On a busy day, this would have been a disaster on the beach. Elderly Man Crashes His Car On To…
Open Thread – Mon 29 Jan 2024
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- The more you gets the less you eats
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Good morning all.
Surely he does not want to own “stolen land”?!
@roaming_rn Steven Kuhn explains the Ukraine proxy war better than anyone I’ve heard; and his wife is Ukranian. Well worth…
@BreannaMorello Wow!Mexico suddenly knows how to stop migrant caravans from coming to the United States.I wonder what’s changed…
The latest form of Holocaust denial
Melanie Phillips – Jan 29, 2024
The ICJ ruling on “genocide” was contemptible. The reaction was worse
Apparently Israel is getting migrant workers from India at $1600 a month.
The door has been closed for West Bank and Gazan workers.
Too many intifadas, not to mention theft and evidence of industrial sabotage, hosing down electrical fittings in new builds, spraying children’s playgrounds with insecticide etc, all caught on CCTV
Who is now getting called all sorts of vile names and death threats from the usual suspects.
I am in Livorno until tomorrow when I catch the ferry to Bastia.
Rosie, did you see the synagogue? There was once a big Jewish community in Livorno, descendants of Jews from Portugal and Spain, I think there’s still a community.
dover0beach
Jan 29, 2024 5:41 PM
Syria, Hezbollah and a few phantoms from Iran?
The Israelis didn’t see it happening in ’73, either.
Thanks, Muddy.
I note that the “Keep the World Clean” slogan was used in Warsaw, of all places. That was the same sign that slug, Mahreen Faruqi stood in front of here.
In other words, she knew.
She should be hurled out of Parliament on her fat, mollusc ear. What an utter grub of a woman. Golda would have wiped her off the sole of her shoe.
If that citizens arrest happened in Victoria the chap would have been arrested and held without bail.
And the arrestee would have been released within 12 hours.
Chuckle.
That’s rather good, Bear.
Suprise…our down ticker has no sense of humour.
Trump wears his ties too long.
Yes, he does, but with his build it’s better than too short.
Perhaps, the Albanian was loudly booed at the men’s final because the folks there weren’t his constituency.
He should wear a waistcoat. That would get the freaks going.
Re Albanese getting boo’ed at the tennis-
this is the world that the AO has wished upon itself, with crowds empowered to sledge players between serves, Margaret Court barred from speaking, and the ethnicities of champs like Medvedev and Sabalenka scrubbed from history.
Shamans blessing balls and Pride Night Mardi Gras discos are not the cause of coarsening the courts, just other outcomes of an organization determined to manipulate cultural outcomes. Naming a stadium after a middling premier is the ALP showing its hand.
Makes the spirit of the Sydney Olympics seem like a very long time ago.
I remember baulking at the AO finals ticket prices when I was in Melbournibad nearly 20years ago. Can’t imagine it’s got any better.
In other words, she knew.
Of course she knew. I’m still waiting for a senate censure motion to be put up against her by the Liberals and Nationals, you know, like the senate censure motion put up against Fraser Anning in 2019 that the Coalition willingly joined in.
I wait however I suspect I’ll be waiting a long time.
Tom
That’s the way I’ve always tied a tie.
Good God!
I’m a fop! I’ll never live this down at the pub.
And no, they are not chick magnets – especially when mixed with shorts, long white socks and brown shoes.
Steady on…you do get $1 change out of that $6000.
I fall back on about four or five knots, from Four in Hand to Full Windsor. The difference, in terms of logistics, is a few centimetres.
I, for whatever reason, prefer the full Windsor with a dimple. I therefore avoid overly thick ties, which funnily enough is the origin of the Windsor knot – the Duke of Windsor requested his tie makers to use thicker fabrics to make his knot look bigger – he never wore a Windsor knot.
Selling out the British Empire to the Germans is one thing, but indulging in imposture of neckwear is a whole new indulgence of vice.
Bolt can be a bit up and down an cannot do anything right with some folks on his forum. But, his show tonight was first class.
Burn me now!
Please lie on the stone table first.
Bolt can be a bit up and down an cannot do anything right with some folks on his forum. But, his show tonight was first class.
Agree. It’s like he’s discovered his mojo.
Bolt writes well . . . on TV he’s sh!t.
I might get my balls blessed by a Shaman. Can’t hurt.
Lore question for bern.
Did the Games Workshop Black Library writers (Johnson and King) and so on (probably Priestly and Chambers) base Nagash somewhat on Jadis from Narnia? Or is the deplorable word thing just a trope in literature?
We have determined that we have never experienced such persistent humidity as now, outside of various UN General Assembly member shitholes that we have inhabited.
It is extraordinary. I intercepted a call on my lady’s phone this afternoon. When I said that she was not available because she was in the pool the polite response was – “I understand”.
It is truely awful, shithole Darwin standard awful.
Actually, it is reminicent of Brisbane in the 70’s. I’m sure that lots of Cats remember that violent climatic decade since erased by BOM.
Like Knuc’s was in Mongyang today again, well northern suburbs anyway..
I see covid is still in vogue with the medical profession when everywhere else has gotten over it.
I got a deeper scan in a couple of weeks where I need to RAT ffs.
TE we looked at a week trip to Tas taking the car over on the Tas Ferry. Someone has moved the terminal to Geelong. Last time I did the trip one of the best parts was watching the sunset over Port Phillip Bay. As for proported tourism I got no interest in Geelong, place was always a hole. Currently pricing flying & hiring a car.
If not already posted:
Why would you do that? It’s like flying from Avalon. Leave that to parcels.
To the contrary, the Liars have long since abandoned the small business, trades and working classes in favour of a fascist alliance with Big Business. The Liars provide the regulations to reduce coopetition with existing businesses. The businesses provide support for politically correct Liars policies. See Woolworths and many others, including major sporting groups (Hello Tennis Australia, AFL, ARL, which are now major businesses).
I wonder which group paid for AnAl’s seats? Possibly a “gift” from TA. Watch to see if the Liars support the next proposal to re-name Margaret Court Arena.
Dude, I’ve zero idea re GW writers.
They’re clearly well read across a load of genres, but a chunk of the “core lore” is from the 1970’s.
So I would say Frank Herbert was front of mind.
And a lot of acid.
Freezing winters and stinking summers is my recollection, bons.
In winter I remember wearing a jumper underneath the school blazer to keep the westerly wind at bay come August.
competition …
Tucker Carlson
@TuckerCarlson
On Monday, a trucker convoy heads to Texas to try to protect our country from invasion. A conversation with one of the leaders of it, as well as with the attorney general of Texas on where the border standoff goes next.
Pratt has a son, born in October 2014, who she co-parents with her former partner Aram Hosie,[7] a trans man and LGBTI community activist,[19] as well as Western Australian state Labor MLC Stephen Dawson and his partner Dennis Liddelow, one of whom is the biological father.[20] Pratt married her long term partner Rebecca Misich in June 2023.[21]
Does she know which is the biological father?
So, essentially a milder version of Toowoomba. Those bitter westerlies!
I went down a Warhammer rabbit hole a couple of weeks ago.
It turns out the lore regarding the degradation of the golden throne that has been written about over the past couple of years was devised during the 1980’s.
Imagine having the discipline to have a story on the back burner for 30+ years.
This has been disputed, but it seemed well sourced to me.
I have come to the considered opinion that everyone involved in all the prosecutions against Trump should be nuked (as defined previously).
More on E J Carroll via Viva Frei.
We have determined that we have never experienced such persistent humidity as now, outside of various UN General Assembly member shitholes that we have inhabited.
The reason for the unusual humidity is the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha?apai eruption which was as big as Krakatoa. Oddly enough the BOM neither predicted this or factored its effect into its models.
Baba
Jan 29, 2024 8:28 PM
More on E J Carroll via Viva Frei.
You can have all the logic, legal sense and evidence in the world; the point is none of the prosecutions of Trump have any and yet they still progress through the courts. This is not a situation remedied by the legal system because it has been totally corrupted.
The Lewis B. Puller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lewis_B._Puller_(ESB-3)
Labour headquarters… Yesterday
Elbow: awww crap, they booked me at the tennis, the voice failed and my front bench is made up of Gillard era mongs and tards..
Shinybum com’s grad: Obviously our message is failing to get through, we just need some clear air to spruik our triumphs.
Elbow: Yeah that’s right, like the housing fund that hasn’t built any houses, or the VFT studies!!!
Shinybum: Ooooor, we could forget the past and focus on our future goals..
Elbow: taxpayer fully funded and indexed pension for life, you little ripper!
Shinybum: wind it back a little Elbow.
Elbow: we need a master communicator, someone with their finger on the pulse of mainstream Australia, a tradies friend, trusted by the common man and seen as an impartial voice people can trust – get Murpharoo from the Gruinaid on the line….
Shinybum: ok, the first plan for the future it is
And there wasn’t much chill taken off them in the journey down the range and across the Lockyer. They probably dropped a few degrees around Ipswich too.
The attack may have surprised but the countries didn’t. I’m not sure Egypt would given they got what they lost in ’67 back in the late 70s. Syria may want to the Golan back but they’ve got other problems atm. Hezbollah and Iran could help them but you would see Iran moving the assets needed. Jordan and KSA? Doubt it.
You mean there’s people who don’t do this, wear clothes until they fall apart?
Where do you suppose one time VIC AG Rob Hulls took his inspiration from?
The ALP and the Demonrats have been close for decades now; the former even sends interns to serve in US election campaigns.
See! I never quite warmed to the Pratt knot.
Townsville had a day prob about 15yo where we had 11-14 temps. The next few days hovered around 16-18 at max. Another block recently similar but a couple of degrees higher.
1999 and 2008 were very cold winters indeed. In 1999 lows in July and early August regularly approached zero. Areas inland I worked in, nights were regularly dropping to -5 during southerly bursts. Real bugger when you rotate to night shifts.
A lot assume anywhere north of Rocky doesn’t get cold. It does and can get very cold indeed.
Really?
Well done, Winnie. Very funny.
Fixed overnight by making citizenship dependent on service.
Turtlehead, go add-on to someone else’s comment. Dickhead.
The Pratt looks like a p*shed up Half-Windsor.
The Half-Windsor is the genuine knot for the man at large, because it’s the safest escape one to escape from.
Bern, did your nose check out okay at the doc’s?
The Atherton Tablelands.
Oh come on
Jan 29, 2024 6:42 PM
They are still liable to meet specialty standards.
Perhaps you’re thinking of the managerial ethos introduced by McNamara (?sp) that put sub par recruits into front line units where they got the opportunity to fail at cost to their comrades.
AKA McNamara’s Morons?
No.
FFS.
Elsie has the sundown maddies, and is racing all over the place. Just bowled over my cuppa tae.
Thinks the new lounge, bookcase and office are the Canungra LWC course.
Well done to the South Australian Employment Tribunal.
Case involved a vaccine injury after mandated 3rd jab. Pericarditis and hardly able to work since. His employer accepted that the injury was caused by the vaccine but said exempt due to emergency legislation.
Tribunal disagreed and ordered weekly payments for compensation and medical expenses.
The employer was the SA Government and he was a health worker.
The wife reminded me how I bought paint and never painted the house.
Then she reminded me why I bought the paint and never painted the house.
So she’d stop bugging me, was my reason.
I laughed and yelled “TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!”
Because it’s true.
JC
Jan 29, 2024 8:54 PM
Time that Dick Head went to bed.
Yes.
You had a blog, collecting 279 comments in 13 years. Reopen it, and you can both go there. Now fck off and go try and start a stoush with someone else. Faux publican.
lemme guess
… white male?
Agree, Woddenhead.
LOL. Last of the evening shift shows up. Kant & Hegel.
Saw Albo on news being all even-handed about Israel-Palestine war.
Have to wonder if he was coached to avoid accidentally saying “all lives matter”.
Like another Italian of dubious parentage, Pinocchio, Albo and Jim are finding their representations on negative gearing being met with well deserved skepticism. Might want to check with Peanut Head how that plays out with voters of either stripe.
As for ties, I prefer the Hutchence knot.
Or was that a belt?
The big eared Queensland claimed they aren’t touching neg gearing, which means they will.
Dot
Jan 29, 2024 7:55 PM
Please lie on the stone table first.
You silly dot of a dot,
Muddy
This looks like a nice starter for an armoury – but you’d have to see how many serviceable rifles you could make after stripping and cleaning the lot.
JC
Jan 29, 2024 9:14 PM
So good of you to keep moaning about the cost of a glass white wine in Sictoria. TWAT.
Agreed.
Bern, did your nose check out okay at the doc’s?
Not me.
Must be another Cat.
Nobody should swim anywhere in Sydney Harbour unless it is at a netted harbour beach, and you never swim at dusk or at night…
Elizabeth Bay shark attack: Woman fighting for life after being bitten
A woman, believed to be in her 20s has been rushed to hospital in a critical condition following a shark attack in Sydney’s east.
A woman is fighting for life after being attacked by a shark in Sydney’s east this evening.
Emergency services including multiple ambulances and a rescue helicopter raced to Billyard Ave, Elizabeth Bay about 7:45pm on Monday after reports a woman had been attacked by a shark.
There, a woman believed to be in her late 20s was found with serious injuries.
Emergency services sources said she sustained significant injuries including wounds to her lower right leg.
The woman was raced to St Vincents Hospital by ambulance where she remains in a critical condition.
Its understood the woman, who was believed to be in the water alone, was treated at the scene by bystanders including a veterinarian who managed to tourniquet her leg until paramedics arrived.
Sydney Harbour is full of bull sharks.
There was a 4 meter white pointer casually swimming around the pier in Sorrento the other day. Countless kids jump off the Portsea pier in the summer, which is a few k down the road.
This is where Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has been good…….from The Oz…
Industry super funds hand out almost $40m to unions
Industry super funds last year pumped almost $40 million in payments to unions and their umbrella lobby group, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Previous payments to the unions and lobbyist Industry Super Australia are already under investigation by The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
But despite the investigation into almost $9 million in payments to unions in 2021-2022 the industry super funds increased payments to more than $16 million last year.
Another $21.5 million was handed over to ISA, which has now merged with another group to become Super Members Australia which represents funds managing $1.4 trillion for 10 million Australians.
NSW Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg crunched the numbers for the first full year of mandatory disclosures and said it revealed that super funds are “supercharging” payments to unions and union groups.
“No other sector of the economy is as extravagant. Workers’ super has kept unions afloat as membership has tumbled,” he said.
I think the Nose of Colour was Mole.
Robert.
The copper-looking tubes in the middle of the left-hand frame: Any ideas what they are components of?
So what if a couple of billionaire’s kids get eaten.
Roger
I’ve brought this up on several occasions during the rule of Dictator Dan and his association with the pure as the driven snow AEC.
The AEC is a very likely target for infiltration by the Labor Party Machine and the fact that no investigation of rigour has been made into possible corruption of the organisation is just the first part of the cover up. The next will be “Some irregularities have been noted, but an internal investigation has found no errors of substance.”
Of course! Silly me, it was Frollickingmole.
So, Moley, what was the doc’s verdict about your bruised proboscis?
Is it true they spit out Eastern suburbs real estate agents?
There was a 4 meter white pointer casually swimming around the pier in Sorrento the other day. Countless kids jump off the Portsea pier in the summer, which is a few k down the road.
Yep.
There is no netted beach at Elizabeth Bay. I don’t know why anyone would swim there, particularly at dusk…that’s asking for trouble. I swim at Camp Cove, Neilson Park (which is currently closed) or Bronte….all netted beaches.
I remember being at a friend’s place at Point Piper a few years ago, it was late in the afternoon and we were sitting having drinks on the balcony, and we saw a woman casually swimming in the harbour with……wait for it……a dog.
We were yelling at her and the dog to get out of the water, because either she or the dog was going to end up being dinner for a shark.
At least it reduces the will split for who’s left, right?
Hello Monty.
No.
Why this urge to take things offline? Be very careful where that leads, very careful.
When you take it offline, you cannot be sure what you’re starting.
Think carefully. Very carefully.
The Oz has a picture up of where she was bitten, she was swimming off a pier at Elizabeth Bay, right in front of where a friend used to live. We’d watch the fireworks from his place. Nobody should swim there. Insanity. I hope she’s okay.
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Yes, some tragic blunders made by men who should never have been issued rifles. One was the killing of a popular Lt by a soldier who mixed up the challenge/password sequence and opened fire because he didn’t give the Lt time to answer the password.
Cassie I saw the Synagogue on map and will walk around there this afternoon.
Mondays as usual a bit flat with many points of interest closed.
Got a bit too cold walking around this morning so am warming up at home.
Supposed to be 12 or 13 c this afternoon.
Had a look at the market building this morning, pretty quiet in January though the outdoor fruit and vegetable markets were busy.
The women’s fashion is mostly sequinned cropped tacky tracky and those awful shiny fake leather pants.
Though the main drag has a few decent shops.
Too early in my travels to be buying anything though.
Offline?
Let me guess, you’ve been drinking again.
No later nighter, so have to last say, Driller. You know you want to.
Go!
Sydney Harbour is full of bull sharks.
Has been for a long time. They are found in the Parramatta River, Lane Cove River, Middle Harbour past the Spit Bridge and Bantry Bay. They can be found anywhere in the harbour especially in the warmer months. I spent several weeks of a diving course in Middle Harbour in the late 1960’s and there were signs along the river bank reading ‘Do Not Enter The Water, Man Eating Sharks’ … our instructors either couldn’t read or just ignored them.
I flew to Sydney from Tassie on 11 February, 2009 when I was president of the Clearance Divers Association, to see Paul de Gelder, a young Clearance Diver who was critically ill in Saint Vincents Hospital at Kings Cross after he lost a leg and part of one arm that morning in a bull shark attack near Garden Island.
There has been a tagging programme for bull sharks for some time and they counted 18 tagged ones in one period in summer 2012. I would imagine there would be double or triple that number at that time but the rest were’t tagged.
Bull sharks are everywhere in east coast estuaries, and they will eat anything. On a par with crocs. We have seen them in the Hunter River as far upstream as Raymond Terrace in fresh water. Brackish water is their favourite feeding zone.
We lived for a while on our boat at NCYC marina, and they used to hang about at night for scraps that everyone tossed overboard for the fish. A bit of a swish off the stern was all we would see. Our cats knew they were around, and were always below deck at night.
Imshin always has lots in interesting gaza titbits.
the other gaza
Muddy Avatar
Muddy
Jan 29, 2024 9:44 PM
Do you mean the 4 green tubes in two sets? As in corroded copper?
My bet would be RPG warheads and from the length of them probably tandem warheads at that, in a case for carting around.
They don’t have the dimensions for mortar shells. Too narrow.
🙂
OK, now you can tell me they’re tubes of grease for the big boys to get through narrow tunnels.
Remember how a man was taken (eaten) by a white pointer off La Perouse in February 2022? A few days later the Daily Telegraph produced an interactive map off all recorded shark attacks across Australia since European settlement in 1788. It made for fascinating reading, particularly recorded attacks in Sydney. The first recorded shark attack in Sydney was in the early days of the colony, in fact it was only weeks after the first fleet arrived, when an Aboriginal woman was taken. Before netting, shark attacks were common across the waterways of Sydney, and there were attacks as far up as Liverpool, on the Georges River.
Never ever swim in Sydney Harbour, in the Lane Cover River, in the Parramatta River, or in the Georges River, unless it’s at a netted beach such as Neilson Park.
Finished your book Digger. A bloody good read.
Rosie
Jan 29, 2024 9:59 PM
Thanks Rosie.
controversial post
It’s a C S Lewis reference you simpleton. Your fantasy literature involves AI supercomputers, not life-breathing lion gods and deplorable white witches.
Biden Administration Openly Promising to Do the Exact Thing Trump Was Accused of Doing During Impeachment Effort
Robert Sewell
Jan 29, 2024 7:08 PM
I’m pretty sure I read that paper due to the issue of soft tissue injury and the blast effect on lungs.
Do you have links or copies to the paper any more? I don’t have access to these now I’m out.
Unfortunately it was the period well before personal computers and the fact it was 46 years ago, I have memories of the paper, but no physical copies or access to it. I have been out since 1986.
When I was young, I would go spear fishing at Mount Martha with a few pals. Mount Martha, located on the Peninsula, is an excellent place for that kind of thing because the water gets deep suddenly and the rock cliffs fall to the water, so you don’t have to swim too far out. The last time I went, I saw a freaking decent-sized shark swimming about casually beneath me. I shot out of the water, I was done. Never went again.
Debt Crisis Deepens as Bankruptcies Surge… Millennials Struggle under Unprecedented Financial Pressure
Muddy:
I’ll withdraw that guess Muddy – they’re too narrow for tandem RPG projectiles.
How about original 70’s single shot RPG’s?
Am I getting warmer?
At least he never was in combat against a “poor struggling farmer” and then stalked by the AFP for several years with overt and covert surveillance.
Barking Toad
Jan 29, 2024 10:17 PM
Finished your book Digger. A bloody good read.
Thanks BT, glad you got through it and I greatly appreciate your feedback.
I found out recently that Mt Martha is next to Safety Beach. It was renamed Safety Beach from its original name ,Shark Bay.
What does the decimation of North American buffalo herds have in common with 15-minute cities?
Robert.
Thanks.
You mean the stalks (or whatever the tech term is) for the warhead, I guess?
I don’t know what they are, but was curious. Weapons are not my forte.
Casing for homemade pipe bombs perhaps? A bit lengthy though, as you noted.
That’s where the big sharks are.
Never swim:
Dusk/dawn
Drop-offs
Near bait balls/shoals
Near diving birds
Near seals
With dogs
If you have any cuts
With jewellery on
Near river mouths, particularly after floods
Near any processing facility/fish cleaning site
I’m so paranoid I’m also never one of the last few souls out from the beach either.
Bit hard to argue with…
Indolent, please. Major US Bank reported results for the last quarter a few weeks ago and there was only minor elevation in bank provisioning, which was mild and unconcerning. Where are you getting that stuff from?
Now for our feature presentation at Catallaxy Cinemas.
The Shark Menace (1955)
British Pathe
“We make no apology for the grim scenes you see in this film report…”
It is quite sobering now to reflect and recall the hundreds of hours diving I and my mates have done in and around Sydney Harbour over several decades both in and out of the navy. At the time I doubt that sharks entered my mind for one minute but the dives were all over the harbour and in the rivers during day and night with and without lights.
Muddy:
Here I was, thinking you were trying to trick me!
Here’s a link to a site that has a good picture of the RPG7 – the original. The green tube is for carrying, and the site also gives you operating instructions on how to use it.
Dude!
Linda Burney as Governor General? After being humiliated by the reaming Teh Voice got, I suppose it’s the Labor way. Failing upwards. FMD
no wonder unwra jobs are for the boys
This is the shark story I grew up with.
30” of water, something nothing.
Don’t swim in the harbour.
Someone has moved the terminal to Geelong
I think you will find the reason was Andrews, who priced Port Melbourne out of the equation. Plus the citizens of Port Melbourne had enough of the traffic from the ferries and with the first of the new, higher capacity ferries due shortly, the traffic and parking area would have been under considerable pressure.
Robert.
Makes sense.
Is the flaring of the exhaust to reduce the recoil?
China has a new client. Charles Miranda on something troubling:
Marcia Langton as Governor General?
deputy minister foreign affairs Republic of Somaliland not happy with ilhan Omar
No-one should be surprised about enhanced China-PNG arrangements. It’s possible that as a result of future civil unrest – when Asian foreigners are often the targets of local frustration with their own system of government – China may send security ‘advisers’ to assist in the protection of their own nationals and business interests. Once that takes place … oh dear.
Muddy
Jan 29, 2024 10:48 PM
Robert.
No recoil for the projectile, because the exhaust doesn’t really have much to push against unlike a rifle bullet which is contained against the body of the rifle. My assumption for the flaring is to allow a more rapid drop off in the velocity of the exhaust gases and limiting the danger area behind the firer. I’ve seen some graphic photos of idiots who walked behind a Recoilless Rifle despite being instructed as to why the exhaust gas is dangerous. There’s always the soldier who thinks the warnings are for others.
I never got the chance to use any of the weapons apart from the 9mm and the SLR – I was in Nursing Corps 90 – 93. But was an RN for 33 years and have some experience with idiots and youthful hijinks.
Supposed to have been an I.R.A “hit team” who forgot all about “Back blast danger area” and fired a recoiless rifle from the back of a Ford Transit van – none of them survived…too bad, so sad!
Thanks, Robert.
You never know when you’ll need these snippets of info in a snap pub quiz!
I’m off to search for some beauty sleep.
Sweet dreams all.
Muddy
You can bet those “Targets of local frustration” will call for assistance from the peace loving fraternal comrades of the PLA, even if they have to make the attacks themselves.
Hasn’t the strategic outlook changed remarkably in just the last two years?
A bit of a surprise for Canberra and the Top Men running the show. I wonder how soon it will be before China wants to build a north south Highway/Railway ‘for trade’?
I found the synagogue Cassie, The 1603 one was destroyed in WWIi presumably by allied bombs as only half a kilometre from the port.
This one was build in 1962. I’d wondered what it was when I saw it earlier.
Still in use.
Amortiser,
Here’s a picture of the happy couple of possible fathers. No idea who the sperm source is and thankfully even less idea of the method of insemination.
It really is a shame what these people are doing to Ireland.
Pretty sure I read last year the former Israeli government had given back the Golan Heights – seemed like madness at the time. No linkies to validate but.
Wowsers. I was solo diving at sunrise Sunday morning, in a spot known as The Bunker from when the old folks used to stash whale carcasses while on the hunt around Cape Naturaliste.
Big abalone haul, very very cold though.
Delta A
Snorkel ok. Very bruised as then had to pack the graft in as it was quite deep.
The no rotting smell was a good sign.
The doc who did it is the same bloke I’ve been working with at the old mine site for 8 years, nice to have someone you’ve seen in action doing a good job.
Had a few grey bastard scares over the years.
Given the amount of time in the water, locations and the amount of just speared fish present not as many as I deserved.
Biggest scare was murky, deep water returning to a boat 200 m or so away with about 30kg of speared fish in my net bag.
Got circled for a while by a grey thing just at the limit of visibility.
Musnt have been hungry.
And, in a prime example of why women live longer, I was quite prepared to spear it rather than give up my catch.
Aaah. To be that young and bulletproof again..
older now
and only bullet-resistant
Pretty sure I read last year the former Israeli government had given back the Golan Heights – seemed like madness at the time. No linkies to validate but.
I think it may have been the other way around and the Israeli’s have permanently incorporated into their border.
LOL.
Dear Mr Bear
Re: Your tie elastic
Yours of 6.37 on the 29th is noted .
However, our main focus remains the elastic in your trousers.
Best Regards
Props Dept.
Dot …
Or near chips, dimmies or potato cakes.
I always see shark in the vicinity when they are around.
John Spooner.
Peter Broelman.
Brett Lethbridge.
Michael Ramirez.
A.F. Branco.
A.F. Branco #2.
Tom Stiglich.
Thanks, Tom. What on earth is the Stiglich toon about?
I’d guess it’s about soldiers killed in the middle east but I can’t see the logic
Beaugy, Stiglich ‘toon is about dead US soldiers in the Middle East — you know, the people who end up in body bags so ours don’t have to.
US soldiers overseas are again filling body bags because the arseholes running Biden’s White House are not only appeasing America’s enemies like Iran, but also funding them while pretending not to.
Middle America — not Biden donors — provides the cannon fodder for the US military. It’s a sensitive subject in the USA.
Tom
Jan 30, 2024 4:24 AM
So many boots and body bags –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM1kzbAgo_E
Didn’t some die in their sleep? Hence, not actually with their boots on. Maybe that’s what it’s about.
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Jan 29, 2024 11:01 PM
Linda Burney as Governor General?
Marcia Langton as Governor General?
How about any one of these –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs3dPaz9nAo
I’m sure some clever clogs will come up with “the very model of Australia’s Gov’nr General” – the hyenas in every public and private institution have made this country a laughing stock.
How wrong are the climate models? Extremely.
John Hinderaker at Powerline shows the latest comparison of the output of the various models versus actual observations from 1973 to 2022. Dr. Roy Spencer has done important work in showing how bankrupt the modellers’ hypothesis is.
We are governed by idiots and ideologues who have wrecked economies for no good purpose. The climate scam is a shameful episode.
Link to Hinderaker.
the role of Governor General …
can Marcia Langton even sing?
Gilbert and Sullivan needs a remake with a cast of aspiring (but talented) rappers
The world has moved on across the Atlantic to the USA for culture. Behold, the Selby knot.
At American Thinker there’s a catalogue of many things that have proven the corruption that is endemic in US politics. The article leaves out the lingering menace of Democrat appointed judges, such as a Clinton appointee currently railroading Trump. It’s a pessimistic view, but one that’s hard to contradict.
Too many bad actors in too many positions and places. It will take more than a win by Trump later this year to turn the tide. The question is and will be “can a country so divided continue to be a nation?”
Linky
I am sure they would get far better treatment than working in a Gulf State.
I found the synagogue Cassie, The 1603 one was destroyed in WWIi presumably by allied bombs as only half a kilometre from the port.
This one was build in 1962. I’d wondered what it was when I saw it earlier.
Still in use.
Thank you, Rosie.
Aka the schoolboy knot.
There was one chap who went on to be a very famous theatrical director, who as a sign of flamboyance, didn’t do the final tuck.
Not usually a fan of Greg Sheridan but he has an outstanding (albeit quite depressing) article in The Oz today:
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/why-our-leaders-have-lost-the-plot-on-reform/news-story/01c7fdfb8e6900326bb0916c3e6df6d4
The Albanese government deserves every criticism for abandoning stage three tax cuts. In trashing a solemn, repeated promise, it debauches our political culture. Who can now say it won’t abandon promises on AUKUS or national security?
And it’s abandoned good tax reform.
But there’s a different lesson here. This also represents failure by the Liberal and National parties and signals the decay of our political culture. We’re drifting towards Australian Peronism. I’ll explain that term in a minute. The broader point is our politics is now all but incapable of meaningful policy reform, apart from endlessly bigger transfer payments to ourselves.
Consider tax, Australia Day and Defence.
We have an extremely inefficient tax system, too reliant on income tax, full of disincentives and perverse penalties, the enemy of productivity. Neither side of politics can reform it. The most striking statistic is economist Chris Richardson’s calculation that the top 1 per cent of income earners pay tax equivalent to the entire tax contribution of the bottom (in income terms) 77 per cent of adults.
With free healthcare, extravagant transfer payments and the NDIS running out of control, Australia has one of the most progressive (meaning the rich pay more) tax and welfare systems in the world.
The three stage tax cuts were announced in 2018, then legislated in 2019. Stages one and two gave great benefits to low-income earners. Stage three, which tried to reduce disincentives and complexities higher up the tax scale, didn’t come into operation for six years after they were announced.
That meant the pro-low income down payment of the early tax cuts was completely disassociated in the public mind from the upper-income scale reforms. That the Liberal-National government did its reform this way shows that in fact it was far too cowardly ever to do the reform at all. This is a political first cousin of AUKUS submarines. A government does absolutely nothing right now but promises something grand long in the future, almost certainly when it has ceased to be in office.
On this occasion, this has worked tactically well enough for the Coalition. It forced Anthony Albanese to support the tax cuts in opposition and then can blame him for breaking a promise in government. The result, however, is a total failure in tax reform for the nation.
The Coalition wouldn’t do the whole reform at once both because it couldn’t meet the spending discipline needed to fund it, and because it couldn’t bear the political pain of being seen to do something that helped higher-income earners, even if this was much less than even returning bracket creep. It could of course have done a smaller version of all three stages at once. But the Liberals really couldn’t and wouldn’t do tax reform, they couldn’t manage the politics.
In the entire decade of Coalition government, the Liberals never cut the highly uncompetitive top marginal tax rate of 47 per cent (including the Medicare levy). More important, they never adjusted the low threshold at which it comes into effect of $180,000.
Really rich people don’t pay regular income tax. Form yourself into a legal company and you pay 30 per cent tax instead of 47 per cent. There is an infinity of more complex tax arrangements. The more complex the tax system, the more incentive for inherently worthless, artificial schemes.
The bottom line is that in office the Coalition never had the courage of its convictions in tax reform. It’s not surprising that the Albanese government doesn’t have the courage of the Liberals’ convictions either.
We’ve just passed an Australia Day in which, grotesquely, our major cities didn’t have traditional national day parades, making us one of very few countries in the world too confused, conflicted, fraudulently ashamed of ourselves to even properly celebrate national achievements such as continuing democracy, the rule of law, universal citizenship, etc.
Australia Day has been effectively destroyed by the onslaught of identity politics over the past 15 years. Mostly, this identity politics campaign has not been an expression of popular discontent coming up from the grassroots of society, but rather an academic- and activist-led top-down campaign. The vast cohort of the activist and academic leadership are paid, ultimately, with government money, or sometimes with the money of giant corporations.
We’ve just had Cricket Australia announce, then apparently reverse, a decision not even to acknowledge Australia’s national day. The national cricket captain, Pat Cummins, is opposed to the national day on January 26. What an interesting contrast to the treatment of elite footballer Israel Folau. In a personal social media post Folau slightly mangles a verse of the New Testament and is driven out of professional sport and prevented from ever earning his chosen living again. Cummins as national cricket captain opposes an elementary national symbol and is a candidate for sainthood.
The Albanese Labor Party promised in opposition to keep and support Australia Day, but in office has effectively done nothing to defend it. Australians voted against identity politics in the voice referendum 61 per cent to 39 per cent. But no one apparently takes any notice of them.
Yet in the decade of Coalition government, Canberra fully funded the Aboriginal grievance industry. Nor would the Coalition ever clearly state its purpose in constitutional terms, which led numerous Aboriginal leaders to conclude, mistakenly, that the Coalition offered much greater scope for constitutional change than it really did. In the end the Coalition was forced to take a clear position opposing the voice because of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s personal leadership. The crisis in our national purpose, identity and symbols brought on by identity politics was underwritten by the Liberal-National parties long before Labor came to government.
The Albanese government’s decision not to send a ship to the Red Sea to help guarantee freedom of commerce in that vital shipping route is perhaps a turning point in modern Australian history, a devastating sign of our ramshackle military decrepitude and our ultimate lack of strategic seriousness. Yet the dismal, antique navy surface fleet we have today is also the product of a decade of Coalition government.
So, Peronism? Argentina, like Australia, has a small, well-educated population and a big territory with agricultural and mineral riches. Under Juan Peron it developed stylised and ideological politics, featuring ever-growing transfer payments, crippling budget deficits, pro-trade union industrial relations, second-rate nationalism and creeping authoritarianism. Its government and people assumed there would always be money to spend. The political system became toxic, and abusive. The only thing people believed from government was cash in hand.
It’s the path to ruin. It’s the path we’re seemingly on.
From The Oz…
Jewish teachers have been urged to ditch mainstream unions amid fears of anti-Semitism
Jewish teachers fearful of anti-Israel activism in classrooms have been urged to ditch mainstream education unions and report incidents of anti-Semitism in their workplaces.
As the school year begins, Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory is concerned radical political activism will worsen in 2024.
He said growing union support for the Palestinian cause had pushed Jewish teachers to terminate their memberships. “Jewish teachers are concerned with the introduction of anti-Israel activism into the classroom, and with the failure of established teachers’ unions to intervene and oppose it,” he told The Australian.
“We’ve heard concerns from teachers and pupils that instead of learning important information, the classroom (will) be turned into a charged political environment.”
In the past few months, advocacy groups in Victoria and NSW have organised weeks of solidarity with Palestine. The action, endorsed by some branches of the AEU, encouraged teachers to invite Palestinian advocates into campuses.
While the AJA has engaged with mainstream unions, Mr Gregory said he did not believe the groups would be receptive to its concerns. “I think these unions have morphed far from their original role,” he said.
“We would have expected after the October 7 attacks increased support for Jewish teachers, unfortunately that hasn’t been the case. We are shocked.”
A Jewish high school teacher, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, recently quit her membership of the NSW Teachers Federation over concerns it was growing too political.
“I felt it was kind of moving out of what I joined a union to be doing for me and to have legal coverage. The legal coverage I’d need would be around people showing up with keffiyehs or a Hamas T-shirt and now there’s no way they’re going to help me out with that stress,” she said.
“They’ve made it divisive.”
The reports of anti-Semitic incidents have prompted the AJA to recommend teachers who have left or are wanting to leave their union to join the Teachers Professional Association of Australia.”
The militant NSW Teachers Federation has been a rotten far-left organisation for decades, it is entrenched in Jew hatred masking as “anti-Zionism’.
Julia, come on down from that dungeon in the sky!
Liz Storer is a Sky treasure.
For red-blooded blokes, she’s also as hot as hell.
Not usually a fan of Greg Sheridan but he has an outstanding (albeit quite depressing) article in The Oz today:
Yep, Sheridan nails it.
You know why I like Liz Storer, because she speaks with ruthless moral clarity. I suspect she might read this blog.
Last night on Sharri, Storer spoke the plain unadulterated truth about Chris Minns. As I’ve said, and as Storer says, he’s a pretty face but useless. He’s gaslighting the people of NSW. The Nazis at North Sydney incident on Oz Day is a classic exercise in gaslighting. Meanwhile, real Nazis and real Jew haters, such as those in mosques in western Sydney, along with the Muslim and far-left scum congregating in our CBD every weekend, fuming, frothing and spitting their Jew hatred all over our streets, are left alone. Apparently Minns and our NSWaffren Police are paralysed with those Nazis. Now why could that be?
By the way, I know which Nazis are more dangerous to me personally and it ain’t those morons at North Sydney.
As yes, Liz Storer is a very attractive woman.
Poland and the Demon in Democracy
Liberal authoritarianism’s tusks have been bared across the West
https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/poland-and-the-demon-in-democracy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=330796&post_id=141156064&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=734t&utm_medium=email
A deep dive into the aftermath of Poland’s elections.
Terry McCrann:
A decade of picking up the pieces left by the profligacy of RGR. What remained in the bank was spent very early on.
Yes, the political decisions were still wasteful and shambolic, but they were starting off on a low. RGR had the GFC, the Libs had Covid. Both governments were utterly hopeless. But Rudd had a better start off the blocks.
Overnight in Golders Green London, at a Jewish market, Jews were threatened and attacked by a knife wielding Islamist.
‘Soshul cohesion’ in Khan’s London.
This is ‘Teal’ Kylea Tink in October 2022:
Well you know what to do then Ms Tink. Oppose it on the floor of the House of Representatives. Sorry reader, I will see myself out.
but they were starting off on a low.
I don’t dispute that but the Coalition did nothing, absolutely nothing, to stymie the low.
But worse, they trashed their own brand.
They did something else that’s completely unheard of.
They left the salivating Labor conquistadors with absolutely nothing in the bank. Labor got a taste of their own medicine.
A pyrrhic victory for us unfortunately.
The ‘Teals’ certainly do band together.
How quickly elements of da media are making the coalition the bad guys in the tax cut scenario.
Well you could always unconditionally surrender, Hamas guys, that would stop the “aggression”.
Hamas rejects hostage release deal: Israel must cease the aggression (29 Jan)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/01/29/unrwa-is-worse-than-you-think/
An extract:
Then they know how to vote at the next election. A lot of people I know who are on $145k plus salaries work in academia and vote Labor and Green. I also know tradies who are on similar salaries and they vote Liberal, One Nation and other right of centre parties.
I don’t expect the academics to change their voting patterns as they are mostly older and financially comfortable, the current economic turmoil does not affect them, their younger counterparts may not be in such a sweet spot so we will see if they do change their voting patterns.
I don’t expect the tradie crowd to change their voting habits, they may even get new such voters into their ranks.
I hate it that we are in for two years of political excitement and I hope that it doesn’t turn into something much worse. I want boring, I want routine, I want everybody in the world to get ahead.
The elbow and his arse have managed to alienate everyone.
The left, the right, the in betweens, the none of the aboves, everyone.
It’s a major achievement.
Wall Street Silver
@WallStreetSilv
Think about it for a second
“Don’t welcome me to my own country”
https://youtu.be/1iuG3z4cr18
Alex Bruesewitz ??
@alexbruesewitz
Must watch! A great American stands up to military industrial complex puppet,
@NikkiHaley, at a campaign stop in South Carolina:
“No new wars! I’m done with the military industrial complex. We’re sick of the wars, we want America First!”
Israel accuses 190 UN staff of being ‘hardened’ militants
THE COLUMN: The Cold Civil War Gets Warmer
Amanda Hanson, ‘beloved’ Tennessee journalist, dies at 38
Handsome Boy and the Wong Chap look to have a bit on their plate.
Hahaha – I chortled rather a lot at that.
Nikki Haley overnight guaranteed that she will not be elected to any office ever again.
Nikki Haley Tries to Use E. Jean Carroll Case Against Trump: U.S. ‘Can Do Better’ (29 Jan)
The Carroll court case is the most egregious stitch up ever seen in the US, so she’s either stupid or mendacious. Two thirds of Republican voters would probably rather gnaw their hands off rather than vote for her. No way they would turn out to vote if she was the candidate for anything, even for dog catcher.
What a sick b@stard Biden is.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/national-file-posts-contents-ashley-bidens-diary-website/
An extract:
From the article last night:
So apart from Albo tripping the light fantastic and the island nations, our Stronger Pacific Family (really?), what did they actually talk about and achieve? Well we know what PNG got. $200 million of our sweet nectar.
Seems it was all beer and margaritas from coconut shells. Was there any talk of the China threat? They aren’t building shit for any benign purpose. In good hands.
Good question
Snow White, Superman and Pinocchio are out for a walk. They soon come across a sign that says “Contest for the world’s most beautiful woman”
“I’m going to enter” said Snow White.
Half an hour later, Snow White walks out and the other two ask “Well how did you do?”
Snow White replies “I won!”.
After a while they see another sign, ‘Contest for the world’s strongest man’
An excited Superman says “I’ve got this”
Half and hour later he walks out and announces, “First place. Did you ever doubt it?”
They continue their walk and the three see a sign ‘Contest for the world’s greatest liar’
“This one’s mine”, says Pinocchio.
The others waited and soon Pinocchio walks out. He’s most upset with tears streaming down his cheeks.
“What happened?” the others asked.
Fighting back the tears, Pinocchio mutters “Who the hell is Albo?”
You mean doctors and engineers, past, present and emerging.