How have the rest of Trump’s appointments been today? I’m getting a lot of heat in my timeline.
Open Thread – Wed 29 Nov 2023
- The more you gets the less you eats
- Open Thread – Weekend 23 Nov 2024
- Open Thread – Thurs 21 Nov 2024
- Open Thread – Mon 18 Nov 2024
- From darkness to the promise of light
This was mine:
Remaining Bali Nine members would serve prison terms in Australia if transferredKatina CurtisThe Nightly Sun, 24 November 2024 9:14AM Comments…
Haha, like WEF graduate Sunak, Johnson is a lefty. He’s married to a Green. He fervently believes in climate fairies.…
The interesting thing with all this is that the really toxic nerve agents seem less effective than advertised. By contrast…
Post-modernism, woke-ism, safe spaces, feelings and the rest are paving the way for Islam. The relative ethics of the woke has no strength against Islam. The post modern concept that every piece of logic or rationality has an agenda and a disguise for power, is simply manipulated by a strong faith backed up by looming violence.
The West’s destruction of masculinity, bravery and the male as a protector, dissolves the ability to defend society.
In the Koran ‘kill’ in mentioned almost 100 times and many of these are instructions direct from Allah to do just that. Now, I don’t remember my New Testament or Torah much, but I never came across such an instruction to reader.
Please read the Koran, have a look at the 4th chapter, if nothing else.
The reason for this rave is, yet again, I met a female Jewish friend who believed that if we are just nice to people, they will be nice back.
The maths is simple, if you have even a small percentage of people who believe you should be killed, then you need a large number of strong and aggressive people to protect you.
Emasculate society and you are done for. Buy a hijab if you survive. .
How can Whybrow interrogate Higgins with a straight face. Surely he must be struggling from bursting out laughing at her answers. Best comedy show since Benny Hill.
Vicki
Dec 1, 2023 1:41 PM
State government urged to change laws after e-bikes hit 42km/h on northern beaches’ shared pedestrian paths
Since the advent of e-scooters & e-bikes on the roads (& even footpaths) my husband has been railing against their unlicensed use on public thoroughfares with speeds comparable to motor vehicles.
Clearly, it is because they are considered “energy appropriate”, that they are allowed this licence.
In Qld they are supposed to be limited to 25 kph on roads with a speed limit of 50 kph or less. They aren’t allowed on roads over that speed limit.
They are supposed to be limited to 12 kph on shared paths.
Lets face it, plod aren’t interested in doing anything even if they could. There are much more hardened criminals to track down like old ladies, pregnant women and individual Israelis at pali protests.
Recent news regarding Qld plod may see their focus being elsewhere than crime fighting for awhile.
I know it wasn’t only females on patrol near the borders with some Kibbutzim, but why have any novices or untrained women at all doing that, as I understand was the case near the break-in fencing? Trained women in a team, as in the tanks, did sterling work, even though some were relatively new too. The point is that border security was lax just as the intelligence was misread; it won’t be in future, I am sure.
Johnny Rotten Avatar
Johnny Rotten
Dec 1, 2023 4:49 AM
I don’t want to pick nits, but is this post worthy of 21 upticks?
I think JC has a point.
There’s the nub of the problem.
Too many in ‘the West’ have lost their religion.
If they hadn’t done so, they would’ve recognised the problem with mass Muslim immigration before it became an issue.
Add from the 30’s.
—-
Nineteenth century videos. Back to life.
[4k, 60fps,colorized](1934) Frigidaire refrigerator and the biggest heat wave ever.
A fact of military life, the junior bubbas get the duty on the holidays.
If I were the Israelis I’d be very wary of using AI for targeting purposes.
Every target should be verified by human eyes.
Rich Baris “The People’s Pundit”
@Peoples_Pundit
See?
The point of this was humiliation and longterm damage re: the party and abortion, etc.
Of course DeSantis beat him on substance. And Nixon beat Kennedy on substance too.
One looks like a f’ing weirdo and the other, doesn’t.
Well, the Bible has 365 instructions not to fear, one for each day of the year. Which I think is rather neat.
On love, around 300 commands, both to love God and to love others.
As for instructions to kill, they’ve always been in well defined circumstances, not wholesale and over millennia. The conquest of Canaan is an example.
The post modern concept that every piece of logic or rationality has an agenda and a disguise for power, is simply manipulated by a strong faith backed up by looming violence.
The West’s destruction of masculinity, bravery and the male as a protector, dissolves the ability to defend society.
Couldn’t agree more. Let’s be frank. The combination of the Left & the Woke (often one & the same) have progressively feminised western society.
As a female, I am appalled at this development. Nature is fundamentally binary. Each sex has its role. But this is a radical and “flawed” concept in today’s world. As a result, western society has been significantly damaged & undermined.
De Santis should have not gotten involved with 2024.
Dumbest decision of his life.
It is good that this is being noted at all. How far does the fish rot? From the head, remember.
Wow, the ADF has mightily shrunk indeed then!
Never mind, we will be able to build nuclear subs and operate three different classes of boats all at the same time in 2030.
But if Trump is somehow prevented from running there has to be a viable #2 in the wings ready to take the stage. Tough call but someone had to do it.
That being said, getting in peeing contests with Trump isn’t a good idea either, even if Trump starts them.
“But what to do? When you’ve outlayed about $10k and it can be taken from you on the basis of a subsection subclause #21(b) on the updated Terms of Sale, there’s not a lot you can do about it.”
Such T&C’s are not as binding as you might think – if they prominently advertise on their web site and sign-up page that you can “pay once and always have access” (which I’m pretty sure they do), then a reasonable person would NOT assume that is completely contradicted in the extremely long legalese that is the T&C’s, so all you need to do is convince a judge that a reasonable person would think as you did and you can sue their pants off and win.
Don’t think they are unaware of this either – they know it very well, and if you care to do a little research and quote statute law at them, they will fold faster than superman on laundry day.
I’ve posted about this before, but the “overdraw” fee banks charge is in no way enforceable from their side without some sort of credit agreement with you, and they know it. I have gotten several people “off” on a $50 “overdrawn” fee by suggesting that the bank was providing credit without the knowledge or consent of the customer and then charging a fee for it – which is illegal. They will attempt all sorts of “reasons”, but if you stick to your guns they will cave in and refund the fee.
I would suggest that Amazon would do the same – read up on your rights and the law, and suggest to them where you suspect they are in breech if they don’t supply you your property, They’ll cave because they know they would lose and it is not worth the drama. But they will make you work for it, because most people won’t bother if it takes too long or is too much work.
In short, don’t give up and don’t give in, you can and will prevail if you are prepared to go the distance.
De Santis could have gone out on top as one of the best governors in US history.
feelthebern
Dec 1, 2023 3:27 PM
The photo of the bruise could not be pinpointed to a date as the metadata on the image had been removed.
The removal of metadata would leave digital fingerprints.
BL’s lawyer would have known about this a million years ago & should have pursued this.
Quite. But no questions have been asked.
The afternoon session was disappointing. It certainly looked like Whybrow was fumbling with his questioning, confusing references to the Court-submitted evidence, while being interrupted by the judge on 3-4 occasions, asking SW to clarify the direction of his cross examination.
Hoggins was giving self-justifying speeches to questions requiring yes/no answers and SW let her talk.. very different from Brucie’s treatment by Collins.
A couple of times, Lee even mentioned metadata (as Whybrow seemed to be struggling) and took over the questioning, asking Hoggins about the bruise photo that was a screen capture of a Whatsapp photo that was allegedly lost, and which would have contained the original metadata.
No questions (that I heard) about on which phone the original photo was taken, what happened to it, why wasn’t the photo backed-up to the wazoo, as it is the ONLY evidence of physical injury to the potato-nosed, barge-arsed grifter (Thank you Tinta) liar.
As to when the photo was taken.. Hoggins claimed she sustained a bloody knee injury around the time of the r0pe. Nothing of the kind is seen in the allegedly contemporaneous photo, suggesting the whole thing is yet another lie.
Why SW isn’t making more hay out of this massive con is a mystery.
Digger:
New account – may take 3 days.
Ta.
This is done in most modern offices and location-aware key cards used to monitor staff movements as well as software to detect unauthorized devices(“thumb drives”, “phones”) being connected to corporate PCs.
In some, but not all, financial entities connecting a thumb drive would cause security to be at your desk within 5 mins to evict you. And using someone else’s card or tailgating would be sackable offence for areas like legal, hr, dealing rooms, finance. compliance.
Oz Parliament and security standards? Not so much.
Roger
Dec 1, 2023 11:53 AM
In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. (POTUS, White House 07 October)
Except when we do, that is
‘America risks being seen as harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend.’
– Bernard Lewis on the occasion of another failure in US foreign policy.
Emperor Xi smiles
Putin positively grins.
Another reason why Australia should have its own nuclear weapons. 25 million Aussies (and a growing proportion of them being Chinese, Indian and Middle-Eastern) is just small fry in terms of the number of Americans that could die in a nuclear exchange on our behalf.
Take the US out of the equation in terms of our ultimate deterrence or response.
shatterzzz
The technique I had in mind.
Old Ozzie:
No, but I sure as shit can donate my money to be burnt on my funeral fire instead of giving it to the ungrateful little bastards who spent their money on smashed avocado and $500 tickets to concerts while bitching about me buying $200 bottles of single malt.
I can. I don’t that is by accident.
Good question, Gila.
It feels to me like he can’t push too hard because she a) doesn’t seem to know much and b) tears will out leaving the Court to dismiss the charge because “upset wimmin == 100% innocent” c) we can’t handle the greater truth of this massive con …
/IANAL
We learned the hard way we couldn’t rely on the British in 1942.
We should be preparing for our future national defence with a view to a diminished or absent US.
The continent of Australia is quite defensible without nuclear weapons.
Ms Higgins was questioned and she explained it was a screenshot (hence no meta data) that was sent to police and Project person.
When quizzed about original, she answered it was in her old Phone’s WhatsApp and did not transfer properly to new phone.
…
Whether you believe that or not, just think of all these young things with thousands of photos of “moments” that will just disappear into the ether when backups fail, phones don’t transfer, apps go broke, servers crash, passwords lost, etc etc.
…
About eights years ago (birth of a child) I was burning CD’s every month of curated photos and videos, but have got lazy, so I am in with the young crowd – thousands of images, all at the mercy of others.
At some stage, Trump will be un-alived.
Haley will be the establishment GOP candidate.
Biden will not be the DNC candidate.
And after tonight, Newsom has proven he can be trusted to be the replacement.
Establishment candidate vs establishment candidate.
The security state wins either way.
It was a screen shot which means the metadata is not included.
While Hamas’ other allies have paused their activity during the hostage exchange, the Houthi have continued to harass the US warships off Gaza.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2023/11/u-s-destroyer-shoots-down-iranian-built-drone-over-the-red-sea.php
The Houthis are estimated to have 100,000 fighters under arms. The official motto of the Houthis is: “God is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.”
BTW the Long War Journal is an excellent source of military analysis. I followed it closely during the struggles against Islamic State in Iraq & Syria years ago.
I was involved in one review in the 1990s. One of the objectives was to reduce the number of officers occupying positions is essentially bureaucratic headquarters jobs, and to increase the number of junior other ranks in operational positions.
A few years later, the overall numerical reductions had been achieved, but the number of officers had remained essentially the same.
Anybody else think it hilarious when the Greens open their mouths on the issue of defence?
I believe it has just been reported that Hamas has broken the ceasefire.
It will be interesting what this solar storm does to the planet. EQ activity should jump.
—
Dutchsinse:
Sun is the center yellow dot, the wave which spreads out is the M-Class flare’s charged particles carried by the solar wind… Earth is the green dot.
Time scale is days at the bottom of the chart and charged particle density is the color coding on the left.
Seismically speaking, we wait about 2-3 days for the charged particles to arrive from the Sun… then… we usually see Northern and Southern Auroras at the poles for about a day or so….then… it takes about 2-3 days for the energy to go to the core and come back up as new deep earthquakes and shallower large quakes next to the deep earthquake locations.
All in all, it usually takes about 6-7 days from the point of an Earth facing solar storm until we see the actual beginning of the seismic response.
The seismic response can respond for days or even weeks after the “gong” of the core is rang. Think of the power increase to the core like turning up a bass subwoofer — low frequency vibrating up and out much more.
The effect is similar to a rattling trunk on a car with a subwoofer inside. The plate above begins to vibrate and break.
Simply put, after an Earth facing solar storm, it takes 3 days for the particles to arrive, then another 2-3 days for the energy to go to ground and come back up as quakes. It can take up to a week.
We have seen it happen quicker as well , within a day of the arrival of the charged particles (if the solar blast is large and the solar wind is strong).
Link
A brief account of the sinking of HMAS Armidale, during which Edward Sheean performed actions for which he was – belatedly – awarded a V.C., as mentioned by Top Ender in his 2 p.m. post above.
[I have not read it and cannot guarantee its accuracy].
Thanks Dover.
Interesting piece.
The article extensively highlights Israeli actions in a way that seems to downplay or entirely omit a significant element: the provision of warnings to Gazan civilians. This exclusion raises concerns regarding the article’s objectivity , as it might create a skewed representation of the conflict. The absence of information about the Israelis alerting civilians to move south, thereby reducing casualties, raises about the real intentions of the reporting in this lengthy piece.
Lastly, we very much expected this Israeli operation would be very different to the previous ones in terms of severity seeing what instigated it.
The Naval Board report on Armidale’s loss.
When you read the lengths apple went to help the DOJ with Jan 6th to recover data, the idea of an image not being available (even when deleted) doesn’t hold water.
Dot at 1:10 – transition to retirement at 55 for me but not for thee. Remember, no Boomer bashing please. They have paid tax all their lives.
Rather than write a separate comment saying “Thanks”, I usually tick someone else’s thanks comment. I suspect that others do the same. If you like the cartoons, 21 upticks is not a huge number.
The real question is what snarky idiot gave it a downtick.
An images without the metadata should not be admissible.
How else can it be verified as to when it was taken.
Another failing of the ACT “trial”.
She supplied the phones after some months of delay to Police, not images. If the photo showing claimed bruise was shared using Whatsapp the original image in her old phone would contain the EXIF metadata.
Gaps everywhere.
yeah but is she gay
Then it isn’t evidence. Of anything, not even BH’s leg.
Sure, even the public servants and chronically unemployable pensioners.
Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory.
The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.
The B&B show has thrown up some interesting tidbits.
1) Do the lawyer cats know why evidence is different in “chancery” / equity courts versus this case. The judge (after joking with one of the silks) has forced people to recollect direct speech only, not the “gist of a conversation” like:
He said blah
Then I said blah blah.
2) Today, the judge asked Ms Higgins was she aware why the police could not get the CCTV was because there was a delay about whether they had the power, i.e. executive government (police) cannot tell parliament (e.g. security) what to do. I wonder how much money was wasted on lawyers down that particular rabbit hole.
Saw on the front of the Townsville Bulletin today KAP are proposing laws to allow homeowners to protect own residence from crims and to extinguish any rights to compo if injured.
Can’t get past the paywall but KAP have it up on their website. LNP should be concerned, I don’t think KAP could get critical mass to take a seat like Mundingburra or Thuringowa but they will siphon a large amount of votes away from any LNP candidate after Chrisafulli’s limp wristed approach to law and order:
https://kap.org.au/kap-calls-for-self-defence-laws-that-reflect-nq-crime-reality/
The next election is the LNP’s to lose.
It might not have been that much, and it might have more or less been returned as middle class welfare and age pensions but tax was paid.
Tim Dillon tells Shane Gilles about Caitlin Jenner & the MAGA tranny that showed up to his Thanksgiving.
https://youtu.be/D_Dmfrd5R-M?feature=shared&t=2094
From the 35min mark, 10mins of laughing your balls off.
NSFW.
Even if half true, still very funny.
Oh, Winston, you asked me a question about the cartoon I posted.
It’s about a blog hyena that keeps stalking me and pee-ing on my leg.
Israel has decided to wage war like a Middle East country for a change. Gaza should come out of this knowing for certain to never attempt it again. Make it a warning for Lebanon to rid itself of the risk of hosting Hezbolla.
Previous operations didn’t deter them. Hopefully changing the style, will.
Daily Mail. Only Tories own investment properties, surely?
Islamic violence is at its lowest in decades.
There is nothing new about the powerful writing history. Postmodernism goes too far but only someone ignorant of history doesn’t know that power plays a huge role in forming narratives.
Your understanding of masculinity is your understanding. Don’t confuse that with what a real man should be. I hate the idea of a “real man” because in today’s military the nerds are just as important as the military personnel.
All adults are protectors.
It is Russia, the bastion of the traditional roles you appear to champion, that has an inept military, has young men fleeing the country, has a huge alcohol problem, very poor mortality stats, and a leader more corrupt, more murderous, and with more ill gotten gains, than Western leaders.
Bern
Is Caitlin’s pal male or female in the real context?
“But what to do? When you’ve outlayed about $10k and it can be taken from you on the basis of a subsection subclause #21(b) on the updated Terms of Sale, there’s not a lot you can do about it.”
Let’s be practical.
One should buy or download ALL eBooks to a PC, encoded in some open-source format like .epub, .html, .pdf etc.. from the several free repositories (ask d0ver for my email address if you don’t know) or commercial libraries and then convert them to a Kindle format such as .AZW. Keep the original file on the PC, ALWAYS.
That’s if you still want to use the Kindle.
Alternatively, one should transfer Kindle eBooks onto a PC.
Free or paid converters will free you from Amazon’s T&Cs, forever.
Versatile, free eBook readers are a dime-a-dozen, Calibre or Cool Reader are excellent, and free.
No DRM, no restrictions, massive customisation and no fear of corporate thuggery.
seems appropriate for today
Calli, you really shouldn’t take any notice. It can only encourage the sad little loony. Nobody, except the sad little loony, thinks about it as more than proof that sad little loonies can be found anywhere.
They’ve paid tax all their lives, are funding their own retirements, and giving the next generation a good start.
ELECTRIC Cement Truck CATCHES FIRE in Melbourne
The bad news is neither turtle nor matt kean were driving the stupid thing.
Dot:
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Higgins refuse to hand her ‘phones over to the police and didn’t she also scrub her devices?
Is Caitlin’s pal male or female in the real context?
Both dudes, JC.
Why Japan’s young are working in Australia in record numbers
Michael Smith – North Asia correspondent
Fukuoka, Japan | Young Japanese applying to work and live in Australia have suddenly jumped to a new high this year after falling since 2016, with the numbers expected to spike again next year, adding to Australia’s record levels of migration.
Japanese workers are seeking to escape low wages, a rigid work culture and a plunging yen, which has made holidaying overseas unaffordable for many, according to Itsuro Fujita, who works as an agent for the Japan Working Holiday Association.
“When I went to Australia, the wages weren’t that attractive. Now they are the main reason for people wanting to go. The yen is so weak,” said Mr Fujita, who also runs three cafes and is passionate about all things Australia.
He describes his two years in Australia from 2009 as life-changing. But back then, he wasn’t doing it for the money.
The value of the Japanese yen against the Australian dollar was more than 50 per cent higher than it is today. Mr Fujita, who was 22 at the time, was lured by a sense of adventure and his love of the surf at Sydney’s Manly and Bondi beaches.
“Those two years in Australia were life-changing. It changed my whole perspective,” he said over a flat white coffee at his Australian-themed cafe on the Japanese island of Kyushu, where he now lives.
Australian Department of Home Affairs data shows the number of working holiday visas granted to Japanese applicants peaked at 12,304 in the 2015-16 fiscal year before dropping off significantly.
Applicants bottomed out at 1558 in 2020 when COVID-19 closed international borders, before rising to 5170 in 2022. A surge of applicants to 14,398 followed this year, which beat previous highs.
Overall, temporary migration to Australia hit historic highs of close to 500,000 in the past 12 months, as international students and backpackers returned en masse following two years of closed borders. But the record migration that has driven a sharp rise in rents may have peaked, migration experts say.
Mr Fujita expects the number from Japan, at least, to keep rising based on the inquiries he is getting.
Now 45, he is so enamoured about his time Down Under that he is trying to share his experience with an Aussie-themed cafe in the city of Fukuoka in south-western Japan. Named after Manly Beach, where he would surf regularly, Mr Fujita serves up kangaroo carpaccio, deep-fried crocodile feet and more regular Aussie staples such as Bill Granger-inspired pancakes, along with flat whites and VB.
“I wanted to create a community where people with an interest in a working holiday can come together.”
Many of his staff have worked in Australia, while this year he had a stream of Aussie customers, including Australia’s top swimmers who were in town for the world swimming championships in July.
Mr Fujita worked on a goat farm in Tasmania and in restaurants in both Manly and Bondi Beach. A surfboard sits on his cafe deck, although the nearest surf beach is a three-hour drive away.
Most Japanese on working holiday visas in Australia labour on farms or in restaurants, given the six-month limit on working for a single employer. He says they face challenges getting a job, given that they compete with British and Canadian travellers who have better English.
“I tell them the Japanese need to demonstrate their other strong points such as punctuality and precision,” he said, referring to Japan’s rigid work ethic.
Japanese are the fourth-biggest group in Australia on working holiday visas, behind those from Britain, Taiwan and Canada.
He says 70 per cent of Japanese applying are women aged between 26 and 28. This suggests a trend of female graduates working in a job for several years before deciding to do something different, rather than get married and have children – the traditional path in Japan.
Japan has agreements with 31 countries for working holiday visas, with Australia the most popular. However, only 1000 Australians enter Japan each year with a working holiday visa.
“We would like more Australians to come and work in Japan, but they will make less money,” he said. The Australian dollar is currently trading at around 98 Japanese yen, compared to 65 in 2009.
Petition EN5680 – A moratorium on all ‘renewable energy’ projects and infrastructure
Needs signatures.
Was the screenshot taken from a photo of a leg bruise – a bruise which may have happened many months after the alleged assault? Lack of metadata from a screenshot ensured it could never be dated.
States threaten new taxes, jeopardise NDIS reform
Phillip Coorey – Political editor
Attempts by the Albanese government to put the NDIS on a sustainable footing are in chaos after the states said they would refuse to even discuss the matter unless the federal government agreed to give them more money in the form of permanent top-up payments to the GST.
Without the GST money, they also threatened to raise new taxes and levies to fund their own essential services, for which they would blame the Commonwealth.
“Without the (GST) guarantee, the Commonwealth will be fully responsible if states and territories are forced to consider a new tax or levy to ensure essential services are not compromised or reduced,” state treasurers said after a meeting on Friday with their federal counterpart Jim Chalmers in Brisbane.
Following the meeting, during which Dr Chalmers refused to yield, the states effectively said next week’s national cabinet meeting on reform of the National Disability Insurance Scheme was pointless unless their demands were met.
“State and territory treasurers note ongoing discussions regarding the NDIS to support a sustainable model that supports Australians with a disability for future generations,” they said in a communiqué released separately, which itself is a sign of division.
“State and territory treasurers believe the GST no-worse-off guarantee needs to be resolved before any states and territories can consider any proposals for (NDIS) change.”
Dr Chalmers played down the conflict, saying it was neither surprising nor troubling that states were demanding more money from the Commonwealth.
He said the talks on the GST were “productive” and would continue at national cabinet, but he again stressed the Commonwealth had its own money woes.
“The states and territories have done really well out of the Albanese Government and that’s a good thing because we want to do the best we can for the people we represent,” he said.
“The cost to the Commonwealth of the GST no-worse off guarantee has substantially increased since the original deal was put in place, and any extension would have significant fiscal implications for the Commonwealth.
“Any developments on GST need to recognise the pressure on all our budgets, not just on state budgets.”
In further trouble for the Albanese government, the states also refused to accept a change under which the Commonwealth and states would fund road and rail projects in a 50:50 basis, rather than the current 80:20 split.
”State and territory treasurers were unanimous in rejecting the proposal to reduce Commonwealth funding for vital regional roads from 80 per cent to 50 per cent, an unacceptable outcome for Australians who need these roads each day,” they said.
National cabinet is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. Top of the agenda is trying to stop the NDIS from collapsing due to rampant cost blowouts.
The Commonwealth wants the states to take responsibility for funding the treatment of early developmental disorders and mild autism, which is pushing the NDIS towards breaking point, and was never envisioned to be funded by the scheme.
Autism diagnoses have skyrocketed since the condition became eligible for NDIS funding and now accounts for 35 per cent of NDIS participants, while other developmental difficulties account for another 12 per cent.
The NDIS currently costs $42 billion a year and has grown at about 20 per cent a year over the past three years. The government aims to cut that growth rate to 8 per cent by 2026, but this requires the states to put their hands in their own pockets.
As forecast by The Australian Financial Review, the states want more money GST top-up payments that are scheduled to expire in 2026-27.
The GST top-up guarantee was designed by Scott Morrison and the Productivity Commission to compensate all states and territories except Western Australia for the GST revenue they lost as part of a deal to put a floor under the tax allocation for WA, which was constantly complaining it was being dudded.
Under the change, no state can receive less than 70 cents in the dollar, which was designed to improve WA’s share which sat at around 30 cents because of the massive royalties it received from its minerals.
Because of larger than forecast iron ore prices ever since the deal was crunched and, to a lesser extent, higher than forecast volumes, keeping WA at no worse than 70 cents has cost the other states far more revenue than expected, and the top-up payments are now forecasts $33.9 billion between 2019-20 and 2026-27, well above the original estimate of $6.7 billion.
In their communiqué, the states said:
“Due to the way the current GST distribution model works, the Commonwealth has plenty of capacity to pay the guarantee from windfall company tax receipts. It seems only fair to share our nation’s prosperity.”
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said the Albanese government did not create the problem with the GST “but we are keen to work with them on how it can be fixed”.
“It’s important so states can continue to provide the services that communities rely on…services that support our teachers in country schools, health services in regional areas.
“That’s why we’ll continue to push for a much fairer and better outcome through the federal/state processes.”
Tim Dillon : in a couple of years, trickle down MAGA will be everywhere.
OO at 12:13
No good options: When surging migration and a housing crisis collide
Australia’s migration surge comes at a particularly challenging time for the nation’s housing market and the government is caught in the middle.
Tom McIlroy and Michael Read
If you work with an accountant or consultant in Australia right now, there’s a strong chance they have an Irish accent. Amid the nation’s booming migration intake, recruitment expert Paul Minton knows firsthand what’s bringing young professionals down under.
“Sydney is the number one destination in the world for Irish accountants and they can move over once they qualify,” the Lemon Talent co-founder and Irish expat explains. “It’s the most appealing place globally at the moment.”
“These accountants come in on a working holiday visa and are very attractive for employers. Their salary expectations are usually market rate, or even a bit below, and if you sponsor them, they’ll stay loyal to you for a few years.”
These professionals are some of the faces of a huge post-pandemic surge in arrivals to Australia, which has added heat to the already stretched housing market and put pressure on stressed infrastructure.
But with an unemployment rate at 3.7 per cent – a near 50-year low – and labour force participation at a record high and with many businesses struggling to find workers, Australia needs workers and the situation is close to critical.
Australia will have to rely on large numbers of foreign workers to fill some 880,000 roles in industries including health, housing, engineering and technology by 2030.
The migration influx comes at a challenging time for the nation’s housing market, which was already exceptionally tight after a pandemic-era shift to working from home increased demand for spare rooms.
The average number of people living in a household fell to 2.55 in 2021 from 2.59 in 2016, analysis of census data by real estate analysts at PropTrack shows.
That means 160,000 more dwellings are required to meet the housing needs of the population.
The addition of half a million people over the past year has only compounded the problem, particularly in the inner-Sydney and inner-Melbourne rental markets, which are popular with overseas students.
The proportion of rental properties across the nation that are vacant has fallen to a record low of just 1 per cent.
The huge imbalance between supply and demand has lit a fuse under rents, which increased by 9 per cent over the past 12 months, according to SQM Research.
It all adds up to a problem with few good solutions for the government. If they don’t restrict migration they risk voter backlash as rents and house prices continue to climb. If they do cut immigration, they risk worsening an already very tight labour market and ultimately damaging the economy.
And, with the opposition weaponising the issue, as has been seen across Europe, this tricky balancing act is only set to get harder as the election approaches.
‘Out of control’
The bulk of the increase in net overseas migration is coming from international students, working holidaymakers, and people on short-term visitor visas moving to another visa that allows them to stay longer than 12 months.
The unexpectedly large surge in arrivals has shattered the fragile major party consensus around Australia’s migration program. Concerns about overseas arrivals largely faded to the back of voters minds after the Abbott government successfully stopped the flow of asylum seeker boats after the 2013 election.
Labor appears unsure how to handle the politics of the situation. It correctly identifies the massive upswing as a once-off event, resulting from the reopening of Australia’s international border following the pandemic. But the government has little appetite to publicly espouse the broader benefits of Australia’s skilled migration system.
It explicitly excluded any discussion of the size of Australia’s foreign worker intake from the terms of reference of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s review into the migration system. The response to that review, which was ready in October, has been delayed for a couple of months as the government has second thoughts about deliberately putting migration in the headlines. It is expected before Christmas.
The Coalition are already on the attack, with opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume describing migration as “out of control”.
“There is a fundamental problem because, of course, those huge numbers of migrants put immense demand on our already congested suburbs, on our already overworked infrastructure,” she said. “And unless there is infrastructure that has been co-ordinated to keep up with that level of inflation, it actually becomes a drag on productivity.”
But Brendan Coates, economic policy program director at the Grattan Institute, said the current migration surge was always going to happen, given international students had been locked out of Australia during COVID-19.
“If you don’t have any students in Australia in first, second or third year, then if you want those students to return, then by definition they almost have to all come at once,” he said.
While an upswing was inevitable, Coates said size of the surge had surprised both the government and experts.
“Whenever the pace of migration is this quick, and whenever the housing market is this tight, it’s always going to generate some community concern,” he said. “Migrants obviously need somewhere to live, and they don’t rock up in Australia with a house strapped to their back.
“So by definition, they’re adding to pressures on the housing market. Our rough rule of thumb is that every 100,000 additional migrants above the long-term average adds about 1 per cent to rents and house prices across Australia.”.
But Coates says migration will slow from here. Less certain is whether net overseas migration levels settle at the longer-term average of 220,000 per year, or somewhere closer to 250,000.
“I suspect migration is probably going to run a bit higher than what it has historically in the absence of government action,” Coates says. “Universities, VET in particular, and English language providers have really stepped up their investment in attracting overseas students.”
‘Basically zero’ for labour market
While business groups are keen on maintaining high levels of migration to fill job vacancies, Coates says migrants create as many jobs as they take.
“The net impact of migration on the labour market is basically zero.
“Migrants create as many shortages as they solve, because while they might fill a shortage in a particular asset to the economy, they are also adding to demand by their spending on a whole range of goods and services across the rest of the economy.”
The main benefit of running a migration program is that Australia gains access to scarce human capital that’s expensive to train locally.
“That is, by far the biggest benefit that we get from the migration program, and both our temporary and permanent programs should be designed in a way to maximise the amount of skilled talent that we get.”
In any case, business has welcomed the influx of migrants as vital to filling large numbers of job openings.
Tech Council of Australia president Kate Pounder told The Australian Financial Review this week federal Labor’s 1.2 million tech jobs target for 2030 meant an additional 43,000 skilled migrants were needed above current rates of 119,000 per year.
“It’s high-wage, high-skill, globally in demand people, in critical jobs across the economy. In practice, we’re talking about a few thousand people per year who will qualify under those conditions,” she said.
The comments were echoed by leaders in a range of key industries, including health, engineering, housing construction and medicine.
Engineers Australia group executive Damian Ogden warned that by 2040, Australia was expected to have a shortage of 200,000 engineers, potentially undermining infrastructure and construction projects and sapping economic growth.
“Australia continues to face an engineering skills challenge. The engineering workforce is highly reliant on skilled migration with Australia with 62 per cent of the profession born overseas.
“We need to consider how we manage the pipeline of engineers in Australia more effectively to ensure we strike the right balance of migrant engineers to meet the demand while also developing our talent locally,” Ogden said.
While some observers have called for Labor to cap migration, Sydney University migration expert Anna Boucher says that is easier said than done and some aspects of Australia’s migration program cannot be easily controlled.
“Inherent in the notion that we can control [net overseas migration] is the idea that we can control all migration,” Boucher says.
While the permanent program has an annual cap of 190,000, Australia’s temporary migration program – including student visas – is largely demand-driven.
“If we’re going to say we are setting the [net overseas migration] every year, the government is going to need a lot more control of aspects of the immigration program than they do at present.
“And that brings with it a whole other array of costs for the economy and other policy settings. The higher education industry is not going to be very happy about that.”
Boucher says the obsessive focus on net overseas migration can become radicalised and fails to deal with the nuances of Australia’s migration program.
Alan Gamlen, director of the Migration Hub at Australian National University, wrote this week that only about 3 per cent of the global population live outside their country of birth. The percentage has remained steady since the 1960s, after a period of volatile movement in the wake of World War II.
Considering a new book by expert Hein de Haas, Gamlen notes migrants do essential work that locals can’t or won’t, spanning low-wage jobs in agriculture or domestic care, and high-wage positions in science, medicine and trades, where demand outstrips locally trained supply.
Since January 2022, more than 27,000 internationally trained medical practitioners have been registered to work in Australia.
Before the pandemic, about 18 per cent of all registered nurses and 32 per cent of medical practitioners were overseas trained.
“Migrants earning high wages pay more in taxes than others receive in government benefits,” Gamlen writes. “For instance, in Australia, the average skilled migrant pays $127,000 more tax over their lifetime than does the average resident.”
The peak will start to diminish as about 120,000 special 408 COVID visas expire over the next six to 12 months.
At the same time, there has been an 80 per cent decline in the number of state-issued skilled and regional visas for the financial year 2023-24.
Minton tells AFR Weekend that there’s been a shift in the past two or three months, after cost-cutting in accounting firms and the big four consulting businesses.
“I’ve spoken to recruiters who have worked in this market for 10 years and this is the worst they’ve seen it,” he says.
“Post-COVID there hasn’t been too many ebbs and flows, it has been really consistent.
But now some companies are letting people go, or not taking on new people.
Migrants are looking elsewhere or taking casual work and short-term contracts.”
“Honestly, 12 months ago, people could have a job within a week of arriving, but that’s not the case now.”
Minton is preparing for more disruption in the market but he’s optimistic that demand for overseas trained accountants will pick up again in 2024.
“I think it will be a few months at least before everyone gets a sense of where the economy is going and what things look like and whether we are going into recession of not.
“My guess is it will be at least the middle of the year before things normalise,” he said.
Another extwitter titbit.
Muslims claim Jews are descendants of apes and pigs.
Imagine the chagrin to find out how closely Jews and Palestinians are genetically, so much so there was someone on twitter was absolutely rejecting the peer reviewed studies that have been published.
Jewish virtual library.
Jordan Peterson: Why You Have To Fight Postmodernism
link text to copy and paste ->
https://youtu.be/MPojltjv4M0One of the Israeli’s killed in that recent palli shooting was a 24 year old pregnant woman. I still maintain a small, low yield neutron on gaza is the way forward. Look at the muzzie comments on Twitter about it.
Victoriastan should be prohibited from participating in any Commonwealth-State funding discussions. About 20 years should do it.
Dot at 1:10 – transition to retirement at 55 for me but not for thee. Remember, no Boomer bashing please. They have paid tax all their lives.
Indeed. In any case, “retirement” can mean many things. Many have acquired a property portfolio over a lifetime, or still have businesses that are franchised etc etc.
So why does he spam the blog with promotions of Armstrong’s ongoing fraud if Wodney is not a crook?
Just stupid maybe?
They all talk as if migration is just something that happens, like a flock of flamingos taking flight.
In fact, every single migrant is issued a visa, which is 100% in the control of the State. Without that piece of paper, immigration would be zero.
Standing around, looking bemused at the catastrophic scale of the importation of incompatible cultures, is disingenuous in the extreme.
The BOM are wankers. Sack the lot of them.
With that said, farmers need to wake up to these bastards. Stop gobbling up their sh*t and stop watching the ABC.
—
Daily Insight:
Harmful Predictions by the Bureau of Meteorology
The depravity of the Islamo-left
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SbEqYDzOHg
Spiked
FAFO.
Correct. She did not hand them over for months and metadata was missing from images. Her explanation is that the images were taken from Whatsapp, but that still allows for the original images to be verified for location/date/time/device.
As for “scrubbing” her phones, thats a good question which someone could raise in court i.e. “who did you give access to your phones and what software or tools were installed/removed before handing to Police?”.
The phones may also have been been “rooted” also, which is a technical term, honest.
Boomer Triggers Gen-Z Snowflakes. Brad Upton
You can guarantee green nut jobs will be starting fires soon. We’ve seen it Europe.
Yes. The Moller Memo has it all.
In the same address, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas leaders are living on “borrowed time.” “They are marked for death,” he said. “The struggle is worldwide, both the terrorists in Gaza and those who fly in expensive planes.” While Israel typically tries to keep such efforts secret, the nation’s leaders have shown few reservations about revealing their intentions to hunt down everyone responsible for the Oct. 7 attack, just like they did to those responsible for the Palestinian terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Clever. Who would want to hang out with, or be on a plane with an Hamas operative? It harkens back to the days when Mossad was so feared.
Yes but they could pull out at 55 and let their businesses tick over with a well paid manager getting a cut.
That uplift of the preservation age is what makes people lose their minds, along (but less importantly) with free uni for John Howard and more expensive homes than ever – regardless of the interest rates, mortgage affordability is a function of total after-tax income, prices and rates.
Some of the anger is quite righteous.
Personally, I’ve written off my superannuation. I’ll be senile before I can access it.
Hector the Convector is up and firing across the Tiwis.
D-Town is about 300mm down on wet stuff over October and November. 35 humidity-laden degrees for eight weeks now.
It’s December. Come on, you bastard. Give us something.
Exactly! A cluey bird like her would have twigged to it right away had there been anything to preserve. She is just a piece of work.
Alamak:
I think Higgins testified today that the photos were on her “work” ‘phone which obviously, would have had to be handed back to whichever department she was working in when she walked. In that case, we all know she will say the Government scrubbed all content!
Whybrow intends pursuing the ‘credibility’ of this witness on Tuesday (technicalities prevail) provided His Honour doesn’t kibosh same on said technicalities. Roll on Tuesday, please. 🙂
No it isn’t Dot.
I doubt your average millennials think of it like you do.
It’s envy driven.
That does not exonerate her at all for being too stupid or too devious not to save the images to anything other that Whatsap!
DeSantis really stuffed it up by entering the race this year. Had he waited and stayed in Trump’s good graces he could have been the VP pick. Even if he and Trump were to lose the next election he would have been the presumptive nominee for 2028. He is still in his 40s and shouldn’t have rushed. He is not wise enough to realise that his backers only support him to harm Trump and now he is on the nose with Trump but a substantial chunk of Republican voters as well. Too bad.
<> icloud <>
What the gummint should have done at earliest stage to gather data for any claim -> extracting backups from icloud in case data was removed from the phone(s).
Or perhaps they did and hoped she would go quietly. Reynolds and Brown don’t seem the most street-wise of folks given their positions and risks to Govt etc.
The Swedes will be most happy to hear this.
And the French.
I gave some reasons, you should try it some time.
Insolent.
And Wodney.
I knew it.
Alamak!
Dec 1, 2023 5:14 PM
The phones may also have been been “rooted” also, which is a technical term, honest.
Rooting is for Android, Jailbreaking is for iPhones, which Hoggins allegedly had, as did all PH staff.
I strongly doubt Hoggins would be tech-savvy enough to jailbreak her personal iPhone, while doing so on a Govt one would almost certainly be cause for dismissal, because security.
I haven’t been thru the criminal trial transcript, but the issue of the fake photo was noted at the time.
Why it was even admitted as evidence reveals the extent of the ACT DPP’s effort to sanitise the fuming BS emanating from this Hog.
12 months later, pursuing this to its limit should be central to Whybrow’s efforts.
I think Higgins testified today that the photos were on her “work” ‘phone which obviously,
Which means the data was definitely kept.
And is still available.
And the Nigerians.
That statement is slanted to ignore reality as the situations are entirely different.
The IDF blew through Gaza like a dose of salts in 1976 forcing the Egyptian forces to evacuate the entire Sinai Peninsula after just 6 days of fighting, which accomplished the IDF mission. They were able to do so partially because the enemy force in Gaza hadn’t prepared to defend the urban area by fortifying every building and city block.
This time the situation and the mission are completely different. The strip (as in civilian structures) has been heavily fortified and the IDF mission is to destroy the defenders, not drive them out. There are few if any purely civilian structures and there are no “distinctly military facilities”.
The IDF is targeting buildings identified as Hamas assets. It’s Hamas’ responsibility to not fight from civilian occupied buildings, not the IDF’s to give them a pass because of it.
Doctor Who is DEAD | Murdered by The Message
Nerdrotic
1967, not 1976… argh.
If you accuse me of envy you have to admit that someone pulled the ladder up, because no one is giving kids cheap homes or giving them a decent chance of early retirement, let alone not being saddled with what in aggregate amounts to trillions in public sector debt.
The “muh booststraps” argument is garbage. Gen Z and Alpha will be the most productive workers society has ever created (perhaps even in aggregate), even if that is an unintended consequence of economic growth.
[Is it actually envy that I find it risible I had to rotate a PDF for a boomer boss once?]
Yes, which is why the question could be who she provided access to her phones and when. I doubt Jailbreaking was required, but some employee phones are well-protected for reasons.
Earlier:
Perhaps a caveat that should be applied to recidivist nuffer-site-linkers.
Y’know, for credibility’s sake.
I’ve read the NYT column.
I’m going to wait for the expected rebuttals over the next 24-48 hours before I get too invested in it.
Also of note is the NY Post reporting of the Amazon employee who is being held hostage.
And how Amazon & the Bezos owned WaPo have not mentioned it as they “didn’t want to inflame the situation”.
Don’t need eny reasons, Dot. I don’t care if boomers stay in the family home or keep working as long as possible.
My concern is all this fuss is stirring up support to use force.
If left alone it’ll sort itself out.
No Prisoners!!
I’m not.
Mystery pneumonia in China
Dr. John Campbell
So is Britinny a rooter or a scrubber.
Or both.
Two countries does not make an argument. Aggregates do. No ISIS. No 9/11. No buses being blown up, no planes being hijacked. No terrorists attacks happening in most countries. Taliban confined to Afghanistan. Iran on its knees. White men born in Western countries are a far bigger threat than Islamists.
Wasn’t the grandkid answering the phone?
Also of note, the video footage of the “honour” killing was retweeted by a lot of Hamas boosters this morning saying a pregnant Palestinian was stabbed to death with the hashtag freepalestine.
Some pretty high profile ones too.
Did they honestly think that people would think this happened in Israel, by Isrealis?
This afternoon I’ve seen tweets disappear but with zero apologies.
Shameful.
Fauci to Testify Before Congress
Pandemic orchestrator and former NIH Director Anthony Fauci is set to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on January 8-9. Fauci has yet to appear before the 118th Congress for his involvement in the pandemic as his legal team successfully delayed the hearing for nearly a year. “Americans deserve trusted public health leaders who prioritize the well-being of our people over any personal or political goals. Thankfully, retirement from public service does not shield one from Congressional oversight nor accountability to the American people. During Dr. Fauci’s upcoming testimonies, honesty is non-negotiable,” declared subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH).
Did Fauci lie about his knowledge of gain-of-function research? Did Fauci attempt to cover the origin of the virus? Did Fauci personally profit on the pandemic? There is overwhelming evidence to suggest the answer to all these questions is “YES!” But the establishment will protect this man at all costs. The House of Representatives notified the public in late September 2023 that the CIA had privately escorted Fauci into their headquarters without a record of entry to “influence” any investigations. The same intelligence agencies that banned COVID “misinformation” online, censoring every platform, are not on the side of the people.
There are emails from February 2020 in which Fauci clearly states he is aware of the gain-of-function research happening in Wuhan. “Scientists in the Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments … associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection,” his email stated, also adding, “there were mutations in the virus that would be most unusual to have evolved naturally in the bats and that there was a suspicion that this mutation was intentionally inserted.” The email was sent to Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and Brian Harrison, the chief of staff of the Department of Health and Human Services. He urges the men to ask the World Health Organization to investigate the pandemic origins before the lab leak theory reaches the public.
Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry were coerced into publishing a study that supported the animal-to-human transmission claim, despite sharing emails with Anthony Fauci that state they “find the genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory.”
Fauci’s institute did indeed fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, despite him denying any allegations when testifying before Congress in 2021. Fauci provided EcoHealth Alliance with grants to fund COVID studies on bats under the project, “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.”
Fauci was rewarded heavily for participating in the planned pandemic. He became the highest-paid government employee in 2020 after earning $1.7 million. The Forbes reporter who released that information was immediately fired. OpenTheBooks revealed over 1,500 records showing those at the head of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases quietly profited from COVID-19 and their recommendations to “slow the spread.” Two faces of the pandemic propaganda, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins, secured 58 royalty payments out of a total of $325 million in royalties set aside for the NIH. It was Senator Rand Paul who truly put Fauci on the hot seat to confront how Fauci turned the pandemic into a lucrative business opportunity.
As Paul told Fox News: “I do fully believe this virus, this pandemic that killed 6 million people around the world, leaked from the lab. But I think there was a concerted effort by him and his colleagues to cover this up and make sure it didn’t come to light, that the NIH was funding that lab and that there was reasonable scientific evidence that suggests that it came from the lab. So he’s going to be made to testify under oath. And I hope he sticks around because we do have some questions.”
There are countless variables regarding the coronavirus leak, and all evidence indicates that the virus was deliberately released. The establishment must protect Fauci and his countless lies to protect the COVID narrative. It will be interesting to see what comes of the January hearing, as House Republicans are out for blood but Fauci has proven to be above the law.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/corruption/fauci-to-testify-before-congress/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS
The problem is that people think pushing granny out of a bungalow window with a VAD poker into aged care instead of building homes is a solution. The problem is the cost of home building. 46% of the sale price of a new home can be taxes and other government fees. So the effective tax RATE on new domestic dwellings is a whopping 86%!
She’s at the back of a very long queue.
Feelthebruise:
I’ve a nasty feeling he has already done his homework on this aspect and has a lovely little ‘gotcha’ lined up.
Anyone remember that TV detective who would end each episode with “Just one thing I need to clarify with you…” and the suspects case would dissolve into chaos.
That Senator in the States does that little trick as well – the one that Lizzie and Hairy watched today.
what metric are you using there mate?
exploders, heheaders, or para-gliders?
and only somebody ignorant of post-modernism could write what you just wrote
again … and only somebody ignorant of post-modernism could write what you just wrote
for people that don’t get logical fallacy, a translation:
I bet you’re a Russian fan-boy therefore everything you think is wrong
Colombo.
Brih-nee was a fine young lass, doing exactly what ladeees of that age – regardless of general acumen – are supposed to do. That is, get about and about – being the social animals that they are, and meet with like-minded dudes and should circumstances permit, smack it about.
So yeah, she was a rooter. Like every other unattached chick piece of that age.
The problem was, that IF – and this is a very big IF – she got nervously pissed prior to an event and ended up having a splash on the boss’ couch with a bloke of approximate age, with no ‘power imbalance’ and who she knew, her embarrassment got the better of her.
Combine that with the people she knew and who may or may not have provided her ‘advice’, and considering those people were reputed to be influential, she came to believe those people would be there for her forevermore.
And – combined with what she thought she knew as opposed to what she actually knew, because those chicks inevitably fall into that bucket, she was both used by others for political gain and was painted into a corner.
Then she decided it was burger time, got fat and now has an excuse for everything – perceived or otherwise – that went wrong, or will go wrong until she is in the cold, cold ground.
I’m amused that Wong, after a horrible week of Claire Martin letting loose rapists and murderers, Albo accusing Dutton of being a pedo supporter without apology, and Bowen AWOL in the face of terrible electricity price rises, has suddenly discovered…wait for it…a squirrel!
Australia imposes fresh sanctions on North Korea to ‘slow the development’ of nuclear weapon expansion after spy satellite launch (Sky News, 1 Dec)
I’m sure Kim Il Fatty will feel suitably chastised. Pass me another acorn pls.
I can promise only charisma.
It’s the least I can do for the average 0.47 people who read my comments.
KD – ambitious, opportunistic, undisciplined, cowardly.
A creature of her generation.
Not aimed at you Muddy.
Oh ho ho ho no. Not at all.
Desantis is a swamp construct purposed to win the republican primary should something “unfortunate” prevent Trump from winning. He will be controlled opposition for the “Deep State” to continue the illusion that US voters have any power.
He is not even a good Governor. He is the Nick Xenophon of state politics. All show and no substance. He won’t even win the next Florida election.
Islamic violence is at its lowest in decades.
Which idiot said this. The Religion of Peace site used to keep a tally of the hundreds of terrorist acts by muzzies but the site seems to have been hacked. That figures.
kd wrong is usually first into the gutter. A Mean Girl indeed.
Muslims aren’t playing up, yet, in countries like France and Spain because those governments have been very enthusiastically making it clear they have zero tolerance.
France has closed terror mosques and iirc they are all now monitored with CCTV.
I saw a recent pro Palestinian demo in Barcelona getting the baton treatment, not surprisingly after the horrific terrorist attack there a few years ago.
KD
According to Mcfly up thread you frequent gay mardigras.
Is this true?
Whybrow asked Higgins why the photo on her phone ( which did contain metadata) was not simply forwarded to the Ten executive organising the Project episode. She said that she intended to do so, but, maybe accidentally took a screen shot of the photo and sent that. Thus, the photo was undated. Of interest is that at an earlier point, Lee J wanted to know when he would be given the metadata.
He is not eligible to stand for election again, this is his second term.
I went to a flash lunch today, on the north shore, smack bang in Zali land. The location today was mouth watering, you can’t ask for a better location than a restaurant on Sydney harbour, facing the heads with the water lapping up to the windows of the restaurant. The beauty was jaw dropping, I sat with various people, and we sipped Roederer champagne, drank excellent red and white wine, ate so so food, all the while looking out at one of the best views on the planet.
The restaurant was full of north shore types, it’s Friday afternoon after all. The food was okay, not bad but definitely not great, the entree and dessert were good, the main course average, very average, the beef tough. I struggled eating my main course so in between mouthfuls my eyes would gaze at the beach and the heads and then I looked around me and I spotted a celebrity near me. It was then that I felt an uncomfortable wave envelop me, like something out of a Stephen King novel, and I realised that this is Zali land, a land of wankery, of pretentiousness, of massive wealth, of not giving a damn about the rest of the country. The place reeked shallowness, the food reeked pretence, just like the idiot they’ve sent to Canberra.
Apologies if already posted: Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain cartoon.
Re this boomer/ Gen Z et al debate:
My guess is that most children of Boomers have had good opportunities – many many with uni educations & many who have been assisted by Boomer parents so that they didn’t suffer too long a HECs burden. In any case, for the most part good remuneration got rid of HECs early.
After graduating & getting well paid jobs, many children of Boomers were then assisted by Boomer parents to help finance their first home – something that few Boomers enjoyed by way of their post war parents.
Soon the Boomers will start falling off the tree. And where will their homes and assets go too? Why…. their children, of course. Unless said Boomers think their kids have had enough “breaks” & leave the bulk of their assets to their millennial grandchildren!!!!
Yep, thanks Knuckles.
I just wanted a ‘Look at moi’ moment.
They go so quickly now.
You’d have to wonder at Whybrow’s use of court time and patience if it all just led to clarification of a technical point.
calli
OK. I was curious because I couldn’t work it out.
Crossie Avatar
Crossie
Dec 1, 2023 6:47 PM
He is not eligible to stand for election again, this is his second term.
He won his governership in 2019.
He even changed the Florida laws, prior to nominating his presidential run, so that he didn’t have to resign his governorship as required.
KD – surely a dockensian tale for these moderne times(“Little Britnee”, “Great Expectations”). Or perhaps an opera about a fair maidan damned by her innocence & pore memory(“La Traviata”).
Katzenjammer:
*Do it like the Jordanian King did when they tried to overthrow him – surrounded the city they’d infested, with infantry and artillery, shot the ones that tried to leave, including the civilian supporters and shelled the city for a week.
After that, Black September were grateful for the chance to go elsewhere. Unfortunately they went to Lebanon and took over there and created a civil war.
Stupid Lebanese for giving them sanctuary.
* Going from memory here, probably some inaccuracies. But the wailing of the Fourth Estate was marvellous to hear.
For Heaven’s sake, this is the twentieth century.
How many of us haven’t donned the Oxford Street Arseless Chaps, aviators, and nipple clamps?
He’s actually a very popular Governor who has done great things for his State. He won re-election in a landslide with 59% of the vote.
While he can’t run for Governor again I’d bet he will run successfully for the Senate.
So we’ve gone from “Islamic violence” to “terror attacks.”
OK.
Tomorrow the Good Things music festival will be at Centennial Park.
There will be 25-30k punters there.
It’s going to be a long time before I see an event like this & not be reminded of Oct 7th.
Soviet New York
Court Ruling Allows State to Seize Citizens for Indefinite Quarantine And Isolation
Cassie, you should have sent it back.
I cant imagine why HTML tags like bold for example would make any difference for the server what-so-ever
even links shouldn’t make a difference
all the server does when you query it is spew back what is essentially text
the rendering is done at the client end
and since the forum is pretty much just a wall of text, the extra tags and links would proportionately add up to around zero extra burden for the server
I realised that this is Zali land, a land of wankery, of pretentiousness, of massive wealth, of not giving a damn about the rest of the country. The place reeked shallowness, the food reeked pretence, just like the idiot they’ve sent to Canberra.
Whoa…..very provocative, Cassie. Quite a few Cats live in Zali land. Pretentious…massive wealth….shallow et al ?? I suppose the natives of Zali land might say the same about the Eastern suburbs.
I have coffee (in my jeans/shirt/sneakers) when in Sydney with some ladies who wear their diamonds & latest leisure wear to the beach. That is who they are – some are more interested in fashion than politics, but they are the first to help some in our circle who have lost a partner/contracted breast cancer/found they now have a partner with dementia & many other of life’s disasters. They often out me to shame with their concern and generosity.
On the day of the Voice referendum I handed out “No” leaflets to voters alongside of a solicitor (his day job) handing out “Yes” leaflets. He was also a devoted Zali supporter. We discussed a lot of issues over several hours and shook hands when my time slot was over. That is called civility.
That very much depends on the next Labor-Green government.
Gilas:
Thanks for that, but I’ve tried on several occasions to do what you suggest and have never been able to get a noncorrupted or recoverable library set up.
Epub and PDF just don’t work for me. I get easily confused by directions others have no problems with. It just doesn’t mesh and things that others have no problems with may as well be written in Sanskrit.
err OK. Me being the none judgemental type. I say no more.
Islamic terrorism is in long decline. Remember the attempt to create a caliphate? How did that work out? Bin Laden dead, as are many of the key figures in that movement. We rampaged through Iraq and Afghanistan with ease. The Islamists are so stupid they haven’t yet cottoned to the fact that to really hurt us don’t use bombs and hostages use cyberwarfare. The original commentator argued we are becoming incapable of defending ourselves against Islam. That’s just alarmist nonsense. So many people like playing chicken little. Trans will destroy the West! and Women’s Sport! The national debt will be our ruin! The loss of faith will ruin society! We are all doomed!
If you are relying on Petersen for your understanding of postmodernism I advise you to read more. Petersen has a reputation for misrepresenting positions that don’t fit into the conservative narrative but his most laughable rationalizations are the way he dances around the divinity of Christ. Ironically his speech on that issue often descends into semantic sophistry so reminiscent of postmodernist piffle. Lacan and his emphasis on Freudian psychotherapy was idiotic. His arguments for autism were atrocious and damaging. Foucault’s Madness and Civilization was a waste of time reading and completely wrong. The central message though is no different from “history is written by the victors”. I know a lecturer who taught postmodernism and structuralism and there is not a scintilla of nihilistic relativism in his thinking.
Ever since that whiny Jackson Browne song about being a man I have despised the attempts to resurrect traditional masculinity as being the way all men should be. The reference to masculinity was that in modern warfare it isn’t just the frontline troops, it is the coders, engineers, scientists etc that are just as important. My preferable historical example though Turing, a homosexual who was fundamental to breaking the Enigma Code. Turing and Dowding are arguably the two most prominent individuals who saved Britain from the Nazis(I’ll leave it to you to discover why Dowding was so important).
Israel, Hamas ceasefire ends after 7 days of hostage and prisoner exchanges
Vicki
Dec 1, 2023 7:04 PM”
Vicki darling, LOL, I knew as I was writing it I might upset some of our north shore Cats. Please don’t take offense. I don’t get to the north shore very often and when I do, I find it sublime. And yes, I was generalising, the eastern suburbs is equally shallow, and has sent an equally vacuous idiotic moron to Canberra.
You can guess where I lunched, the location sublime, the restaurant so so. I hadn’t eaten there since the noughties. I sat in the restaurant and I thought of my childhood, when we’d visit relatives who had a house up the hill, we kids would spend all day in the water with our cousins, only leaving late in the day when we would walk up the steep hill to find the adults sitting drinking alcohol, munching cheese and biscuits, arguing politics and other issues, it was a Whitlamesque time, but it was paradise. Perhaps I’m just being nostalgic.
Alas I live in Allegra land, we need to get rid of these Teals, for the good of the country!
I just did refresh with Dev Tools open
32 seconds of waiting for a response from the server after the button press
are you sure it isn’t a treading or queuing problem at the server?
Israeli Rockets Strike Gaza As Ceasefire Expires; IDF Says ‘Hamas Violated Truce…’ | Details
are you sure it isn’t a threading or queuing problem at the server?
“Islamic terrorism is in long decline.”
Sure it has. Tell that to the raped, butchered, slaughtered, and decapitated victims of 7 October 2023.
Anyone who calls Bill Gates a philanthropist is touched in the head. Somehow, every investment and contribution he makes somehow ends up making HIM richer.
Busting the Bill Gates myth
The Jordanian Army is comprised of the descendants of the Bedouin Arabs. They despise the Palestinians. Shelling the refugee camps, with white phosphorus shells, was a good afternoons entertainment.
Unfortunately DeSantis is too close to the grandees of the establishment Republican Party. The feral base, which is at least two thirds of Republican voters, has noticed. Which is why his primary polling has tanked.
Vivek is angling for the Steven Bradbury spot, if the Dems are successful in getting rid of Trump. I don’t think they can be successful without starting a civil war, but if they are then the base voters will hold their nose and come in behind Vivek. No way will they go anywhere near DeSantis or Haley, since they are both creatures of the nearer enemy – the RINO establishment.
I think the most likely thing if the GOP manage to get rid of Trump before the 2024 election is all those righty voters will stay home on election day and clean their firearms once again. One’s guns can never be too clean. If Haley or DeSantis are the Republican candidate the rightwing turnout will be embarassingly small.
The only comment I’ll make about the Boomer topic is that the taxpayer presently funds a greatly expanded set of either free or subsidised services compared to previous generations.
Cohenite:
I have a confession to make.
I bought an EV.
(The shame, I hear you wail.)
However it was a mower – a ride on mower.
I didn’t want to spend $7K on a ride on but the EM was only $4100.
So I took it out for a spin today and after doing a 20 meter cut, it started raining, so I put it back in the garage.
An hour later the rain had stopped and I took it out again.
It did nearly all the back yard before I got range anxiety and put it back on charge.
I should have got the remote model because then I could have sat back in the patio and steered it around the backyard while having a XXXX.
Then I started thinking…
Could you attach a roomba thingy to the front of an EV?
….. Hmmmm.
Thank you. rosie — my morning prayer is St Michael the Archangel’s prayer and to my Guardian Angel, each night. It’s a pity in my haste to get back to the room where my little grandies were watching television, I didn’t listen to Him when he said Don’t Do it! Don’t Do it! and did myself a terrible injury. No matter how young or old you are, listen to your Guardian Angel.
Mystery pneumonia in China
I’m a lower North Shore Kitteh. Back when I lived there, staunchly Conservative. You couldn’t imagine the advance of “woke” nonsense back in the day.
But time moves on, and people become shallower, sillier. The old guard of Vets and Jam and Jerusalem equivalents die off and are replaced by soft handed, smooth, chestless opportunists. They don’t join anything useful and practical, they become useless but noisy “activists”. The curse of affluence without responsibility.
I’ve so often felt like a fish out of water in these circumstances. It was one of the reasons why I left Sydney ten years ago.
oh, and before the auto-correcting retards begin with the paranoia … MT is not JohnJJJ
I like what TripleJohn said … it confirms my biases
his point I think , is that there are connections between these insane ideologies that are going to tear your society apart
in fact, they already are
and John H’s response was bong riddled gibberish
“We have let a lot of people into our countries who hate us” | Konstantin Kisin
Vicki I hope you checked to make sure you still have your hand.
enjoy
humoresque but accurate
The Vacuity of Postmodernist Methodology
Hasn’t his daughter married an Egyptian moslem? I wonder iif he can get his son a nice Chinese or Russian girl. Then he’ll have the globe pretty much covered.
“We would like more Australians to come and work in Japan, but they will make less money,” he said. The Australian dollar is currently trading at around 98 Japanese yen, compared to 65 in 2009
Old Ozzie:
One reason I’ve never been to Japan is because it was always appearing to be a very expensive place to do the touristy thing in.
Is that no longer the case?
The Jackson Browne reference was the tell.
I wouldn’t confuse subdued with vanquished, John.
I know that the site is inserting (?) so many cookies in my cache and history that I have to clear it periodically. Others have had this problem also.
And it’s only this site, no others. It started around six weeks ago.
cohenite
Done and verified.
put down the bong John
Oh, the f word puts you straight into moderation? When did the Cat become kindergarten?
I’ve never been to Japan is because it was always appearing to be a very expensive place to do the touristy thing in.
Not if you choose carefully. There are cheap noodle shops everywhere where you eat standing up. There are also many cheap cafes where you go in and order from an electronic menu, and then collect your food from the serving counter.
Ryokans can be very cheap – you get a bed in a room with paper walls, and you have to be very quiet. Often includes breakfast. Once away from the big cities the accomodation prices can be very reasonable.
Go for it!
How the Obama Admin Enabled the Nonstop Security Leaks Against Trump
Vicki darling, LOL, I knew as I was writing it I might upset some of our north shore Cats. Please don’t take offense. I don’t get to the north shore very often and when I do, I find it sublime. And yes, I was generalising
Forgiven, of course!!! These are turbulent times, when our focus is so sharp that we sometimes fail to see the background.
Stay strong, warrior princess.
My go to answer for all that is wrong in the world.
Brussels Sprouts, boomers, Roger and xxxx.
Did anyone else see the pic of Albanese sitting in his PM’s office in his Radio Birdman t-shirt today?
Apart from the volumes of Hansard on display there wasn’t a book in the place.
A couple of footballs, a QANTAS model plane, aboriginal art and a few personal photos.
Like chaff about to be blown away by the political winds.
Chuckle. I give the whole thing a purge, and it runs like clockwork. Internet laxettes.
Laws are changed by the legislature, not the governor. He may have signed it, but they passed it.
DeSantis is the backup to Trump. Was he asked to be or did he see the need/opportunity himself? I don’t know. Would the public show up to vote for him if he was the candidate? I think yes, because they know the US can’t survive another Marxist President. I also believe Trump would eventually endorse him if it was absolutely clear Trump was out of the race and not doing so would cause a Dem to be elected.
Obama-Biden Global CENSORSHIP Scheme EXPOSED By Whistleblower: Michael Shellenberger EXCLUSIVE
Calli:
We might add ‘Rebels who take no risks’ also.
It’s no coincidence that those who advocate the most radical and confrontational changes, do so from within the cocoon-like protection of the very systems and institutions they seek to destroy.
I’ve stated often that if the present subspecies of so-called feminists chose to confront the issues of child marriage, FGM, ‘honour’ murders (not killings; Murders), etc. in overseas countries where these are daily occurrences, I would support them as effectively as I could. Yet they don’t, because the risk-reward scale is far too imbalanced for them, and such commitments would require actual demonstrations of courage.
Islam in all its forms has been experiencing a revival since the late 1970s.
The rejection of secularism a key aspect of that.
Only an inebriated wombat would dismiss this as of no import for the West.
Four! Four comments left on ze page. Ah! Ah!
– Count Berkula.
no,
a link to a youtube of Peterson talking is a digestible informer for people here who haven’t a clue about the immoral depths this idiotic realm plumbs
try to keep the condescension down to sensible level
and get back to me after you read some Foucault or Derrida
go hard-core, try the Intersectionalists
Yeah, right. And I’m the Queen of Sheba.
I’ve not got a dog in this fight but,
they at least are less likely to need medical care for eating tide pods.
The Australian Digital ID.
Just an optional neutral technical update for modernised government services?
Or a Trojan horse for a Social Credit Score Prohibitions system?
Discuss!
(Picks up popcorn and waits for people who know more about it than I do to tell me the answers to questions I hadn’t thought of asking.)
Scrolling back to find a comment (that I can not find), I came across a post where a Cat reports Justice Michael Lee chatting directly to the witness.
He really does disrupt the barristers strategies doesn’t he.