

Tom
Sep 28, 2023 5:34 PM
The only place I need to visit more is my favourite butcher, 30 kms away

His own farm/feedlot?

Cassie of Sydney
September 28, 2023 6:04 pm

I presume you mean the “YES” Douches…?

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 6:04 pm

By the way, newborns don’t eat meat. One of the last introduced foods on the list.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 28, 2023 6:05 pm

Speaking of penis jokes.
Shane Gilles was working on a bit on this week’s podcast.
He was saying Lauren Boebert was actually rubbing America’s c0ck in the theatre.
Clearly a work in progress.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 6:05 pm

Wish I was there, Lizzie — mostly for the Ryder Cup, which is being staged this year at a dinky little golf club 30kms from downtown Rome.

I have a vewwy gweat fwiend in Wome called …
No?
Not that sort of joke?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 6:09 pm

This is usually because the poor bugger has been dumped on a filthy mattress, is covered in shit and piss, and is back to being a skeleton because no one will feed him, no one will even bother giving him or her a drink of water

But the local activists say that it’s a culture that used to look after their old people, and respected them – it’s all the fault of the whitefella’s.

Alamak!
September 28, 2023 6:14 pm

I like Markson but there’s something that puts me off a bit and I can’t quite put my hand on it

She is good but compared to Panahi or Storer her stuff seems a little more rehearsed and lacking conviction. All a matter of taste, ofc, and its good the Sky team have a good range of styles to suit most viewers from brash to breathless to brainy.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 6:14 pm

The numbers of remaining Premier or taking a 150k pay cut going to the back bench.

Most BD schemes work on a multiple of FAS – Final Average Salary, which is usually taken over the last 2-3 years*.
I don’t know how this one works. Being a polly scheme you can bet he won’t take a hit if he goes to the back-bench. If so he will eject from Parliament toot sweet.
….
* I worked in a place back in the ’90’s which had a few residual Commonwealth employees who were members of an archaic Government DB scheme. It simply worked on Final Salary, not Final Average Salary. A little practice had developed of bumping people up two pay-grades the day before they retired.
Much anguish when the practice was discontinued.

Delta A
Delta A
September 28, 2023 6:16 pm

Oh good! We’re talking doggies…

Our Kelpie/Border, now eight months old, is a beautiful boy; pretty face, silky black coat and amazingly intelligent. Give him time, he can sort out how to overcome most obstacles: Wanna go outside? Just stand up and push the sliding door (or screen) open. Same to come in. Wanna rescue his prissy poodle buddy from time-out in the laundry? Stand up and pull the lever door handle down.

At 8.30 am he’s grumping by the car, waiting for the driver to let him in for the school run. Same for the afternoon trip. Last week Best Man remarked that SiL was leaving it late for pick up. Kelpie, overcoming his fear of the whipper snipper that SiL was weilding, ran down and nudged him. One glance at the time and everyone was in the car, grinning on the way to school.

He’s the perfect smart, funny, obedient and empathetic mate, but I wonder if he might have been happier as a working dog. He loves watching our 14 sheep with me. (Son built a Taj Mahal pen for them and we let them out onto the lush spring grass for several hours each day.) Kelpie eyes them constantly, dropping to eye them even closer, and when time, he runs around to herd them back into the pen. All self learnt. I suspect that he’d make a brilliant farm dog.

But not to be.

Tomorrow he is off to the vet for the first of his visits leading to de-sexing. Vet prefers kelpies to wait until 12 months, unless other factors come into play. “Is he showing any dominant behaviour?” asks vet.

Daughter swallows hard. “He is piddling on the poodle.”

“Yep. That might do it.”

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 6:22 pm

Nelson_Kidd-Players

Sep 28, 2023 12:55 PM
Winston asked for this a while back:
Flag 1: true meaning?

Perfect, NK-P.
I shall apply it as my Gravatar forthwith.

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 6:22 pm

I miss my Westies. Part of my heart was cut out when the last one said farewell.

They worm their way in, make a nice comfy space and camp there in all their naughtiness and jaunty fun. I’m not allowed another. *sob*

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 6:22 pm

Pearson really is a nasty piece of work. What’s with the silly hat?

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 6:24 pm

Seems to be part of the race baiters’ uniform.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 28, 2023 6:25 pm

Someone appears to’ve thought this was a good idea. Awe.

Mixed reactions as Voice to Parliament Yes campaign launch in London kicks off with drag queen singing John Farnham classic (Sky News, 28 Sep)

The Yes campaign’s official launch in the UK has been met with mixed reactions after the event featured a drag queen wearing an Australian flag costume … The performer also donned an Aboriginal flag as a cape while performing John Farnham’s hit song You’re the Voice.

Some comments reacting to the video labelled the moment as “embarrassing”, “bizarre” and “madness” with only a handful of people responding positively.

They are literally off with the fairies. How far out of touch with ordinary people can you possibly be and still be on this planet? They’ve completely lost it, they’ve no frigging idea. If this gets any airplay the Voice is so dead that dinosaurs will be fossilized in the layers above it. Betcha the MSM buries it deeper than the Mines of Moria.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 28, 2023 6:26 pm

Sharri Markson was very pro vaccine and anti those who did not want to take them.

MilkbarTV who does video compilations did one of her. She contacted him to ask that he take it down. He said no.

MilkbarTV lost his job over the vaccines but now has a gig doing them for ADHTV.

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 6:26 pm

Pearson really is a nasty piece of work.

He tried to reinvent himself as Brother Lee Love (h/t Cuckoo at C.L.’s).

It didn’t work.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 6:28 pm

Seems to be part of the race baiters’ uniform

For example, see this monstrous ol’ communist racist dickhead

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 28, 2023 6:28 pm

Andrew Bolt did a good article about Noel Pearson today. As in where did the $550m since 2005 go.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 28, 2023 6:29 pm

miltonf
Sep 28, 2023 6:22 PM
Pearson really is a nasty piece of work. What’s with the silly hat?

Cultural appropriation.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
September 28, 2023 6:29 pm


This is usually because the poor bugger has been dumped on a filthy mattress, is covered in shit and piss, and is back to being a skeleton because no one will feed him, no one will even bother giving him or her a drink of water

.

You’re disrespecting traditional indigenous culture there, mate. Watch out. It’s malinformation. Which is to say, true but unsayable.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 6:29 pm

This is usually because the poor bugger has been dumped on a filthy mattress, is covered in shit and piss, and is back to being a skeleton because no one will feed him, no one will even bother giving him or her a drink of water

Any different to being left behind to die, when the tribe moved on, and they couldn’t keep up?

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 28, 2023 6:32 pm

There will be a few windfalls as the final members of some Defined Benefits Schemes collect their gold watches. It pays to read the various trust deeds carefully before that occurs. Topping up schemes on actuarial advice was always a sensitive topic at my old employer (not that I ever benefited).

Rabz
September 28, 2023 6:32 pm

He tried to reinvent himself as Brother Lee Love

Dolt* played some his speech to the NPC’s last night, which I had the misfortune to overhear while chowing down on dinner – how the TV in the nearest living room is still intact is a miracle.

Must be those “non-existent” cost o’ living pressures, again. 😕

*Excellent work, whoever it was that penned that. We now have Blot and Dolt.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 28, 2023 6:34 pm

Cultural appropriation

From Pommy butchers?

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 6:38 pm

From Pommy butchers?

Heh. Show me the hat, I’ll show you the man.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 6:41 pm

For example, see this monstrous ol’ communist racist dickhead

Father an Irish shearer, mother of Malaysian, Japanese and Aboriginal ancestry.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
September 28, 2023 6:45 pm

Father an Irish shearer, mother of Malaysian, Japanese and Aboriginal ancestry.

But the aboriginal bit pays better.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 6:45 pm

Steve trickler Avatar
Steve trickler
Sep 28, 2023 2:04 PM

Time to go after the Judges with steel cap boots.

You have EVERYTHING arse backwards.

If the judges are doing their job and simply apply the correct law, then it is entirely the fault of the legislators.

Alamak!
September 28, 2023 6:48 pm

found the source of Pearsons hat

Joe Walker from Dads Army

See around 00:28. Not only the hat but the spiv’ish behavior “borrowed” by Pearson.

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 6:49 pm

The race baiters here seem to copy the US ones then of course Roberta Sykes actually was half American.

cohenite
September 28, 2023 6:51 pm

If the judges are doing their job and simply apply the correct law, then it is entirely the fault of the legislators.

Mabo: judicial activism par excellence; the most destructive Judgment ever. No relation to any existing law; the laws, native title, followed it.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 6:58 pm

Cats – I’m on a break from work (such as it is) until Tuesday next week.

Today was a good day. A massive grocery run, some weights and EA FC24.

A very cultural and spiritual time of the year, coinciding as it does with the two egg ball codes’ end of season spectaculars – if they could be gifted with such gravitas.

Heading off to my favourite Sicilians’ Haberfield pile on Saturday for the annual ALPFL grand final BBQ spectacular. When too many tastee foodstuffs are barely enuff … 🙂

It will be an occasion. Fug is a Collingwood supporter, from back in primary school. None of my schoolmates used to follow the VLPFL back then except himself and one other of my contemporaries who’ll be there, a Carlton supporter.

As for the NRL, the Bulldogues had a shocker of a season (again) … 🙁

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 28, 2023 7:00 pm

Have I missed this aspect of the Qantas travel credits?
Joe Aston in the AFR is saying to use your Qantas travel credits you are forced into a custom system that charges more for the seat than if you were using the normal Qantas website.

Seperate to that, the world is he’s got a follow up column coming that says it was the former CFO (now CEO) who devised it.

I can’t keep up.
Apologies if this custom system for travel credits bookings was already well known.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 7:01 pm

Story goes that some time ago, the Dodson brothers offered to arbitrate in an inter-tribal dispute. They were told to fvck off, or face tribal punishment – “you yella fellas don’t speak for us.”

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 28, 2023 7:01 pm

Are you talking about US or Australian dollars?

Winston – US of course. I go off the WSJ markets page for this stuff. Free, and with lots of data.

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:02 pm

Sir William ‘unutterable shame’ Dean. Maybe he should stop drawing his pension if he is so ashamed of Australia.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:03 pm

Justice Craig Colvin

Sus last name with regards to a family of Canberry mandarins, just sayin’

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:05 pm

Like the Maleys?

calli
calli
September 28, 2023 7:05 pm

Bern, I was told by an old mate (and travel agent) that Qantas is now using a third party to do the FFPs.

They will want a cut of the action.

If this is true, the scheme is stuffed. Shoot it and put it out of its misery…and refund points holders the monetary value of the points…I ferkin deryus.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 7:05 pm

Jorge
Sep 28, 2023 5:59 PM

The Aboriginal Health Workers stand by and let this happen because they are too frightened of retribution from the ‘family’.

That’s a bit pissweak, isn’t it ? Although of course if the Health workers are all women it’s different. Try using the word ‘no’ or ‘f*ck off’.

I know, I know, the chances of that happening are about zilch.

I’ll stand back and watch you learn what happens when you get in between a ‘family’ and their booze money, Jorge.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:06 pm

I’m miffed no one actually blames legislators.

If you legislate a law that enables a dumb lawsuit…welp…

What we also need is someone to chart all of the familial relationships of the politically powerful in this country.

Knowing who’s sleeping with whom in the NSW ALP isn’t enough.

cohenite
September 28, 2023 7:08 pm

This gas bullshit with Woodside being held up by this 3rd nations bint, raelene cooper, who is stark raving mad, is emblematic of how insane this shithole has become. But there are some hard arseholes behind this idiot: Greenpeace and the EDO; bad bastards.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:12 pm

RAELENE COOPER – CHAIRPERSON
LinkedIn Australia
https://au.linkedin.com › raelene-cooper-53883214a
Western Australia, Australia · CHAIRPERSON · MURUJUGA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Okay, this is a shakedown.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 7:13 pm

Bruce O’Nuke:

They are literally off with the fairies. How far out of touch with ordinary people can you possibly be and still be on this planet? They’ve completely lost it, they’ve no frigging idea. If this gets any airplay the Voice is so dead that dinosaurs will be fossilized in the layers above it. Betcha the MSM buries it deeper than the Mines of Moria.

Bruce, they are perfectly rational. What they are doing is showing you two things –
.1 They hate our society.
.2 They are showing you their contempt for it.
.3 …and they are showing you that they are untouchable, and you are powerless.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:14 pm

FMD

The Scarborough field is located in the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 375 km off the coast of Western Australia.

Aboriginals were not out there in canoes talking to whales. This is bullshit and they can eff right off.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 7:16 pm

This gas bullshit with Woodshed being held up

Your tax refund is down, your dividends are down, you need some Hong Kong Money, I tells ya … 🙂

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 7:19 pm

Bruce of Newcastle

Sep 28, 2023 7:01 PM
Are you talking about US or Australian dollars?

Winston – US of course. I go off the WSJ markets page for this stuff. Free, and with lots of data.

OK, I tend to stick to the Australian market because I’m protecting my A$ investments – not US$.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 28, 2023 7:21 pm

Sir William ‘unutterable shame’ Dean.

The Sir William Deane, who apologized for a massacre, carried out by a man who had been dead for two years at the time? A massacre carried out by a group of Aboriginal stockmen, some time before, in a dispute over a woman?

Indolent
Indolent
September 28, 2023 7:23 pm
miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:23 pm

I loathe these soft handed treacherous parasites.

Alamak!
September 28, 2023 7:25 pm

one solution to the Woodside gas problem: Lawyers, Guns & Money

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:25 pm
Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:26 pm

Sharri Markson was very pro vaccine and anti those who did not want to take them.

MilkbarTV who does video compilations did one of her. She contacted him to ask that he take it down. He said no.

MilkbarTV lost his job over the vaccines but now has a gig doing them for ADHTV.

Good. Hold her feet to the fire, give her a high colonic.

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:28 pm
Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:28 pm

Aboriginals were not out there in canoes talking to whales. This is bullshit and they can eff right off.

Ah…but the ancestral spirits were/are.

And they will be upset by the disturbance.

(This is literally her argument.)

Multiply this many times over across the land and sea.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 7:28 pm

An unrepentant No Vote campaigner:

Hydia Turrup

miltonf
miltonf
September 28, 2023 7:29 pm

I despise Canbra

cohenite
September 28, 2023 7:29 pm

RAELENE COOPER – CHAIRPERSON
LinkedIn Australia
https://au.linkedin.com › raelene-cooper-53883214a
Western Australia, Australia · CHAIRPERSON · MURUJUGA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Okay, this is a shakedown.

She sounds genuine when she talks about talking with fuking whales. Whales love humans apparently. I guess she can be simultaneously a grifter and stark raving nuts.

Robert Sewell
September 28, 2023 7:30 pm

https://open.substack.com/pub/eugyppius/p/german-economics-ministry-caught?r=1easrn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Now this is embarrassing.

German Economics Ministry caught hiding assessment, ahead of nuclear phase-out, that keeping nuclear plants in operation would reduce emissions by as much as 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year

cohenite
September 28, 2023 7:32 pm
Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:33 pm

The ANU makes Macquarie uni look good

Btw, Australian universities took a big dip in international rankings this week.

And I suspect the data used to compile the rankings is 1-2 years old, so the actual situation is probably worse than what was reported.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
September 28, 2023 7:33 pm

Justice Craig Colvin

Was thinking Dennis Denuto for some reason with this latest stretch.

How many more stains are on the Fed Court, I know Bromberg is another.

I saw O’Shane was getting a free plug in Newscorpse the other day after having lunch with some flog who abused her on the bench. Another that should have been sacked by the executive & legislature but was allowed to “retire.”

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:33 pm

As far as I can tell, the Scarborough field is not in our territorial waters and only partially in our exclusive economic zone.

So the environmental legislation claims it can annex territory? Interesting!

“Sure, sure. Australia signed a treaty where songlines are protected so you can take whatever you like if an ALC Chair decides to shake you down for it”

This is not how a serious country is governed.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 7:35 pm

Australian universities took a big dip in international rankings this week

To less than zero.

Courtesy of taxpayers.

Dot
Dot
September 28, 2023 7:38 pm

One last one so I can calm down.

Offshore indigenous cultural claims are a stretch.
Claims past the territorial waters are a joke.
Claims that are bluewater are just dishonest.
Claims that are past the EEZ are bizarre.
Claims in international waters past the EEZ are in cuckoo cloud land.

But here we are.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:40 pm

Needless to say, we won’t be getting the best foreign students, but the ones the northern hemisphere rejects.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
September 28, 2023 7:40 pm

Exactly Dot.

Needs to be appealed and hopefully Woodside isn’t too shy to do it. Unlike other smaller players.

More to the point remember when that disgusting piece of excrement Turnbull cancelled laws to disqualify fishing expeditions like this (No pun intended) by players not intimately involved. Needs consideration again.

Rabz
September 28, 2023 7:40 pm

An Ozzie who is actually in demand …

Not seeing any taxpayers subsidising her work, unsurprisingly … 🙂

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 28, 2023 7:41 pm

Dot
Sep 28, 2023 7:06 PM

What we also need is someone to chart all of the familial relationships of the politically powerful in this country.

I suspect that a well entrenched hereditary pseudo-aristocracy would emerge.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 28, 2023 7:43 pm

FMD.
Just flicking around the TeeVee.
SBS running a “station ID” promo.
“Great Southern Land” sung in some native tongue, with lots of shots of Aboriginal “heroes” (and also Adam Goodes).
Clips of Gough giving some dirt to Basil Lingiari.
The closest thing you’ll get to a Yes advert without having to pay for it.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:46 pm

But here we are.

Serve your totemic deity.

In the end, it’s always about theology.

JC
JC
September 28, 2023 7:48 pm

I wouldn’t be too worried about Germany de-commissioning nukes. There’s a sizeable build going on and being planned throughout Europe.

France.
Finland.
Slovakia.
United Kingdom.
Poland.
Hungary.
Romania.
Czech Republic.

The European grid is beciming integrated and consequently the NIMBY Germans will buy their power through the grid. German entities could contract with any European producer and buy their power that way.

It’s all for show.

Germans appear to get the little things right, but they’re terrible on the big stuff.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 28, 2023 7:48 pm

Dover at 1941

Hang on, Monty told me nuclear has no future.

mUnty is a long-standing wrongologist of excellence. If he said that, then that was the time to buy shares in nuclear corporations. You can’t lose.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 28, 2023 7:49 pm

Clips of Gough giving some dirt to Basil Lingiari.

There is a well known clip of Gough tipping dirt into the hands of Vincent Lingiari.

Doing the same for Basil must have come later, as the dirt pouring was spur-of-the-moment impromptu, something Gough did in a split-second of inspiration.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:50 pm

Clips of Gough giving some dirt to Basil Lingiari.

One of the most condescending acts in Australian political history.

Whitlam wasn’t the representative of the Crown, for starters.

Roger
Roger
September 28, 2023 7:52 pm

I think you’re right, Sal; it was Vincent.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 28, 2023 7:53 pm

JC
Sep 28, 2023 7:48 PM
I wouldn’t be too worried about Germany de-commissioning nukes. There’s a sizeable build going on and being planned throughout Europe.

France.
Finland.
Slovakia.
United Kingdom.
Poland.
Hungary.
Romania.
Czech Republic.

The European grid is beciming integrated and consequently the NIMBY Germans will buy their power through the grid. German entities could contract with any European producer and buy their power that way.

It’s all for show.

Germans appear to get the little things right, but they’re terrible on the big stuff.

Good to read this.

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