Yes. And an Arab woman has just become rector of a university in Israel, the only open society in the…
Open Thread – Thurs 7 March 2024
- Australia ain’t what it was
- A Military Realist’s View of the Ukraine War Thread
- Open Thread – Weekend 11 May 2024
- Bumtree #10
- Bumtree #9
Just pure pop, Cats! 🙂
These episodes have been incredibly illuminating at highlighting the operational constraints of effective fighting to win. I’m very impressed at…
Mahathir in Malaysia was a pain in the backside in many ways. But on this issue he was spot on:…
@elonmusk Major geomagnetic solar storm happening right now. Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of…
When Joe Camilleri formed his next band the Black Sorrows he had the Bull sisters as his backing singers.
Curses…I think ‘protect’ would have been a better word than ‘stop.’
A good-looking chick friend of a friend I used to know (with jet-black hair –natch) was Maltese and drove a Falcon, which she called the Maltese Falcon.
Every single Ukrainian province voted for independence in 1991.
Yanukovych was a crook and a traitor. He (his surrogates) was (were) caught red handed rigging votes in Ukrainian Parliament.
Trump started the material support of Zelensky.
The regime is rightly criticised but don’t be fooled by Russian propaganda.
Though only in Washington DC.
And rightfully so. These bastards are all on his side and therefore OK with his policies.
mUnty doesn’t understand all that technical stuff. He failed Economics 1.
JK Rowling reported to UK police for ‘misgendering’ trans broadcaster as a ‘man’
US social security is only fully funded until 2034. Then it’s 80% funded. Americans can confirm this on their official notices.
That is a likely reason for tax hikes.
Tax hikes in an election year certainly is ballsy, considering how well Trump performed economically.
The Maltese Falcon! Love it. So woggie so Melbourne
causing prosperity
Is the US tax rate going up to pay for all of sundown Joes new wars?
Monty barracking for Boeing and Raytheon.
For your own safety, do not fly today.
Stupid remark. Ladies can fly as well as blokes can and are probably less likely to do really dumb things. “Hold my beer and watch this” is a significant cause of aviation accidents.
Black Ball
Mar 8, 2024 6:04 AM
Bettina Arndt:
What a turnabout. The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC last night announced an audit of all NSW sexual assault cases committed for trial.
So many false accusations with the liars suffering no consequences at all
Always brings a smile.
Hédi Orvos-Clark
@ClarkHedi
Branch Manager and Assistant Branch Manager
Every single Ukrainian province voted for independence in 1991.
33 years later this has what relevance?
Quotas are entrenching incompetence at all levels of our society.
I see Trump begged on his knees to Elon for some cash to pay his debts, but got stiffed.
Dickless drawing upon his many years of sucking dick to slander Trump and Elon.
The normie brain on the regime propaganda drip brought to you by Google.
Germany to reintroduce universal military service – Der Spiegel
Should read “Germany to introduce slavery”
Cheers.
Popular culture of our youth was very witty and cultured AND had great fashions, even big hair. Today it’s all tattoos, danger-alert hair dyes and sexual confusion. I like a goos spectacle but there is so little to see.
Has UK turned into a Harry Potter world while nobody was looking?
Meanwhile in the Territory:
Alice Springs man dead, eight others flee scene after stolen car rolls
NT News
Ya getting weirder every day, Dover.
Go fishing or lawn bowls, do something!
Putin is a war criminal.
The Poms are cooked.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/07/uk-taxes-have-reached-1948-levels-but-the-contrast-between-the-budgets-is-stark
According to official forecasts, measures in Wednesday’s budget have left tax as a share of national income at 37.1%
Last time taxes were that high was straight after WW2.
And they will have to do cuts to departments because its not enough.
I read with interest comments about my scepticism of reports of $1,000 bottles of JW Black in Wadeye.
Point of clarification – I was speaking specifically about Wadeye. I do not doubt for a second that such things happen in other places.
AFAIK, there is no stream of millions of dollars of royalties pouring into Wadeye – but happy to be corrected if this is wrong. Because of that, the idea of thousands of dollars washing around to be spent on a single bottle of booze just doesn’t add up. Claims of multiple identities to claim benefits don’t bridge the gap.
Even if every Wadeye resident is claiming three sets of dole money, which is unlikely, it still doesn’t compute.
But the broader issue remains. We have a culture where people spend huge sums on illegal booze while complaining that their taxpayer funded roofs leak, or there are not enough taxpayer funded facilities for recreation, yada yada.
Thanks to taxpayer funded paternalism, the notion that these communities should take some responsibility for their living conditions is completely alien. They complain about expensive fresh food, but where are the home vege patches and chooks and fruit trees?
And, as a long term renter before I bought my first house, I always tried to maintain and even improve (at minimal cost) the properties being rented. It was a win-win for me and the landlord/lady – they got a good tenant and I got a good living space with minimal invasion of privacy.
The relationship between public housing authorities and Aboriginal tenants in regional/remote locations is completely different, and apparently designed to avoid responsibility by either party. There is always the fallback of taxpayers, prompted by the guilt industry, to paper over the cracks.
As with the Cable-Tie-Two, what is needed is honesty and structural reform if anything is to change.
Oh well. 🙁
November 19 – but you don’t wish to know that
Good luck flying when the doors are blown off, the plane is rapidly depressurised at 41,000 ft and everyone is unconscious.
Did men or women do that?
Also remember the DEI sub engineers & Boeing forced IQ sacrifice.
RIP Revlon.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1765822381413593293
We need one of those here. The Libs don’t have the guts to put it to the people.
Someone who would never vote for them might say “Racist!”
The biggest expenditure item is the NHS, followed by social welfare.
And they’re facing tax hikes to continue to fund both at present levels thanks to a migration system that adds costs without sufficient much value to the public purse.
Putin is a war criminal.
What does that stupid remark make the Ukes who were shelling Donbass since 2014?
delete ‘much’
GreyRanga
Mar 8, 2024 9:11 AM
When is International Men’s Day? I don’t really want to know if there is one.
November 19. Also shares the date with World Toilet Day. I have never thought that was a coincidence.
Agree Eyrie. The Washington war machine wanted another war. The human garbage in Washington DC are the war criminals.
Good points Johanna.
If I remember rightly Bradley Murdoch, the Peter Falconio murderer, was involved in smuggling large quantities of drugs across borders to reach places up north. Apparently extremely lucrative.
Due for parole in 2023 and makes desserts in quantity in the NT bin.
AFAIK, there is no stream of millions of dollars of royalties pouring into Wadeye – but happy to be corrected if this is wrong.
There is mention (after a quick look) of payments being made, but no sums mentioned or if they are going to a body or individuals.
Deliberate murkiness doesnt inspire a lot of confidence.
Plus $600million + getting dumped into providing more housing for “communities”.
Apparently, here the local tribal group money is run by one family in particular who are well set up in “toyota dreaming”. Everyone else kisses the ring for crumbs.
If anyone wants to start a nuclear war tomorrow would be a great day to do it.
Can Dr. Feelgood Save Biden’s State of the Union Address? (7 Mar)
Between the black pupils and worsening performances the brain-chemistry mechanics have their work cut out this time. And I doubt we’ll see him resurface for a week or so. Anyone see the Secretary of Defense lately? He seems not in great shape either.
Good luck flying when the doors are blown off, the plane is rapidly depressurised at 41,000 ft and everyone is unconscious.
Going really hard on the stupid today, Dot.
The pilots will immediately don their emergency oxygen masks and begin an emergency descent to 14,000 feet. This is a standard emergency procedure.
Doesn’t matter whether the pilots are men or women, a properly trained airline crew will follow the trained procedures. You’d better hope the emergency is one that does get trained for, if not you better hope the crew are really on the ball and figure things out.
BTW ladies fly just about all the aircraft in the US armed forces inventory and have commanded the Space Shuttle and Space Station.
Also, plenty of airliners have been crashed by all male flight crews.
I have flown on an all male QANTAS aircraft.
Some of the men wore skirts!
It seems that the images of Aboriginal children, bound with cable ties in Broome, arouses memories of Aboriginal people, in chains, as late as the 1950’s.
Eyrie
Mar 8, 2024 10:39 AM
Good luck flying when the doors are blown off, the plane is rapidly depressurised at 41,000 ft and everyone is unconscious.
Not only today Eyrie, if you haven’t noticed, Dot’s offerings are harder and harder to decipher lately, so much so that scrolling is needed most of the time.
Their country voted overwhelmingly for independence. Do you propose that Russia can annex whatever country they like if they don’t have constant independence referendums every 25 to 30 years?
Listen to yourself. This is loopy stuff.
Putin destabilises them for six years then they turn up with an astroturfed army and start kidnapping children.
“Why is Ukraine shelling us?”
Platinum grade level stupidity.
It’s a sacrifice we need to remember on International Women’s Day. Did male engineers or flight techs cause that calamity?
Hilarious that “politically incorrect” conservatives need to be shamed into admitting men and women are different, or that women fu$& up in technical jobs because they’re not held to the same standards as men (RIP Revlon).
I’ll remind you in a month’s time when I troll you with the notion of female SAS officers, the army instruction book says they are to be trained to the exact same standard.
Not if the lady pilots are arguing because they both wore the same outfit, they won’t.
So a bunch of bleeding hearts with more money than sense have contributed to the cable-tie gang .. .. seems a go-fund-me page for the trespasser/truants raised $5K enuf for a backyard Big W pool .. I’m guessin’ school isn’t gonna be a priority .. problems will again arise once the water needz changing , methinx ……!
This is true by definition but we all know for a fact women are given a pass in flight school, militaries and universities, even schools.
What’s funny is how agreeable they are over salary but know how to negotiate their marks upwards. Men tend to be the opposite.
Wall of qwerty.
The charity responsible for England’s historic monuments says Hadrian’s Wall is “a symbol of LGBT history.” (7 Mar)
Unless it is firstly a self-installing, and then self-cleaning, pool, nothing is going to change.
Women comprise approximately 50% of the population. From the Law Society Journal:
In June 2022, women comprised 7 per cent of Australia’s overall prison population
Maybe Women are better at not being caught.
Not if the lady pilots are arguing because they both wore the same outfit, they won’t.
They wear uniforms.
Dot
Mar 8, 2024 10:54 AM
What does that stupid remark make the Ukes who were shelling Donbass since 2014?
Their country voted overwhelmingly for independence. Do you propose that Russia can annex whatever country they like if they don’t have constant independence referendums every 25 to 30 years?
Listen to yourself. This is loopy stuff.
Putin destabilises them for six years then they turn up with an astroturfed army and start kidnapping children.
“Why is Ukraine shelling us?”
Platinum grade level stupidity.
You have obviously never heard of the Minsk Agreements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_agreements
Their country voted overwhelmingly for independence
In 1991. Run the same vote today and you will get a vastly different result. Times change, opinions change. If the Russian speaking Ukes want to be part of Russia, let them. Then the Uke speakers in those areas and the Russian speakers the rest of Ukraine can either live with it or do a housing swap.
Going really hard on the stupid today, Dot.
Not only today Eyrie, if you haven’t noticed, Dot’s offerings are harder and harder to decipher lately, so much so that scrolling is needed most of the time.
Yes and a really Dotty Dot of Dottiness.
Does this mean the threat was from Caledonian homophobes?
All those junkets to climate conferences won’t pay for themselves:
Nearly five years after a new weather radar was promised for the vast Barkly region in the Northern Territory, locals are still waiting and say the delay is causing problems.
Residents protested against the closure of the Old Tennant Creek radar, but it was shut down in 2015 and a new Doppler radar was expected to be operational by 2021, but was delayed due to COVID-19.
Hayfield Station pastoralist Sally Dyer said the missing radar was a safety issue, after a medical transport plane couldn’t take off due to a lack of weather information available to the pilot.
“Luckily it wasn’t life threatening, but they were stuck here overnight,” she said.
“It was a logistical nightmare for them trying to source fuel and get from A to B, because they’d spent a lot more time trying to dodge storms than what they were expecting.”
KD wins the Friday internets.
If only the leftards here in Australia could introduce such “punitive” tax rates.
Ah yes the Minsk Agreements.
Putin: You are bound to these totally legally sound agreements.
Also Putin: You are not a real country who could ever sign a treaty or accord and your de jure government at the time was illegitimate.
Putin after three wives: I’m here to save you from being further subverted by the west and declining into deep illegitimacy.
wines
!!!
Eyrie
The best one was from the Mexican airlines pilot who put his aircraft into the dirt, after being made aware by Bitchin’ Betty that he needed to pull up…
“Shutup Gringo bitch, I know what I’m doing!”
All flight crew dead – not a passenger flight.
Johanna:
They’re in the Maldives. At a conference on Gerbil Wormening. For the next month.
I assume all three are now dead.
I’d love to see their death certificates. #Alexei Navalny.
Dot
Mar 8, 2024 11:26 AM
Putin after three wives: I’m here to save you from being further subverted by the west and declining into deep illegitimacy.
Boris Johnson has had three wives and has seven children – is that relevant?
Emmanuel Macron’s wife is 25 years older than him – is that relevant?
Perhaps you can let us know the relevance of Putin’s three marriages.
Reminder – whenever you see “the pay gap” mentioned, its compulsory to send them this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdnkbs4l_g
Court gag order now lifted for alleged murderer Partick Orren Stephenson.
No news yet on location of the body of Samantha Murphy.
Details in the dailymail online
Gag order was ridiculous from the get go seeing full details of his name etc had been plastered all over the internet and social media. Dumb Victorian magistrate Myktowycz.
The charity responsible for England’s historic monuments says Hadrian’s Wall is “a symbol of LGBT history.
Well they were being homophobic against large ginger chaps in skirts.
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A Daniel Andrews special from his inventory of bleeding heart Labor mates in the judiciary, who specialise in judgements that favour criminals.
Dot:
Excellent trolling, Dot of Dottiness!
You certainly got some bites with a just a single pouch serving of of Chum!
For increasing chances of surviving flights I’d suggest the following rules
– avoid Boeing 737 Max (still working out those pesky flight control issues)
– avoid airlines based in countries like Malaysia
– avoid airlines that trumpet DEI
plus some data on crashing planes turns out experience helps …
No doubt designated “Slegs vir swart mense?”
Appointed within 8 years of being admitted.
Seems the Chief Magistrate wasn’t too happy with her decision.
Reality bites.
Another Greens candidate turns out to be an anti-Semite. Who’d a thunk it?
and
Just like the former President of Harvard, apparently ‘context’ is all important.
Fact is, the Greens are riddled with anti-Semites, which is crazy considering that Karl Marx was a Jew by birth and culture.
Ice core data indicating minimal anthropogenic global warming
Housing swap is the most practical solution and that is why it cannot be done. A casus belli was needed and there it was. On the other hand, a lot of people are stubborn and would never move.
Flying in and out of the new airstrips recently built despite impending catastrophe.
BTW, I see that TheirABC is still running the line that heatwaves are the biggest killers, by deliberately designing paramaters excluding the real killer – cold.
Arseholes. Pensioners dying in their freezing surroundings don’t count, because it wasn’t a ‘climate emergency event’ or something. They couldn’t afford heating thanks to prices rising at least 50% while pensions didn’t.
As an old person, I can’t imagine how age pensioners (slightly better if they are in public housing) are surviving. Never mind the BS CPI. Food and groceries have gone up at least 20%.
These middle class pricks wanking on about Da Planet while they drive pensioners into extreme poverty are the lowest of the low.
johanna
You are far too kind to them.
What do you expect from a movement that is nothing more then Nazism, thinly disguised?
Arseholes. Pensioners dying in their freezing surroundings don’t count, because it wasn’t a ‘climate emergency event’ or something. They couldn’t afford heating thanks to prices rising at least 50% while pensions didn’t.
As an old person, I can’t imagine how age pensioners (slightly better if they are in public housing) are surviving. Never mind the BS CPI. Food and groceries have gone up at least 20%.
These middle class pricks wanking on about Da Planet while they drive pensioners into extreme poverty are the lowest of the low.
Yes, and trying to knock off Pensioners in order to reduce the Age Pension Bill.
And this Cartoon this morning says it all – Illegal Migrants get a better deal than the locals –
Missed this yesterday. Re Russia, 1, 2, and 4, of course. Re 3, surely that has already been done. I think they’ll require recognition of Autumn ’22 result and the contiguous gains since. I’d think they also require Western guarantees that NATO would not accept Ukrainian membership. I can’t see Russia accepting those Ukrainian demands at the moment. Not without limits re 1 and 4 on Ukrainian rearmament, and stationing on its forces on right back of Dneiper in the north and considerably behind in the south. Reparations, out of the question. The ambit claim at the end would be unacceptable to most Russians.
The charity responsible for England’s historic monuments says Hadrian’s Wall is “a symbol of LGBT history.
Well they were being homophobic against large ginger chaps in skirts.
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Very funny. But, OMG, surely these clowns are not now going out after the Romans for sins against “their people” (am I allowed to say that?) ????
It is now getting beyond silliness into sickness territory….if it wasn’t always there……
A bounty hunter rides into a small wild-west town one day, and heads straight for the Sheriff’s office to see if there are any bad guys that need rounding up.
“Well”’ said the Sheriff. “There’s only the one at the moment: The Brown Paper Kid”.
“The Brown Papoer Kid?, Ain’t never heard of him. What does he look like?”
“He wears a brown paper hat, a brown paper coat, brown paper pants and brown paper boots. And…” added the sheriff. “He rides a brown paper horse”.
What’s he wanted for?”
“Rustling”
Simon Holmes A Court does represent the values of Curtin?
Trouble at mill:
Dozens of planning executives, including those instrumental in developing the Minns government’s signature housing reforms, might soon be out of a job.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is on the cusp of losing key staff with decades of experience to deliver on a Labor election promise.
Senior planning staff are right now battling it out with their peers to see who will remain in their role.
Critics say it’s the wrong time to embark on mass job cuts, but others see it as a chance to weed out underperforming executives on fat salaries and remove any duplicate roles.
Ahead of the 2023 state election, Premier Chris Minns pledged to shake up the public service by guillotining 15 per cent of senior executives and imposing a two year pay freeze on those remaining.
And especially avoid green aircraft designed by NASA and Boeing together.
New look at NASA Boeing sustainable experimental airliner (7 Mar)
I think they’ll get their net-zero aviation this way, but not quite in the manner they intend. GWGB.
Rita Panahi:
People over profits.
Profits over culture.
Profits over facts.
The first glib slogan above was roughly spray painted under a motorway overpass not far from me. The second and third statements – likely by the same individual/s as the first – were neatly stenciled under another motorway overpass about five kms or so from the first.
The easy response would be ‘Even an economic illiterate like myself knows that profits feed/clothe/house people, and allow culture (let’s say competitive sport, for example) to be experienced.’
What is more arguably more important than asking why fans of socialism don’t understand the benefits of capitalism, is ‘Why don’t conservatives use ‘stunts (tactics)’ like our competitors do?
I’ve stated numerous times that ‘We are in the midst of a competition for influence’ [which is not my original phrase, by the way]’ but conservatives don’t seem to understand as fully as our competitors, how to use the available tools in order to share our beliefs.
We consider ‘stunts’ to be beneath us, but if they work (gain media attention), that is more than what we achieve. All the effort of individuals (such as our own Rafe, for example) and organisations will come to nought if we don’t have a ‘shopfront’ for potential customers to know we even exist.
Tactics are the vehicle for sharing knowledge.
Ukraine war: Eastern residents brace for Russian advance
Even the BBC is recognising reality for once –
In eastern Ukraine, the tide of this war hasn’t just changed – it’s coming in fast.
“We know what’s coming,” says Mariya as she packs up the TV in her flat in Kostyantynivka. She’s having it delivered to Kyiv before making the journey there with her son.
“We’re tired all day [and suffer] moods and panic attacks. It’s constantly depressing, and we’re scared.”
In February, Russia captured the strategic town of Avdiivka. Since then, the invaders have advanced further west, and taken several villages.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68493215
Amazing seeing footage of the National Guard in NYC subway conducting bag checks.
“These middle class pricks wanking on about Da Planet while they drive pensioners into extreme poverty are the lowest of the low.”
Totally agree Johanna!
New look at NASA Boeing sustainable experimental airliner (7 Mar)
Make the wings large span to reduce induced drag. High aspect ratio to reduce wing profile drag. This would be heavy so add struts to relieve wing bending moment near the root for lighter structure. The thing probably won’t be as fast as current airliners though but will have lower fuel burn.
At 2 to 2.5% of human CO2 emissions aviation isn’t exactly low hanging fruit for picking. Also probably the most difficult. Gravity is a bitch.
From the US campaign trail, Roger Franklin:
RTWT
Worth every cent of their 8 cents a day…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-08/samantha-murphy-patrick-orren-stephenson-ballarat-murder-charge/103563850
The ABC understands Mr Stephenson played junior football for the Redan Football Netball Club.
Anyone watching the SOTU?
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure –
May, “We the People” please ask the NSW Auditor-General to conduct an audit on the achievements of the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure over say the past 5 years.
That is, did the Department meet it’s stated Aims/Objectives/KPI’s and other stated criteria over that time. Please report back to the People of NSW asap.
We are waiting with baited breath.
Oh, so We the People are not allowed to request such an audit?
Bugger that.
Oh dear! .. Spencer Lenui blunders into early “guilty” plea …..
1st rule! .. never plead guilty .. the woke/bleeding hearts will eat you alive .. Behave like “Sam” outwardly blaise and finger up attitude .. tho she only abused a white plod .. very small potatoes alongside 251 “tears” ..!
dover0beach
Mar 8, 2024 1:03 PM
Reparations, out of the question. The ambit claim at the end would be unacceptable to most Russians.
I think the ambit claims could have a higher chance of success than the reparation money. Realistically, the ambits would cost Russia a few/several billion (ongoing for years) but again, the ultimate prize is no NATO and Crimea.
I also think Crimea may be negotiable to the extent of reconstituting the Crimean Autonomous Republic (similar to 1992-4) provided Russia maintains control over the Sevastopol port for their Black Sea navy units. Messy to negotiate but has potential.
I wonder whether a skillful negotiator could squeeze Russia for a wide range of practical and very valuable benefits for Ukraine in exchange for relinquishing captured areas. Those areas currently under Russian control have been largely devastated by the fighting so it is something of a pyrrhic victory for those villages. The rebuild cost would fall to Russia.
Would the Ukraine government be happy losing almost a fifth of their land area? No, of course not and will require constitutional amendment but, if I was them, I would look to the ‘least bad’ solution and milk Russia as deeply as possible. Ukraine should ‘read the room’. Western support is fragile and cannot be realistically deemed open ended – despite what the French or English might say. That largesse has limits. If Trump is re-elected (likely) then they are in more trouble as a one-armed wall paper hanger. Meanwhile, the Poles are making subtle noises about ‘recovering’ part of western Ukraine if the nation disintegrates.
Would the Ukraine people cop it? Hard to say but they are increasingly war weary and are not stupid – they know it has to come to an end and that Ukraine is being used as a battlefield. The cost in Ukraine blood has been very severe.
Of course, Russia could say ‘nah, up yours we’ll just take it’ to any negotiations but the cost in Russian blood and treasure will be higher than a negotiated settlement. Putin may be many things but he isn’t stupid and has gone out of his way to insulate Russian people from the impact of the war. He has largely succeeded but at the end of the day, Russia just wants a solid unchangeable commitment of Ukrainian neutrality. The rest is negotiable.
——
By the way, I sent you a guest post. Check your email.
Is there any truth to the rumour – via Powerline – that U.S. troops will be used to secure a port in Gaza for the disembarkation and distribution of aid shipments? Allegedly this was a ‘big news’ item to be announced during the SOTU address.
dover0beach
Mar 8, 2024 1:57 PM
Anyone watching the SOTU?
No need as we all know full well that it’s in a right (actually full left) state.
SOTU has the energy of a partially drunk step-grandad grabbing the mic at a wedding reception, mainly attended by the bride’s pole dancing posse
Roger Franklin at Quadrant Online:
unny place to find oneself on Super Tuesday as the fog lifts, this ridgeline of hillocks and dips overlooking a broad swathe of pastures, fences and narrow tracks in the rolling ground of rural Pennsylvania. This is where they say — well, some say — the South’s defeat was sealed and with it two more years of slow retreat, defeat and bloody ruin. This southern aspect of Little Round Top (above — look closely, they are bodies amid the rocks) is the most visited site on the Gettysburg Battlefield’s monument-studded national park, the slope where Joshua Chamberlain famously led the 20th Maine in a death or glory bayonet charge. That was 159 years ago, when America was last at war with itself.
Gettysburg, about as far north as the Confederacy ever reached, is 1700 miles from Palmito Ranch in Texas, on the Mexico border, where the very last names were added to the 600,000-odd who perished in five years of settling irreconcilable differences. It was an easily appreciated divide back then, a geographic one, courtesy of Messrs Mason and Dixon having marked on their map the abrasive edges of abutting economies and cultures. Then those who elevated states’ rights above federal authority in defence of slavery struck the spark at Fort Sumpter that transformed the long-building heat of that friction into open conflict and the powder keg exploded.
Please, bear with me, because there will be a natural reticence to entertain the thought that America is once again coming apart. It’s tinfoil hat stuff, surely — America remaking itself as a bad day in Beirut! Sell that movie treatment to Hollywood, you might scoff, because who can believe this country of hand-on-heart patriotic affirmations, of parking spots reserved for military vets and the Stars and Stripes flying proud over used-car yards could ever be anything but whole? The thing is, though, the rifts are there and, unless you make a supreme blind-eye effort, impossible not to see. After my 10 weeks on the road, swinging up through the guts from Miami towards Iowa and then veering northeast to New England before turning dead south again for Dixie, the growing suspicion and, yes, the fear is that such a film will need to be a documentary.
In part, those fissures are what led to here. The intention had been to spend the night in Washington, where a former colleague and old friend works in Al Jazeera’s bureau, but that reunion fell through and without a reason to remain within DC’s boundaries these days it is best to get out of the place. It was bad in 2022, when I was in town for the congressional midterms, but it’s much worse now. Bums on every corner, murders, carjackings, the deranged roaming and howling. If there is an overhang to be found — even a showcase window, say, that juts above the sidewalk — there will likely be beneath it a shambles of filthy rags and cardboard bedding and some unfortunate who calls it home. At his stump rallies, Donald Trump makes a point to vow that cleaning up Washington, to “make it a great city again”, will be high on his to-do list and this pledge always gets a huge cheer. Americans for generations have headed to the national capital on school-bus excursions and summer holidays with Mom and Dad to take in the showcased wonders of American exceptionalism, from the Smithsonian’s aerospace Spirit of St Louis to the Capitol at one end of The Mall and Lincoln Monument at the other. Washington was laid out and built to inspire but can no longer serve that purpose, not in its current distressed condition. Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on the hill” has become a pig sty, so the easiest, fastest way Google could suggest an exit from the traffic-choked CBD was followed.
That route led through up-market Georgetown, expensively chic, largely white and still mostly safe, through small towns and villages to this damp rock overlooking Gettysburg’s vistas of former carnage. The only company in the morning’s calm being the calls of ravens and thoughts of how a nation can shred the rules and tear itself apart with such resolute determination.
In this light, consider the Supreme Court’s ruling which this week rebuked three states for their attempts to strip Trump from the November ballot. No way, said the Justices without dissent, ruling that citizens in Colorado, Illinois and Maine have a constitutional right to vote for whomever they like. Clear cut, right, no room for further argument? Not as far as congressional Democrats are concerned. No sooner had the decision been posted than a trio of prime movers in Trump’s two impeachments immediately announced they would explore what legislative powers might be brought to bear to stop a re-elected Trump entering the White House. In other words, they will set out to do precisely what they have spent three-plus years accusing Trump of doing on January 6, 2020: overturning the will of the people. Colorado’s thwarted attorney-general slammed the Supreme Court for trampling what she said were state’s rights.
The Ironic echoes of the Civil War grow louder.
TONIGHT on Capitol Hill, Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address. He’ll claim the economy is singing (it is on Wall Street but not elsewhere), that inflation is declining (it isn’t), that the “our democracy” thing is strong but in dire peril (from Donald Trump). He may also insist, almost certainly will, that the southern border is secure, America’s enemies wouldn’t dare cock a snook, and the US military remains mighty and invulnerable. All lies and brazen lies at that. Apparently untroubled by US bombs, the Houthi sand goblins have continued bombarding Red Sea shipping, most recently sinking a British-registered vessel and seizing an American merchantman. Biden orders airstrikes and his handlers spawn sound bytes about the might of American arms. Yet the attacks continue and the volume of lies cranks up to match them. Most likely, at some point in proceedings, Biden will be jeered, which never used to happen on State of the Union night, but now is a regular feature. Decorum and good manners, like so many other quaint habits that lubricated political behaviour, have vanished from American politics.
Where it all ends, whether the frictions reach combustion point, no one can tell. But the signs are there that the trashing of so many conventions, the by any means necessary devotion to winning, isn’t going to end well, just as it didn’t in 1860. God help America if all Biden’s talk about Trump being “a threat to democracy” incites some fool to take a shot at him. It’s a big country. There are plenty more sites to host the invoked demons that once led to Gettysburg and might again.
The U.S. is basically stuffed, and while Dr. Trump might be re-elected, the patient is beyond help.
More excellent Ann Barnhardt memes:
https://www.barnhardt.biz/
SOTU – Kamala Harris is up and down in her seat behind Biden like a Jack in the Box.
Coming to a train station near you.
‘Bad vibes’: Central Station tops most feared location for women (Tele, paywalled)
This is what you get when plod are too busy arresting people playing with their kids in parks, or peacefully waving Israeli flags.
I remind you Sir, that this is a family blog.
Stupid remark. Ladies can fly as well as blokes can and are probably less likely to do really dumb things. “
1) Evidence please
2) First principles says you are wrong – flying retains a goodly element of ‘hand-eye coordination, (just google ‘difficult crosswind landing, cockpit view’ if you doubt this) – which men, on average, are superior at.
3) As a proxy, look at the sex ratios among rally crews: almost *all* drivers are male (where hand-eye coordination and spatial orientation matter), yet navigators are often women (where multi-tasking – reading the notes, watching the road, speaking to the driver) is essential.
The Joe Biden speech is NOT a State of the Union as it actually is.
It is a load of stuff that are only dreams about the future. More promises, promises, promises.
SOTU might be approaching trainwreck status.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1765939554253443116
There is a movie about to come out called “civil war” starring Kirsten Dunst as a reporter covering the war resulting from California and Texas trying to succeed. Human rights and war crimes all around.
1) Evidence please
57 years of aviation. Known many who were unlucky but most of the dead did dumb shit. Only one female in that time who died (flying up a valley that a Cessna 150 that couldn’t outclimb the terrain, not surprising if you know C150). The lady had also been instructing in the B737 sim that Mrs Eyrie bought me an hour in for birthday.
Flying actually is usually far less time critical than driving. Mainly need to plan, think well ahead and have options. Plenty of blokes have screwed up difficult crosswind landings too.
Dot
Mar 8, 2024 2:28 PM
I remind you Sir, that this is a family blog.
haha. Before I pressed ‘post comment’ I did pause. Honest!
Top men designing the power of the future
TOP…MEN…
https://twitter.com/_davidlimbrick/status/1765924026252480824
David Limbrick MP ?
@_davidlimbrick
Yesterday in Parliament, I had a rather heated discussion with the Government about the new energy storage target contained in in the Climate Change and Energy Legislation Amendment (Renewable Energy and Storage Targets) Bill 2023.
It seemed odd to me that the Government was setting an energy storage target but the unit of measurement was not energy. They specified “gigawatt”, which is a unit of power and could be taken to mean the maximum output of a battery. But it doesn’t specify storage capacity at all. Surely the amount of energy stored is important? Is this an error or are they not really setting a target for storage?
There is a bloke on youtube that examines aircraft accidents. The accidents are not because the pilot didn’t act quickly enough. Most accidents happen because pilots don’t follow the required procedures leading to a situation where there is no hope of recovery. Even very experienced pilots can make stupid mistakes that can’t be fixed.
Daily Mail.
Take with a grain of salt or 2, but this provides a great explanation of why the mudering young chaps name was supressed.
I wonder if a certain magistrate has her name on some of the prior convictions and wet lettuce leaf slaps.
Rick
@colonelhogans
ALLEGEDLY from Ballarat public court records, in the past 6 years the accused murderer of Samantha Murphy has been to court 17 times for sexual assault, violence and Domestic Violence.
yet navigators are often women (where multi-tasking – reading the notes, watching the road, speaking to the driver) is essential.
You must be joking. My ex-wife always had the Sydney UBD/Map upside down and when correct about the directions (not very often) would tell me to take a left turn when I was about 10 feet away from the left turn doing 30 mph in our motor.
Missed it by that much………………………….
I always read the UBD/Maps before going anywhere so that I had a good idea where we had to go/and how to get there and what to expect from the ‘Navigator’.
SOTU – Kamala Harris is up and down in her seat behind Biden like a Jack in the Box.
Oh dear! .. I suddenly had vision of another speach from Police Academy ..
https://youtu.be/GSiJiDSmb1E
Tucker Responds to SOTU – Live
Had a search of the court lists, and it looks like the “arrested before” is crap.
https://dailylists.magistratesvic.com.au/EFAS/CaseSearch
mole
That might show that mental health issues were a real thing.
Speedbox
Mar 8, 2024 2:40 PM
Dot
Mar 8, 2024 2:28 PM
I remind you Sir, that this is a family blog.
haha. Before I pressed ‘post comment’ I did pause. Honest!
LOL. Please forward this onto the Stoush Nurse for comment as to this being a Family Blog.
flyingduk
Mar 8, 2024 2:29 PM
3) As a proxy, look at the sex ratios among rally crews: almost *all* drivers are male (where hand-eye coordination and spatial orientation matter), yet navigators are often women (where multi-tasking – reading the notes, watching the road, speaking to the driver) is essential.
All true and as an added benefit, most women navigators are lighter than men. In low powered rally cars, those fewer kilos of weight (potentially 30-40kgs) can actually make a small difference.
I knew a bloke, back in the day, that would specifically use only female navigators for this reason. (you would know him as well – rallied a Mini – initials JB).
Dot.
I think the mentions page would still bring something up.
But its Sicktoria, so god knows.
Sadly, probably yes. As an incumbent Chaney might be hard to dislodge. One to watch. WA Lieborals all jostling for places on the rebuild.
Who would have thought Curtin is now a marginal. Hopefully this means more “free” stuff. Hard to think what that might be. We don’t have any shooting facilities – if you don’t count the SAS range.
58 000 full time jobs lost since June 2023.
– ABS
One economic target we’re going to hit early this year is the RBA’s end of year unemployment prediction, We’re only 0.2% behind in early March.
‘RBA’s last rate hike a mistake’
– Economists
You think?
Meanwhile, the migrants keep coming, unaware that they’ve bought into a ponzi about to collapse.
UN Report: Palestinians Raped Women’s Corpses On October 7
On October 7, Israel was invaded by an army of Palestinian Jeffrey Dahmers.
Muddy
What ‘stunts’ do you propose, blocking traffic?
This is from last year. Not sure if it’s been posted before. It’s about the effect the war in Ukraine is having on the relationship with China.
Did the Neocons Save the World from the Thucydides Trap?
Statement of the SOTU..
STEPHEN GREEN | MAR 07, 2024 9:48 PM EST
If the goal tonight was to prove that Grandpa can handle more juice in his veins than Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, then it’s Mission Accomplished.
Huge surprisel
Mr Dunn KC is not exactly covering himself in glory here, certainly in terms of getting favourable results for his clients
In fields including siphoning Legal Aid cash.
One point from the shite of the union speech.
Apparently America is going to build a port and supply aid to the Palesimians, but have no boots on the ground…
So to what authority do the propose to turn the aid over to?
Theres one armed group which seems to have a fair bit of influence there already.
I wonder who they are.
This is, most likely, his last public appearance in front of a large audience. What an angry speech.
Saw some polling earlier today. When folks are asked if they’re personally okay in terms of how the economy is treating them, by a wide margin, they’re saying they’re doing fine. But when asked about the economy in general, they’re reporting that it’s doing badly. It appears to be a total disconnect. I hope this keeps up into November.
Should Limbrick asked the government if these legislated storage systems were capable of 1.21 gigawatts?
knew a bloke, back in the day, that would specifically use only female navigators for this reason. (you would know him as well – ralliy a Mini – initials JB).
😉 …. more latterly, he did compromise with a more solid male (JH), but said chap was a wizzard tuning multiple carburettors, he used to do my Escort.
After announcing in August that he was “walking away” from journalism (to take up an academic post teaching journalism) Stan Grant will return to the fray at The Saturday Paper.
Meh…I’m over it.
Bowen probably means Cybertrucks. They look a little bit like a DeLorean. I wonder what happens when you get one up to 88 miles per hour?
His short lived career as an actor didn’t work out?
What is Stan Grant doing in this mess of a movie? (Paywallian)
Heh.
Crikkit news, for RacerX:
Cheaty McSook once again proves he’s not an opener’s ring gear. Padding up on the back foot to the new, moving pill on a first day greentop. LBW, naturally, and for bugger all as well.
That sort of shot would have had him sacked from any Under 16 team in the country.
The Jewish vanity press. Next stop – freelance.
Bidens border pitch…
People pay $8000 to smugglers
If we let them in but it only takes 6 weeks to process them they will stop…
Underpants gnome migration.
1:37 in hes announcing aid shipments to Hamas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u42TQs4Pf2c
An telling the Israelis not to interfere with the transfer of supplies to hamas.
“2 state solution”.
A masterclass in “old man yells at nation”.
CLIMATE FACT CHECK: FEBRUARY 2024 EDITION
flyingduk
Mar 8, 2024 3:46 PM
Yes, compromises must sometimes be made (sigh). Of course, years earlier JB also used Ivan S who, in no way, could be considered a man of light frame.
Separately, a looong time ago I had a mate who worked at Carburettor Sales and Service on Hutt St in the city (remember them?). Anyway, he was a wizard at triple Webers and those gigantic Holley carbys.
So i have just learned tgat there is a latin motto associated with the seal of Mosman council:
Tutus in undis
which they translate as “In safe waters”.
BUT, when I looked it up tutus was nominative, not ablative. It is also before the preposition which I know Latin is not too strict on, but in any event a better translation would be “Safe amidst the waves”.
Anyone actually studied Latin able to verify or correct?
This could be as scandalous as the ‘Great Sydney University Split Ablative Absolute Latin Grammar Crime-palooza’!
Sidere mens eadem mutato
I am reluctant to point this linguistic faux pas to the council. They will just yank out the Latin inscription and insert what some Elder-for-hire of the Gimmimunni tribe says is an authentic translation of ‘Trans rights are human rights!’
Indolent
Mar 8, 2024 3:27 PM
A long read but very interesting. Thanks for posting.
I wonder whether the author has been reading the Cat? Specifically: “Xi wants to secure a place for himself in Chinese party history that is at least equal to Mao and greater than Deng.”
Many of us on the Cat have been saying this for a long time.
And: Xi met Putin for important talks at their Moscow summit and as he was departing, his remarks were recorded on video: “Right now there are changes – the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years – and we are the ones driving these changes together,” Xi told Putin as he stood at the door of the Kremlin to bid him farewell.
The Russian president responded: “I agree.”
Perhaps they also read the Cat?
Today is International Women’s Day.
It was supposed to be yesterday, but they weren’t ready.
Would you recommend the veal?
I asked a woman what we should do for it but she just huffed “Nothing!” and started typing harder on her keyboard.
Yep. They give each other enormous strategic depth. They have every reason to foster friendly relations between themselves, especially, economically, and militarily. Massive L, NATO.
Apparently this is a real thing a real Orange bad man posted on his site.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1765952831595721006
Normally, of course, Mam would have just retorted, “White c**t” to Spenser but realised the bloke wuz “blek” so teared up & sooked to the ref …
Tony Mundine opines on Mam’s tears …..
https://ibb.co/wJ98cx4
I wouldn’t dare for the reason you mentioned.
(I’m a bit rusty, but wouldn’t amidst be medium? Whereas in is simply on.)
So if this kid accused in Ballarat has been named, why wasn’t a very basic theory of the crime reported at the time of his bail hearing?
I don’t get why the police are so secretive as to what triggered the arrest.
Also shouldn’t they have gathered more evidence first, instead of after an arrest and charging?
Sure more evidence might turn up. As an outsider, they’re just excluding anyone devious enough to turn their mobile off and leave it at home.
If they correlated tower hits with incriminating texts, well, why not say so?
I think in (with ablative) can be either ‘in’ or ‘on’. I just thought ‘amidst the waves’ might go better because otherwise it might read like being literally inside the waves.
Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur.
(Whatever is said in Latin is seen as profound.)
I’m not even sure you can assert a deliberate attack without a body, a weapon or accomplices. There’s just no corroborating evidence. Once again, why not reveal any incriminating mobile phone data?
The cops will hand over their evidence on July 25 for a committal hearing to trial on 8 August!
Unless he turned himself in, which does not seem to be the case.
Dot.
Always the chance he was caught on another camera somewhere.
People really, really underestimate the amount of surveillance they are under every day.
I really, really want this to be good.
They tick a lot of boxes for style and theres a fair few easter eggs in the trailer for people.
Fallout series.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1765739379853541510
Sure, I agree, but I just don’t get why they don’t say so?
I take it to reflect their geographical position.
Seems a little unfair though mole.
4.5 months to build a case whilst you’re on remand for rather nebulous reasons.
Then you have two weeks to prepare for a committal hearing!
I am not a big stock and shares guy, but it seems that Woolworth’s share price has dropped by 10% and Coles has increased by 10%, since late January. mmmmm
I’ve got a feeling that Patrick Stephenson and his personal story is going to be a depressing tale.
BTW – From Ballarat friends – Plod weren’t directly involved in identifying him. They only confirmed his whereabouts.
Dunno what the deal is. I had read somewhere, and also on Under Investigation TV show week before last that a car was involved (a damaged car seen leaving the area). As in deliberately run over.
The police have denied that too.
[Senator] Kennedy on State of the Union: Biden mismanages everything
Denials from VicPol aren’t gold standard.
Neil Oliver: ‘…truth against lies…’
Patrick Orren Stephenson: apparently some young woman had complained some time ago about being bashed with a rock by some young dude in the same area as Mrs Murphy was murdered; she managed to escape obviously. If the guy doesn’t reveal where he put the poor woman’s body I think some form of torture/interrogation is warranted. After all that grub Milat went to his grave without revealing details of his murders. The poor relatives still suffer.
I bet it won’t even come close to this amateur fallout series from 10 years ago :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgxXnEVVyM
I think some form of torture/interrogation is warranted
Interesting angle…Bradley Murdoch – mentioned above – would disagree. The Falconio family wouldn’t.
Anne Marie L’Amperage – the only proviso is that he survives the interrogation.
As a competent magistrate would have said, some evidence would be nice.
Sure, it may turn out for the worst for Stephenson.
They have jumped the gun. It’s outrageous and shouldn’t happen.
Or they are playing 5D chess.
You aren’t on the High Court by any chance?
The Bradley Murdoch who spends a lot of his time in separate accommodation, because of his choice of tattoos?
The Bradley Murdoch who spends a lot of his time in separate accommodation, because of his choice of tattoos?
Haven’t heard of that one…he is well known for making desserts in the prison kitchen. Apparantly has some talent at it.
Apart from that survives on his size – very big fellow – and the notoriety of being a many of mystery. So I have heard.
Nice piece by Henry Ergas. Very thorough too.
Happy International Women’s Day, everyone.
mole sounding like Green Left Weekly, db channeling Pravda, it’s very 1990s on the Cat today.
Popquiz: Whos the only US president in the last 30 years not to start a war…
LOL, that Ergas article.
It is a peninsula, I suppose.
Safe on the waves actually works better, I think.
Mind you, it is all within Port Jackson so waves are not really much of an issue.
Tucker Carlson Responds to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address
I gather Biden is making a big promise to legalise abortion nationally if he gets back in with a Democrat majority.
I know even RBG thought Roe v Wade was bad law and was aware that it would likely be overturned. She was more in favour of what she saw as a growing acceptance among the states and Roe v Wade was too much too suddenly.
Anyway, Biden seems to think this a key issue.
Tucker doesn’t pull any punches.
So i have just learned tgat there is a latin motto associated with the seal of Mosman council:
“Tutus in undis”
which they translate as “In safe waters”.
It could also be “Tutu’s in Undies” as worn by MontyPox Virus –
Could E Jean Carroll and Lewis Kaplan have anything in common apart from the court case?
Seems Tom Switzer reads the Cat too.
Chuckle.
WEF’s Scary Plan for Your Medical Data Is Worse Than You Think
LOL, that Ergas article.
Seconded
Baba
Mar 8, 2024 6:28 PM
Judge denies Trump request to delay $83.3m E Jean Carroll payment
Amazing: Trump didn’t rape her but was held to have sexually assaulted her because he denied he raped her. The US is fuked.
Tucker was interesting on the US attorney generals pitch to black voters.
You are all to stupid to get ID so we will ban it being needed in elections…