Open Thread – Mon 1 April 2004


Landscape with Christ appearing to the Apostles at the Sea of Tiberias, Pieter Brueghel The Elder, 1553.

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GreyRanga
GreyRanga
April 3, 2024 12:01 pm

Roger, what has making a correct moral judgement got anything to do with being incomplete. If you mean the judgement was made without religious consideration, how did an athiest reach the same judgement., lucky guess, I think not. I lead my life probably the same as almost anyone here and think about most things similarly except religion is not involved.

rosie
rosie
April 3, 2024 12:05 pm

‘This has happened way too often for it not to be IDF policy’
Oh how many other incidents have there been to warrant this comment?
And don’t bother with the stampede one, that’s hamas propaganda.
There is a little evidence that hamas were using this aid organisation to move around and lots and lots of evidence that they habitually use ambulances and unwra vehicles for military purposes.
What we really know is that the vast majority of aid is hijacked by hamas who shoot and sometimes kill civilian ‘looters’ and nobody cares.
In other words the vast majority of aid is distributed without being attacked by the idf.
And I agree they weren’t ‘caught in the crossfire’ but if they had been facilitating hamas movements the aid organisation bears some responsibility for the deaths of their workers.
Incidentally given the very high unemployment rates in Gaza what the heck were foreign nationals doing there, you don’t need a degree to hand out food.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 12:08 pm

Thanks for that Arky @11:45am.

Otherwise I’m happy to continue the discussion in these nested comments under here and save everyone else the pain.

John H.
John H.
April 3, 2024 12:16 pm

dover0beach

 April 3, 2024 12:00 pm

but the traditional concept of God reminds me of what Einstein said about the Bible.

“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish,” 

JohnH, what you have is very probably an adolescent’s view of the traditional concept of God.

I was quoting Einstein. Stop playing mind reader. Do you understand what an apatheist is? A person who finds the very concept of God not worthy of serious consideration.

H B Bear
H B Bear
April 3, 2024 12:22 pm

The Life of Bruce revealed. Not just dodgy washing machine repair guys under the Spotlight.

Roger
Roger
April 3, 2024 12:23 pm

Roger, what has making a correct moral judgement got anything to do with being incomplete. 

That the reasoning that leads to it can be incomplete.

Like reaching the correct answer to a mathematical problem but leaving out a step or two.

Call it a happy inconsistency.

That’s all, although that’s quite a bit.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 12:30 pm

Incidentally given the very high unemployment rates in Gaza what the heck were foreign nationals doing there, you don’t need a degree to hand out food.

Rosie, it could have something to do with so much aid ending up at markets for sale. It seems the locals can’t be trusted with the goods. The very fact of the widespread unemployment would lead to some way of making money. It’s best to start a proper economy rather than constantly wage war against your neighbour.

Arky
April 3, 2024 12:34 pm

Wanted to get the girl a bit more interested in history this holiday. World war 2 to start. A hard sell. Threw her an old Sven Hassel and now she is happily reading about Tiny, Sven, Porter, the Old Man and Heide and absorbing some history by accident. As well as a bunch of silly stories about brothels, gambling and drinking.

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
April 3, 2024 12:38 pm

Sky News again:
Alex Antic, subject of some controversy when he rolled Anne Ruston for the number one Senate spot in South Australia in a recent preselection
Since when does winning a pre-selection make someone “controversial”?
Alex is one of the brightest people in the entire parliament, but some in the left media might prefer he was merely controversial in some smeary way.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
April 3, 2024 12:40 pm

Communism will save us!

Scientists’ urgent call: End destruction and forge a just, sustainable future (Phys.org, 2 Apr)

An international team of scientists has published a study in PNAS Nexus, emphasizing the urgent need to align political will, economic resources, and societal values to ensure a more sustainable and equitable world. Led by University of Hawai’i at M?noa researchers, the 18 authors combine their expertise in Earth and ocean sciences, politics, law, public health, renewable energy, geography, communications, and ethnic studies to assess causes, impacts, and solutions to a multitude of worldwide crises.

I’d wager all 18 of them are paid by the government. Good thing Mr Milei isn’t President of the USA, these drones would all be out on their ears.

shatterzzz
April 3, 2024 12:41 pm

Incidentally given the very high unemployment rates in Gaza what the heck were foreign nationals doing there, you don’t need a degree to hand out food.

Two of the dead were armed security guards ..

John H.
John H.
April 3, 2024 12:45 pm

dover0beach

 April 3, 2024 12:36 pm

I was quoting Einstein. Stop playing mind reader.

LOL, its amusing when people accuse you of ‘mindreading’ for accurately describe their thought on a matter.

Do you understand what an apatheist is? A person who finds the very concept of God not worthy of serious consideration.

That further supports my earlier judgement, that you have an adolescent’s view of the traditional concept of God.

You don’t know that. In my youth I read all of Berkouwer’s Lectures in Systematic Theology, Berkoff’s Systematic Theology etc etc. I grew up and left childish things behind me. The hypocrisy of people like yourself is to demand a complete moral structure down to the nth logical structure when theology has inconsistencies and incongruities, when Christians can’t reach a consensus on many issues, when Christians claim make claim to moral rectitude on specific matters and then change their minds about those matters. It is hypocritical to demand complete logical consistency when the history of Christianity reveals multiple instances of inconsistency.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 12:47 pm

Brucy’s in a bit of strife now… I’m not sure what impact it would have on Justice Lee’s deliberations but not a great look.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 12:54 pm

A $361 steak, $10,000 Thai massages: Bruce Lehrmann’s alleged Seven bill revealed
By ellie dudley

  • Legal Affairs Correspondent

and stephen rice

  • NSW Editor
  • 12:13PM April 3, 2024

Seven covered the costs of prostitutes for Bruce Lehrmann, as well as a round of golf, illicit drugs and a $350 steak, in order to persuade him to hand over his exclusive interview rights, a bombshell affidavit has revealed.
The affidavit, signed by former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach as part of Mr Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network 10, also claims the former Liberal staffer supplied Seven with several pieces of confidential information associated with his criminal rape trial.
It contains explosive allegations by Auerbach that he deleted material at the request of Seven executives and lawyers.
Network 10 on Tuesday night successfully applied to have the defamation trial reopened, citing the fresh evidence provided by Auerbach.
Justice Michael Lee was due to hand down his decision in the landmark case between Mr Lehrmann, Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson on Thursday, however will now likely deliver judgment early next week.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 1:01 pm

Gold, denominated in AUD, is over 3500 AUD / troy ounce in intraday trading today.

Ah good times.

Pogria
Pogria
April 3, 2024 1:07 pm

The environmental movement as hijacked by the climate cult is reaching its “Jim Jones in Guyana” phase. We on the right must protect the planet – and life on it – from the death and destruction that these cultists are trying to impose.”

This is a quote from Ace. There is an excellent collection of short articles and links about the current debauchery going on in the Renewables sphere.

https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=409036

Pogria
Pogria
April 3, 2024 1:11 pm

I will add my two cents worth to the trailer saga.
If you have a single axle trailer, don’t bother reversing it, unhook it and move it where you need it, then hook it back on.

Double axle trailers are the only way to go. I can reverse a fully loaded, covered horse float with just my rear view mirrors through a gate that only has less than a foot spare on each side.

I can’t do that at all with an empty, single axle, 6×4 trailer. 😀

Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 1:20 pm

Pogria, my experience is with glider trailers. 9 M long and if built right only about 400 Kg empty weight. The professional German ones are considerably heavier, look good but have severe deficiencies structurally*. Not too difficult to back and all mine have been single axle. I hate the double axle ones as for most gliders a single axle for loaded weight of 750Kg is fine.
*Imagine taking a strong in bending and torsion tube, slitting it horizontally on the middle and putting hinges at the front so the whole top lifts up just so you can taper the back end slightly. Great example of Hun over engineering.

Baba
Baba
April 3, 2024 1:30 pm

@EndWokeness

H O L Y  S H I T

The number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states:

Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania. 

Since the start of 2024:

TX: 1,250,710
PA: 580,513
AZ: 220,731

HAVV allows voters to register with a Social Security Number (4 digits).

Illegals are not able to get licenses there. But they can get Social Security Cards (for work authorization permits).

Data is publicly available: ssa.gov/open/havv/havv…

Turnip
Turnip
April 3, 2024 2:06 pm

Justice Michael Lee was due to hand down his decision in the landmark case between Mr Lehrmann, Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson on Thursday, however will now likely deliver judgment early next week.”

I get how all of this affects any damages payment, but how does it affect Lee’s judgement on whether sex took place at all? The original offence was in 2019 and these events were in 2022.

While I would prefer BL to be awarded for his contribution to this farce as handsomely as BH, if he got 5 cents but was found not to have r@ped BH , then that would be a win.

It won’t shut up the rabid man haters, but nothing will.

JohnJJJ
JohnJJJ
April 3, 2024 2:08 pm

A $361 steak, $10,000 Thai massages: Bruce Lehrmann

This is getting better and better.

I am writing the Bru’n Bree Musical – Canberra version of Romeo ‘n Juliet.

“Bri’n’ee, I’ve just met a girl I call Bri’n’ee,
“Say it soft and its almost like flaying”

Brilliant, don’t stop me now……

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:17 pm

New GG Sam Mostyn used to be an advisor to Bob Collins.
What did she know and when did she know it?
Will we have a Peter Hollingsworth witch-hunt?

Baba
Baba
April 3, 2024 2:20 pm

Does FORMER Seven employee Taylor Auerbach have shit on his liver?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:23 pm

calli

 April 3, 2024 10:08 am

If you are attempting to reverse a trailer, I have no advice for you at all.

When towing, I am a shark. Can only move in a forward direction.

One of the very few skills I possess which Mrs P is still in awe of.
She regards trailer reversing as some sort of black magic.

Muddy
Muddy
April 3, 2024 2:29 pm

Earlier this morning, I was sitting outside enjoying the sun, when an image popped into my head: citizens running through a park in Melbourne, being pursued aggressively by state thugs firing non-lethal projectiles at them, sometimes at very close range into their backs.

My first thought was: How have the grubs and sociopaths who presided over this have not been purged?

Then I recalled that a great percentage of the citizenry were only mildly inconvenienced, and for that mild inconvenience, they were several times paid ‘shut up’ money, courtesy of the taxpayer.

My second question was: What next? When will the very successful tactics of identifying an enemy to fear (not COVID-19, but anti-lockdowners and then those malicious anti-vaxxers who wanted to kill everyone’s granny (you know, the granny whose funeral you weren’t allowed to attend, the one who died alone), and focusing all attention on the fabricated enemy, pathologising dissent, and telling the citizenry that the state will protect them against their neighbours, even immediate family members, who were trying to kill them.

This choose-a-victim-group-to-detract-from-the-state’s-incompetence-or-malice tactic, is not new. It worked brilliantly for COVID-19 and will certainly be wielded again. But for what?

The challenge is that those who don’t possess the initiative will always begin at a disadvantage by being reduced to reactive tactics. In professional team sport, for example, if your team is being pressed hard against your goal line, you need to first deal with that pressure before you can think about how you might score up the other end of the field.

I don’t have an answer, but this is something that requires deep thought. When it happens again, we cannot claim surprise or novelty as an excuse for our lack of aggression.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 2:29 pm

Mostyn having an Honorary Doctorate from ANU tells you all you need to know about her.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:29 pm

Dot

 April 3, 2024 11:30 am

Calico Storico Fiorentino.

The best form of FOOTBALL.

Described by King Henry III of France in 1574 as “Too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game”.

I have seen it first hand.
Brutal.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:30 pm

If one has a boat which can be transported by trailer, one is not serious about boating.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
April 3, 2024 2:33 pm

A good point.

Senator Gerard Rennick

@SenatorRennick

The fact an 18 year old can’t take out a $10k business loan, but can take out a $100k student loan tells you everything you need to know.

The system doesn’t want you to be independent and successful, it wants you to be reliant and obedient.

More at: https://education.gov.au/higher-education-loan-program…

“Oh sorry but you are too much of a risk to borrow money to buy a Jims lawnmowing franchise”
“But here, have an open ended loan you may never pay off”.

999

eric hinton
eric hinton
April 3, 2024 2:40 pm

If one has a boat which can be transported by trailer, one is not serious about boating.

Ian Farrier

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:40 pm

H B Bear
 April 3, 2024 12:22 pm

The Life of Bruce revealed. Not just dodgy washing machine repair guys under the Spotlight.

All very salacious stuff.
But of very little import to the final outcome, I think.
I suspect the disgruntled Spotlight guy has been playing fast and loose with the Seven Amex (with or without Bruce) and is writing the whole thing off on Bruce.
Hiring hookers?
Having an expensive meal?
Not relevant unless you have denied under oath that you received anything from Seven (which I don’t think Brucey did).
His only exposure is if he used privileged stuff from the criminal case in the civil trial (e.g. the taped pre-interview meeting). It seems the party line there is it came from “other sources”, so that seems like a fishing expedition by Ten.

rosie
rosie
April 3, 2024 2:43 pm

My comment apparently was deliberately taken out of context ( I’m just guessing a bit here because I didn’t bother to read further snark) I was responding to bg’s dismissive comment about the power of prayer.
If you never pray, don’t go anywhere where anyone prays etc how can you possibly know what people pray for?
I’ve practiced Christianity in a communal way practically all my life but am not allowed any insight into what people pray for?
There’s zero hypocrisy in stating something in which one has some degree of experience.
And yes Crossie, I’m with you, I don’t ask for help with finding things but I say thank you when they are found.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 2:45 pm
Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 2:49 pm

Lysander

 April 3, 2024 2:43 pm

 Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Interesting angle on the Seven dude…. never considered that…

None of this should impact Lee’s decision. I’m pretty sure he called both of them liars so it’ll be interesting to see which way he leans…

I think this is a storm in a teacup, and Lee is just calling “last bids … all silent? … all done?” before the hammer falls, to ensure there are no cries of foul afterwards.
The latest revelations might knock 10% off the damages, but aren’t going to shift the needle much.
The Ten brief was pretty much arguing about mitigation of damages yesterday, not about flipping to a finding in favour of Ten.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 2:50 pm

From the Hun.
Federal Government refuses to release Brittany Higgins $2.4m payout adviceThe Federal Government is refusing to release the legal advice which resulted in former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins receiving a taxpayer-funded payout of $2.4 million.
James WillisEXCLUSIVE

2 min read
April 3, 2024 – 11:55AM

The Federal Government is refusing to release the legal advice which resulted in former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins receiving a taxpayer-funded payout of $2.4 million.
A Freedom of Information request by The Daily Telegraph, submitted more than three months ago, has returned pages of blacked out emails from the Attorney-General’s Department.
Seventeen other documents relating to the decision were entirely refused, with the Department arguing “legal professional privilege”, “irrelevant material” and “personal privacy.”
The decision means the expert legal opinions required before compensating Ms Higgins in December 2022, following her allegations of rape by former colleague Bruce Lehrmann, will remain hidden from the public.
According to the Legal Services Directions, any Commonwealth claim of more than $100,000 must involve “written advice from Australian Government Solicitors … that the settlement is in accordance with legal principle and practice.”

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 2:52 pm

In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorised a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah.

On 28 February 2024, after a legal battle in which the attorney-general of Canada took the speaker of the country’s House of Commons to court, the government finally released a trove of heavily redacted documents.

revealing…in March 2019 Qiu had arranged for a shipment of 15 virus strains, including Ebola and Nipah, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the act that ultimately led to her and Cheng’s suspension.

Canada’s biosecurity scandal: the risks of foreign interference in life sciences | The Strategist (aspistrategist.org.au)

calli
calli
April 3, 2024 3:19 pm

Dead simple, Calli. Put your hand at the bottom center of the steering wheel. The back of the trailer will move in the same direction as you move your hand.

Many…many thanks, Eyrie. If only I had had this explained so sensibly and simply in my youth.

Anyway, the up side is that I have given much amusement to a succession of apprentices over the years.

I guess they viewed it as a kind of Secret Men’s Business.

Roger
Roger
April 3, 2024 3:23 pm

Oh no….Indolent has hijacked Lysander’s account.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 3:24 pm

Where is this headed???

WA property: Counting the profit of Catholic, Anglican church landholdings in Perth (watoday.com.au)

From the wealthy western suburbs, across the Wheatbelt and out to the South Australian border, Perth’s two largest churches have amassed an eye-watering fortune in property.

calli
calli
April 3, 2024 3:31 pm

I don’t ask for help with finding things but I say thank you when they are found.

Oh, I do. That’s because I’m so old I forget what I’m doing halfway through doing it. 😀

Fortunately the Almighty understands.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 3:35 pm

I think Elbow missed an opportunity.

He should have referred to Mostyn as “Governor General elect” given she doesn’t start till 1 July and to help keep moving his “narrative.”

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 3:42 pm

Why are US authorities locking down prisons for the solar eclipse?

New York prison lockdown during eclipse prompts lawsuit from inmates (usatoday.com)

JC
JC
April 3, 2024 3:47 pm

Natural Gas Prices Go Negative in Texas. Who Wins and Loses.

The price of natural gas in West Texas has gone negative, meaning producers essentially have to pay pipeline operators to take it away.

The problem is that too much natural gas is being produced and there aren’t enough pipelines to send it elsewhere.

Natural gas is still trading in positive territory in most other areas of the U.S. But the dynamics sending gas below zero in Texas are important for investors to watch, because they could weigh on some stocks, even as they help others.

Dementia has basically banned pipelines across state lines.

Barron’s

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 3:57 pm

Can’t wait for Taylor Auerbach to get in the witness box on Thursday under oath.

Interruptions by direct questions from Judge Lee will be a’plenty especially during cross-examination by counsel Richardson for Lehrmann.

His affidavit reeks of payback to CH7 for giving him the arse and CH10 has jumped on it (and probably promoted it) in a desperate attempt to mitigate damages.

Lehrmann may still be caught out for leaking some information he shouldn’t have in which case he’ll be up for contempt of court. That will be a separate matter which shouldn’t delay Lee’s judgement sometime next week.

Getting beer, plonk & popcorn in for viewing proceedings on Thursday and Friday 🙂

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
April 3, 2024 4:11 pm

Eric, I seriously thought about a Farrier F41 catamaran. I had a Cole 40 for years but when I looked at the F41 I fell in love. “What do you want another boat for when you’ve already got one”? I could sail the Cole single handed but didn’t know if I could with the F41. Too old now.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 4:15 pm

1 hour ago

Mostyn appointment an ‘insult to mainstream Australians’: Sheahan
The nation’s incoming governor-general has likened Australia Day to “invasion day” in online posts, “triggering accusations Anthony Albanese had appointed an “activist” as the King’s representative.
Conservative political lobbying group Advance has branded the appointment of Sam Mostyn as an “insult to mainstream Australians” and claimed her elevation revealed the Prime Minister cared “more about the activists and elites than the people working hard to make this nation great.”
“Mostyn is the worst kind of corporate activist who campaigned against the majority of
Australians in the divisive Voice referendum,” said Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan. “In social media posts she has now deleted, she has argued to change the date of Australia Day, which she has also referred to as “Invasion Day”.”

Johnny Rotten
Johnny Rotten
April 3, 2024 4:16 pm

m0nty
April 3, 2024 11:31 am

BTW are you going well with Tennis Elbow and Blackout Bowen about to turn Australia into a Basket Case a la a Sarf Efrica with the Electricity Grid being wrecked?

Even your dim lights will be turned off eventually with the way that things are going.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/04/just-as-power-grids-struggle-the-ai-and-ev-electricity-monsters-turn-up-for-breakfast/

cohenite
April 3, 2024 4:21 pm

Further to dickless’s predictions about demorat electoral success in Florida:

Dems Descend on Florida Following State Supreme Court Abortion Rulings (breitbart.com)

It figures that demorats would chase electoral wins on the bodies of dead babies.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 4:22 pm

Like the pirate, who has an OA and yet is a republican, putting anti-Australian idiots into these roles only helps prove that they are hypocrites who really don’t believe anything they say.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 4:23 pm

Even your dim lights will be turned off eventually with the way that things are going.

Aptly describes Muntard’s basement.

Johnny Rotten
Johnny Rotten
April 3, 2024 4:23 pm

Arky
April 3, 2024 11:45 am

In general John, the audience finds these discussions tedious.

What audience and how do you know that these discussions are tedious for them? Actually I find it very interesting as I don’t believe in God and like to know why others do believe in God.

And why other peoples/cultures believe in other Religions.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 4:24 pm

Lehrmann may still be caught out for leaking some information he shouldn’t have in which case he’ll be up for contempt of court. 

I suspect it may turn out to be Auerbach’s word against Lehrmann’s which is what Channel 10 will be counting on to sow doubt.

cohenite
April 3, 2024 4:27 pm

Baba
 April 3, 2024 1:30 pm

@EndWokeness
H O L Y  S H I T
The number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states:
Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania. 
Since the start of 2024:
TX: 1,250,710
PA: 580,513
AZ: 220,731
HAVV allows voters to register with a Social Security Number (4 digits).
Illegals are not able to get licenses there. But they can get Social Security Cards (for work authorization permits).

And there it is folks: the end of the US. Defeated by a demented pervert with a black bastard’s paw up his arse. Brilliantly played. Power strategy wins every time; and what have the GOP, and indeed, any flock of conservatives got: little johnnie’s broad church, fair play, nice words and hearts the size of peas.

calli
calli
April 3, 2024 4:59 pm

she has argued to change the date of Australia Day, which she has also referred to as “Invasion Day”.

Then why did she accept the role of GG? On those grounds alone the Crown would be anathema to her.

Unless the anti-AD sentiments were just cynical mouth movements. Surely not.

Roger
Roger
April 3, 2024 5:04 pm

Then why did she accept the role of GG? On those grounds alone the Crown would be anathema to her.

The opportunity to parade around in the institution’s skin suit for five or so years while demanding respect from a general public she detests was too great to resist.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roger
thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
April 3, 2024 5:04 pm

Bob Collins.
Now turn around and imagine if Mr Rabbit or Morriswine had put up someone who was an ex staffer to a pedo.

Collins ‘raped 12-year-old boy in Senate office’
It has been claimed former Labor senator Bob Collins raped a boy while watching pornographic videos in his Senate office.

But no word of steam cleaning any lounges, so thats ok.

Mr Collins, 61, died just three days before he was due to face a committal hearing in Darwin over alleged child sex offences in the western Arnhem Land township of Maningrida some 30 years ago.
He was also charged in Canberra last September with two counts of committing acts of indecency on a 12-year-old boy and one count of sexual intercourse with the child in the capital when he was a senator in 1989.

I think we have a right to ask how much did she know, and when she knew it.
Over and over again.
Possibly by Grace Tame etc..

https://www.afr.com/women-of-influence/bound-for-glory-19990521-kb52f
 Then I heard that Bob Collins, who was then Minister for Transport and Communications, was looking for an adviser. My area was intellectual property and I was very interested in communications. I met him when he was clearly under pressure and I could see that we would work well.
I adore Bob. He is a mentor. He defies the odds. And it was in his office that I really got involved in the first days of pay TV. From Bob’s office, I went to Michael Lee, who was Minister for Communications and the Arts. That was two years in Canberra when I learnt a lot.” After a spell as broadcast policy manager with Seven, she returned to Parliament House in mid-1995 after that career-making call from Keating.
Mostyn has always been at ease with powerful Canberra figures.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 5:09 pm

I don’t think, from my anecdotal and cursory glance around, that conservatives are outraged that Mostyn worked for disgraced Labor pedo, Bob Collins.

Now, imagine if the appointee to the GG role had worked for George Pell.

Yes, indeed.

shatterzzz
April 3, 2024 5:12 pm

Vale … Lior Sivan, RIP …..
Any moment now and both Luigi & “plenty wrong” will be ringing Hamas to display the outrage of “all” Oz folk ……!
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/australian-israeli-citizen-dies-fighting-in-gaza/ar-BB1kZ9d3?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=bc9f4c5c81944bc587113ff999617d9b&ei=17

Tom
Tom
April 3, 2024 5:19 pm

Laughed out loud as Elbow told us today that three-year terms for the federal government are too short.

Wow. The Incredible Luigi believes he should be required to face fewer elections.

Piss off, Luigi. Voters can’t wait to deliver their judgement on what his activist regime has done to this country in the past three years.

I suspect many voters aren’t telling pollsters how they intend to vote when they’re next allowed to.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 5:21 pm

The plot thickens – Cab Sharaz now into the act. As if he ever wasn’t. #1

Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation battle with Network Ten has uncovered explosive text messages between former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz, where they discuss concerns about possible police action involving Mr Sharaz’s ex-wife.
The texts between the two have been unveiled in last-minute evidence tendered to the Federal Court, as part of sworn affidavits from former Channel 7 and Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach.
The conversation between Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins refers to Mr Sharaz’s previous marriage to federal public servant Alexandra Craig.
The texts are part of a tranche of information which Mr Auerbach claims was given to him by Mr Lehrmann, while preparations were continuing for Mr Lehrmann to be interviewed by the Spotlight program.
The documents prepared by Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers for his criminal trial over allegations he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House cites a WhatsApp conversation between David Sharaz and Brittany Higgins on February 8, 2021.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 5:23 pm

The plot thickens – #2

According to the documents, Mr Sharaz texted Ms Higgins saying “Alex is f***ing smart. She’s doing all this to get me into a room for mediation.”
“I have to be officially served an interim order now.”
“Then I come to court in a month and I have to give evidence to a registrar.”
“She’s doing it all just to f*** with me and make my life difficult. The cop basically hinted to me it was bogus. I asked him a whole bunch of hypotheticals. He goes — put it this way David, you don’t seem threatening to me.”

“That’s so random. Jesus. She’s a psychopath,” Ms Higgins replied.
According to the court documents, Mr Sharaz responded saying “I’m just p*** off. I’m not even scared about the potential AVO. I’m just angry now.”

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 5:25 pm

The plot thickens #3

David Sharaz and Alexandra Craig were married in March 2018. At the reception each table of guests was named after a Labor Prime Minister.
The pair separated by early 2020.
In a post still available on Ms Craig’s Facebook page, she writes on June 21, 2020 saying: “You know what, I’m not OK. I have maintained a dignified silence on this since it all happened a few months ago. Since then I’ve had my reputation and character trashed publicly, I’ve been isolated from friends and family and I’ve put up with relentless gossip.”
“Very few people have checked in with me and I assume this is because they have taken to whatever story was spun about me. There are two sides to every story and what I never spoke about … is that I was lied to.”
“Messing with someone’s emotions and finances is serious and it hurts.”
“The Canberra Casino has done extremely well for themselves.”
During his interview on Channel 7, Mr Lehrmann described Mr Sharaz as a “puppet master” who had continued to “inject himself” into the allegations made by Ms Higgins.

mareeS
mareeS
April 3, 2024 5:26 pm

rosie 12.05pm
“what the heck were foreign nationals doing there”

I have a fairly jaundiced view of aid workers in foreign hotspots, having a couple in my immediate family, and having worked as a journalist in one of two.

My view is that they secretly get off on being in those places, just like journalists do, but cloak it in the “doing of good.” The ones I know immerse themselves in being where most of their fellow-westerners aren’t, and hide their glee beneath the veneer of virtue.

Of course, many do not fall into this category. My aunt was a Franciscan Sister of the Sacred Heart order who spent 50yrs in the highlands and Sepik district of PNG as a missionary nun after WW2, and is one of my idols in life.

The spouse is an army veteran who saw a lot of the good side of it in Vietnam, ask those boys about Everyman. He later spent time with projects there in the 1990s, but civilian virtue addicts were there as well.

I haven’t spared much thought for the ones killed in Gaza. Their choice.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 5:28 pm

The plot thickens #4. All of this 1-4 from the Hun.

Wonder if Lee,J will call Sharaz?

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has since conceded she had been in communication with Mr Sharaz when Network Ten was preparing to interview Brittany Higgins about her alleged rape in Parliament House.
In other messages, Mr Sharaz is seen referring to former prime minister Scott Morrison as a “c***” … who was “about to be f***ed over.”
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten continues on Thursday afternoon, with Taylor Auerbach set to enter the witness box.

Black Ball
Black Ball
April 3, 2024 5:33 pm

Grinning idiot news:

Premier Steven Miles has been forced to apologise as he came under attack from residents of a small north Queensland community at the centre of the state government’s ambitious, $12bn-plus hydro project.

Mr Miles was repeatedly interrupted and jeered as he fronted a fiery community meeting on Tuesday night in Eungella, located in the Pioneer Valley about 70km west of Mackay near the proposed site of what would be the world’s biggest pumped hydro scheme.

About 50 homes would need to be resumed to make way for the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro scheme, while there are concerns over the impact on the habitat of endangered species such as the platypus.

The Premier apologised over his government’s lack of consultation, admitting mistakes had been made when Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the project, which even blindsided Mackay Mayor Greg Williams.

“I want to apologise for the pain some of you felt around the way the initial announcement about this project was made,” he said.

“In hindsight, we could definitely handle that better, and it’s my hope that starting today, we can.”

Mr Miles, flanked by Paul Martin, Department of Climate and Energy director general, and Queensland Hydro CEO Kieran Cusack, struggled to speak at times as attendees – many members of the Save Eungella group – shouted at him.

“Would you destroy your own mother?,” one angry attendee yelled out to thunderous applause.

A clearly frustrated Mr Miles appealed for calm.

“I will hear all of you without interrupting and I would ask that you would do the same,” he said.

Despite the anger in the room, there were some who welcomed Mr Miles’s attendance and willingness to apologise.

“Good on you for coming up here and apologising,” a man said. “We’ve been kept in the dark this whole time and that’s not good.”

Tonia Binsiar, from conservation group Central Queensland Collective, urged the government to pause the development until detailed studies could be complete.

“We’ve already lost too much to mining and so many other projects, we’d like the government to slow down and have a look at the massive impacts it’s going to make on what wildlife we have left.”

LNP energy spokeswoman Deb Frecklington took aim at the Premier’s appearance, accusing Mr Miles of having “put on a disgraceful display”.

“He sat in front of the Eungella community and wasn’t able to answer simple questions – well the most simple question is how much will the Pioneer-Burdekin project hydro cost?” she said.

“The Premier is unable to answer that.”

Ms Frecklington also said Mr Miles was the Deputy Premier when former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the project, saying his “grubby fingerprints are all over this project”.

“He can’t go into that community now and act like he doesn’t know what it is all about,” she said.

“”This is the bloke that was at the center of the decision-making process when the Palaszczuk/Miles government made this decision

“I say again to the Premier of Queensland how much will the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project cost Queenslanders, and how much extra will Queenslanders pay on their everyday electricity power bills because of this project.”

When concerns over national security threats posed by the project were raised, Queensland Hydro’s response was “You would need a nuclear warhead ultimately to really have an impact on that sort of dam.”

The response from the crowd: “They have those”.

The most scathing criticism levelled at Mr Miles came from the meeting’s final speaker, One Nation MP for Mirani, Stephen Andrew.

“I’m gonna be honest here, I’m not gonna be rude to you, but I’m gonna say this – the people of Queensland didn’t really elect you,” he said.

“If you’re so sure this project is worth its weight in gold, don’t sign any contracts.

“Give everyone in Brisbane and the other cities the understanding of what we’re about to do here and get elected on the principles of that.”

Guessing he won’t be around much longer. What a far quit

shatterzzz
April 3, 2024 5:34 pm

Came home .. & noticed the cat was missing ..! LOL!

Cat
MatrixTransform
April 3, 2024 5:36 pm

I can’t do that at all with an empty, single axle, 6×4 trailer. 

that’s why I call mine “the psycho”

they say that if you can see it in either mirror then it isnt straight …like der!

Eyrie’s advice about the bottom of the steering wheel works well except for when the psycho is involved

doesn’t matter how you hold the wheel when you look in one mirror, guaranteed the trailer will appear in the other one

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 5:36 pm

Comment, from the Oz.

David

8 minutes ago
How can someone who thinks Australia Day should be abolished be the head of State of Australia representing the King of England?Bizarre but confirms my view that the Albanese Government has no idea what it is doing..

H B Bear
H B Bear
April 3, 2024 5:38 pm

The Brittany circus rolls on. Gonna need a bigger Big Top at this rate.

calli
calli
April 3, 2024 5:49 pm

The Brittany Circus reminds me of Uncle Remus’ Tar Baby.

shatterzzz
April 3, 2024 5:53 pm
Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 6:03 pm

People like Bob Collins must have skin so thick that an APDSFS round at point blank range would bounce off.
I need a drink after reading that story.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
April 3, 2024 6:12 pm

The Brittany Circus reminds me of Uncle Remus’ Tar Baby.

Can you imagine being the high powered lawyer for either side and seeing the absolute turds you have to try and put into a good light?
The huge poultice of money would take away some of the sting of having your clients repeatedly stepping on their own dicks in front of you, but surely there is a limit?
?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
April 3, 2024 6:12 pm

If you don’t want to kill babies you are a terrorist.

Biden-Funded National Database Lists Pro-Life Students as Terrorists (2 Apr)

Tom
Tom
April 3, 2024 6:15 pm

Eyrie, Senator Bob Collins topped himself in 2007 to avoid facing trial for kiddy-fiddling.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
April 3, 2024 6:19 pm

Earlier, at 2.30 p.m.:

If one has a boat which can be transported by trailer, one is not serious about boating

How dare you!

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 6:19 pm

Classic Trump (I missed this from January):

“PEOPLE ARE BEING PÅID TO PROTEST MY RALLIES
CLIMATE PROTESTERS CRASH DONALD TRUMP RALLY IN IOWA
I’M NOT PRESIDENT YET, AND I’M ALREADY CREATING JOBS”

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 6:20 pm
Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 6:23 pm

Matrix Transform, as I said my experience is mostly with long trailers. Long is easier than short.

cohenite
April 3, 2024 6:25 pm

H B Bear
 April 3, 2024 4:38 pm

 Reply to  cohenite
Who needs bat soup?

I give up, what do you mean?

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 6:33 pm

Bolt hoeing to the appointment pf the new Labor GG….#1

Sam Mostyn sure has made affirmative action work for her. Demanding women get jobs ahead of men means she’s now our next governor-general.
Here’s proof that affirmative action helps mostly a highly political class of women, among whom Mostyn is now the queen.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was never going to appoint a straight white male, but did he really have to choose a former Labor adviser of the harbourside Left whose big shtick has been to insist on more jobs for women like, er, her?
I’m not being mean in calling Mostyn’s appointment the triumph of affirmative action over talent or accomplishment.
Mostyn, unlike past governors-general, has never risen to any great leadership position in politics, the military or the law. Journalists today – struggling to give her credit for more than getting plum jobs for herself – claimed she led the creation of the AFL women’s league.
Hmm, you mean the league that attracts just 2600 people to each game, on average, despite heavy promotion from the AFL and ABC? Whoopee-do.

Arky
April 3, 2024 6:33 pm

Missus choose the wrong week to visit her family in Taiwan.

Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 6:35 pm

Bolt on Labor GG #2

Mostyn has herself admitted in past interviews she’d got at least four jobs already by being a woman in a race where men were banned.
She listed them: made an AFL Commissioner in 2005, and then a board member of Transurban, Virgin and Mirvac, to help them show how progressive they were. Look! We’ve got Sam Mostyn on our board, telling us to hire more women!
“I’m very happy to say I was a quota appointment to the AFL Commission,” she insisted defiantly in 2017.

“I took a lot of criticism from women who said they would never take that job on that basis because you’d never have credibility.
“We’ve just got to get over this idea. Targeted appointments are actually part of our toolkit to get people from different backgrounds into these positions.”
Is that really what we want from a governor-general – someone very happy to get a leg up for being a woman? Someone whose career has not been in uniting but in identity politics?
I’m sure Mostyn will say she has more qualifications than her gender. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, in his lukewarm welcome of her appointment, dryly listed one of them: she is “well known to many people within the government over a period of time”.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/13f479c9a1cce1a753aba240efe55b8d
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was lukewarm in his welcome of Sam Mostyn’s appointment. Picture: John Appleyard
That’s putting it mildly. Mostyn was a Labor functionary for years – an adviser to former Northern Territory Labor leader Bob Collins, former federal Labor minister Michael Lee, and former Labor prime minister Paul Keating.
Lately she’s worked with the Albanese Government, which appointed her as chairman of its Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce to advise it on how to deliver on its election commitments to women.
No wonder Albanese likes her, helping him like that. But is being some Labor apparatchik really the qualification for governor-general these days?
Oops, that’s harsh. I should add that Mostyn has done much more than help Labor. She’s also been chairman of the Aware Super fund, deputy chairman of the Diversity Council, and president of advocacy group Chief Executive Women, calling for more women to be appointed to top jobs.
Like this one?

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 6:35 pm

Masseuse answers the ONE question all of Australia has about the Bruce Lehrmann Thai ‘happy relief’ scandalBy Max Aitchison
A masseuse at Sensai Thai Massage, whose services Bruce Lehrmann and Taylor Auerbach allegedly splashed $10,000 on, has expressed deep confusion about how anyone could spend that much at the establishment.
The dockets from the massage business in Burwood, in Sydney’s west, are dated November 22, 2022.
Mr Auerbach has claimed the masseuses attended his home at Elizabeth Bay, near the CBD, to tend to himself and Mr Lehrmann.
Mr Lehrmann has continually denied Mr Auerbach’s version of events, labelling the claims last week as ‘bizarre’.
When approached by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, the masseuse said: ‘Ten thousand dollars? For what? What are they doing? One hour is $70.’
The woman then gestured to the parlour’s price list, which clearly showed the most expensive item was an hour-long massage for $70 (pictured below).
The price list in the parlour was at odds with the website, which says patrons can get a 45-minute ‘double massage’ for $100.

Lysander
Lysander
April 3, 2024 6:35 pm
Barking Toad
Barking Toad
April 3, 2024 6:37 pm

Bolt on Labor GG #3

More relevant for Labor, Mostyn has jumped on almost every hobby horse of the new Left, to the point of parody.
Her National Press Club speech last year ticked all the boxes.
Race politics? Tick: “I accept the invitation to walk with First Nations in seeking a Voice to parliament.” She even called Australia Day “Invasion Day” in a tweet.
Global warming? Another tick from Mostyn, former chairman of Tim Flannery’s out-there Climate Council: “(Young Australians) know all about the impacts of climate change and there they are most often our teachers.”
Identity politics? Tick, tick: “(The young) alert us to the concerning impact of outdated gendered norms, and on the need for inclusion of gender non-conforming people.”
Naturally, she also enthused at the Press Club about the rise of the Teal independents, global warming extremists who are the darlings of well-off women of the Left of a certain age.
“Just as extraordinary was the political earthquake of the so-called Teal women in defeating sitting Liberal MPs,” she gushed, “and I am delighted that so many of them are here joining us today.”
Behold, then, your new governor-general, a second-tier warrior of the new Left, chosen by a Socialist Left Prime Minister to – ha! – be a unifying and apolitical figure representing us all. To be our neutral umpire in a constitutional crisis.
How standards have fallen.

Pogria
Pogria
April 3, 2024 6:39 pm

Pete of Perth
 April 3, 2024 3:05 pm

 Reply to  Lysander
I miss-read her name as Moiston. Looks lika Albo’s sister.”

Peter of Perth.
It’s funny you mentioning that. While I was driving this afternoon, the news came on the radio and there was a piece with Jeff Kennet yabbering about what a great choice she was for GG.
He pronounced it “Moiston” also. Almost sprayed the windscreen it was so funny.

That’s how I will think of her from now on, MOISTON.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
April 3, 2024 6:40 pm

Absolutely everything you need to know about the new GG summed up in one picture..

https://twitter.com/GrogsGamut/status/1775280919756288145/photo/1

Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 6:41 pm

Sam Mostyn

DEI

Didn’t Earn IT

Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 6:43 pm

and there was a piece with Jeff Kennet yabbering about what a great choice she was for GG.

WTF happens to so called conservative Premiers and PMs after they leave office?

Miltonf
Miltonf
April 3, 2024 6:52 pm

So Mostyn is canbra born and bred. A BA LLB from the ANU. A walking talking example of what is wrong with this country.

calli
calli
April 3, 2024 6:53 pm

WTF happens to so called conservative Premiers and PMs after they leave office?

They reveal their true colours.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 6:56 pm

Rogue sheep falling off truck causes fiery Kwinana Freeway crashBy Heather McNeillApril 3, 2024 — 3.10pm

Listen to this article
1 min
A sheep falling off a truck in Perth’s south has caused a fiery crash and traffic gridlock on the Kwinana Freeway on Wednesday afternoon.

Look out for kamikaze sheep….

Miltonf
Miltonf
April 3, 2024 6:56 pm

Only canbra and the ANU could produce something like mostyn.

H B Bear
H B Bear
April 3, 2024 7:01 pm

As a dodgy washing machine repairman I would be most uncomfortable being associated with either Spotlight or A Current Affair.

Miltonf
Miltonf
April 3, 2024 7:01 pm

They reveal their true colours.

They sure do. Greiner too.

rosie
rosie
April 3, 2024 7:02 pm

A double massage for $100 is cheaper than one for $70.
Journogenius.

Black Ball
Black Ball
April 3, 2024 7:02 pm

Mostyn or Moisten? I will see myself out

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 7:02 pm

Plz dileet.

Last edited 1 month ago by Dot
Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 7:04 pm

I had a question before about how Christians could accept Christ’s last words on the cross and accept his divinity.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2022&version=NIV

Now I understand.

Psalm 22

New International Version

Psalm 22
[For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.]
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!

vr
vr
April 3, 2024 7:07 pm

Apropos of the discussion today re the Church and prayer, this opinion piece by Cardinal Dolan was in the WSJ.

Why Pews Are Packed on Easter Sunday

There’s no denying it. Many Americans no longer consider themselves members of any particular religion. They may believe in God and the power of prayer, and many say they seek “spirituality,” but more and more check “none” when asked their creed. Some of the survey findings are as dreary as that first Good Friday afternoon on a hill outside Jerusalem.

True, on Easter Sunday the pews will be jammed. Christians of wavering commitment frequently “come home” for Easter and Christmas, much as many Jews return to synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. While some of my fellow pastors might wonder out loud where these people are the other 50 Sundays of the year, or refer with mild irritation to the “birth-and-resurrection club,” I am always heartened to see them.

I do worry, though, as I note people drifting from the family of the church. Faith is deeply personal, but it isn’t private. By its nature, faith is communal. A congregation is a spiritual family. Many use that word “family” loosely to mean any group of like-minded friends, from which any member can part ways for any reason. A biological family doesn’t work like that—it’s unchosen, it’s permanent, and loyalty to it doesn’t wane with preference or mood. Members of a spiritual family likewise bear an obligation to remain a part of it.

That isn’t my opinion alone. In the Scriptures it’s clear God prefers to form a people, a community, and not simply a collection of atomized individuals. Faith must always be internalized, but it is always expressed, strengthened and lived out with others. In the ancient Near East the Lord called “a people,” the descendants of Abraham. In the first century, Jesus—in Christian teaching, that same Lord—formed the church, a people, no longer bound by race but united by his blood.

Anthropologists tell us that even the most ancient religions were always found in groups of people. Rituals, feasts, music, art, song, dance, a sacred meal—these things are tough to savor by oneself.

Yet people sure try. They tell us they want to believe but not belong; that they want faith but not religion; that they prefer spirituality, whatever that might mean, to communal worship. They seem to want God as a Father but to remain an only child; Jesus as the Good Shepherd if they’re the only lamb in the flock. They want a God by themselves, Christ without his church.

Sorry, but that isn’t how God works.

The 20th-century historian Winthrop Hudson conjectured that the American Revolution really began in the 1740s, during the religious fervor called the Great Awakening, when tens of thousands gathered in belief and prayer, only to look about and find they weren’t alone, that they were part of something ancient and beautiful. Similarly, scholars posit that the fall of Soviet hegemony and communist oppression began when two-thirds of Poland’s people came together in June 1979 to welcome home Pope John Paul II and express faith in God together.

Our Constitution’s framers, living as they did in the afterglow of the Great Awakening, seem to have understood this, too. The First Amendment guarantees both the right to exercise one’s religion freely and the right of the people freely to assemble together. To practice religion means very little if its practitioners are secluded from each other. Remaining true to one’s religious convictions is always a challenge. To do it all alone is nigh impossible. To do it with others is a boost.

So, how to win them back? We might begin by embracing the crowds this Easter and not rolling our eyes because some of them haven’t been seen since last year. These wandering brothers and sisters may not know it, but they’ve come out of a sense that this is the day on which the Son of God broke the power of death.

As in a gathering of kin, congregating with one’s spiritual family—people with whom one has a deep instant connection—is liberating and fulfilling. There are very few social gatherings in which ordinary people can enter and not sense critical eyes sizing them up, assessing their status and guessing their motives. There are even fewer in which every participant sings, recites creeds and listens to ancient wisdom in a spirit of humility and love.

At its best, Christian worship is such a setting. And when Christians worship at their best, their wandering brothers and sisters tend to come home.

Cardinal Dolan is Roman Catholic archbishop of New York.

cohenite
April 3, 2024 7:09 pm

Yeah, mostyn is a typical leftie: grotesquely ugly, stupid, arrogant and spewing every woke issue out of her no doubt rumpled fat arse.

Indolent
Indolent
April 3, 2024 7:15 pm

Oh no….Indolent has hijacked Lysander’s account.

Funnily enough, I had seen that article but it seemed a bit odd so I didn’t link it. For instance, why would increased levels of Covid supplant cancer? Going on what we’ve learned so far, it doesn’t make much sense.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 7:16 pm

I don’t get why people are surprised by Albo’s pick for GG since that has been the case since the 80s when Bill Hayden, a known republican, was chosen and accepted. Hypocrisy is Labor’s natural state and that goes particularly for their high profile personalities. They are troughers, first and foremost, everything else is secondary.

m0nty
April 3, 2024 7:19 pm

Haaretz on the IDF blaming the aid workers massacre on its complete lack of command & control. As if that makes it any better.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 7:23 pm

While watching a report on the EVs lined up at charging stations over Easter I noticed an interesting fact, most of the Teslas, and other brands, were white with an occasional black or dark blue one here and there. There are several possibilities for this state of affairs with the first one being the paraphrased Henry Ford principle, you can have any colour you want as long as it’s white. The second thing is that the people who buy these cars have so little imagination that only white is acceptable, bright colours are too much reminders of those racy petrol cars. The third option is that those who are promoting EVs for the hoi polloi want the racy colours reserved for themselves.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
April 3, 2024 7:24 pm

Miss Mostly is starting to sound like a high priestess of every lefty cult imaginable. Quite amazing how they could find someone so progressively righteous.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 7:26 pm

This is incredible.

I am starting to think the old stale idea about bashing supplements by doctors is going to have to end soon.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29497376/

Li X, Jin Q, Yao Q, Xu B, Li L, Zhang S, Tu C. The Flavonoid Quercetin Ameliorates Liver Inflammation and Fibrosis by Regulating Hepatic Macrophages Activation and Polarization in Mice. Front Pharmacol. 2018 Feb 9;9:72. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00072. PMID: 29497376; PMCID: PMC5819566.

Liver inflammation, fibrosis, and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation were examined.

Our results showed that quercetin dramatically ameliorated liver inflammation, fibrosis, and inhibited HSCs activation. These results were attributed to the reductive recruitment of macrophages (F4/80+ and CD68+) into the liver in quercetin-treated fibrotic mice confirmed by immunostaining and expression levels of marker molecules. Importantly, quercetin strongly inhibited M1 polarization and M1-related inflammatory cytokines in fibrotic livers when compared with vehicle-treated mice…

…taken together, our data indicated that quercetin attenuated CCl4-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis in mice through inhibiting macrophages infiltration and modulating M1 macrophages polarization via targeting Notch1 pathway. Hence, quercetin holds promise as potential therapeutic agent for human fibrotic liver disease.

Indolent
Indolent
April 3, 2024 7:28 pm

Marc Andreessen
@pmarca

AI query pipeline:

– User submits query
– Preprocessor #1 removes misinformation
– Preprocessor #2 removes hate speech
– Preprocessor #3 removes climate denial
– Preprocessor #4 removes non-far-left political leaning
– Preprocessor #5 removes non-expert statements
– Preprocessor #6 removes anything that might make anyone uncomfortable
– Preprocessor #7 removes anything not endorsed by the New York Times
– Preprocessor #8 adds many references to race, gender, and sexuality
– Query is processed, answer generated
– Postprocessor #1 removes bad words
– Postprocessor #2 removes bad thoughts
– Postprocessor #3 removes non-far-left political leaning
– Postprocessor #4 removes anything not endorsed by the New York Times
– Postprocessor #5 removes anything interesting
– Postprocessor #6 adds weasel words
– Postprocessor #7 adds moral preaching
– Postprocessor #8 adds many references to race, gender, and sexuality
– Answer presented to user

With the assistance of inter-industry coordination, global governance, and pan-jurisdiction regulation, this pipeline is now standard for all AI.

Eyrie
Eyrie
April 3, 2024 7:34 pm

most of the Teslas, and other brands, were white with an occasional black or dark blue one here and there. There are several possibilities for this state of affairs with the first one being the paraphrased Henry Ford principle, you can have any colour you want as long as it’s white. The second thing is that the people who buy these cars have so little imagination that only white is acceptable, bright colours are too much reminders of those racy petrol cars. 

I want a bright yellow car so that is some bastard runs into me there’s no excuse. I hate the modern bland, muted trend to various flavours of stealth grey.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 7:34 pm

Maybe the future is genetically tailored diet & supplementation and rapid testing of illnesses with other targeted therapies?

These boffins continue to amaze me.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21655979.2021.1973877

Tu, H., Ma, D., Luo, Y., Tang, S., Li, Y., Chen, G., … Zhang, L. (2021). Quercetin alleviates chronic renal failure by targeting the PI3k/Akt pathway. Bioengineered, 12(1), 6538–6558. https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2021.1973877

Taken together, Quercetin, a major component of SQJZJN, might minimize renal fibrosis and apoptosis in CRF rats by inhibiting the PI3k/Akt pathway through targeting PIK3R1. By regulating AQP1 and AQP2, both water retention and toxin accumulation were reduced.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9478191/

Chen YQ, Chen HY, Tang QQ, Li YF, Liu XS, Lu FH, Gu YY. Protective effect of quercetin on kidney diseases: From chemistry to herbal medicines. Front Pharmacol. 2022 Sep 2;13:968226. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.968226. PMID: 36120321; PMCID: PMC9478191.

Kidney injuries may trigger renal fibrosis and lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD), but effective therapeutic strategies are still limited. Quercetin is a natural flavonoid widely distributed in herbal medicines. A large number of studies have demonstrated that quercetin may protect kidneys by alleviating renal toxicity, apoptosis, fibrosis and inflammation in a variety of kidney diseases. Therefore, quercetin could be one of the promising drugs in the treatment of renal disorders. In the present study, we review the latest progress and highlight the beneficial role of quercetin in kidney diseases and its underlying mechanisms. The pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin and its proportion in herbal medicine will also be discussed.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 7:35 pm

Lysander

 April 3, 2024 6:20 pm

How would a comedian amass such cash?

Zelenskyy Acquires Highgrove House, Former Residence of King Charles for £20Million – The London Crier

Does anyone know what is the Ukrainian president’s annual pay?

The other thing is, was Highgrove advertised as being on sale or was it only available to the right kind of buyer?

Indolent
Indolent
April 3, 2024 7:38 pm
Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 7:42 pm

Sam Mostyn sure has made affirmative action work for her. Demanding women get jobs ahead of men means she’s now our next governor-general.
Here’s proof that affirmative action helps mostly a highly political class of women, among whom Mostyn is now the queen.

That’s always been the case ever since I can remember. The glass ceiling was all about the top echelon of women who were usually from the upper middle class, it had nothing to do with female nurses, teachers, clerks, shop assistants or cleaners. The whole feminism or women’s liberation movement as it was known in my youth was all about bored wives of company CEOs who wanted careers to rival their husbands, now they do and yet they are still unhappy.

Miltonf
Miltonf
April 3, 2024 7:44 pm

Yes like Friedan.

JohnJJJ
JohnJJJ
April 3, 2024 7:47 pm

Bree’n Bru: the Musical update

Looks like I’ve clinched a sponsorship deal with Fyshwick Escorts. The Queanbeyan Bogans are choreographing the chorus line. Looking for someone to play Mike Lee – walk on role at the end. Must be a baritone finale.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
April 3, 2024 7:51 pm

calli
 April 3, 2024 6:53 pm

WTF happens to so called conservative Premiers and PMs after they leave office?
They reveal their true colours.

Cyndi Lauper – True Colors (Live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZgah5suEyc

Bobtheboozer
Bobtheboozer
April 3, 2024 7:58 pm

Lysander
 April 3, 2024 6:19 pm

Classic Trump (I missed this from January):

“PEOPLE ARE BEING PÅID TO PROTEST MY RALLIES

CLIMATE PROTESTERS CRASH DONALD TRUMP RALLY IN IOWA

I’M NOT PRESIDENT YET, AND I’M ALREADY CREATING JOBS”

He reminds me of Gladstone Gander.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 8:00 pm

More biochem/supplementation spam.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131403/

Zozina VI, Covantev S, Goroshko OA, Krasnykh LM, Kukes VG. Coenzyme Q10 in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases: Current State of the Problem. Curr Cardiol Rev. 2018;14(3):164-174. doi: 10.2174/1573403X14666180416115428. PMID: 29663894; PMCID: PMC6131403.

Overall, there seems to be a beneficial role of COQ10 co-administration as a supplemental therapy in different cardiac and metabolic conditions. The changes in the antioxidant systems in these conditions support the idea that COQ10 may improve outcome, quality of life and decrease morbidity and mortality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151454/

Rabanal-Ruiz Y, Llanos-González E, Alcain FJ. The Use of Coenzyme Q10 in Cardiovascular Diseases. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021 May 10;10(5):755. doi: 10.3390/antiox10050755. PMID: 34068578; PMCID: PMC8151454.

The rationale of the use of CoQ10 in cardiovascular diseases is that the loss of contractile function due to an energy depletion status in the mitochondria and reduced levels of NO for vasodilatation has been associated with low endogenous CoQ10 levels. Clinical evidence shows that CoQ10 supplementation for prolonged periods is safe, well-tolerated and significantly increases the concentration of CoQ10 in plasma up to 3–5 µg/mL. CoQ10 supplementation reduces oxidative stress and mortality from cardiovascular causes and improves clinical outcome in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, prevents the accumulation of oxLDL in arteries, decreases vascular stiffness and hypertension, improves endothelial dysfunction by reducing the source of ROS in the vascular system and increases the NO levels for vasodilation.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 8:05 pm

Last one for the night.

Yahyah Aman, Yumin Qiu, Jun Tao, Evandro F. Fang,
Therapeutic potential of boosting NAD+ in aging and age-related diseases, Translational Medicine of Aging, Volume 2, 2018, Pages 30-37,
ISSN 2468-5011, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tma.2018.08.003.

( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468501118300063 )

Abstract: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential cofactor in all living cells that is involved in fundamental biological processes. NAD+ depletion has been associated with hallmarks of aging and may underlie a wide-range of age-related diseases, such as metabolic disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Emerging evidence implicates that elevation of NAD+ levels may slow or even reverse the aspects of aging and also delay the progression of age-related diseases. Here we discuss the roles of NAD+-synthesizing and -consuming enzymes in relationships to aging and major age-related diseases. Specifically, we highlight the contribution of NAD+ depletion to aging and evaluate how boosting NAD+ levels may emerge as a promising therapeutic strategy to counter aging-associated pathologies and/or accelerated aging.

Last edited 1 month ago by Dot
Bobtheboozer
Bobtheboozer
April 3, 2024 8:06 pm

Arky
 April 3, 2024 6:33 pm

Missus choose the wrong week to visit her family in Taiwan.

She’ll soon be joined by 1.5 million Red Chinese Doctors, Nurses, and rescue teams to help with the civil authorities rescue and reconstruction efforts.
Oh, and several Brigades of Police Auxiliaries to maintain order.

Last edited 1 month ago by Bobtheboozer
rosie
rosie
April 3, 2024 8:44 pm

Killing a small number of aid workers embedded with terrorists isn’t a ‘massacre’.
October 7 was a massacre.
Sounds more like they were unwitting hostages assisting in the transport of terrorists.
Why were they driving in in small vehicles?
They clearly weren’t delivering food.

rosie
rosie
April 3, 2024 8:51 pm

Thanks Monty.
So it’s poor judgement on the ground, not a blanket policy to kill foreign aid workers wherever they may be found.
Israel by the way is expending money and lives allowing aid into Gaza.
Every shipment has to be inspected for weapons.
Fuel food medical supplies etc for gazas is also fuel food and medical supplies for hamas.
What other country has provided material aid to its enemy while at war with them?

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
April 3, 2024 8:59 pm

Cash has been clocked @34mph

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
April 3, 2024 9:06 pm

Re: The yoof curfew in Alice Springs.
Has Albo been wearing his Treaty t-shirt lately?

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
April 3, 2024 9:16 pm

Cash has been clocked @34mph

Yep. Pat sure knew how to cover the court.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
April 3, 2024 9:33 pm

Watching Goodfellas.

Billy Batts got buried, dug up and buried again. I guess nobody went and got their shinebox after all.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 9:39 pm

It’s really sad what Paul Murray has become, a Never Trumper even though he keeps telling his viewers how he is on the Trump Train, he is nothing of the sort. On Sky he is second only to James Morrow in Trump hatred. Why keep reporting every little thing from the US networks that is anti-Trump if you are not? Yet he still keeps the photo of himself with Trump in his Sky man cave set.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 9:44 pm

One other thing I detest about Paul Murray is his half- hour to 40 minutes monologue on Sky before any guests are seen. You could almost get in an episode of Home And Away* by the time there is anyone worth seeing on his show.

*I am not a fan, have not watched it regularly since early 90s.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 9:47 pm

NACC investigating leaked documents as Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial reopensEllen RansleyNCA NewsWire
Wed, 3 April 2024 4:23PM

A fresh tranche of documents tendered in the reopened Bruce Lehrmann defamation case has confirmed the national anti-corruption watchdog was asked by police to investigate how sensitive documents wound up in the media, including whether any officers engaged in misconduct.
The revelation comes as Network Ten won its eleventh hour bid to reopen Mr Lehrmann’s case against the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, after Ten sought to rely on new material in defence of the proceedings.
Former Seven Network producer Taylor Auerbach, who worked on the network’s Spotlight program, claims in affidavits filed with the court that Mr Lehrmann had provided him with more than 2300 pages of texts between Brittany Higgins and her former boyfriend, in breach of a legal practice known as the Harman undertaking.
The material was in an electronic brief of evidence during the abandoned rape trial brought against Mr Lehrmann by Ms Higgins, which was not tendered in court.

Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 10:01 pm

Former Seven Network producer Taylor Auerbach, who worked on the network’s Spotlight program, claims in affidavits filed with the court that Mr Lehrmann had provided him with more than 2300 pages of texts between Brittany Higgins and her former boyfriend, in breach of a legal practice known as the Harman undertaking.

How would Lehrmann have acquired such documents? Nah, this has some other provenance that may get Auerbach into trouble or maybe his former boyfriend.

Diogenes
Diogenes
April 3, 2024 10:05 pm

I noticed an interesting fact, most of the Teslas, and other brands, were white with an occasional

That would be consistent with this

Australia-wide, white is the most popular car colour, with 30% of Aussies choosing it as their preferred hue. This could be due to many reasons, including its perceived visibility, the sheer availability of the colour by manufacturers and its higher resale value.

In addition to white, the next most popular car colours on Australia’s roads include:

Silver – 19.44%

Blue – 11.29%

Black – 10.43%

Grey – 8.02%

Red – 6.81%

Source Youi Insurance

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
April 3, 2024 10:06 pm

Greyhounds do 70kph. Mate and I were walking his deerhound, abloke out with his greyhound for a run. Deerhound runs after greyhound passing it no trouble at all.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
April 3, 2024 10:09 pm

Regarding the new Governor General – unkind souls have pointed out that at least Marcia Langton or Linda Burney never got the job.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
April 3, 2024 10:13 pm

ZK2A, I think you’re right about Brucie Goosie, how would he get them. I doubt his lawyer let him have a copy to keep.

cohenite
April 3, 2024 10:14 pm

Crossie
 April 3, 2024 9:44 pm

One other thing I detest about Paul Murray is his half- hour to 40 minutes monologue on Sky before any guests are seen. 

He’s as weak as piss. He used to have a segment where viewers could ring in. I’m responsible for the big fat runt discontinuing it. I rang up once when our Jacinta was on and compared her to the skanks, marcia and birney and he actually cut my sound. Jacinta cracked up.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 10:17 pm

Methinks Mr Auerbach has been tickling the Seven till and is trying to avoid recovery action by writing it all off on Brucey.

Dot
Dot
April 3, 2024 10:23 pm

AI writing websites. Maybe the oak trees are really part of the Matrix?

https://mast-producing-trees.org/columnar-oak-trees-a-guide/

The white oak acorns can be kept in the refrigerator for up to four months if stored in moist sand. Red oak acorns will not sprout until spring, so you should start planting them now. It is not until April that you can plant your seedlings outside. The next few months and years should be critical for your seedling’s growth. As it grows taller, it becomes a sapling. For the next five years, it is critical to pay close attention to your internet usage. To keep deer at bay, use tree guards or wraps.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
April 3, 2024 10:29 pm

Someone hit a deer on Parkes Way at the bottom of Black Mountain last night. I’ve hit Roo outside the town council rooms in tge middle of canbra.

Last edited 1 month ago by GreyRanga
Crossie
Crossie
April 3, 2024 10:46 pm

In addition to white, the next most popular car colours on Australia’s roads include:

Silver – 19.44%

Blue – 11.29%

Black – 10.43%

Grey – 8.02%

Red – 6.81%

And yet the cars in my street are a third red, a third blue and a third black. OK, it’s a smallish cul-de-sac.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
April 3, 2024 10:46 pm

I think Justice Lee might want to have a soak in a kerosene bath when this is done.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
April 3, 2024 11:09 pm

And yet the cars in my street are a third red, a third blue and a third black

I just checked the car colours in my street.

A fairly even spread between smaragdine, gamboge, zaffre and coquelicot.

And white.

Muddy
Muddy
April 3, 2024 11:18 pm

A fairly even spread between smaragdine, gamboge, zaffre and coquelicot.

Who said you can’t bling-up a 4 litre wine bag?

Bobtheboozer
Bobtheboozer
April 4, 2024 10:38 am

Crossie
 April 3, 2024 10:46 pm

In addition to white, the next most popular car colours on Australia’s roads include:

Silver – 19.44%

Blue – 11.29%

Black – 10.43%

Grey – 8.02%

Red – 6.81%

And yet the cars in my street are a third red, a third blue and a third black. OK, it’s a smallish cul-de-sac.

You live in a cul de sac of gay car owners?

Baba
Baba
April 7, 2024 4:52 pm

As for the repeated lie about beheaded babies that was not a claim made by the Israeli government so why keep repeating it as though it was?

Can you provide a link where the Israeli government actually denied it happened? Other than references to the demographics of Oct 7th victims. And not the weasel ‘we can’t confirm’ bs.

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