Good old Kel Richards on Sky…Sometimes governments tell lies.Kel is being very charitable.
Open Thread – Wed 6 Dec 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
“Aborigines didn’t build the cities” For shame, Bruce Pascoe will be so angry with you!
Is there any point in the ABC persisting with the Narm/Melbourne nonsense? Aside from the friction between old and new…
My advice to young guys starting out is get a trade. Maybe more TAFE or Uni after that. I certainly…
By the way, any chance of any of the monumental morons in this abortion of a so called government caring…
Despite carrying heavy overtones of tattooed hipster, good BBQ is very good. There is a competition circuit run around Perth that requires competitors to provide sample plates to onlookers (like me) for small contributions to charity. It is worth hunting out for a lunch or two.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
I’d suggest they also upgrade their personal security, because the insecure and vulnerable kids they mutilate today are going to grow up and realise just how badly they’ve been treated, and more importantly, by whom. These surgeons, nurses etc who have been complicit in ruining these kids lives will be in the same position as paedophiles who later in life realise their victims are no longer powerless and may just come for revenge.
They are in for a bloody rude awakening.
..
As “gender” is bullshit, the correct description for those surgeries is “sex denying surgeries” and the doctors doing them are sex deniers.
Gender, until it became a tool for the language manglers, was a definition only to describe the way languages had different words or inflections in parts of speech when referring to male or female.
Nikola Anderson, who found Ms Higgins naked in the office of Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds,
I understand Nikola was institutionalised as a result of this dreadful experience.
The AFR View
Andrews fallout for Albanese
The question for the PM Catherine King is why have they decided to put federal taxpayers on the hook for Dan Andrews’ election boondoggle.
The fallout from Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass’ probe into the “creeping politicisation” of Victoria’s public service under Daniel Andrews must extend to Anthony Albanese’s pledge to add his $2 billion contribution to the former premier’s pet Suburban Rail Loop project.
Ms Glass says the “excessive secrecy” around the $125-billion, 90-kilometre orbital rail line – which was conceived and developed inside the public sector by “people with strong ALP ties” – was at odds with core aspects of the Westminster tradition.
That included the use of private PwC consultants to “prove up” the strategic business case that both the Victorian auditor-general and Parliamentary Budget Office have concluded does not stack up.
Top public servants in the Department of Transport who were kept in the dark were unable to provide their customary frank, impartial and timely advice about a mega-project that was not part of Victoria’s long-term integrated transport plan, but is set to impose a long-term burden on the state’s taxpayers.
The surprise announcement of the Suburban Rail Loop on an obvious political timetable as the “centrepiece” of the Andrews government’s 2018 state election pitch “blindsided” Infrastructure Victoria, the body established in 2015 to take the short-term politics out of infrastructure planning.
The bottom-line finding is that Victoria’s expert non-partisan bureaucrats “would have been unlikely to endorse such a high-cost solution for low-density Melbourne”.
The question for the prime minister and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King is why have they decided to put federal taxpayers on the hook for Mr Andrews’ election boondoggle, which has now been exposed as a political project from the start.
Nikola offered medical assistance, or an ambulance, and was refused…
He would have been working with a projection of 130 000 – 160 000 per annum.
What have seen this year?
500 000+
Madness.
Phatty Adams is finally getting the flick at the ABCcess.
So expect it’s twitter feed to become a free form sewer of bile and mind nuggetts against anything and everything.
Phillip Adams
@PhillipAdams_1
Looks like I won’t be passing the LNL torch to Alan Jones after all
Gotta be good for a couple of sick days.
Something is rotten in the state of Victoria
Findings of a culture of fear, timidity and secrecy within the Victorian public service point to a deep cancer that must be frankly addressed by ministers.
Tom Burton – Government editor
If the Victorian Ombudsman’s findings that a “culture of fear”, “creeping politicisation” and “over responsiveness” are threatening good government sound familiar, then you are right.
As veteran ombudsman Deborah Glass observed, numerous reports – most recently the searing robo-debt royal commission – have revealed that public servants are far too ready to do the bidding of governments of the day, no matter their colour.
This has led to an erosion of the core Westminister principle: an apolitical public service that provides the government with frank and fearless advice.
At its worst, this fuels “grey corruption” – the perversion of good decision-making for short-term political gain, something the anti-corruption arm of the Victorian government has also warned against.
While Glass was unable to find clear evidence of political mates being directly appointed, only the most partisan would deny that something is rotten in the state of Victoria.
Glass repeated the truism that culture starts at the top, warning that her call for deep change would be ignored at peril.
Rising citizen empowerment has been accompanied by a similar intolerance for governments that are seen to act in their own and not voters’ interests. The last federal election emphatically confirmed this, and Labor’s powerful Victorian regime faces similar electoral threats if the new premier, Jacinta Allan, and her third-term ministers ignore the need for deep reforms.
These will need to go far beyond Glass’ central recommendation of an independent commissioner to select and employ mandarins.
New Zealand has a similar set-up, but anyone familiar with the real politics of government will agree that no Australian cabinet is going to surrender their right to appoint their own departmental leaders.
The US has long formalised partisan appointments to the public service and if “Washminster” government is to be wound back, it will take deep political commitment that cabinet government works best when advice is truly independent.
In Canberra, it has taken a change of government and four years of reform to right the federal public service and restore a culture of independence and policy strength. Stephanie Foster’s shotgun appointment last week to head Home Affairs, without any merit selection process, signals that is still a work in progress.
In Victoria, it has been obvious for several years that the once-revered Victorian public service is no longer that. The recent rush of its best talent to take up key roles in Canberra is just another data point showing the glory days of so-called Victorian exceptionalism are long gone.
Nowhere is this more obvious than the Suburban Rail Loop. Still not properly costed, the 50-year project was dreamt up with the tight secrecy normally reserved for highly sensitive national security projects.
Even the state transport secretary was cut out of any substantive involvement, learning of the mega heavy-rail project only days before it was announced.
The very agency that is meant to “take short-term politics out of infrastructure planning”, Infrastructure Victoria, was also sidelined. Any officials brought into the tight team of PwC consultants, ministers and the premier’s department were forced to sign confidentiality statements.
The project is now being run by former deputy premier James Merlino. But the secretive bypassing of usual planning processes means the project to link up Melbourne’s middle ring of suburbs, despite its obvious merits, is now so politically tainted it will struggle to get the long-term capital needed to make it a reality.
The same themes of bureaucratic experts being cut out, over-reliance on consultants and holding back of unwelcome advice were widely found. Glass identified in spades the deep and obvious culture of fear and timidity that now pervades public administration in Victoria.
Taken together, they point to a cancer that, if not frankly admitted, will continue the inexorable demise of the once mighty Victorian public sector. And the state’s elected government.
From CL’s link on the Ivy League Presidents exposing rot at the core of universities.
Start with the Chancelleries. Pressure for the appointment of better VC’s, drawing on the professoriate from STEM disciplines, not the broad Arts faculties (which include Nursing, Public Health, Social Work and various rubrics of social analysis, such as history, anthropology, sociology, or media, theatre, gender travesties and so on). Do not introduce VC’s from the public sector bureaucracy. Same for the DVC’s and PVC’s, to produce a change in thinking in the whole Chancellery.
After that, remove the Marxism. Make replacement of all Arts Deans by scholars not infected with post-modern ideologies a condition of any funding at all for Arts courses. Require the new Deans to report on procedures to delete courses premised on Marxist post-modern verities and replace them with less biased courses and readings. Set up an authority to oversight these necessary changes. Draw the personnel for this authority from proven anti-Marxist sources. (Hint: the IPA has useful contacts and research materials here).
Mole – looks like Phatty just grandstanding. Hunter Valley police will carry Phatty out in a box after that last welfare check call from Ita.
NDIS autism carve-out to cost $10b
Phillip Coorey and Michael Read
The states and the Commonwealth will tip in $10 billion between them to establish a new scheme to treat children with mild autism and early developmental disorders, after the review into the NDIS said it must be reserved for those with significant and permanent disabilities.
“Our reforms recommend a complete rethink of the participant journey,” says the review into the burgeoning National Disability Insurance Scheme that was commissioned to return it to sustainability.
“We must return to the principle that NDIS eligibility is based first and foremost on functional impairment rather than medical diagnosis
The review, released on Thursday morning, also demands higher standards of the service providers and recommends measures to eradicate overservicing and fraud, which are contributing to the scheme’s cost blowout.
Its release follows Wednesday’s national cabinet agreement that so-called foundational issues mild autism and developmental issues, which have swamped the NDIS, should not be supported by the scheme.
Instead, they will be supported through schools, childcare centres and other government service settings under a new Commonwealth-state funded scheme that will be phased in over time.
That scheme, to be phased in from 2024, will cost an estimated $10 billion over five years and be funded 50:50 by the states and the Commonwealth.
It will represent how such disorders were treated before the NDIS was established.
Developmental delays and autism now amount for 12 and 35 per cent respectively of NDIS participants, more than ever envisioned.
The scheme will cost $42 billion this financial year and $100 billion by 2032.
Tougher eligibility test, new assessment
As the program’s cost escalates because of inconsistent decision-making around access and budgets, the reviewers recommended the National Disability Insurance Agency introduce a “a more consistent and robust approach to determining eligibility for access to the NDIS”.
Once a person is on the scheme, they will be subject to a “new needs assessment process” that will determine how much money they are entitled to receive.
This will involve a person meeting an employee of the NDIA, who will spend “sufficient time with participants, so they feel heard”.
The recommendation may be viewed with hostility from the disability community, which will resist anything resembling the Morrison government’s failed attempt in 2021 to introduce an independent assessment process.
Under pressure from NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, who was then opposition NDIS spokesman, the Morrison government cancelled the rollout of the newly formed independent assessment approach after heavy criticism by the disability community that it was impersonal and heavily rule-bound.
Pre-empting the criticism, the reviewers say “our proposed approach to the participant pathway is fundamentally different to independent assessments”.
As part of the eligibility overhaul, the reviewers say the NDIA should agree to a new definition of “substantially reduced functional capacity” for access to the scheme.
The Albanese government will also need to legislate a new definition of “reasonable and necessary”, which is used to assess which supports are funded under the scheme.
“The whole-of-person reasonable and necessary budget should be based primarily on supports needs and intensity, rather than functional impairments,” the reviewers say.
“People with disability, as well as experts, must be involved in implementing our new approach to ensure budget setting is fair and can be trusted.”
As well, NDIS service providers will need to be enrolled or registered, and their workers undergo mandatory training, to weed out shonks and over-servicing.
“The highest-quality service providers should be rewarded, and low-quality service providers must improve,” the review says.
These would be policed by “a new dedicated deputy commissioner for quality in a new National Disability Supports Commission”.
“Continuous improvement will also be enabled through better data and market monitoring.”
Fraud, cash crackdown
The reviewers say it has become difficult to identify fraud in the $42 billion scheme because there is not enough visibility of transactions.
“An enhanced near real-time payment system will improve the transparency of transactions, deter fraudulent and sharp practices and make the scheme less wasteful,” they say.
Cash reimbursements for services should also be phased out over time.
Conceding the transition to real-time digital payments will take time, the reviewers say existing government technologies such as myGov should be built on in the interim.
Mr Shorten said the review’s recommendations would “restore trust, ensure sustainability and give participants a better experience and more control, by making the NDIS more about people and less about bureaucracy through greater equity, transparency and consistency”.
“The Albanese government has made a commitment to humanise the scheme and ensure every dollar goes to the participants for who it was intended.”
The review also offers greater flexibility for those aged over 65 who, if already on the NDIS, have to choose whether to stay on the NDIS or receive support through the aged care system.
“The Australian government should implement legislative change to allow participants once they turn 65 to receive supports in both the NDIS and the aged care system concurrently and clarify when aged care supports are reasonable and necessary,” it says.
The 338-page review, compiled by scheme architect Bruce Bonyhady and public servant Lisa Paul, makes 26 recommendations with 139 supporting actions.
“It is in the interests of everyone in the disability sector – including people with disability, service providers and governments – to secure the future sustainability of the NDIS,” they say.
“All recommendations and actions must be implemented as a package to achieve a more inclusive and fairer Australia for all people with disability.”
…and nuclear-powered desalination plants. Green the interior.
A big Australia shouldn’t be about a big population. It should be about domesticating, greening and industrialising the place. If the population booms, so be it.
We haven’t even got decent roads through our alpine ski fields. Decent dual carriageways would make life very different. There should be far more cities up there, per Europe.
People don’t have genders any more than they have tenses.
It makes no more sense to reply to the question “What is your gender”? than to reply to the question “What is your tense”? With “Oh, today I decided I am third person future, because I’m so special compared to all you first person presents”.
https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/ndis-review-final-report_0.pdf
338 Page PDF NDIS Report for Download
That explains the lack of legroom in the Corolla.
See thus my suggestions for reform of the university sector: start at the top and insist that the change then cascades down throughout the institution. In the US, less so here but still important, the cries of foul from the Alumni will also start to have an impact as the rot becomes more and more apparent. Especially in the schools, and the bleak role being played by university Departments of Education (part of the broad Arts faculties).
Tom Burton (whom I’ve chatted to personally) is an old lefty but he’s enough of a good journalist to see clearly what is going on in the bureaucracy and report on it.
Our immigration policy is precisely the opposite.
Bring in masses of people to artificially boost growth, then play catch up with infrastructure.
Who benefits?
He wrote a column a couple months ago that he might leave because the ABC isn’t lefty enough. At least I think that’s what it was about, since it was in the Paywallian weekend glossy and I was disinclined to buy the paper with it in.
LOL, Arky at 11.16.
Kill them with satire. Always a good way to go.
The problem with Australia regardless of, but made worse by high immigration, is the twofold issue of the concentration of so many public sector jobs in the capitals.
NDSI Report for Dummies
https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/a-better-ndis-recommendations-actions.pdf
42 Pages PDF For downlaod
Quote
Easy read: A better NDIS (recommendations and actions)
Plus
One Page NDIS at a Glance
https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/ndis-review-at-a-glance.pdf
Giles and Dreyfus. Two Scotch old boys. I despise our self appointed ruling class. Such a thing should not exist in a democracy. Despicable trash.
Arrakis
Improving and growing our regional rural cities should be high in all political agendas. Australia’s demographic patterning is of increasingly concentrated and overlapping urban coastal conurbations in ribbon development along Highway 1 up and down the coasts. It changes after around Caloundra in Qld and at the NSW Southern border towns, and Victoria has some wonderful gold-rush era cities that are examples of how to grow the regions.
I thought we were going to get a cyclone?
There’s not even a white pixel on the radar for my area – Longreach at the 256km scale.
Did someone steal the horrendous cyclone to end all cyclones?
FM Cohen: UN chief’s move shows he backs Hamas, his term is ‘danger to world peace’
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen tweets that the tenure of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “a danger to world peace,” responding to the latter’s decision to invoke a rare clause in the UN charter to urge Security Council intervention in the Israel-Hamas war.
Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN’s charter, which states that “the secretary-general may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
Cohen claims that Guterres’s decision “constitutes support of the Hamas terrorist organization and an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction of babies and the rape of women.
“Anyone who supports world peace must support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas.”
On which Kerry clearly gorged.
His resulting flatulence noted.
Democracy needs demarchy as a republican check to oligarchs, to wit; sortition, but also term limits, recall voting, sunset clauses on legislation, jury nullification, CIR to strike down bad laws, subsidiarity and confederalism.
The NDSI ‘future’ looks good in one-page, Old Ozzie. But bringing the States kicking and screaming into all of the implications for ‘shared’ care will be a monumental task.
Are any of our pollies up to it?
Plenty of scope for that in East Gippsland where most (if not all) rivers were in flood last week.
Gazillions of megalitres of water heading for the ocean. It is much easier to use it before it becomes saline.
Dams on the Macallister and Mitchell would be a start.
Ahahahahahahahahahaha! Nope!
Haven’t read a Phatty Adam’s column in 30 years. He and Nikki Gemmel are always flick straight over each weekend. Could be writing Pulitzer prize material each week – I’ll never know.
Blue haired lady, check
Jabba the Hutt concealing bulk behind another person: check
Majority older ladies ( including Phatty) post menopause, cat hair not optional.
Soyjack hipster in front to show he’s in touch with da youf!
https://x.com/PhillipAdams_1/status/1732280655478943781?s=20
Every one a tax eating hermophradite.
I think the last regional dam to be built in QLD took 16 years to get approval.
In the meantime, the town was reduced to trucking in water during the last drought.
The “eliminated” commanders have been crossed off…
I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Phil not wearing a black skivvy.
Citizen Smith
Jasper staying out at sea for longer is bad, it has intensified – now when it makes landfall it could be a Cat 4 or even Cat 5 storm.
One of the radar stations is also down.
BOM employee: “You don’t know what it’s like in the private sector, they expect results!”
I’ll save you the bother- he’s not.
Could be writing Pulitzer prize material each week – I’ll never know
Unless it’s a Walter Durranty one for services to wrongology.
Miltonf
Dec 7, 2023 11:20 AM
Giles and Dreyfus. Two Scotch old boys. I despise our self appointed ruling class. Such a thing should not exist in a democracy. Despicable trash.
‘Unimaginable’: Newington mum speaks out against co-ed plan
Samantha Hutchinson – National reporter
A mother of two boys at Sydney’s prestigious Newington College says a plan to turn the private school co-educational has been forced on parents and students without adequate consultation, and is being pushed through against the wishes of the broader community.
In the first public comments from a school parent since the college’s announcement last month that it would admit girls from 2026 onwards, lawyer Victoria Phillips said parents and students were never properly consulted.
“We are here to protest the decision of the current school council, rushed through, with no adequate consultation. Parents have been silenced; students have been silenced,” she said.
“Despite the wokery of the school council and its dystopian method of implementation, it has shown no understanding of the ‘C’ words: consent, conciliation, communication and consultation.”
Ms Phillips addressed the school community and old boys at the school, which charges $40,000 a year in fees for year 12, on Wednesday evening as its council, led by financial services boss Tony McDonald, met with its Old Boys Union to discuss the co-education plan.
Before the meeting began, Ms Phillips spoke on behalf of a group of parents called Save Newington College and said her opposition to the decision was about preserving choice for parents and students.
“Never, for a moment, did I imagine that I would be standing here now, addressing you in these circumstances,” Ms Phillips said, describing the decision to admit girls from 2026 as “unimaginable”.
“It was … unimaginable, for the very simple and obvious reason that we had enrolled [our sons] at a boys’ school. It was our choice, our free choice.
“We stuck to our side of the bargain; we dutifully paid the school fees. Why hasn’t the school council stuck to their side of the agreement?”
A proposal to admit girls in kindergarten and year 5 from 2026 onwards, and to become fully co-educational by 2033, has been a lightning rod in the well-connected school’s community and further afield, as some of the country’s oldest boys’ schools ponder breaking tradition by turning co-ed.
Rich 200 member and old boy Robert Millner has spoken out against the change at the school, which boasts old boys including former Wallabies Nick Farr-Jones and Phil Kearns, and MPs including former North Sydney representative Trent Zimmermann, and ABC journalist Tony Jones.
A separate group of parents is taking legal action against the school, arguing that its property deeds and charitable obligations preclude the school from admitting girls.
On Wednesday, Mr Farr-Jones, who attended the school’s speech night on Tuesday in support of a relative, said he was agnostic about the school admitting women, but could reflect on the experience he had of his university college, St Andrews, where co-education had been beneficial.
Strident opposition
The residential college on campus at the University of Sydney was established in 1867 and opened up to women for the first time in 2001, in a move driven partly in response to what had been flagging enrolments.
“St Andrews became a better place … it was a much better institution when they admitted girls, and back then, there was a lot of resentment to the plan but it turned out to be a fantastic way forward,” he said.
Other old boys have been more strident in their opposition.
Former Old Boys Union president Ian Webster said co-education would require existing facilities to be razed to make way for females, and with no corresponding increase in the total headcount at the school, which meant fewer boys could be educated there in the future. He said he was aware of people who had pulled donations as a result of the decision.
“The bequests that have been withdrawn, as well as the intentions to donate which have now changed as a result of the decision, from my [graduation] year alone are in the millions of dollars,” he said.
Having worked in advertising, the real estate of business, Phatty still has some mea culpas to work off.
Blackout Bowen under pressure at COP28 over fossil fuel ‘phase out’
Hans van Leeuwen Europe correspondent
Dubai | Labor Climate Change and Energy Minister Blackout Chris Bowen arrives at the COP28 summit under pressure to help nail a deal on fossil fuels that bolsters Australia’s green reputation without damaging its brown economy and to stump up more climate cash for Pacific countries.
Blackout Bowen has refused to be drawn on whether Australia will support a phase down or phase out of fossil fuels, which is fast becoming one of the most intractable issues at the UN climate talks under way in Dubai.
The minister told the ABC that Australia, the US and other nations wanted to “see a step-up in global action on mitigating emissions”. But he declined to say whether he will support the kind of tough language that many developing countries, and those without oil and gas resources, are demanding from COP28.
“Certainly, we are supporting stronger language on that sort of thing. But in my experience, some countries like China and the African Union have already said they are not comfortable with that sort of language. So that makes the negotiations difficult.”
He arrives in Dubai, alongside dozens of fellow ministers, as the rubber hits the road on five days of round-the-clock negotiations, which are supposed to produce a result on such issues by next Tuesday evening (Wednesday AEDT).
UN climate chief Simon Stiell warned that even after a week of constructive talks, the 198 countries were still far from agreeing on a definitive plan – one that will set the direction of climate policy, at global and national levels, for the next two or three years.
“This COP needs to send to signal that this is actually a turning point, going from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’. … That is what negotiators are focused on,” he told reporters.
“We need COP to deliver a bullet train to speed up climate action. We currently have an old caboose chugging over rickety tracks.”
Although the COP28 textual negotiations look pedantic – “phasing down” versus “phasing out” fossil fuels, for example – COP-watchers say the annual outcomes decision has real-world impact.
World Resources Institute director David Waslow said the Paris Agreement in 2015 had introduced language on net-zero that was now commonplace.
“I’m not sure anyone anticipated this, but what we saw in the next few years was a real wave of countries, cities and companies taking on net-zero goals,” he said.
His WRI colleague Stientje van Veldhoven said ministers and negotiators knew what was at stake: “The very fact that the texts are so heavily negotiated is because they do have an impact on national debates.”
Fossil fuel phase out?
A group led by Denmark and Costa Rica is pushing for countries to agree to phase out oil and gas, adding to a 2021 pledge to phase down unabated coal.
This will get support from Pacific and Caribbean islands and other less-developed states.
China and India have already indicated that they will resist a “policy-prescriptive” outcome, while Saudi Arabia has reportedly used the word “trauma” in relation to the proposed fossil-fuel phase out.
Blackout Bowen will lead a clutch of countries called “the umbrella group”, which includes the US, Canada, Japan, Norway, Israel, New Zealand and, from this year, Britain.
US climate envoy John Kerry told reporters in Dubai that to get to net zero by 2050, “you have to do some phasing out, there’s no other way to get to that target”.
The Africans may be looking to horse-trade between the fossil-fuel phase out and a separate section of the COP agreement on adaptation to climate change, where they want to see more money on the table. Assistant climate change minister Jenny McAllister is co-chairing that part of the talks.
Pacific pressure
Wrangles over money are also an issue for Mr Bowen: he is under pressure from the Pacific to provide more funding.
Church and aid groups have written to Mr Bowen urging him to tip $100 million into the Loss and Damage Fund agreed at this COP, which has already secured almost $1 billion in pledges from countries including Germany, Britain, Japan and the US.
“Australia has played a key role in designing the fund that we now have, which many developed nations have contributed to in the past few days,” said James Bhagwan, general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches.
“To show leadership in this area and continued commitment to its place in the Pacific family, the Australian government needs to make a significant contribution to the fund while the minister is here in Dubai.”
Blackout Bowen says it is not yet clear if the Loss and Damage Fund is as attuned to Pacific needs as other pots of money. He has flagged an allocation to the Pacific Resilience Fund, a “modest contribution” to the Green Climate Fund, and $350 million of spending on Pacific climate infrastructure.
“We’ll be saying more about our approach to global finance, including the Pacific Resilience Fund and other funds, over the next few days,” he told the ABC.
Also arriving on Thursday are a group of Liberal and National MPs and senators led by shadow energy and climate minister Ted O’Brien.
The focus of their visit is overwhelmingly on nuclear power, which Blackout Bowen has ruled out as a clean-energy option for Australia.
There’s no climate chaos so I suppose you’ll have to go with rebellion. Which would be nice, since the ADF could then shoot the lot of you.
Climate protesters take the streets of Melbourne CBD for a second day ahead of more planned peak-hour hour disruption (7 Dec)
Here’s the banner I’m referencing.
Re Cyclone Jasper supposedly moving to North QLD
Looking at 7 Dec – 14 Dec 23 on
https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-25.3;152.7;3&l=wind-250m
Sort slightly heads down then goes back to where currently located
and BOM Weather Map
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml
shows similar movement Thursday & Dec to Wednesday 14 Dec 33
Phatty Adams.
As much as I dislike the pathetic Max Gillies and his missus, he used to do a great Phillip Adams impersonation. He was dressed in black with a peaked cup and would pontificate about himself after emerging from an Egyptian sarcophagus. After which he would lie down and replace the coffin lid.
Ugh…shooting in Nevada, Las Vegas, not long ago:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/las-vegas-shooting-unlv
I won’t draw conclusions but, news from yesterday…
https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/12/05/lone-wolf-terror-plot-foiled-teen-las-vegas/
(I’m sure there’s a van filled with Trump memorabilia that’s going to be found on campus that’ll prove shooter is maga).
Nikola Anderson, who found Ms Higgins naked in the office of Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds,
I understand Nikola was institutionalised as a result of this dreadful experience.
She now works for National Parks, getting buckets of water and wet towels getting ready for the next pod of pilot whales to beach themselves. Hoggins was great work experience.
..
I’m sure if we only talked reasonably to them we could convert them to a pro- nuclear protest.
After all, idiots who say they desire to reduce the output of CO2 by snarling thousands of cars in a peak hour jam must surely be honest individuals open to reason and logic.
FIRST THEY CAME FOR YOUR CAR…
…now they are coming for your meat. Global warming, the universal excuse for left-wing policies designed to make your life worse, demands that modern agriculture be shut down. If you think that is an exaggeration, talk to anyone in Sri Lanka or the Netherlands.
The UN’s COP28 global warming conference in Dubai is turning its attention to agriculture:
Climate advocacy groups are pressuring world governments gathered at this year’s United Nation’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai to commit to cutting global food sector emissions, as the conference host promises to put agriculture in the spotlight.
Global food systems- including farming and land use, livestock production, household food consumption and waste, and energy used in the farm and food retail sectors – account for 31% of human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
How do you cut down on those emissions? Basically, by doing away with meat and substituting insects as a protein source for the masses.
A full day of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP), Dec. 10, will be dedicated to food and agriculture – a first for any COP – and the United Arab Emirates host has said the event will be a “game-changer for food systems.”
A “game changer” for your diet.
Not coincidentally, the Biden EPA, which is running amok on several fronts, is promulgating new anti-methane regulations. At Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman points out that such regulations, while initially directed toward the oil and gas industries, can easily be deployed against agriculture, a major source of methane.
One thing you can be sure of: the liberals who are telling you to eat insects instead of steaks, pork chops, bacon and hamburgers will do no such thing themselves.
Their plan is to drive up the price of meat to the point where you, and most people, can’t afford it, but they can. Meat will be like, say, truffles.
And you will never have a chance to vote on this plan. It will be done through regulation, not legislation, and most people (if the liberals get their way) will never understand that it is left-wing government action that has priced them out of the market for meat.
Note the warped language – making no change is called “conversion therapy”.
Genital and/or pheromone mutilation is “identity acknowledgement”.
This will be the prelude to HOP time.
They are telling you to not eat meat to reduce your carbon footprint.
Meanwhile … they arrive on private jets at their latest international conference in Dubai.
I wonder what’s on the menu?
Bugs or Wagyu beef?
The COP26 menu is ‘like serving cigarettes at a lung cancer conference’
Climate and conservation groups have questioned the sustainability of the COP26 menu, which is almost 60 per cent meat or dairy based.
You might expect the world’s biggest climate change conference to opt for eco-friendly menus, given the clamour to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the menu at COP26 in Glasgow is almost 60 per cent meat or dairy with dishes labelled as high-carbon at almost every food stand, a move which ‘beggars belief” according to climate and conservation campaigners.
Delegates are presented with a broad menu at the conference, from soups, sandwiches and salads to pizza, pasta and pastries.
The carbon footprint for every item is listed on the menu, available online at a website called ARecipeForChange.co.uk, with burgers, venison, beef ramen, and haggis all featuring, despite their high carbon footprint.
Arky
I self identify as third person past present and emerging. Gimme Munni.
I’d like someone to ask Fatty Adams whether he has repatriated all his antiquities.
I’m so glad libertarians talked me out of the slippery slope fallacy during the gay marriage debates.
Imagine how insane I would have sounded saying the cultural vandal academics won’t be satisfied with just redefining marriage and will inevitable move on to some even more radical positions like normalising chemical castration of minors and an entire new medicalised approach to normal pubescent anxiety and uncertainty.
They are telling you to not eat meat to reduce your carbon footprint.
Meanwhile … they arrive on private jets at their latest international conference in Dubai.
I wonder what’s on the menu?
Bugs or Wagyu beef?
The COP26 menu is ‘like serving cigarettes at a lung cancer conference’
Climate and conservation groups have questioned the sustainability of the COP26 menu, which is almost 60 per cent meat or dairy based.
You might expect the world’s biggest climate change conference to opt for eco-friendly menus, given the clamour to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the menu at COP26 in Glasgow is almost 60 per cent meat or dairy with dishes labelled as high-carbon at almost every food stand, a move which ‘beggars belief” according to climate and conservation campaigners.
Delegates are presented with a broad menu at the conference, from soups, sandwiches and salads to pizza, pasta and pastries.
The carbon footprint for every item is listed on the menu, available online at a website called ARecipeForChange.co.uk, with burgers, venison, beef ramen, and haggis all featuring, despite their high carbon footprint.
noted that Sustainability is last on the list for review focus
and
Securing the future
sustainability of the NDIS.
• Sustainability is more than
costs, it also includes the
benefits of the NDIS.
• A person-centred, fairer
NDIS, embedded in a
balanced ecosystem of
supports that is easy to
navigate and delivers high
quality supports, will result
in a sustainable scheme
Some weasel words which amount to “… public servants can design a better NDIS market than a real market” – ignoring the incentives built into the system to just keep growing …
Albo spending $25B to save ??? He is a financial genius – step aside while he spends enough to solve all our problems.
Hmmm apologies for double post – not sure what happened there!
..
You’re on the cutting edge Winston. I foresee dozens, if not hundreds of new tenses for people to identify. A truly diverse future, er past present, er, xer person awaits us.
Shut up and play with the feminine penis Arky.
Or you are a bigot.
Are Americans in the Mood for More Trump?
Voters think things are out of control. He will reassure some and terrify others.
Every presidential campaign unfolds against the backdrop of a distinctive national mood, and candidates who capture this mood have an advantage over those who don’t.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy campaigned on a pledge “to get this country moving again.” He understood that while older Americans welcomed the Eisenhower years as a return to stability after the tumultuous years of the Great Depression and World War II, younger Americans felt stagnation and complacency. JFK’s famous and often-imitated appeal to a “new generation of Americans” proved strong enough to overcome Richard Nixon, whose two terms as Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president had made him the candidate of continuity.
Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign 24 years later unveiled one of the most effective advertisements in American political history. Over soothing music, a rich baritone voice proclaimed “It’s morning again in America” and spoke of Americans going to work as the economy recovered, buying homes after interest rates had fallen by half from their 1980 highs, and getting married with confidence in the future because inflation had been cut. Under Reagan’s leadership, the narrator said, the country was “prouder and stronger and better.” The spot ended with a killer question: “Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?”
This ad worked because it understood that people were feeling better after the stormy years of Watergate, soaring inflation and the Iran hostage crisis. In a mirror image of the Kennedy campaign, the Reagan campaign underscored that Americans would welcome a return to tranquility. That Democratic nominee Walter Mondale had served as Jimmy Carter’s vice president only intensified the power of the ad’s concluding query.
By contrast, Vice President Hubert Humphrey kicked off his 1968 campaign by promising to practice “the politics of happiness, the politics of purpose and the politics of joy.” Commentators noted that it was an odd time for joy. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated three weeks earlier. Cities had erupted in riots, and with 500,000 Americans on the ground in Vietnam, college radicals were taking over campus buildings. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s refusal to choose between guns and butter had sparked a surge in inflation that ended years of rapid growth with price stability. Although Humphrey’s campaign failed for many reasons, a key was his inability to identify with the troubled feelings of many voters.
What is the national mood today? According to the latest Economist/YouGov survey, 20% of registered voters feel that “things in the country these days are under control,” compared with 66% who feel that things are “out of control.”
The poll doesn’t probe the reasons behind this sentiment, but here’s my hunch.
Families see inflation as a loss of control over their financial future. Rising crime rates create a sense of insecurity and foster the belief that leaders have lost control over the most important responsibility of government.
According to Gallup, 28% of households reported that they had been hit by crime, up from 20% in 2020, 63% of Americans describe the crime problem as “extremely” or “very” serious, the highest Gallup has ever recorded, and 56% say that there is more crime in their local area than there was a year ago, also a record high.
The situation at our southern border also contributes to the sense that things are out of control.
Direct experience of this situation once was confined to border states, but as record numbers of migrants spread across the country, big cities are being overwhelmed physically and financially. Americans can see it for themselves on the local news.
Another factor is the proliferation of illegal and increasingly dangerous drugs, especially fentanyl. Deaths from drug overdoses rose from 52,404 in 2015 to 106,699 in 2021, and there is little evidence that this epidemic has abated. Efforts to halt the flow from China of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl have shown only limited success.
Instability abroad also is adding to this sense of a loss of control.
Historically, this feeling has fueled public demands for a strong hand prepared to do what it takes to get things back under control.
Unfortunately for President Biden, only 38% of the electorate views him as a strong leader, compared with 55% who believe former president Donald Trump is one. It’s easy to imagine a Trump general-election campaign that focuses on regaining control through strong leadership.
The outcome of the 2024 election may well be determined by how many Americans would feel reassured by the prospect of Mr. Trump’s again exercising the powers of the presidency compared with how many find this prospect terrifying.
‘A person-centred, fairer
NDIS, embedded in a
balanced ecosystem of
supports that is easy to
navigate and delivers high
quality supports…’
Well, it’s good to see that learnings have been learned.
Onwards and upwards to the sunlit uplands of easily navigated fairness!
OldOzzie
The answer is simple “Maaaaaaates!
..
Did you just mis-tense me?
Bill Ackman
@BillAckman
The presidents of @Harvard, @MIT, and @Penn
were all asked the following question under oath at today’s congressional hearing on antisemitism:
Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate [your university’s] code of conduct or rules regarding bullying or harassment?
The answers they gave reflect the profound moral bankruptcy of Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth.
Representative @EliseStefanik was so shocked with the answers that she asked each of them the same question over and over again, and they gave the same answers over and over again.
In short, they said:
It ‘depends on the context’ and ‘whether the speech turns into conduct,’ that is, actually killing Jews.
This could be the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress, certainly on the topic of genocide, which to remind us all is:
“the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group”
The presidents’ answers reflect the profound educational, moral and ethical failures that pervade certain of our elite educational institutions due in large part to their failed leadership.
Don’t take my word for it.
You must watch the following three minutes. By the end, you will be where I am.
They must all resign in disgrace.
If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour.
Why has antisemitism exploded on campus and around the world?
Because of leaders like Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth who believe genocide depends on the context.
To think that these are the leaders of Ivy League institutions that are charged with the responsibility to educate our best and brightest.
On the bright side, our congressional leaders deserve accolades for showing tremendous leadership and moral clarity in their statements, by the questions they asked, and the respectfulness with which they conducted the hearing.
It was a masterclass of how our government and democracy should operate.
If you have time, please watch the entire hearing.
Throughout the hearing, the three behaved like hostile witnesses, exhibiting a profound disdain for the Congress with their smiles and smirks, and their outright refusal to answer basic questions with a yes or no answer.
Look out…it’s on!
Or you could marry this prize catch and deprive dozens of cats thier retirement plans.
Dan Fangirl ?
@ChristyDanFan
·
4h
Alan Jones did attend George Pell’s funeral. So did Dutton.
Basic Alinsky.
Add in holding them to the standards they proclaim, also basic Alinsky.
Arky
Dec 7, 2023 12:09 PM
Winston Smith
Dec 7, 2023 12:02 PM
I self identify as third person past present and emerging
You’re on the cutting edge Winston. I foresee dozens, if not hundreds of new tenses for people to identify. A truly diverse future, er past present, er, xer person awaits us
Arky,
As 9 Sep 23 – currently 81 Genders for You & Winston to self identify
81 Types Of Genders & Gender Identities (A To Z List)
By Chris Drew (PhD) / September 9, 2023
We live in a world where gender identity is increasingly considered a cultural construct and fluid concept.
And in fact, if we move beyond a eurocentric view of gender, cultural ideas about diversity of genders has existed across cultures for as long as humans have existed. From two-spirit people in Native America to Whakawahine in Maori culture, multiple gender constructs span the ages.
Below is an A to Z list of genders and words to describe gender identity.
Note: This article is not a presentation of my personal or political viewpoint. In sociology courses, we present multiple perspectives on social issues and have our students think critically about them – social constructionism is one sociological perspective among many that are presented to students in order for them to engage in critical debate and discussion. For example, in class, we also discuss the functionalist perspective that challenges the social constructivist perspectives found in this article.
How Many Genders Are There?
I’d like someone to ask Fatty Adams whether he has repatriated all his antiquities.
Not only da Romans!
Phillip lives on a cattle property specialising in the production of chemical-free beef. He is a collector of antiquities, including Egyptian, Etruscan, Roman, Greek and pre-Columbian sculptures and artefacts.
Link, with a lot of grovelling
Jaspers still 1000km off the coast. Next Tue or Wed expected impact. Intensity looking to be prob around Cat 1 or even less. Persistent wind shear and marginal SST are going to sap it’s intensity the closer it gets to the coast.
Impact site, anywhere between Princess Charlotte Bay and Townsville this morning. Models all over the shop. BOM persisting with a Bowen to Ingham crossing, most other models Innisfail and the Euro washes it out well north of Cooktown but pops into the Gulf 2 days later.
You Live & learn!
61. Sistergirl And Brotherboy (Aboriginal Australian)
Sistergirl is a term used in Aboriginal Australian society to refer to transgender women. It is considered a respectful and positive term by those within the community.
Sistergirls are often born male but identify as female, and may undergo a traditional coming-of-age ceremony. This ceremonious event signifies their official transition into womanhood.
62. Brotherboy (Aboriginal Australia)
Brotherboys are Aboriginal Australians who are trans men. They were assigned female at birth but identify as male. They may also undergo a traditional coming-of-age rite to be recognized as males in society. Like sistergirls, brotherboys are generally respected within their own communities.
A feminine penis outranks a future tense.
Unless it’s a full moon Wednesday in which case it’s only if the feminine penis is loitering in a girls change room.
It can’t be any clearer.
How does it take that many people to produce a simple radio, not even TV, show with a compere interviewing a couple of individuals?
Oh, sorry, I forgot. Their ABC runs as a make-work system for useless leftards (BIRM).
O/T, Along with Digger’s monumental tome, I’m reading Joan Peter’s book “From Time Immemorial -The origins of the Arab Jewish Conflict Over Palestine. There’s a chapter on the links between the Grand Mufti of Jeruselum, and the Nazi Party, during World War Two. Peters claims that the Grand Mufti was personally responsible for the concentration camp slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Jews…”When the Mufti learned that the Hungarian Government was planning to allow 900 Jewish children to escape from the Nazis to Palestine, he heatedly demanded that they reverse the plan. His demand was met, and the children went to the extermination camps in Poland.” Page 363.
..
I disagree with your incredibly offensive and violent words.
When I am in time is fundamental to my self identity.
Unless you use exactly my prescription of verb tenses when referring to me you are denying my existence.
You genocidal maniac. You are literally the offspring of Hitler and Vlad the Impaler.
“The World’s Oldest Living Culture” -my hairy aunt!
The Oz:
National Anti-Corruption Commission examining a complaint re the Higgins payout.
Tickler, you do know that 93.1% of those vids are staged click-bait, right?
Ladies are supposed to take being turkey slapped gracefully.
Women’s ‘advocate’ advises women athletes to ‘learn to lose gracefully’ to biological males (6 Dec)
Meanwhile ladies, don’t bother with cycling.
‘Makes Me Sick to My Stomach’: Transgender Racers Win Gold and Silver at Chicago Women’s Cycling Championships (5 Dec)
Got to love the bulges.
Take that You Peasnt Australian Taxpayers!
Massive payday for High Court judges who agreed to release child rapist from immigration detention – and you won’t believe how much they make
. Australia’s most senior judges all earn more than Prime Minister
. High Court decision led to immediate release of 141 detainees
Australia’s seven High Court judges, who recently freed a child-rapist refugee known only as NZYQ from immigration detention, have a combined salary of more than $4million.
The judges, whose decision led to the release of a further 147 detainees and sparked a political crisis, got a massive pay rise this year, with Chief Justice Stephen Gageler now on $649,880.
On top of that, he also gets a Commonwealth car-with-driver service and entitlement to a private car, with reimbursement for running costs of up to $13,643 per year
The other six High Court judges are on $589,750 a year, plus car allowances, a rise of more than $22,000 from the $567,060 they were paid in the previous financial year.
Every one of them gets paid more than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is on $586,929 and the under fire Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, who earns $370,000.
When Justice Gageler was appointed as High Court Chief Justice in August, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus praised his ‘outstanding reputation as a jurist … leadership abilities and deep knowledge and understanding of constitutional law’.
Mr Dreyfus is also under fire over the controversial High Court decision and snapped at a journalist on Wednesday when she asked if the government would apologise for the debacle.
He angrily responded that ‘I want to suggest you that question is absurd.
‘You are asking a Cabinet Minister of the Crown to apologise for upholding the law of Australia, for acting in accordance with the law of Australia, for following the instructions of the High Court of Australia.
‘I will not be apologising for upholding the law. I will not be apologising for pursuing the rule of law and will not be apologising for acting – do not interrupt – I will not be apologising for acting in accordance with a High Court decision.
‘Your question is an absurd one.’
As the crisis continues to engulf Australia’s highest court and the federal government, a fourth asylum seeker was arrested and charged with crimes on Wednesday.
The Sudanese-born man, 45, was arrested by Australian Federal Police officers at a Melbourne Hotel and charged with allegedly stealing luggage at Melbourne Airport from a traveller who was asleep, and for failing to comply with a curfew.
The IDF had recently entered West Beirut in violation of the ceasefire. It asked its ally, the Phalangists, to mobilize their forces. It provided them with means of getting to the area, as well as weapons. It controlled the entry and exit points. It allowed the Phalangists in, illuminated the area overnight with flares, and prevented anyone residing within the settlements from escaping. That some individual soldiers were aghast is a credit to them, but neither here nor there, so far as command is concerned.
The Kahan commission attributed personal responsibility to a number of principals, Sharon, the Chief of Staff of the IDF Eitan, etc. But how were they punished? Sharon initially refused to resign, PM Begin refused to remove him, and he only resigned following a protest in which one of the participants was killed by a grenade, but he remained a Minister. Eiten was retiring as Chief of Staff that year so they let it pass. He found himself elected to the Knesset that year.
A lady named Coral.
She is a sea, I believe.
I had a look at BoM’s model output just now, the cyclone-from-hell is sitting in the middle of the Coral Sea and doesn’t move all week in the model projection. Go figure.
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml
‘The federal government will consider an application by the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) to add 21 Medicare items for gender-affirming surgeries, such as chest surgery and genital reconfiguration.’
– ABC News
Effing weasel words from the Lizard People.
gender-affirming ?
it’s called cross-dressing.
chest surgery ?
C’mon, there will be blood, give us a grown-up word. it’s either mastectomy or prostheses, there’s no third option.
genital reconfiguration ?
“chop it off, dig a hole and hope he lives” is actually a medically honest description.
We are parked for the day at Mystery Island. Overcast and wind. It looks like one of the “arms” tips is over us.
Of course, the former.
Daily Mail says:
Pauline Hanson will make ‘major announcement’ regarding 2024 Queensland state election tomorrow morning,
“…clerics’ calls for jihad and spitting on Israel so “Jews would drown” didn’t meet the criminality threshold.”
Ah – then, presumably, neither would calls for a “crusade” nor calls to “eject Islam from Australia”. Of course, that is assuming justice is blind…
You can’t hide the ravages of hatred…
In The Australian, close-up pics of the three Ivy League nazis.
They are not in Pulitzer territory.
Phatty is basically writing the same stuff he wrote 50 years ago.
Both are prone to over-use of the perpendicular pronoun.
Billy Shittin spruiking at the National Socialists Club in Canberra.
Does new missus get the size wrong at Vinnies?
Or did the 16 yr old give him Aids?
FMD.
It takes eight (8) people to produce a late night radio talk show?
*snork*
Oh, no she doesn’t.
Roger
Dec 7, 2023 12:20 PM
Did you just mis-tense me?
Look out…it’s on!
This is all starting to get too in-tense………………….
I’m currently reading “London Calling North Pole” by Hermann Giskes, a top man of the Abwehr, who made absolute monkeys of the Dutch section of the SOE during WWII.
For years have been wanting to read his version of events. Having read Leo Marks’ extremely well written version of the other side, & his frustration at the sheer woodenheadedness of the Dutch section who plain refused to see their agents were ALL almost certainly captured & transmitting fake messages.
Giskes, when he realised the jig was finally up, after years of leading the SOE Dutch section around by the nose, sent a message en clair to the SOE in London, saying that as he was their most regular correspondent of some years standing & also their “Dutch branch office” they should at least acknowledge him.
A veteran of the Battle of Verdun (WWI) he conducted his counter-intelligence duties with impeccable honour, despite being involved in more than 50 highly trained allied agents being executed.
He must have spent the war pinching himself, unable to believe the Dutch section of SOE could be so stupid as to not twig that they were corresponding with the Abwehr instead of their parachuted-in undercover agents.
I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.
– Mark Twain
Find a recording of him demanding the return of Aboriginal relics, then highlight his possession of these antiquities, and demand that they be returned, at his cost, to their countries of origin.
Basic Alinsky: Make them live up to their own standards. Note, they can’t and won’t.
Also concurrently reading “The Long Arm” by distinguished former Commonwealth public servant Hugh V Clarke, being a biography of the Northern Territory Police career of Jack Stokes (later also a Commonwealth public servant)
When in 1938 Jack Stokes was sworn in as a Constable, there were 38 police officers in the Northern Territory Mounted Police – he was number #38
Due to the low numbers, uniforms were tailored individually in Darwin by a Chinese tailor & were consequently smart looking & an excellent fit.
There was no training whatsoever. Once he’d collected the uniform & been sworn in, he was told to get out there & patrol the streets. Alone.
Being “Mounted Police” the footwear was high-heels, a royal pain in the neck for walking the beat.
The police had one police car for the entire NT. This was a Darwin based sedan, which due to the young enthusiastic single constables being allowed to use it for patrolling, was nicknamed (by the whole of Darwin) as the “Love Machine”
“It allowed the Phalangists in, illuminated the area overnight with flares, and prevented anyone residing within the settlements from escaping.”
First I’ve heard of ‘flares’. What are you reading, Dover? Robert Fisk?
Nobody I know denies that the IDF were culpable in standing back and doing nothing whilst allowing Phalangists to murderously run amok in the camps. I know this because I once knew a man who’d be stationed nearby in an IDF unit, under the command of Sharon.
NSW Digital Connectivity Index
The NSW Government is focused on making digital connectivity throughout the state world-leading, affordable and resilient, as outlined in the NSW Connectivity Strategylaunch.
A key component of this strategy, the NSW Digital Connectivity Index (Connectivity Index) is a state-wide measure designed to assess digital connectivity experience, providing reliable and consistent data to government agencies, businesses and communities.
The Connectivity Index is a visualisation tool that measures the quality of digital connectivity across NSW through three key elements: access, affordability and demographics.?
The tool is based on metrics such as coverage, speeds, choice, and performance. It is measured at a granular level based on public and commercially acquired datasets. It evaluates the presence and performance of connectivity in a selected location, assesses the cost of connectivity relative to income and considers key social characteristics that may influence the ability to use digital tools effectively. It also provides an indication of digital activities that can be performed while on the move (via mobile networks) and while stationary (via fixed networks).?
Through the Connectivity Index, government agencies and communities will gain access to reliable and consistent connectivity data, enabling them to make informed decisions. It can help guide priorities, inform digital inclusion initiatives and guide digital infrastructure investments within the state.
Key NSW Index scores*
(*based on Index On the Move scores, at a Suburb level)
55 Overall Index score
16 Regional suburbs average
64 Metro suburbs average
Northern Beaches
NSW Digital Connectivity Index 81
Access 86
Affordability 97
Demographics 95
What does the Index score mean?
The Index score is a measure of the quality and effectiveness of digital connectivity in a selected area. It indicates the capability of a location to support various digital activities, such as remote work, online learning, or mobile internet usage.
The higher the score, the more favourable the conditions for digital activities in that area.
Dover
As far as “command is concerned”, there is ample evidence that 7 October commands included orders to rape, torture, mutilate and kidnap. And ample evidence that these commands were carried out, with some enthusiasm.
There is (at best) limited evidence that rape, torture, mutilation and kidnap were ordered at Sabra and Shatila.
The parallels between the two events are more limited than you suggest.
PS, how many Hamarse “warriors of Islam” were “aghast” at their orders, and ignored them, or leaked the details to western j’ismists?
Evidence that the IDF/Phalangists were ordered to rape, torture, mutilate and kidnap at Sabra/Shatila, please.
I accept that the Phalangists were ordered to murder, and that the IDF were ordered to facilitate that murder, but the evidence that the rape etc was ordered to occur on a mass scale there is limited, at best.
‘Average’: NSW Digital Connectivity Index unmasks regional-metro disparities
A new map lays bare the striking disparities in internet connectivity for Australians, depending on where they live.
The gap between metro and regional Aussies is widening when it comes to internet connectivity.
The disparity has been highlighted in one state as the NSW government has introduced the Digital Connectivity Index.
It offers a detailed view of internet access and affordability across the state’s suburbs and a snapshot of the gap in internet access across the state.
Rated from 0 to 100, the index score measures the quality and effectiveness of digital connectivity in a selected area. The higher the score, the more favourable the conditions for digital activities in that area.
Users can input their address to compare their suburb’s connectivity.
An “above average” score is needed for a passable internet service, enabling meaningful digital activities like working, video conferencing, and accessing telehealth.
The overall index score takes into account both “On the Move” (mobile operators) and “Stationary” (fixed internet and mobile network connectivity) activities when assessing connectivity technology requirements.
The average “On the Move” score at a suburb level across NSW is a concerning 55.
Regional suburbs face an even more daunting situation, with the average connectivity score plummeting to 16. Although metro suburbs fare marginally better with a score of 64, the contrast underscores the significant digital divide between regions and urban centres.
For example, Barangaroo boasts a perfect Digital Connectivity Index score of 100, while Ungarie in regional NSW struggles with a score of 15.
This discrepancy is further highlighted by the neighbouring suburb of Kikoira, which achieves a rare perfect score of 100, an exceptional feat for regional areas.
Unfortunately, such high scores are infrequent in regional NSW, with most well-connected suburbs concentrated around the CBD and densely populated regions.
Koreelah stands out as one of the least connected suburbs with a score of zero, mirroring the poor connectivity in surrounding areas like Woodenbong, Urbenville, and Upper Tooloom.
Fifth jimmigrant has been arrested.
College Students Revel in Blissful Ignorance at Pro-Gaza Rallies
There is an obvious explanation as to why college students engage in “atrocity denialism” at pro-Palestinian marches.
They are (well) clueless, and devoid of all rational thinking.
The students aren’t shy about expressing their blissfully ignorant critique of Hamas as “liberators,” and their creepy foray into painting the dark side of evil — the slaughter and torture of innocent civilians in Israel — as “necessary.”
Parents don’t have to wonder what’s happening with their kids’ expensive education, they can watch the academic dumpster fire on social media. There isn’t a shortage of embarrassing outtakes of the privileged millennials who are passionate about their pro-Palestine cause and at the same time prove themselves to be passionate know-nothings.
If you’ve missed the most absurd outtakes, I regard you as lucky. Still, a brief overview may be in order to gain perspective on how unhinged our morally challenged youth have become as they allow themselves to become part of the herd.
Let us start with the more amiable students, and work our way down to the unabashed Israelophobes and Jew haters.
Wearing a bright smile, a male student was asked to explain the catchy phrase on his placard that reads: “From the river to the sea — Palestine will be free.”
This slogan was and continues to be widely recycled among thousands of protestors, and hardly serves as a new propaganda tool.
“What river are you talking about?” asked an unidentified interviewer.
The question hangs in the air for several seconds. Could the student really be so mind-numbingly ignorant as to not know the incendiary message behind the phrase?
“I know the name of the sea,” he offered. “It’s the Mediterranean.”
Perhaps the student should receive partial credit. He turns to his buddy, hoping for a bailout. Such bailouts are a sign of the times in the form of big-fat-government packages, but one is not forthcoming here.
There is more ground to cover and the interviewer moves on.
That’s what soulless looks like
College presidents’ obvious antisemitism and the rot at academia’s heart
By Andrea Widburg
Yesterday, if you had been sitting in the House, you might have been confused for a moment into thinking, not that you were in Washington, D.C., in 2023, but that you were, instead, in Berlin in 1933.
That’s because the presidents of three of America’s most (ahem) respected academic institutions sat before Congress and said that, no, they really didn’t think they had an overarching obligation to act against calls for Jewish genocide.
Harvard’s president is backpedaling today, but that’s not enough.
The presidents should resign or be ousted, and the institutions broken up.
The news first broke with a tweet from Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum, reporting that the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania, two of which predate America’s founding, were called before Congress to testify about antisemitism.
They were disrespectful, condescending, and non-responsive.
They also made it clear that, on their campuses, calling for Jewish genocide was fine if nobody was the victim of actual genocide on the campus:
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/fifth-freed-immigration-detainee-arrested-in-queensland-in-wake-of-landmark-high-court-decision-declaring-indefinite-imprisonment-unlawful/news-story/056faef32cf091c0404b3f704af08cd5
Whoops….
So it seems the Feds also released this dude who had outstanding charges against him for other reasons, which would’ve invalidated his “right” to go free?
Alan Jones reveals he will sue Nine Newspapers after vehemently denying indecent assault allegations published in front-page Sydney Morning Herald article
A distinguished defamation lawyer has released a statement on behalf of broadcaster Alan Jones, saying he will “commence defamation proceedings” against Nine Newspapers after it ran allegations of indecent assault against him.
Lauren Evans Digital Reporter
Veteran broadcaster Alan Jones has revealed he will “commence defamation proceedings” against Nine Newspapers after an article alleged he had perpetrated several instances of indecent assault against young men.
Mr Jones has retained the service of distinguished defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien who issued a statement on behalf of Mr Jones, which disputed the allegations.
“The allegations against Alan Jones by Kate McClymont published today in the Nine newspapers are demonstrably false,” the statement read.
“In the short time available since publication we have obtained substantial factual information which contradicts and refutes the alleged pattern of conduct by Mr Jones.
“We have retained Senior Counsel and have instructions to immediately serve a Concerns Notice under Section 12A of the Defamation Act as the first step in the commencement of defamation proceedings. There will be no further comment by or on behalf of Mr Jones.”
The Sydney Morning Herald splashed the allegations across the front of its paper on Thursday morning and suggested Mr Jones used “his power to prey on young men and indecently assault them”.
After the allegations were aired, his former 2GB colleagues weighed into the issue live on air, including high-profile host Ray Hadley who revealed he was already aware of one allegation.
Ex-employee speaks out
One employee claimed the assaults included occasions when he drove Jones home as part of his job.
“During those 10 minutes, it would be wandering hands and then it just gradually became him grabbing my d*ck. And he would go for it,” the accuser said.
“He knew I wasn’t gay, so it was about power dynamics. I would be driving and he would have put his hand on my leg, and then you’d sort of push his hand away, just try and wriggle out. But you’re driving, you’re absolutely trapped.”
Speaking on 2GB, which is owned by Nine Entertainment, Hadley confirmed the former employee, who is known as Bradley Webster, was the one who he had a private discussion with “some time ago” about the alleged incident, but at the time had asked him not share the story publicly.
Hadley said at the time Bradley asked him to document the story privately and that he assured him he wouldn’t share it with anyone, but after allegations against Jones broke in the media, he’s now given the radio host permission to share details of their exchange.
“At the time I was not aware of those circumstances until that day. I regard this young man as not being an attention seeker…but rather directly the opposite. Bradley now has a life far removed from this radio station,” Hadley said.
Hadley also said he knew Bradley worked with Jones when he first started at the station, but at the time the accusations had never been shared with anyone.
“In the 40 minutes, I sat silently as he went through the allegations documented in today’s story, interrupted only by his tears as he tried to compose himself. It was a very emotional conversation for both of us,” he continued.
“The behaviour he was alleging was unwanted sexual advances from a person in a position of power, that being his boss Alan Jones.
“Bradley described in acute detail what he alleged had occurred. He told me by sharing his story it was the first time he felt unburden.
“At the time, I offered Bradley my unqualified support and I asked him what he wanted me to do next…Bradley said he had too much to lose and he would be crushed by making such an allegation. ”
Hadley said while Mr Jones denies the allegations, his relationship with the veteran broadcaster goes back 30 years, but it had “severed” after speaking with Bradley.
“We’ve had many battles and some good times but from the time I spoke to Bradley our relationship was basically severed given it had already been strained over other matters not related to the allegations made by Bradley,” Hadley said.
Jones has been accused of using his position of power to prey on males, which allegedly included groping or inappropriately touching them without their consent.
Another man also told The Sydney Morning Herald the now 82-year-old was allegedly drunk when he groped him at a restaurant where he worked as a waiter in 2008.
“He didn’t look around to see if someone was watching. He just went straight for my penis,” Odin Childs, who was 22-years-old at the time of the alleged incident, said.
Mr Childs feared he would lose his job and could not provide for his pregnant wife if he made a complaint about Jones who was a powerful figure in Australian media.
A third man claimed Jones “just grabs you and kisses you all over”.
The aspiring musician was allegedly invited to Jones’ apartment near the Sydney Opera House also in 2008 for what he thought was a dinner party.
The man described being left “scared sh*tless” after the alleged incident.
“You get on the wrong side and he’ll ruin you,” he said.
Another accuser Alex Hartman had raised allegations he was indecently assaulted as a young man to the SMH and the ABC in 2017 before he died years later.
Mark O’Brien Legal said the ex Australian rugby union coach denied the accusations and said that any suggestions were “scandalous, grossly offensive and seriously defamatory”.
Jones’ successor Ben Fordham addressed the allegations on the radio show on Thursday morning saying it was “not an easy topic to cover”.
“We don’t hide around here from tough topics. The allegations have come from multiple people. But they have not been proven,” he said to listeners.
From the Comments
– Let’s not convict anyone until proven guilty.
Speaking of, Teats Peanuthead is like an arsonist who shows up with a bucket of water at a conflagration he started and then tries to take credit for extinguishing it.
Bullshit bingo, come on down!
The report calls it the NDIS ‘journey’. Well perhaps it is a ‘journey’ as I’ve heard tell overseas trips, brothels and strip clubs are all accessible to recipients.
The report does recommend Australians no longer have access to the NDIS based on medical diagnoses but would have to prove they had significant functional impairment. Good, but appraisal by an independent assessor, essential, otherwise this juggernaut will ensure there’s nothing left for the 26 million Australians dependent on Medicare.
Australian Labor Party Three Amigos (Stooges?) Attorney General Mark Dreyfus,
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil Stuff Up Yet Again/ Or Continuing?
Fifth freed immigration detainee arrested in Queensland in wake of landmark High Court decision declaring indefinite imprisonment unlawful
A fifth former immigration detainee freed last month following a landmark High Court decision has been arrested in Queensland.
Patrick Hannaford – Digital Reporter
A fifth ex-immigration detainee who was freed following a landmark High Court decision on unlawful detention has been arrested in Queensland.
Former Sudanese child soldier William Yekrop was picked up in Queensland on Thursday after police realised there was a warrant for his arrest – for allegedly breaching parole conditions – dating back to before he was put in immigration detention in 2012.
The now-stateless man was one of 148 detainees who were released from immigration detention last month following a landmark High Court decision that overturned a two-decade-old legal precedent.
According to the Herald Sun, the government released Mr Yekrop without checking if there were any existing return to prison warrants standing against him.
More to come.
Yeah sure. It was about Marxist critical theory.
‘Albo’s three useless amigos’: Paul Murray unleashes on Labor’s ‘wider tactic of bullying’
Sky News Australia host Paul Murray has delivered a blistering rebuke of Mark Dreyfus’s attempts to “intimidate” a reporter accusing the government of fostering a “wider tactic of bullying” in its approach to critical media coverage.
If you open the Link & Click Pause – Paul Murray has a Perfect Image of Labor Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, dressed as the 3 Amigos
That’s some rolled-gold due diligence there by Anal’s A-team.
No way this whole fiasco will pass the pub test.
Dutton should be owning the airwaves 24/7, pushing this screwup.
apropos,concurrent reading
Thanks for the heads up on what you’re reading Drills. Sounds like a riveting tale of intrigue, mystery, love, betrayal and two lovers losing their way.
Bet you could put the book down.
If i was an alumni who donates to the institution i would be pulling funding immediately and contacting the Alumni Association to encourage others to do the same.
The withdrawal of donors from the Medicine/Dental, Business & Engineering faculties would be a substantial loss in $$$$
Couple of recommendations re 1947 war or Arabs in war
by Pollack
And The Pledge by Leonard Slater
Nancy Spielberg (Steven’s Sister) made the documentary Above and Beyond about 1947.
From Israeli twitter.
Let’s not convict anyone until proven guilty.
Nah. Hangem high.
Ooh!
In the Lehrmann case, Lee J has just indicated that a document- being I think the deed is settlement of Higgins’ claim against the Commonwealth- would, if admissible, be evidence of substantial probative value in relation to Higgins’ credibility.
Wilkinson’s counsel, at least, will fight for its exclusion.
The punch-on will commence at 4pm.
Wow.
Brittany Higgins told her ex-boyfriend ‘we brought the party back to Parliament House’ on the night of the alleged rape
If Hadley has been told of an alleged sexual assault, did he then report it through official channels? If he didn’t has he withheld something that is reportable conduct?
In a few hours my daughter is to be married.
The lovely MOTB and I spent three days building the cake. Imagine the tension as we drove it to the venue last night… and it got there safely.
The house is now awash in bridesmaids, bride, MOTB, hair and makeup persons, flower artist. Pray for me. er, HER. No, THEM!
I think Britnee the Knickerless is a bit of a lady of negotiable virtue.
H/T to Terrey Pratchett
Nah, this one falls under “Too good to check“
Sky News Australia host Paul Murray has delivered a blistering rebuke of Mark Dreyfus’s attempts to “intimidate” a reporter accusing the government of fostering a “wider tactic of bullying” in its approach to critical media coverage.
I have seen the footage of the outburst of Dreyfus, & don’t think it deserves the attention it is getting. I really don’t like Dreyfus. He is arrogant, not particularly clever (in spite of the KC), and otherwise unremarkable.
However, if the lass who questioned him can’t withstand a fairly weak blast, she shouldn’t be in the job.
All i can see in my mind is the bride & bridesmaids scene from My Big Fat Greek Weeding.
Enjoy the Day and Live The Dream.
In a few hours my daughter is to be married.
All the best, Chris. It is a wonderful day in a parent’s life. So much ahead to look forward to – grandkids especially. Also minding said kids/animals/house sitting etc etc.
Chris, your job is to stand back, look useful, and say nothing until asked the question. Answer in the affirmative.
That is all.
And good luck, and have fun.
😀
Thanks Carpe-san!
…This is one lovely line-up, I can tell you.
Oh, and for pity’s sake, don’t tread on veil or train.
Turtlehead
You’re very clingy and needy these days. I’m guessing all this has to do with my most recent critique of that low IQ, low rent crap you posted about Venezuela. Look, I’m just being hyper honest with you. You’re a delusional twit and I’ll be adding this Venez nonsense to the list of the stupid shit you post. These paranoid conspiracy theories you’re coming up with almost in every comment reminds me of Tim Blair’s theory. I can’t recall the exact name, but he suggested that at some stage the left will accumulate all their nonsense in one big blob of Bullshit. That’s where you’re heading, you halfwit – a conspiracy laden blob of bullshit.
Thanks Calli! I am doing that as hard as I can.
Thanks Vicki! So much to look forward to.
The report does recommend Australians no longer have access to the NDIS based on medical diagnoses but would have to prove they had significant functional impairment.
If it was an Insurance Scheme then it would be funded. It isn’t. It’s a Scheme to take from Peter (The Taxpayer Bunny) to pay Paul (The Recipient).
another BBC documentary gets a mention ‘the 50 years war’
No. Wrong. As usual.
I don’t have a lot of sympathy for grown men who cry about being ‘assaulted’ by dear old Alan Jones. As Paul Keating once said, even if it happened you wouldn’t tell anyone about it.
As for Hadley, his past abuse of less powerful staffers is a matter of notorious public record. He was also judge, jury and executioner of George Pell. Has never apologised.
Chris, marvelous news.
Wishing you, your daughter and everyone who has come together for this great day all the best and have a grand old time. And heed Calli!
XXXOOOXXX 😀
I love the ‘almost never’ i.e. this after-party activity of BH/BL had been replicated by others in the past. Wonder if we might ever see report of staff entered Parliament after midnight and with whom.
Also note that nobody connected to the location (ministers, staff, security, ..) seems alarmed or disturbed by the idea of staffers coming back for drinks and possibly moar @ Parliament. Another set of dogs not barking on this s-show.
Turning Food into Jet Fuel
One of the absolutely nuttier ideas to come out of the climate change / anti-fossil fuels mania of modern times comes from the international airlines business.
They are being pushed by governments and getting unending pressure to signal their virtue by visibly climbing aboard the “Stop Fossil Fuels Now” bandwagon.
The hitch is, as we all know, is that airplanes need fuel to fly and currently, fossil fuels are the only choice.
But, thanks to the venerable Old Gray Lady, we are now informed, with interactive media, that:
“Airlines Race Toward a Future of Powering Their Jets with Corn”
“Carriers want to replace jet fuel with ethanol to fight global warming. That would require lots of corn, and lots of water.”
The headline is simultaneously literal and tongue-in-cheek – the (I am fighting the urge to use the phrase “corny idea”) concept is to replace the more usual jet fuels with ethanol made from corn.
“Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH2OH.
It is an alcohol, with its formula also written as C2H5OH, C2H6O or EtOH, where Et stands for ethyl. Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic wine-like odor and pungent taste. I
t is a psychoactive recreational drug, and the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks.” [ source The Wiki ]
Ethanol is “alcohol” of the same type one finds in their whiskey, vodka, gin, moonshine, beer and now fruit drinks.
Ethanol is a fairly simple hydrocarbon composed entirely of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Products of its complete combustion are CO2 and H2O.
“Wait,” you say, “replacing fossil fuels with ethanol will still produce CO2?” Of course it will, they are both, jet fuels and ethanol, primarily hydrocarbons.
So why make the switch?
Already, in the U.S.A., “Today, nearly 40 percent of America’s corn crop is turned into ethanol, up from around 10 percent in the mid-2000s.
This was largely because of government mandates that began in 2005 requiring gasoline to be mixed with minimum amounts of renewable fuel.” [ NY Times, linked article – hereafter just NYT ]
How much ethanol are they talking about for automotive gasoline each year? “14 billion gallons”. “….the 135 billion gallons of finished motor gasoline consumed in the United States contained about 14 billion gallons of fuel ethanol.” [ source – US EIA ]
How much fossil fuel-based jet fuel is burned each year?
In 2019 commercial 95 billion gallons of jet fuel were consumed. [ source ]. The Covid panic reduced that somewhat, but the total is expected to reach that again this year.
To replace all of the fossil-fuel-based jet fuel would require, if all things were equal (which they are not) another 95 billion gallons of ethanol.
The U.S. already uses up to 40% of its total corn crop to produce the measly 14 billion gallons of ethanol mixed into gasoline.
It would take 250% of today’s total U.S. corn crop [ something wrong with my math here – a little help? – kh ] to produce the 95 billions gallons of ethanol to replace jet fuels – not even considering the number of additional ethanol plans that would be needed.
Of course, the U.S. need not carry the whole ethanol load necessary to replace worldwide jet fuel use, but it gives us some idea of the magnitude of the suggestion.
In acreage of land planted in corn, that would be an increase from 100 million acres to 250 million acres.
Much of that acreage would have to be irrigated and aquifers in the mid-west corn belt are famously overtaxed already.
Other sugar crops such as sugar cane and sugar beets can be used to make ethanol using the same processes as for corn.
Ethanol can also be produced from almost any plant materials even cellulosic feedstocks, such as crop residues and wood—though this is not as common.
But wait, there’s more: ethanol does not contain the same amount of energy per gallon as jet fuel.
Jet Fuel contain approximately 135,000 BTUs per gallon. Ethanol contains only 76,330 Btu/gallon which is only 56% of the energy in jet fuel. Thus, many more gallons of ethanol will be needed – around 130 billion gallons of ethanol to replace the 95 billion gallons of jet fuel.
Then there is the idea of burning food to power jet airplanes.
Of the world’s current 8 billion humans, just under 10% do not get enough food to eat – do not get enough basic calories, not to mention vitamins, proteins, micro-nutrients – they just plain do not get enough food.
Corn is good food. Land used to grow corn for jet fuel could grow other food or other basics grains which, if transported to areas of need, would help resolve that problem.
Corn and other grains are also food for animals raised as food – chickens, pigs, cattle, sheep, rabbits and goats that provide high quality protein around the world.
Drills, I’m not being judgemental, but are you two geezers in some sort of loving relationship? Bluntly speaking, are you rooting him, because this standout white knighting appears to be more of a lover’s thing that’s going. He’s so clingy and needy these days and you’re defensive behaviour is very unusual. Sincerely, I hope it works out for both of you lonely old Anzacs.
What CL said.
Methinks a few somebody’s have remembered the destruction of Kevin Spacey’s career, even though he was found “not guilty” of all charges. Some even withdrew their allegations. The damage had been done.
She hasn’t complained, afaik.
She appeared unphased on Sky last night and merely said it had been a “heated” press conference.
Can they not be ‘invited’ to continue their refugee processing in one of the offshore facilities?
Interesting post, rosie, thank you.
Any mention of Kfar Etizon, where the Jewish defenders surrendered, after being given assurances of treatment as Prisoners of War? The Arab commander handed them over to the local villagers, who murdered the lot?
what refugee status, just send them back
The government or the AFP?
It wouldn’t be the government’s task to check for outstanding warrants.
And from what we know thus far, the AFP have made their own special contributions to this rock show.
After what must be a year of trying to make a remote camera on the pressure gauge of our bore pump work – joy of joys a phone call to some OS digital genius, has it working! On returning to Sydney we now can be assured the water is being supplied to the troughs around the farm.
The temperature is now soaring towards the 40 degree mark up there. The cattle mostly eat at night during this weather, and we left them gathered in the cool of the big old Box gums in the paddocks.
Husband cleaned two of the concrete troughs out yesterday and was bitten by a large lizard for his trouble. It was sheltering in a recess of the pipework & didn’t appreciate his presence. Not sure what type it was – some sort of monitor lizard. It was a reasonable bite and drew blood. Covered it in antiseptic cream.
Only seen one snake this summer so far – a black which disappeared under a tear in the iron at the bottom of a shed.
Your contributions are invaluable to this site, particularly regards lifting the tone of the place.
The individual who shot and killed three people at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday morning has been identified as a “career college professor,” CNN reported.
CNN reported the gunman was a “67-year-old career college professor whose connection to UNLV is unknown at this time.”
hmmmm.
While other terrorists can step up what does happen when Sinwarhitler is eliminated? Hamasisis collapse?
Responding to a question on remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said IDF troops are surrounding Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s home, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says “Sinwar’s home is the Khan Younis area.”
“Sinwar is not above ground, but underground. I won’t elaborate on where exactly and what we know. Our job is to get to Sinwar and kill him,” he adds.
So, by extension, a chant of “Lynch the N*ggers!” is fine unless and until you throw an actual noose over the bough of an oak tree?
She hasn’t complained, afaik.
You are right, Roger. It is the Opposition who have made much of it for political reasons.
Thanks. Appreciate it. Same with yours.
Dude films Dan Andrews on the phone while driving.
VicPol plans to prosecute said “Dude” for traffic offences.
if this was accepted (ignored) as common practice in the past then BH payoff by Labor might have some basis in reality. Possibly she is smarter than she appears.
Vivek Ramaswamy calls out all three candidates for turning on Trump after using him for money and endorsements and then drops truth nukes ?
– J6 was an inside job
– The 2020 Election was stolen
– The Government lied about 9/11
– The “Great Replacement” is not a “Conspiracy Theory”
The Sydney Morning Herald
‘I will not be apologising’: Dreyfus shouts at reporter in fiery High Court exchange
1 day ago
The Australian
Mark Dreyfus says it is absurd to apologise for abiding by the High Court’s November ruling
15 hours ago
The Age
‘I will not be apologising’: Dreyfus shouts at reporter in fiery High Court exchange
1 day ago
————————–
Dreyfus apologised to journalist, says PM
Vicki
Dec 7, 2023 2:13 PM
In a few hours my daughter is to be married.
All the best, Chris. It is a wonderful day in a parent’s life. So much ahead to look forward to – grandkids especially. Also minding said kids/animals/house sitting etc etc.
Chris,
Congrats – I have given 2 Speeches as Father of the Bride and an Amazing Day on Both Occasions
Vicki,
re Animals – having slept on Downstairs Sofa to keep Nuerotic 2 Year Old Female Beagle Company, whilst their Pack Family (Youngest daughter, SIL & Grandson 7/8/9) were on 5 weeks once in a lifetime trip to America
Beagle had been destroying Lounge where she slept on top – did not accept Pet Trampoline Bed
As Youngsters were throwing out 1 of the couches in Council Clean Up this week, I after research, decide to buy a Calming Dog Bed by Fur King – Fur King “Aussie” – Australian Made Dog Bed – 100cm – 60 Day No Chew Guarantee – 1 Year Warranty – Replaceable Cover
Forget The Calming Bit – yes she is sleeping in the Calming bed on the Ground and not on the Couch – but is insanely possessive of the bed, and growls if anyone comes near.
Reckon the 60 Day No Chew Guarantee wil be given a workout
But Youngest Daughter Happy not sleeping on Couch
This is one every couple of days now.
FMD.
Can the media, just for once, stop making it all about them?
Yes, Mark Doofus is a xunt, but hurty feelings of a girly j’ism is not the story here.
The real story is that the chief law officer of the Nation claimed the alleged government was just “obediently following a High Court ruling and there was nafink they could do about it” and then five hours later they were voting on legislation which claimed to fix the problem.
Vivek Ramaswamy just called out Nikki Haley for being a fascist for wanting the government to identify every single anonymous poster on social media.
America’s Founding Fathers did not foresee assault rifles.
Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports has stated that, “if you are a graduate of MIT, U Penn or Harvard, don’t bother applying for a job/
I just adore the law of unintended consequences.
Are we to conclude that hate speech is not hate speech if directed against Jews?
This progressivism is hard to keep up with.
Vivek Ramaswamy
@VivekGRamaswamy
I made a bet that
@NikkiHaley
couldn’t even name just three regions of eastern Ukraine that she wants to send America’s sons & daughters to die fighting for. Turns out, I was right.
Very telling, and hardly surprising.
Minister’s offices are strange beasts. Staffers are contracted and paid for by the Australian Public Service who provide all sorts of HR services from pay, super, tax advice, leave, employee assistance programs etc… But, the APS is not your employer, the Minister is. I’ve always found the arrangement to be full of loopholes because you don’t really need to abide by your HR-initiated contract as they’re not your boss.
By the same token, the Minister doesn’t always have to honour the clauses in your contract, nor the typical public sector rules, for dismissal. For example, a simple sign of disloyalty to the Minister or “the mission” and there’s no point keeping you around! You could be sacked on the spot!
Vivek Ramaswamy
@VivekGRamaswamy
·
1h
·
The biggest open secret in modern America: the people who we elect to run the government, don’t actually run the government. That’s why I will fire 1 million federal employees in 2025. SHUT IT DOWN.
Vivek is ruthless:
https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1732579273347936294
Hadley has cast himself in the role of former friend of Jones and an honest broker in the whole thing.
Truth is, he detested Jones and was insanely jealous of his ratings and loyal following.
Judge says Brittany Higgins’ $2.3million settlement deed shows a ‘disparity between the evidence she gave in these proceedings and the truth of the matter’
Justice Michael Lee said Brittany Higgins’ $2.3million settlement deed with the Commonwealth shows a ‘disparity between the evidence she gave in these proceedings and the truth of the matter’.
Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC objected to the document being tendered in Federal Court on Thursday, but the judge said ‘it’s substantially relevant’.
‘It’s pretty relevant in a number of ways,’ he said.
‘I must say to you that I would need great persuasion for that document not to [be released] in circumstances given the evidence given by the witness.’
The court will hear submissions about the release of the deed at 4pm.
List of “mass shootings” this year.
Long list, albeit some of them shouldn’t be on the site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023
VIVEK to Christie: “Your only foreign policy experience is closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York. Get the hell off the stage and go enjoy a nice meal.”
I think there is an urgent job in the shed you need to attend to.
Except I don’t make stuff up, I don’t have a record of chickening out of bets, don’t have a record of making 50 posts per page, nor of 50% of my posts being unhinged non-PG vile abuse of random others.
Nor do I have a record of apportioning cryptic nicknames known only to me. I’m able to recall the actual names of other contributors.
As evinced by your contributions upthread, you badly need to grow up. It’s not by chance that you’ve been the subject of several extended discussions, two of them quite serious, on whether you should be banned.
Forget The Calming Bit – yes she is sleeping in the Calming bed on the Ground and not on the Couch – but is insanely possessive of the bed, and growls if anyone comes near.
Ha! I can just see it!
Minding the animals when house sitting can be worse than looking after infants. We will be house sitting once more after Christmas (unless daughter throws us out again!) We are relieved that one of the cats – a male part “Coon” – is being transferred to live with his former master (our grandson) at his “digs” in Newcastle. This loveable but ruthless animal would sneak into the house (he was put out during the day) to beat up the very old British Blue. Goodness knows how he got in, as we would close all the windows. We reckon he scaled the outside walls & squeezed in through the glass shutters. Grey fur all around the house when we came home.
It is a mad household in more ways than one.
Louse Seven Nilligan will be on the case pronto.
“You could put lipstick on a Dick Cheney, it is still a fascist neocon.”- Vivek
Vivek Ramaswamy holds up a ‘NIKKI IS CORRUPT’ sign during the Republican debate and shames Haley on stage for being willing to send Americans to die so she can “buy a bigger house.”
“I don’t have a woman problem. You have a corruption problem and I think that that’s what people need to know. Nikki is corrupt.”
“This is a woman who will send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house.”
Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?
‘we brought the party back to Parliament House’
This equals cocaine.
t’s no mystery why the establishment is propping up
@NikkiHaley
& why her Super PAC puppet masters are now bidding for her services again:
+ Her family income *tripled* in her first 5 years after her first election in 2004
+ Took hundreds of thousands $$ in gifts while governor
+ Awarded multimillion dollar state contracts to companies who lent her access to private jets
+ Gave Boeing a $120 million incentive in SC, only to join Boeing’s board after leaving public service
+ Made $8mm+ in her post-UN life including through her family’s military contracting business
+ Shamefully collecting corporate stock option grants from boards *while running for President*
The math doesn’t add up. Nikki Haley = Corrupt.
I look forward to the 4pm release…
OMG, are they really going to release the deed between BH & the taxpayer?
If Lee says no, what a monumental prick tease.
When your Bumble is done, and you wanna run, cocaine…
Hello fellow Vivek Ramaswamy fans…
Oh my.
I guess eventually your offers of “an A for a lay” are met with, “Err, I’ll take a C thanks”.
A Chinese Pearl Harbor-style attack could end America’s days as a superpower
Harry J. Kazianis
As Americans pause to reflect on Imperial Japan’s brutal attack on Pearl Harbor — 82 years ago Thursday — the US military faces an even bigger threat coming from Asia once again.
There’s ample evidence that if China were to go to war against America, it would use the same strategy as Japan to try to achieve a quick and dirty victory —
but with a modern twist: a massive “bolt-from-the-blue attack” that could, in not even a day, wipe out most of our military assets in the Indo-Pacific region and perhaps forever mark the end of the United States as a superpower.
And the saddest part of this scenario is that the Biden administration is well aware of it and has done almost nothing to reverse the threat.
First, a bit of history.
Back in the 1990s, China became obsessed with trying to neutralize US military power in Asia.
Beijing realized it had no ability to target, attack or destroy US military bases in Asia or the powerful warships that protected vital sea lanes and commerce all over the Pacific.
That problem became more acute when America and China faced off in multiple crises over Taiwan in the mid-1990s.
China’s leaders would find they could not even target US aircraft carriers near Taiwan for a simple reason: They didn’t have the technological means to locate them.
US bases would also be hard to target.
America would dominate the battlefield in a war.
China would, in time, and after spending billions of dollars over several decades, come up with a solution.
Beijing needed an asymmetric weapon it could build cheaply and on a large scale to counter US military dominance.
That meant building thousands of ever-more-advanced cruise and ballistic missiles.
There seems to be just one reason to build such a massive arsenal of deadly weapons: that if the moment came and Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party gave the order, Beijing could launch a massive surprise strike that could cripple the US military in any scenario over Taiwan, the South China Sea and beyond.
China has enough advanced missiles to not only destroy nearly every US military base in Asia quickly but also target and attack most US Navy warships in the region.
Indeed, Beijing has one-of-a-kind missile platforms designed to destroy US Navy aircraft carriers.
Some experts have even declared such weapons make our mighty supercarriers — the pride and symbol of American military might — as obsolete as the old battleships of the 20th century.
But China wouldn’t target just military assets; it would attempt to blind our armed forces, ensuring a counterattack would not be easy.
Beijing has specialized satellite-killer missiles created to go into space and knock out military satellites, as well as commercial satellites that provide GPS data.
In fact, China’s missile buildup in the Indo-Pacific is so massive that even if the US military moved every single missile-defense asset it has globally to Asia, it would be unable to stop much of China’s own version of Pearl Harbor.
So what is the Biden administration doing about it?
The sad reality is the US defense community has widely discussed this style of attack, and Team Biden does not seem worried in the slightest.
Despite talking a good game, American defense officials continue to call China a “pacing threat,” a problem that can be managed as if the threat has not arrived.
Yet China continues to this day to develop ever more advanced weapons that make its missiles look tame by comparison.
Beijing is building a fleet of aircraft carriers, hypersonic missiles and more stealth fighters based on stolen US designs, as well as dramatically expanding its nuclear arsenal.
The good news is, not all is lost.
There is bipartisan consensus that China must be confronted, and America’s allies are already building up their military capabilities in the region.
Harry J. Kazianis is a senior director for national security affairs at the Center for the National Interest (founded by President Nixon) and executive editor of its publishing arm, the National Interest.
I think the ‘we took the party back to parliament house’ gives it away.
Chris Christie just called Vivek Ramaswamy “The most obnoxious blowhard in America.” ??
Oh, my indeed.
It appears Justice Lee is suggesting perjury here.
You can’t keep a straight line between one post and the next you’re so dishonest. You continually bring up some stupid bet, but I was supposed to send your side of bet the money instead of escrow. Put it up for show and people can make judge themselves. Go!
Bullshit. You’re just sore because of your name. In any event, you could always scroll.
Driller, get this through your thick houso skull. If you post any comment against me, I will always respond in kind. There’s no out-clause. I wouldn’t suggest you should be banished but you would be far better off at Struth’s blog and take your lover with you. You’re more suited there.
By the way, want to bet you don’t own a pub? Odds and conditions. I’ll tell you where to send the money. No cheques. 🙂
At the time, the smooth bore, muzzle loading, musket was an “assault rifle”.
So they were happy with citizens owning “assault rifles”.