Open Thread – Mon 28 Oct 2024


The Art of Painting, Johannes Vermeer, 1668

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DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
October 28, 2024 12:24 am

Boo! Again.

Digger
Digger
October 28, 2024 12:24 am

Up and at em…

Digger
Digger
October 28, 2024 12:24 am

9 days and counting…

Salvatore - Iron Publican
October 28, 2024 12:54 am
Reply to  Digger

10 days & we’re back to parades of plump white women wearing pussy hats.

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
October 28, 2024 12:26 am

*I’m NOT in favour of ANY compensation, but should such be necessary, it seems dishonest to apply to the valuation later improvements that the original inhabitants could not possibly have delivered.
?
We should be charging them for the myriad benefits we have so far given them gratis.
Not those who have joined us and are now just Australians, but those who are demanding reparations.They owe us a lot more than we owe them.

(From the old fred)

Last edited 5 months ago by DrBeauGan
Barking Toad
Barking Toad
October 28, 2024 1:10 am

Good morning!

KevinM
KevinM
October 28, 2024 2:21 am

Henry Ford’s production line innovations allowed Ford factories to crank out an astounding number of cars. Between 1927 and 1932, for example, Ford produced 4.8 million Model A cars (the successor to the Model T).

Why did Arky chose the model A to restore?
Because it was available, or one of the most numerous?

Why not one of the rarest? (Edsel?)

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 9:03 am
Reply to  KevinM

I suspect because the Model A is simple and fairly straightforward to work on ( despite the Arky fuel tank stress the other day).
There are many reproduction parts available – pretty sure you can build a complete Model A without using any original parts, assuming you don’t want to use the original 3.3 litre 4 – and there are hot up parts for those.
There are multiple body styles.
You can buy/build one in many styles from ? restored to total hotrod in 50s style or current style.
They are cheaper than the 1932 onwards V8 Fords.
Jeez – better stop or I will convince myself I need one.
Edsel – even if you like the look of them, and mechanical parts are mostly the same as the equivalent Ford – but body and trim pieces would be hard to find, I fear you could spend a fortune fully restoring a shabby/incomplete one.

KevinM
KevinM
October 28, 2024 2:30 am

A lot of people wonder why ancient cities were abandoned and have wild theories about it.

IMHO there a but a few reasons, invaded and inhabitants killed and dragged into slavery, climate change, the natural kind where you run out of water, trade routes change or a plague.

Any of our intrepid travelers been to this city?

Just an explain from wiki;
(“After the Vandal invasion of 430, Timgad was destroyed at the end of the 5th century by montagnards of the Aurès. The Byzantine Reconquest revived some activities in the city, defended by a fortress built to the south, in 539, reusing blocks removed from Roman monuments.”)

Many good links and pictures if interested.
————————

The Abandoned City of Thamugadi: A Roman Mystery
Thamugadi, also known as Timgad, stands as one of the most well-preserved Roman cities in North Africa.

Founded by Emperor Trajan around 100 AD in modern-day Algeria, it was built with the precision typical of Roman town planning, featuring straight streets, arches, public baths, and a theater capable of seating thousands. Today, however, Thamugadi is a ghost town—its ruins largely untouched by the passage of time.

What makes Thamugadi particularly intriguing is its gradual abandonment. Unlike many ancient cities, it did not fall due to war, plague, or a natural disaster. Instead, the city seems to have quietly slipped into decline, eventually buried beneath the desert sands. This slow fading from history raises compelling questions about what led a bustling Roman settlement to disappear so completely.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that ancient sources provide little information on the city’s decline. For a city of its size and importance, the lack of records is unusual. Thamugadi’s nearly perfect state of preservation offers a glimpse into life during the Roman Empire, but its silence on why it was abandoned leaves historians and archaeologists with an enduring puzzle.

tam
shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 7:40 am
Reply to  KevinM

Reminds me of the old church/graveyard sitting on its lonesome on a hill just of the highway at Prospect .. this was the original village of Blacktown but when they put the rail line thru they went with 3 kms downhill .. the village withered and the new Blacktown grew .. The church is the last reminder of the past ..
So if your ever driving the hwy past Prospect you now know why there is a church atop an empty paddock …….

KevinM
KevinM
October 28, 2024 2:35 am

I keep saying, I may miss out on a lot by having a taste for only classical music, but still wonder how many of you who profess a wider range of interest remember this lady?
———————

Alma Cogan
Today we remember Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19/5/1932 – 26/10/1966) was an iconic English singer dubbed “the Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice.” She became the highest-paid British female entertainer during the 1950s and early 1960s, profoundly influencing traditional pop music with her distinctive style and cheerful persona.

Born in Whitechapel, London, to a Jewish family, Cogan’s early life was filled with artistic encouragement, particularly from her parents and singer Vera Lynn. Despite an early setback with bandleader Ted Heath, she soon found success as a singer at the Cumberland Hotel, which led to a recording contract with HMV Records.

Cogan’s career took off with hits like ‘Dreamboat’ and ‘Bell Bottom Blues,’ making her a fixture in UK pop charts with 18 chart appearances in the 1950s. Her giggle, first heard in ‘If I Had a Golden Umbrella,’ became a trademark, endearing her to fans and boosting her media presence. Beyond music, her fashion sense made her a trendsetter, and she hosted her own TV series, “The Alma Cogan Show,” which showcased her vibrant personality.

Cogan’s influence extended beyond music; she was a central figure in London’s social scene, forming close relationships with stars like Cliff Richard, Lonnie Donegan, and The Beatles. However, the 1960s brought changes in music trends, and despite adapting her style to cover contemporary hits, including those of The Beatles, she only saw moderate success. Her career was abruptly halted by her untimely death from ovarian cancer at age 34.

Her legacy endures through various commemorations that celebrate her as a beacon of post-war British pop, embodying joy, glamour, and hope. Alma Cogan remains a significant figure in the history of British pop music, influencing generations of female artists in integrating music, fashion, and public image.

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 7:42 am
Reply to  KevinM

Wow! .. had completely forgotten Alma .. childhood nostalgia .. thanx!

Last edited 5 months ago by shatterzzz
Annie
Annie
October 28, 2024 10:26 am
Reply to  KevinM

I certainly remember her. She’d been at my school but left just before I went there. Another singer there was Maryanne Faithful, who was slightly younger than me.
Local tailors were the Kogans (Alma’s family). My husband still has one of their suits.

KevinM
KevinM
October 28, 2024 2:37 am

Yup, works like a charm.

heart
KevinM
KevinM
October 28, 2024 2:40 am

Opps, Alma Cogan

464150179_1082870797181852_6175379064496548470_n
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:00 am
Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 7:49 am
Reply to  Tom

Love it. So many angles to the cartoon that only Johannes could have thought of it.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 10:58 am
Reply to  Crossie

…and properly drawn – the HQ Holden Premier is instantly recognisable. Like the faces in his groups of demonstrators – the type is instantly recognisable.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:01 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:05 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 4:08 am
Black Ball
Black Ball
October 28, 2024 5:20 am

Airbus Albo. James Campbell on him:

Just as the national conversation was moving on from his $4.3 million Central Coast ‘weekender’ there’s a new problem brewing for Albo, one that goes beyond what he does with his own money.

On Saturday, extracts from a new book revealed that in the past 15 years the Prime Minister has received tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of free airline upgrades from Qantas.

The book The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston also claims that “according to Qantas insiders”, the Marrickville man-of-the people “would liaise with (Alan) Joyce directly about his personal travel.”

That politicians get special treatment from airlines is not exactly a state secret of course but it turns out that Albo’s treatment is very special indeed.

Aston writes that “(w) hile other Qantas executives could authorise “space available” upgrades in flight bookings, meaning an upgrade would occur only if there was an empty business or first class seat after check-in had closed, only Joyce could issue “confirmed” or guaranteed upgrades, the kind that Albanese was treated to.”

Why does this matter? Well for starters there’s small matter that for ten of the years Albo was getting thousands of bucks a year in free upgrades, he was either the transport or shadow transport minister.

Then there’s the allegation – which has never been denied – that shortly after he became Prime Minister, Albo asked Joyce to give his son Nathan membership of the Chairman’s Lounge.

The Chairman’s Lounge, Qantas’s invite-only getaway for the men and women who run Australia, isn’t just, as its name suggests, a place where they can relax with free food and drink courtesy of the airline’s shareholders.

As Aston explains, its members are also eligible for “complimentary upgrades to business class (subject to availability), or to first class on international flights, and a dedicated VIP service line”.

In other words, as he must have known full well, in asking Joyce to give his son one of these golden tickets the Prime Minister was soliciting a gift potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars.

As I wrote at the time it was reported, the Chairman’s Lounge is the closest thing we have to the “special” shops and hospitals in the old Soviet Union, which were available only to the elite of the Communist Party and their children.

That Albo understood asking for free shit for your kids is a shocking look for a Prime Minister is demonstrated by the lengths to which he went to try and kill the story.

“Minutes after I’d put the fact of Nathan Albanese’s Chairman’s Lounge membership to the prime minister’s office for comment,” Aston writes, “Anthony Albanese called the masthead’s then editor-in-chief, Michael Stutchbury.”

His argument was that politicians’ families should be off limits.

It goes without saying of course that this wasn’t a story about a politician’s family, it was a story about a politician using his office to gain a material advantage for a relative, something which is entirely unsurprising in most of the world.

It goes without saying too that in most of the world it would be entirely unsurprising to discover that the government of a politician who had obtained such an advantage might later use its power to benefit the dispenser of this largesse.

Which in the case of Qatar Airlines’ bid to increase the number of its flights into Australia is exactly what happened.

The Prime Minister has denied that he was lobbied by Qantas before his government rejected Qatar.

But given the long term relationship between the two, you could be forgiven for thinking they didn’t need to.

Albo could be forgiven for wondering why since his Qantas freebies have been sitting in plain view on the public record they should be a problem for him now.

His misfortune is that until Aston came along, no one had thought to add them up.

He’s also had bad timing in that this revelation comes hot on the heels of the house purchase which itself followed on from earlier criticism he’s copped for flying round the country to A-list event after A-list event, none of which he ever seems to pay for.

It also comes just weeks after a similar scandal in the UK which has seen the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer forced to repay thousands of pounds in gifts he has received including almost £3,400 for four Taylor Swift tickets – something Albo has conspicuously failed to do.

Back in the week at which it was revealed he’d backed up that Taylor Swift gig with a private Katy Perry show at the Pratt family pad I warned Labor would be in trouble if the punters decide this isn’t the Albanese Government they’ve got but the Albo-freebie Government.

Australians need to ask themselves is this the sort of country we want to live in?

Just another day in Albo World.

Perplexed of Brisbane
Perplexed of Brisbane
October 28, 2024 6:50 am
Reply to  Black Ball

The working class can kiss my A$$, I’ve got the bosses job at last!

Typical Trot / Commie / Socialist / Fascist.

Last edited 5 months ago by Perplexed of Brisbane
GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 6:54 am

Stick an icepick into the Trot.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 6:54 am
Reply to  Black Ball

Qantas- the airline for the nomenklatura.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 10:37 am
Reply to  Black Ball

Gotta love Joe Aston. Doesn’t give a sh1t. Was arguably the only thing worth reading in the AFR. And Alex, of course.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 10:38 am
Reply to  Black Ball

More mange on the Mangy Roo. Australia’s worst company?

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 1:01 pm
Reply to  Black Ball

“Albosleazy” indeed.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
October 28, 2024 6:32 am

Colonel Crispin Berka October 27, 2024 3:40 pm.

I can accept it may be difference of counting top comments and not replies. Just not convinced on the figure of 200.

Oh, and I did the count on a completed page. 🙁

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 8:08 am

Why does it matter ..? LOL!

Nelson_Kidd-Players
October 28, 2024 12:38 pm
Reply to  shatterzzz

The Colonel does tend to bang on about it… 😀

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 6:37 am

“President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced that Egypt has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which four Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. Following this, a 10-day negotiation period would aim to establish a lasting ceasefire.”
https://x.com/Osint613/status/1850574980255273149?t=Bk9DZkr4GJDMhpmOLOF6IQ&s=19

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 8:10 am
Reply to  Rosie

Gotta luv these folk .. no one agrees to ceasefires when they are kicking ass .. FFS!

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 8:25 am
Reply to  Rosie

Why only four hostages? Is that how many are still alive? If so it doesn’t speak well for Egyptians let alone the Gazans.

Last edited 5 months ago by Crossie
Zippster
Zippster
October 28, 2024 11:35 am
Reply to  Rosie

No mercy, eradicate hamas to the last man. women or dog

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 1:18 pm
Reply to  Rosie

No frigging way.

ALL the hostages are to be released, and the dead returned and then and only then will we even think of negotiations.

Oh, and we’ve identified the civilian Jihadists we’ve captured who raped and murdered our women, and we are going to hang them because rape in wartime is a capital offence.

That’s my reply. Riding the tiger is fraught with risks, you bastards.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 6:38 am

Albo’s world……

‘itsh okay coz I grew up in soshul housing’

‘I did it tuff so you all owe me’

‘my mudder did it tuff coz ssssheee woz an unmarried mudder’

Oh God, it’s just like watching a slow moving train wreck. But socialists always love the good life at our expense….of course.

His argument was that politicians’ families should be off limits.

I usually agree but this isn’t about politicians’ families.

Anyone recall such consideration for ‘family’ when Morrison took his wife and children on a holiday to Hawaii? Nah, nor do I. In fact all I recall was the incessant screeching and howling from the MSM about that trip. It was obscene. I also fail to recall such consideration when Frances Abbott had her private scholarship details HACKED, and most of the leftwing MSM thought that was a hoot.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 8:27 am

If these people are concerned for their families then perhaps they shouldn’t involve them in their doings.

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 1:05 pm

His argument was that politicians’ families should be off limits.

When you use your political position to gain favours or benefits for family members then you don’t have that excuse.

bons
bons
October 28, 2024 9:07 am
Reply to  Rosie

It is not cowardice, it is Obama treason. Muslims are his ‘brothers’.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 6:42 am

Dwarf Homo Airlines fly over Marrickville allday everyday. Was the Dwarf homo ensuring any complaints about noise would be allayed. Giving spluttering Luigi the Unbelievable freebies from day one seem to suggest this.

Louis Litt
Louis Litt
October 28, 2024 9:51 pm
Reply to  GreyRanga

Hilarious

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 6:48 am
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 11:59 am
Reply to  Rosie

Knocked me off the Cat when I clicked it and then tried to return.

Happens a lot to me with Rosie’s links, which I really want to read.
I click the arrow back. That sometimes works. If not, I click the X in the tab box and that sometimes works. Othertimes I am thrown right off the Cat. If I go direct to the x on the tab that sometimes works, othertimes I am thrown directly off the Cat.

It’s all very time wasting getting back on again.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:00 pm
Reply to  Rosie

That one worked but clicking the back arrow. No problems.

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 7:01 am

In islam it appears their god hates Jews, and they are obliged to genocide them.

https://x.com/AdamRFisher/status/1850433496482783511?t=bgFBgKnVlP0xs91ACzHn-w&s=19

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:01 pm
Reply to  Rosie

same. This one worked too.

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 7:02 am
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:01 pm
Reply to  Rosie

Yep. This one worked too.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
October 28, 2024 7:03 am

Chrisifooli needs to be careful with the Olympics. He could put the regions offside if we don’t see improvements in infrastructure and I’m not talking about stadiums.

In central and north of the state it is poison, throwing a few events at say Mackay isn’t going to help when the majority of people don’t want it.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14007749/Brisbane-Olympics-Queensland-Premier.html

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 8:01 am
Reply to  Rockdoctor

As an Ingham boy, Chrisafulli’s first announcement on Saturday night should have been that he was going to fix the Bruce highway, a vital state artery neglected by the Brisbane ALP government.

John Brumble
John Brumble
October 28, 2024 8:51 am
Reply to  Rockdoctor

No one in Brisbane wants it either.. except for the media class after they worked out there were lots of freebies available to them and their mates, and after they secured the continued State funding of their defacto private school in the area.

You could feel them making the abrupt about-turn in real time.

(Defacto private school is a state school that is in a catchment only well-off inner-city types can afford to live. It therefore delivers all the benefits of a private school – contacts, parents who care about schooling, etc.- without actually costing money. This is why the same
people hate private school funding – it doesn’t help them).

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 7:12 am

Over the weekend someone commented upon the four IAF female navigators taking part in Saturday’s raids. This shows what magnificent people the Jews are, being able to assemble four women who know where they’re going. Ha!

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 7:17 am
GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 9:03 am
Reply to  Rosie

Unhinged, comes to mind.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:05 pm
Reply to  Rosie

What a horrible outfit she’s wearing. A kacky brown. And get a load of those shoulder pads. She a fairly slight women, small in stature and with a narrow build, but those shoulder pads are like wings, making her appear large, and they hope, more dominant and impressive. But you can see the loose material around them where her shoulders come nowhere near.

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 1:10 pm
Reply to  Rosie

But she represents the party of “joy”!
What a vile creature.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 7:26 am

Broken Hill Foodland owner Lauren Colmer told AAP this week that her company had lost tens of thousands of dollars from dumping stock.

“In this day and age, you don’t mind a few blackouts here and there, and you go, okay, it gets fixed. But when it’s down for so long, because they don’t have any backup plans, that’s really not acceptable,” she said.

“We’ve got a solar farm out there, and we’ve got a wind farm out on the Adelaide Road, and we’ve got a wind farm out at Silverton, but we can’t access any of that sort of energy. 

“Some of the locals are like, can we just plug into that? And I was like, well, that’d be nice. That’s not the way it works.”

Broken Hill power outage proves that the renewables were never meant to work. It was all for show. The main thing all along were the subsidies funnelled into the right bank accounts. Funny how there is never any obstacle to that.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 7:44 am
Reply to  Crossie

Yes and apart from the fact that it doesn’t work, you pay for it twice though taxes and massive bills.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
October 28, 2024 7:27 am

Blackout Bowen is fast losing another spin tool in his renewable quest.
Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) system is becoming a must to export to EU and other markets overseas. The system prohibits animals from being in contact with panels, transformers, batteries and other ground contact renewable infrastructure.
Bowen and various Labor BS artists have claimed farming is compatible with renewables but the reality in the market place is quite the opposite. They are stealing huge areas of highly valuable farm land and pretending it won’t affect the food supply or prices. Absolutely no studies have been commissioned to quantify the total of losses to agriculture in the transition. They know the answer so best not ask the question.

hzhousewife
hzhousewife
October 28, 2024 7:48 am
Reply to  Farmer Gez

But aren’t the little sheepies happily grazing all around the acres of solar panels – I read it in the Weekly Times !

lotocoti
lotocoti
October 28, 2024 7:35 am

Bastard heartless LNP h8rs haven’t even been sworn in and they’re already boning selfless, hardworking public servants.
For no reason at all.

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 7:39 am

On Albo and the upgrades that he specifically asked Joyce for…

Tony Abbot flew economy. He was ridiculed.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 7:39 am

Bowen and various Labor BS artists have claimed farming is compatible with renewables

Not just compatible.
Their useful idiots are out and about on soshul meeja claiming that agricultural production is actually enhanced under solar panels.
They are light on detail though.
Escargot farmers maybe?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 7:45 am

lotocoti
 October 28, 2024 7:35 am

Bastard heartless LNP h8rs haven’t even been sworn in and they’re already boning selfless, hardworking public servants

This is actually a good sign.
Too many Liberals try to appear magnanimous and leave partisan ALP hacks in place once elected.
The old “shoot one, educate 1,000” mantra works. By rissoling Kaiser first thing Sunday morning it sends a message to “da resistance” further down the food-chain.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
October 28, 2024 7:46 am

Has anyone else heard of a ‘news’ source called ‘Alternet’?

They really do inhabit an alternate reality.

m0nty
October 28, 2024 7:53 am

I see Trump’s MSG Nazi rally is in full swing. A string of warm up guys who are going the full cohenite: sexism, racism and dick fixation.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 7:59 am
Reply to  m0nty

Piss off, Nazi.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 8:06 am
Reply to  m0nty

Trump is rallying for Mono-Sodium Glutamate?

Free Mono-Sodium Glutamate!

Mono-Sodium Glutamate is innocent!

Kneel
Kneel
October 28, 2024 12:17 pm
Reply to  Boambee John

MSG – Make Shit Good!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 8:10 am
Reply to  m0nty

Is that anything like the MSG Nazi rally that Hillary held?

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 1:12 pm
Reply to  m0nty

Monty calling others “Nazis”!
LOL.

Last edited 5 months ago by Lee
Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 7:59 am

Sometimes I think you’re a parody account. Hard to believe it’s possible to be so stupid and obnoxious.

Last edited 5 months ago by Miltonf
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 8:02 am

Bad Penny wants terrorists to be funded properly.

US Treasury Sec. to Netanyahu: Stop Palestinian Authority from collapsing (27 Oct)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen together with counterparts from several other nations has sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing fears that the Palestinian Authority may financially collapse due to the policies of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Axios reported on Sunday.

Smotrich made several demands of the PA banks to prevent the illicit funding of terrorism. Until those conditions are met, the minister refuses to approve the extension of the financial correspondence between banks in Israel and the PA, which would be critical to keep the Palestinian banks, and by extension the PA, afloat. …

With the deadline looming, Treasury Secretary Yellen, as well as her counterparts from Japan, Canada, the EU, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, and France, sent Prime Minister Netanyahu a letter urging him to take steps for the extension to be approved.

Not only does the PA pay terrorist families a reward for the terrorism carried out by their family member, but they also tacitly allow terrorists acts to be carried out in PA areas. Which is why the IDF have been air striking Jenin lately.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 8:58 am

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen together with counterparts from several other nations has sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing fears that the Palestinian Authority may financially collapse due to the policies of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Axios reported on Sunday.

Only one thing to say, FAFO.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 28, 2024 8:03 am

Trump’s MSG Nazi rally is in full swing

Paranoid screeching intensifies….

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 8:04 am

Just as the national conversation was moving on from his $4.3 million Central Coast ‘weekender’ there’s a new problem brewing for Albo, one that goes beyond what he does with his own money.

I’m still baffled by the cost of this “weekender” .. Knowing the “Copa” area I know the house, great for whale watching but a hassle for the beach .. walking 15 minutes steep downhill & a, generous, 25 minutes slog back up .. best driven!
Now compare that to my son’s coastal “shack” at Davistown (a few kms inland further towards Gosford than Copa) not on the beach/ocean but on Brisbane Waters with recreation grounds/barbeques/playgrounds all along the waterfront …..
He paid $1.3million (2 years ago) 4 bedrooms, 2 storey, separate 4 car garage, 12 mts in-ground pool and the block looks at least 3 x bigger than pix of Luigi’s joint … price difference $3million not to be sneezed at .. LOL!
Their previous home just off Avoca Beach ( needed a change cos growing family) was on a steep hill, 3 stories, 4 bedrooms, garden about the size of Luigi”s but lotza stairs to front door yet went for $1.4million with easy walk to beach & Avoca is a lot more convenient for getting in & out of than Copacabana ………

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:04 am
Reply to  shatterzzz

I’m still baffled by the cost of this “weekender” .. Knowing the “Copa” area I know the house, great for whale watching but a hassle for the beach .. walking 15 minutes steep downhill & a, generous, 25 minutes slog back up .. best driven!

It’s not about the beach but being above it all, lording it over the little people down on the sand. It’s a party place so Albo can entertain important historical figures like himself.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:11 pm
Reply to  Crossie

I’ve always thought Albo’s house was a rip-off for the money he paid. It’s ugly, its windows are not up to modern styles, it has no architectural presence, certainly no sense of ‘entrance’, the one side seems a tacked-on addition, it’s on a windy bluff and it has almost no land. It’s views are ok, but not a superb panorama.

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 1:20 pm
Reply to  Crossie

The, actual, beach is about 500mts away to the side , those hilltop houses are on a cliff, only rocks & water below .. the only beach view would be from, maybe, whichever is the 1st house, in line, up there …

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 8:12 am

As I wrote at the time it was reported, the Chairman’s Lounge is the closest thing we have to the “special” shops and hospitals in the old Soviet Union, which were available only to the elite of the Communist Party and their children.

This is from the James Campbell article.

The Chairman’s Lounge must be closed. Politicians need to line up with the rest of us and wait with the hoi polloi to board the plane. It’s the only way they will see first hand how the rest of us live, particularly the long-term parliamentary leather seat warmers.

My guess would be that the most assiduous fans of the royal treatment are also rabidly republican though as pointed out above also very Soviet in flavour. Before you know it they will want their own lanes in traffic like they had in Moscow.

I suspect the preference for the splendid isolation is not so much the acknowledgement of the politicians’ elevated status but removal from ordinary voters who may ask them uncomfortable questions that our journalists would never dare.

If our delicate petals don’t want to mix with the great unwashed they can pay for private planes out of their own pockets.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 8:15 am

Nazi Jews eh Monty?

Jews Flock to Trump Event at Madison Square Garden; Dems: ‘Nazi Rally’ (27 Oct)

I like the red MAGA kippah.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 8:15 am

Fox News has live pictures of Vivek Ramaswamy addressing the Trump NYC rally. Sky News has fluffy Analiese and replays of Kamala Harris calling Trump Hitler. That says it all about the hopeless Australian media.

Last edited 5 months ago by Tom
Rafiki
Rafiki
October 28, 2024 8:57 am
Reply to  Tom

I can understand why Analiese is described as fluffy. But I have to admit she’d be a great snuggle bunny.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
October 28, 2024 8:21 am

Tony Abbot flew economy. He was ridiculed.

There is a tacit understanding among the political elites that they deserve to be pampered – after all, the fate of the nation may one day come down to whether or not they are able to be at their best. Imagine if a war were to break out because they were tired due to the thread-count on their silk sheets being too low for them to sleep properly.

Remember Bob Carr?

It is another part of their brain that tells them that the condition of the great unwashed is not important.

The fact is that they won’t take anyone seriously who does not share their appetite for comfort and prestige.

They looked at Abbott and could not make sense of him. His motivations were unfathomable.

Me good mate Wittgenstein once wrote that if a lion were somehow able to speak English, we would not understand what he was saying.

Same sort of thing.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 8:28 am
Reply to  Mother Lode

Bob Carr BA. Used to write for the Bulletin.

NFA
NFA
October 28, 2024 3:09 pm
Reply to  Miltonf

BA = Bullshit Artist

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 8:23 am

Caught a few seconds of Mike Obama trying to rally the troops for the Kamel.
Mike kept sniffing throughout the speech.
Too much “white”, powder?
Must be allergic to the hoi polloi.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:24 am

Unbelievable. And the overflow is taking over the surrounding pubs to watch.

@bennyjohnson

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IS PACKED FOR TRUMP

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:08 am
Reply to  Indolent

Just think, this is not just New York state but NYC and not just NYC but Manhattan. I smell a change in the political wind.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:13 pm
Reply to  Indolent

Bam!! Take that M0nty.

Frank
Frank
October 28, 2024 8:28 am

Caught a few seconds of Mike Obama trying to rally the troops for the Kamel.

I saw that too. She apes her husband’s cadences almost exactly.

bons
bons
October 28, 2024 9:33 am
Reply to  Frank

She apes!

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 8:28 am

Bad Hitler h/t WIP

Bad-Hitler
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:17 pm
Reply to  calli

Pressing the only option to return, x on the tab, got me back to the Cat but not this Open Thread. Had to find my place again.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 8:31 am

RFK jnr addresses the Trump NYC rally: “People ask me why I left the Democratic Party. I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”

An oldie but a goodie and 100% accurate.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:09 am
Reply to  Tom

I believe first attributed to Ronald Reagan.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 8:33 am

They looked at Abbott and could not make sense of him. His motivations were unfathomable.

When he was PM his register of interests included a mortgage on the family home, which was something of a rarity for long serving politicians in their 50’s (excluding negatively geared rental properties in Canbra rented to other pollies on a reciprical arrangement).
One of their ABC earnestly reported that this would compromise him when dealing with the Big Four Banks. I wonder if any of them have bothered to enquire whether Luigi’s mortgage on the clifftop love-nest has any sweetheart discounts.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 28, 2024 8:34 am

Just watching the picture wireless. Albo running a presser, garbling his way through airline upgrades and so on.

It would appear that he is now sporting sideburns, perhaps in an attempt to channel Edmund Barton.

Zippster
Zippster
October 28, 2024 8:34 am

What’s Wrong With Feminism? | Marathons | PragerU

Summary: The video titled “What’s Wrong With Feminism?” presented by PragerU explores critiques of modern feminism and advocates for a new perspective on women’s rights. It asserts that contemporary feminism often undermines women’s dignity, promotes harmful sexual behaviors, and devalues traditional roles such as motherhood. The speaker promotes three pillars of a new feminism: dignity, the power of saying “no,” and recognizing the importance of men as partners rather than oppressors. The video also challenges popular narratives about oppression, the gender wage gap, consent laws, and the implications of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. — ### Key Points by Section: 1. **Introduction to New Feminism**: – Advocates for a different kind of feminism focused on dignity, personal choice, and partnership with men. – Speaker’s background includes involvement in the feminist movement and recognition of the harm caused. 2. **Pillar 1: Dignity**: – Feminism should celebrate women’s choices, including family and motherhood, which are often dismissed. – Critique of the belief that women should engage in casual sex to be liberated, leading to a loss of dignity. 3. **Pillar 2: The Power of Saying No**: – Historically, women empowered themselves by using the word “no.” – Modern feminism is criticized for encouraging women to behave like men, which leads to greater objectification of women. 4. **Pillar 3: Men as Partners Not Oppressors**: – Importance of acknowledging men’s contributions to women’s rights and societal advancements. – Men and women are different and need each other to flourish; healthy masculinity should be supported, not vilified. 5. **Critique of Rape Culture Claims**: – Questions the narrative of a campus “rape culture,” arguing that statistics are often exaggerated and misleading. – Highlights a disconnect between claims of widespread sexual assault and the actual lower rates of rape. 6. **The Gender Wage Gap**: – Debunks the myth of women earning 77 cents to every dollar a man makes by explaining that such statistics do not account for career choices and hours worked. – Empirical research shows differences in earnings result from individual choices rather than systemic sexism. 7. **Claimed Victimhood of Women**: – Criticism of victim narratives that ignore women’s progress and empowerment in society. – Argues that many claims of oppression can be misleading or false. 8. **The Role of Government**: – Suggests that larger government does not necessarily benefit women and can create obstacles in the workforce through policies that lead to fewer job opportunities. – Advocates for free-market solutions that empower women instead. 9. **Conservative Women’s Representation**: – Discusses the media’s portrayal of conservative women, often omitting their successes or mocking their beliefs. – Calls for acknowledgment and respect for diverse political opinions among women. 10. **Transgender Women in Sports**: – Highlights concerns regarding fairness in women’s sports when biological males compete against females, arguing it undermines female achievements. – Discusses the personal impact and the initiative to file a lawsuit for equal competition rights in sports. — The video presents a critical stance on contemporary feminist ideologies while advocating for a return to values that respect both women’s rights and the essential roles that men play in society.

Zippster
Zippster
October 28, 2024 8:35 am
Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
October 28, 2024 5:35 pm
Reply to  Zippster

Finally somebody tells me what MSG stands for.
m0nty was being too cool to bother to spell it out.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 8:36 am

Knuckle Dragger
 October 28, 2024 8:34 am

Just watching the picture wireless. Albo running a presser, garbling his way through airline upgrades and so on.

Let me guess.
As far as he knows he was selected entirely at random for the occasional upgrade.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:39 am

Don Jr. would have had plenty of experience with children.

@greenbean1775

The other night, some over zealous supporters were a bit aggressive trying to get to see @DonaldJTrumpJr and my little one got a bit overrun. She was pretty upset and crying. 

We got her out of the crowd, and she was so sad she didn’t get that magical moment with Don Jr. 

I saw @AZSenatorShamp and told her what happened. She immediately took us to @JakeHoffmanAZ who helped us through the crowd. 

This little girl’s first reaction was to go in for the hug. He was so gracious, and gave her the hug she needed. It was a genuine reaction on both their parts: her need for comfort, and his empathy. 

I’d love to tell him how much this moment means to her. She’s told every person we have met in the past week how Don Jr. gave her a hug to make her feel better. 

Mr. Trump, if you ever see this, thank you. That moment was fleeting in your experience meeting hundreds of thousands of Americans. However, for my little girl, it was a moment she will never forget.

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 8:43 am
Reply to  Indolent

Class act.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:43 am

I haven’t posted about this weirdo before but she’d give Kamala a run for her money in idiocy.

@SteveGuest

UNHINGED: Gwen Walz says public schools stocking tampons in boys’ bathrooms is about “learning to read and closing gaps”

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 8:43 am

Remember when Latham promised to abolish the old pollies super scheme?
It wedged Howard beautifully and he had to follow suit.
Dutton should announce that he would legislate that the Chairman’s Lounge would be out of bounds for MPs, that any upgrades offered to MPs should not be accepted, and frequent flyer points accrued by MPs be vested in the Commonwealth.
It has little budgetary value but would make Luigi squirm.

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 9:05 am
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Rather than disappearing into the bowels of the “Commonwealth”, those FFPs could be amalgamated and transferred to a children’s charity – Make a Wish or similar.

Public servants and politicians are already paid handsomely out of the public purse. Upgrades from economy should be paid out of their own pockets.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:22 pm
Reply to  calli

Totally agree.

I wonder if they can claim their personal payments for fares as tax deductions for work expenses? Quite likely.

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 1:09 pm

I doubt any trougher putz their hands in their own pockets for anything during their rip-off period … LOL!

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 1:11 pm
Reply to  calli

brilliant idea .. ! but can’t imagine the self-servers cutting anything that they benefit from ……..

Titus Groates
Titus Groates
October 28, 2024 10:47 am
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Oh yes! That would be a no brainer.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:44 am
calli
calli
October 28, 2024 9:06 am
Reply to  Pogria

More voices than Mel Blanc.

….unless she’s possessed.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:24 pm
Reply to  Pogria

She’s such an actress – as many accents as there are people having them.

She’s full on gospel in this one. What a fraud.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:46 am
Jock
Jock
October 28, 2024 8:48 am

I went on to the Oz website. Saw a fleeting headline on farnham and drugs then suddenly it was gone. Anyone else see it?

Rafiki
Rafiki
October 28, 2024 8:50 am
Reply to  Jock

Yes. Maybe it’s been “legalled”.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 9:09 am
Reply to  Jock

Tele still has it.

Farnham ‘drugged for years’ by manager (not paywalled)

Australian music legend John Farnham makes disturbing claims about his late former music manager in his new book, revealing that he was secretly drugged “for years” in the early part of his career.

In new excerpts from his memoir The Voice Inside published by The Australian overnight, Farnham opens up about the mistreatment he suffered from manager Darryl Sambell during the early years of his career, when he was a teen pop idol in the 1960s with hits like Sadie the Cleaning Lady.

Given that pop music and interesting pharmaceuticals have always gone together I’m not surprised. I suspect Keith Richards would look on this as pretty wimpy really.

Jock
Jock
October 28, 2024 9:55 am

Ta. Just wondered why the take down on the oz

dopey
dopey
October 28, 2024 9:56 am
Reply to  Jock

Sadie threatened to sue.

Annie
Annie
October 28, 2024 10:20 pm
Reply to  Jock

Yes, briefly. Didn’t read it properly but you didn’t imagine it was there.

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 8:48 am

It’s Kamala wearing the brownshirt uniform Monazi.
Sure some bloke told an off colour joke at the Trump rally.
Still not as unfunny as holding up a dripping Trump effigy head though.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:15 am
Reply to  Rosie

I saw that and thought it is either deliberate or she has a stupendously stupid stylist.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:26 pm
Reply to  Crossie

As I said in a reply above to the link showing her awful jacket, I think the shoulder pads are an attempt to increase her stature and improve her very small build, but they fail. There is too much empty space under them.

Suits the empty space where her brains should be too.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:28 pm

Best comment to date on Kamala’s thoughts was Mel Gibson’s ‘she has the intelligence of a fence post’.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:49 am

@WesternLensman

“I’m rejecting the premise of your question.” — JD Vance takes a hostile, angry Jake Tapper to school over attempts to contort Trump’s comments — and calls out Fake News CNN’s promotion of the Russia Hoax.

Imagine a legacy media hack going after Kamala with this kind of vitriolic anger.

VANCE: “I’m rejecting the premise of your question. I frankly don’t believe what you’re saying about Donald Trump’s words. If you’d like to put up a clip and actually put him in context, I think the American people would realize that Donald Trump is a hell of a lot more reasonable than the people like Liz Cheney, who would like to lead us into war.”

“Ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You guys talked about the Russia hoax nonstop.”

Vance handles these hacks like no one else.

Rosie
Rosie
October 28, 2024 8:49 am

Are public servants allowed to keep their ffp, I thought they could only be used for official travel.
Otherwise doesn’t FBT apply?

Pete of Perth
Pete of Perth
October 28, 2024 9:01 am
Reply to  Rosie

When I started at CSIRO in 2008, we could acrue ffp from work travel for personal use. Changed not long after to no ffp for work travel. However could acrue status points ie bronze silver gold etc. This was tge case till I left last year. Flights were economy only. Could not use personal ffp to upgrade work travel.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 8:50 am

I note several people here yesterday describing Miles variously as petty, graceless, petulant, immature and sooky.
Like this is breaking news, people?

Salvatore - Iron Publican
October 28, 2024 10:39 am
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Prior to his election night grizzle, his hidden character traits could only be guessed, all he showed was a cheshire cat grin.

He was known as “giggles” for a reason. That he was dumb was patently obvious. That he was a sore loser wasn’t.
… until he opened his big mouth & demonstrated he was petty, graceless, petulant, immature & sooky.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:30 pm

That too, but I think his main reason for holding onto power till the last minute was he wanted to emphasise he’d done very well indeed to bring the fight up to Christafool who certainly didn’t have the expected walkover. Giggles wanted to ensure that he wasn’t rolled as leader the next day. Or anytime soon.

Rabz
October 28, 2024 8:50 am

Remember Boob “steel cut oats” Carr?

Unfortunately, yes. An absolute dork and true man o’ the people (whom he hated with a passion).

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 8:54 am
Reply to  Rabz

I thought there was some pretty dodgy stuff in that 1995 election. Not that I’m a fan of Greiner or Fahey.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:17 am
Reply to  Rabz

Such a man of the people that he flew everywhere in a helicopter, no earthbound cars for him. You could say he was misnamed.

Last edited 5 months ago by Crossie
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 9:18 am
Reply to  Rabz

“Steel cut oats?” How the Hell else do you harvest oats?

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 8:51 am

Gwen Walz uuugh. What is it about teachas and ejucators?

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 9:01 am
Reply to  Miltonf

Gwen Walz is the US version of Dan Andrews evil missus.

alwaysright
alwaysright
October 28, 2024 8:52 am

TDS is an amazing thing.

Usually rational people completely lose it.

Is it a virus or bacteria that causes such illogical behaviour?
The TDS stricken are devoid of all reason.

The people who are immune to this illness can only observe the madness.

Interaction with the TDS infected may be hazardous to your health.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 8:57 am
Reply to  alwaysright

The sure sign of TDS is that its sufferers are incapable of rational argument about American politics.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 10:36 am
Reply to  Tom

See mUntard.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 9:19 am
Reply to  alwaysright

Pavlov’s dog reflex? They have been well trained.

John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 9:22 am
Reply to  alwaysright

To assume that because a person adopts position X therefore they must be insane betrays a misunderstanding of human behavior. Einstein was a socialist. Was he insane? Haldane was a socialist. Insane? Was the Hindu Ramanujan insane? Godel was insane but was one of the leading logicians of the last century yet by your account he was devoid of all reason? You don’t have clue, don’t pretend too.

Last edited 5 months ago by John H.
Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:55 am

@jchristenson_

Auschwitz survivor Jerry Warstki, 94, denounces Kamala Harris in a new Trump campaign video for endorsing claims that former president is a “fascist” akin to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

“I know more about Hitler than Kamala will ever know in a thousand lifetimes,” he says.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 8:56 am

Rosie
 October 28, 2024 8:49 am

Are public servants allowed to keep their ffp, I thought they could only be used for official travel.

Certainly at a state level they used to accrue to the individual. Strictly speaking they were supposed to accrue to the department but it was never enforced.

Otherwise doesn’t FBT apply?

Don’t make me larf. When did a public serpent ever care about tax?
I think the difficulty with FBT on FF points is assessing a value of the benefit.

Rabz
October 28, 2024 8:56 am

The Kamel has cranked out a new accent.

Preach it!

The cackling Kamel goes full Brother Lee Love.

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 9:03 am
Reply to  Rabz

hahahahahah

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 9:09 am
Reply to  Rabz

Good times, Rabz! 😀

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:57 am
Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:01 am
Reply to  Indolent

Without Musk there would have been no Tesla cars on our roads for rich people to preen their green credentials.

Without Musk NASA’s astronauts would have been stuck up on the space station.

Think it’s a draw.

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 8:58 am
Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 9:03 am

I’m reposting this from last night for any who may have missed it. Literally from the horse’s mouth.

@TuckerCarlson

When Amaryllis Fox Kennedy says the intel agencies are a threat to our country, she’s not guessing. She spent ten years as a CIA officer before running Bobby Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. She’s now campaigning for Trump.

(0:00) The Ukraine War Scam
(9:50) Why Washington Doesn’t Care About Domestic Policy
(14:13) Intel Agencies Operating Within the Media
(19:48) How America’s War on Iraq Caused the Fall of Europe
(27:43) The Classified Documents About 9/11
(33:20) The Kennedy Assassinations
(36:21) Intel Agencies Working with Drug Cartels
(43:49) Our Politicians Are Controlled by the Intel Agencies
(57:12) The Impending EMP Crisis
(1:14:20) Why Biden Reversed Trump’s EMP Preparedness Measures
(1:26:31) The Media Blackout of Kennedy’s Campaign
(1:37:41) Bobby Kennedy Endorsing Trump

Indolent
Indolent
October 28, 2024 9:07 am
Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:02 am
Reply to  Indolent

Yep, that’ll do it.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:41 pm
Reply to  Indolent

Abortion is not the only issue, in fact, it is not really an issue at all.
Abortion is available in the US, it is a matter for the States, end of story.

What Michelle Obama is saying is don’t listen to your menfolk.
Put up with four more years of Obama pulling the strings of puppets.
Very divisive and bad advice.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 9:08 am

Quadrant magazine.

“These questions must be answered before we get to the question of reparations and who should pay what to whom. What proportion of Aboriginal blood in one’s veins decides one’s position on the ledger? Since Lidia Thorpe is of both Aboriginal and European inheritance should she be paying reparations to herself? We must wrestle with the moral and scientific basis for the theory of inherited trauma. Claims for personal injury sustained at Myall Creek would have been relatively easy to assess in 1838. A demand for compensation lodged in 2024 is a different story.”

John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 9:15 am

Let’s stop pretending there is any reasonable means to determine what would constitute a proper reparations payment. They will just pull numbers out of thin air. The reparation demand is not about justice it is about gimme gimme. Much more importantly there is no evidence that reparation payments will in any way resolve the number of issues destroying indigenous lives in remote communities.

I am completely fed up with this symbolic crap being hurled around in relation to indigenous disadvantage and how to resolve it. Time and again we must bring them back to the question: how will this money solve FADS, DV etc. etc.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 9:40 am
Reply to  John H.

One of the terms of the Draft Treaty of 1988 (from memory) was a demand for reparations, as a percentage of G.D.P., payable “In perpetuity.” Good luck with that one!

cohenite
October 28, 2024 9:17 am

Ah Vermeer; now you’re talking. Great art.

Now to the opposite: another hollywood retard:

Actress Ellen Barkin Pushes Boycott of Madison Square Garden over ‘Nazi Rally’ as New York Jews Celebrate Trump

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 9:28 am
Reply to  cohenite

Barkin mad.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 9:22 am

Haha. J.D. Vance at the Trump NYC rally: “Donald Trump has probably worked at McDonalds for longer than Kamala Harris.”

bons
bons
October 28, 2024 9:22 am

I wanted to be a fly in the wall when her Chook Excellency Jeanette swore in Crisafulli. Her gritted teeth must have damaged her dentures.

How hard it must have been for him not to respond “yeah, thanks Jean, now fugg off back to your bush hospital”.

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 9:26 am

No, really. LOL. At Trump Madison Square Garden rally.

Trump-yarmulke-Associated-Press-640x480
Lawgi Dawes-Hall
Lawgi Dawes-Hall
October 28, 2024 9:33 am

Bowen’s law: When the constituents of a society are two or more generations removed from living on the land the society is apt to go mad.

Rabz
October 28, 2024 9:37 am

When the constituents of a society are two or more generations removed from living on the land the society is apt to go mad.

Those whom the gods would seek to destroy they first make mad.

alwaysright
alwaysright
October 28, 2024 9:39 am
Reply to  Rabz

There is a tear in my trousers. Euripides?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 9:40 am

Now we get to find out.
Was Christafuli a small target?
Or is he really just small?

Christine
Christine
October 28, 2024 9:45 am
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

I saw and heard a pipsqueak.
Now I’m going to “find out”.

rugbyskier
rugbyskier
October 28, 2024 9:54 am

I like Leak’s attention to detail. In today’s cartoon he has accurately drawn the HQ Holden with four headlights. The Premier had four headlights whereas the garden variety Kingswood only had two.

Eyrie
Eyrie
October 28, 2024 9:56 am

We should be charging them for the myriad benefits we have so far given them gratis.
Not those who have joined us and are now just Australians, but those who are demanding reparations.They owe us a lot more than we owe them.

Yep, they give back ALL the bennies we’ve given them and then pay them for the megafauna extinct, burned to the ground continent we came to at what it was worth for the level of technology of 1788.
The only reason this place is worth much is because we have science and technology to actually use and make valuable the resources we have here.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 10:03 am
Reply to  Eyrie

Anyone living in a house, receiving Centrelink benefits, driving on our roads, using medical facilities and shopping in a supermarket is receiving their reparations in full.

Eyrie
Eyrie
October 28, 2024 9:59 am

A couple of days ago there was a bit of a mention of Northrop F-5’s that the Iranians have along with F-14’s armed with modified Hawk missiles (originally a ground based SAM).
A RAAF fighter pilot once told me about about an exercise the USN had from one of their carriers with F-14’s against the Chilean Air Force with F-5’s. The Chileans beat the USN about 17 to 1. He reckoned the USN weren’t worth feeding.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 10:45 am
Reply to  Eyrie

Anyone who can survive multiple take-offs and landings from aircraft carriers in fast jets must have a significant level of flying skills.

Last edited 5 months ago by Boambee John
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:46 pm
Reply to  dover0beach

All tyrannies too.

Happy to see that Argentina and Chile are not in that lot.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 10:06 am

Looking more and more like one nation is going to fade away. I’m pretty pissed off with Pauline and Latho for putting personal spats ahead of the country. I’d still vote for Pauline though if I lived in qld.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 11:13 am
Reply to  Miltonf

I think having her own name in the party is a turn off for voters. Too much, look at me and a poor judgeof character. I don’t think she has much to offer in running the country, something after all this time she should have developed.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:47 pm
Reply to  Miltonf

The ‘Please Explain’ series though has been a great promoter of the failures of Albo. They made a running joke of him. How he must hate that.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 2:26 pm
Reply to  Miltonf

I vote One Nation, but I’m sick of the personality disputes.
I’ll swap – I think – to Family First.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 10:09 am

Wow — what a rock concert. Elon Musk gives the Madison Square Garden stage to Melania Trump!

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
October 28, 2024 10:11 am

Did Goldilocks get elected?

Last edited 5 months ago by Tintarella di Luna
JC
JC
October 28, 2024 10:11 am

No surprise here.

@MarkHalperin

Over breakfast at Penn State this morning I talked to a Pittsburgh-area mental health professional who says her business has already started booming with new Democratic patients.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 10:49 am
Reply to  JC

Leftards already have mental health problems. They should have been patients years ago. Had they been, they might be voting for Trump.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:20 am
Reply to  Boambee John

Not when their therapists are sicker than they are.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:48 pm
Reply to  Crossie

Yes. Most therapy is a bad political joke.

Theodore Dalrymple has a great go at them on Quadrant.

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 1:23 pm
Reply to  JC

Is that where Matt and Martin (C.L.’s blog) have disappeared to?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 10:14 am

Now we get to find out.

Was Christafuli a small target?

Or is he really just small?

Just small.

Crisafulli maintains stance against Dutton’s nuclear plan (Paywallian, today)

Dumb.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:22 am

If Qld LNP don’t want to be a one term government they will have to either change that stupid policy or get a new premier.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:49 pm
Reply to  Crossie

They might survive if they start to build a couple of new coal fired power stations.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 12:55 pm

Not going to happen and cannot happen with Crisafulli as premier.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 10:19 am

Just watching the picture wireless. Albo running a presser, garbling his way through airline upgrades and so on.

Looking rattled and annoyed at the impertinence and sheer pettiness of the questions.

He’s on a fairly safe wicket in Canbaa however, as it turns out that 97.3% of the elected vermin are also on the Leprechaun Jolly.

?Criticism will be muted.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 10:50 am
Reply to  Dr Faustus

Who are the six not in on the racket?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 10:22 am

JC
 October 28, 2024 10:11 am

No surprise here.

@MarkHalperin

Over breakfast at Penn State this morning I talked to a Pittsburgh-area mental health professional who says her business has already started booming with new Democratic patients.

Is it time to recommission the Suicide Helpline?

Last edited 5 months ago by Sancho Panzer
Gabor
Gabor
October 28, 2024 10:23 am

How are those sanctions against Russia working?
France, Spain and Belgium are importing liquefied nat gas in record amounts from Russia.

France for instance 120% more in the first half of 2024 than a year before.

Good deal for the russkies and India etc.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 10:25 am

I presume the chairman’s lounge (shouldn’t it be chairpersons) is different from the normal business class lounge? Qantas has been dead to me since its support for Marxist identity politics became loud and clear.

johnjjj
johnjjj
October 28, 2024 10:32 am
Reply to  Miltonf

It is and it is not signposted. Look for the aspidistras.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 10:36 am
Reply to  johnjjj

Soviet

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:50 pm
Reply to  Miltonf

It’s not even the same as the First Class lounge.

Barry
Barry
October 28, 2024 10:28 am

QLD doesn’t need nuke. Plenty of coal. Burn baby burn.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 10:38 am
Reply to  Barry

Correct, Barry.

“Climate change”: the idea that a trace gas is heating the planet is the greatest anti-scientific scam in the history of humanity.

And the Stupid Frigging Liberals are still going along with it.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:25 am
Reply to  Barry

Then why doesn’t Crisafulli just say so? Or is that too much for him to admit?

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 10:35 am

The thing about Pauline is she was the first political prisoner in Australia in my lifetime. It’s shocking when you think about it. Express doubleplus ungood opinions and that’s what can happen. I suppose Pell is another one.

Salvatore - Iron Publican
October 28, 2024 10:51 am
Reply to  Miltonf

Let us not forget David Ettridge. It was a tie for “first political prisoner”

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:26 am
Reply to  Miltonf

And let us not forget that Tony Abbott helped to put her in prison.

Christine
Christine
October 28, 2024 11:34 am
Reply to  Crossie

Haven’t forgotten that Tony Abbott, in his book, referred to her imprisonment as:

a “brief” time in gaol.

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 10:39 am

dover0beach

October 28, 2024 10:02 am

Arnaud Bertrand

This is probably the best thread that I’ve read on the key decisions taken at the BRICS meeting in Kazan, which are bigger than I thought at first glance.

Okay, but where the fck is Kazan?

Jacques Sapir is a renowned French economist and one of the foremost Western experts on the Russian economy.

LOl, there’s been no such thing as a “renowned Frog economist” since Bastiat.

“The conclusion of the 16th BRICS summit held in Kazan from October 22-24 resulted in important decisions.

Oh yeah, let’s have them.

It should be noted that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), joined by 4 new countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates), now represent more than 33% of global GDP compared to the G7’s 29%.

LOL, Arnie doesn’t mention China represents probably 80% of the 33%. Why? Do you know?

Among these decisions, three stand out: the institutionalization of a “partner countries” category within BRICS,

Sounds bigly, but what does it mean?

the creation of the BRICS-Clear system to facilitate exchanges between members and partner countries, and the establishment of the BRICS (Re)Insurance Company.

Oh yeah, sounds important.

Which currency are they going to use as reserve and are they going to hold Iran’s?

Last edited 5 months ago by JC
Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:28 am
Reply to  JC

This will just make it easier to slap tariffs on them.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 2:29 pm
Reply to  JC

It will be Chinese, but they don’t know it yet.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
October 28, 2024 10:40 am
H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 10:47 am

Sancho Panzer at 9:40

Now we get to find out.

Was Christafuli a small target?

Or is he really just small?

Plenty of question marks that’s for sure. Elections are now a lucky dip in Australia. No excuse for not kicking out bad governments.

Last edited 5 months ago by H B Bear
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 10:48 am

Qwerty bikers love hogs.

Harley-Davidson Struggles As Revenue Continues To Drop (27 Oct)

In another problematic financial quarter for the iconic motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson announced a significant drop in sales, reporting a 26% decline in revenue. …

As reported previously by The Dallas Express, Harley-Davidson found itself at the center of a controversy when online activist Robby Starbuck publicly criticized and called out several of the company’s recent changes, including its new focus on diversity programs.

“@harleydavidson has been one of the most beloved brands in America but recently on CEO Jochen Zeitz’s watch, they’ve gone totally woke,” Starbuck posted to social media in July.

In late August, the company officially announced its decision to discontinue its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives. It joins a growing number of major U.S. companies that have recently retracted their support for progressive policies in response to new consumer pressure.

Too late Harley peoples, you are now the Bud Light of motorcycle manufacturers. Unfortunately for you there aren’t actually many qwerty bikers. There are however a lot of red-blooded male bikers, and they don’t seem too impressed by your wokeness.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:32 am

It’s almost as if every US big business is bound for destruction as they are all now managed by a group who were all educated by the same universities. Probably more accurate to call them being miseducated, they were told to ignore the bottom line and strive for diversity.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 10:51 am

Miltonf
 October 28, 2024 10:25 am

I presume the chairman’s lounge (shouldn’t it be chairpersons) is different from the normal business class lounge? 

Yes.
Once FIFO workers started to accrue Frequent Flyer Points and the fluoro vests started to outnumber the pinstripes in the Business Class lounge, I guess avid Torrie Fighters needed a refuge.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
October 28, 2024 2:20 pm
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Yeah I’ve watched it morph over the 25 years I’ve been a member and now Gold FF. I don’t think I’ll make platinum but have had a couple of upgrades into that lounge, step above the business lounge and I know theirs another tier above that.

mareeS
mareeS
October 28, 2024 6:03 pm
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

My son is FIFO, The lounges make the commute bearable, and the boys & girls make the most of it. Must be awful for their “betters” to have to share the space.

Arky
October 28, 2024 10:52 am

Foxbody

 October 28, 2024 9:03 am

 Reply to  KevinM

I suspect because the Model A is simple and fairly straightforward to work on ( despite the Arky fuel tank stress the other day).

There are many reproduction parts available – pretty sure you can build a complete Model A without using any original parts

Correct.
The only part of a Model A Ford that cannot be bought new is the petrol tank.
So if you own a Model A Ford gas tank you own a Model A.
But as to the “why”? Why did Arky choose the Model A?
I didn’t. I never intended spending years rebuilding an old car.
I came across one in pieces in a barn through a tradesman working for me while restoring a Victorian house. He wasn’t interested in it because he was a Holden guy.
It wasn’t alone, there were two of them.
On a whim I went out to have a look at them and this thing just attached itself to me. In pieces, the body caved in on one side, the chassis lying on top of the body, the engine and gearbox out. Piles of rusty body panels. The classic barn find basket case. It was hard to see what it even was. I had no idea about Model As, or even what it was supposed to look like.
At that point I had to buy it. It wanted to come home with me.
It was like a gigantic jig saw puzzle.
The entire episode was a bit Christine, without the adolescent angst or random murders.

Last edited 5 months ago by Arky
Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 12:49 pm
Reply to  Arky

OK – the old “ It followed me home, Mum/Dear- can I keep it?” thing!
Happens quite often with old cars.

Arky
October 28, 2024 1:46 pm
Reply to  Foxbody

Exactly!

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 2:35 pm
Reply to  Foxbody

Arky, your 9:38 missive:
Bloody good thing it was a simple job eh Arky?
Well, apart from the missus.
Diamonds work. Or if you’re a bit skint, a bottle of wine – or maybe a flagon.

m0nty
October 28, 2024 10:52 am

Good to see Donald Trump catch up with old acquaintances he doesn’t see much at the MSG rally, such as Melania.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 10:57 am
Reply to  m0nty

Anyone seem Mr Emhoff lately, or is he hiding from those domestic violence charges and paternity bills?

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
October 28, 2024 11:11 am
Reply to  m0nty

What time does the milkman call at your place?

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 11:17 am
Reply to  m0nty

Meeeeooooowww!

You sound like an incel. How are the milko’s kids?

Last edited 5 months ago by Boambee John
Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 11:28 am
Reply to  m0nty

Hosing out the rubber gimp suit day.
I’d wager the red ball gag is almost flat these days.
Need a new one.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 12:53 pm
Reply to  m0nty

Hope you’re not projecting your own experience here, M0nty.

NFA
NFA
October 28, 2024 4:41 pm
Reply to  m0nty

When did you stop hitting your wife and kids, shithead?

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 10:53 am

Lots of renewable types on Google Maps trying to find out where Broken Hill is. A useful introduction into grid engineering for BAs and lawyers.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 10:59 am

Flouro in the QANTAS Club really was the beginning of the end. The Sydney QANTAS Club on a Friday afternoon was one of the most depressing places on Earth. No amount of free VB helped.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:07 am
Reply to  H B Bear

Towards the end I would just buy a beer and find a booth in the (near empty) public bar at Perth Airport. Inevitably a more pleasant experience than the QANTAS Club. May have changed.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 11:11 am
Reply to  H B Bear

Haha, Humphrey. At least the FIFO crowd works for a living, unlike most of the parasites in the Chairman’s Lounge and the suits in the Qantas Club.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:21 am
Reply to  Tom

I couldn’t possibly comment. No FIFO in my hard rock mining days.

mareeS
mareeS
October 28, 2024 6:08 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Lounges make the FIFO commute bearable for my son and the other boys&girls who travel from one side of this country to the other to make this place work. Give them a smile, Humph.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 10:59 am

In A Tale of Two Shitties news:

Asked at a press conference if he would be ‘turning on the fire hydrant’ with a pre-election cash splash after Queensland’s defeated Premier almost pulled off an unlikely election comeback on Saturday, the Treasurer said he would hold to “pragmatic and practical” economics.
[Unlinkable OZ]

“I want to reassure people and assure people that we will continue to put responsible economic management as the defining feature of this Albanese Labor government. This (upcoming federal) election was never going to be, from our side, a free-for-all of public spending. It wasn’t going to be before Saturday’s outcome, and it’s not going to be after Saturday’s outcome,” he said.

“I don’t want to pretend that there aren’t lessons for us as well. Of course there are. There are always lessons in (state) elections like this one. There are always things that we can learn. There are always things that we can do better. And we will go through the results with that in mind.

Translation: Yes. Shit yes. Do you think we’re out of our minds?

cohenite
October 28, 2024 11:06 am

QLD doesn’t need nuke. Plenty of coal. Burn baby burn.

Crisahalffulli is going small pumped hydro. I suppose by that he means a couple of blokes on a hand pump at the bottom of a waterfall. Hasn’t the idiot looked at turdball’s monument to vanity and the fact that like all ruinables pumped hydro has a negative EROEI. You literally use more energy pumping the water uphill than the energy you get when you release the water back downhill.

We are literally living in the age of stupidity.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:10 am
Reply to  cohenite

Pumped hydro is (at best) a time and price arbitrage. One step removed from Keynes paying people to paint rocks white.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 11:10 am

Good to see Donald Trump catch up with old acquaintances he doesn’t see much at the MSG rally, such as Melania.

One of the many petty, vicious reasons the leftoids hate Trump is that he has a beautiful wife. Isn’t that right dickless.

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 11:31 am
Reply to  cohenite

Cohenite, not just beautiful, highly intelligent, graceful and CLASS!

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 2:32 pm
Reply to  cohenite

What a deadshit

Arky
October 28, 2024 11:11 am

I do keep the shed locked to stop the A from going out on it’s own and murdering people.
If it is possessed by an entity, I don’t think it is altogether friendly.
I don’t turn my back on the old girl, and things do mysteriously get misplaced in the shed and injurious mishaps are frequent.
But that’s probably me clumsy, forgetful and aging. Probably.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 11:22 am
Reply to  Arky

Not out of the realms of possibility…I recall your efforts to get her up your fairly steep driveway. And her anemic brakes!

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 11:17 am

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha

 October 28, 2024 9:08 am

Quadrant magazine.

“These questions must be answered before we get to the question of reparations and who should pay what to whom. 

Somehow I don’t think that recent arrivals will be pleased to pay more taxes which will be given to the entitled idle class.

I also don’t think there is a clause in the citizenship oath which states that new citizens must pay “restitution” for the benefits of civilisation given to earlier arrivals* by later arrivals whether in perpetuity or as a one-off.

*Aboriginals are simply earlier arrivals who made the continent worse than they found it. And for that vandalism we must reward them?

Arky
October 28, 2024 11:18 am

If I was going to choose something to restore, rather than letting an evil possessed vehicle follow me home, I would do an old 1970s Honda CB. Maybe a 100 or a 125.
Pretty, don’t take up much space, and fun to ride once finished.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 11:25 am
Reply to  Arky
Arky
October 28, 2024 11:48 am

Old Valiants and other Chrysler products mostly gone to God now.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:09 pm
Reply to  Arky

One of my husband’s cousins owned a lime green Charger and another had a Valiant with Venetian blinds on the back window. My husband was a Ford man.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 11:19 am

I think it’s just been conclusively proved that serial liar Kamala Harris never worked at Maccas.

Liberals spread fake image of Kamala’s face superimposed on female Canadian McDonald’s employee who died of cancer in 2007 (27 Oct)

What total slimeballs, there’s low and then there’s this low, but that’s lefties for you. They would never attempted such a thing if there was any actual record. McDonalds themselves say don’t have any.

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 11:33 am

The Gimp endorses this blatant subterfuge.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 11:19 am

The Big Learning from the Broken Hill blackout should be the near impossibility of operating diversified and intermittent renewables without the ‘backbone’ of a stable synchronous grid supply.

This is 19thC Electrical Engineering 101 stuff, now apparently being relearned by the Arts-Law kiddies via practical experience.

Unfortunately, it is also our future.

alwaysright
alwaysright
October 28, 2024 11:30 am
Reply to  Dr Faustus

I’m thinking of Australia as toxic waste dump of windmills and solar panels.
If we dump them in the flat red centre we could get an artificial mountain with great views of the rock.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 1:05 pm
Reply to  alwaysright

So tourists could climb it?
Maybe not, it would be declared sacred to the intermittent power worshippers, or something.

Gabor
Gabor
October 28, 2024 11:23 am

m0nty
October 28, 2024 10:52 am

Good to see Donald Trump catch up with old acquaintances he doesn’t see much at the MSG rally, such as Melania.

You really like hitting below the belt.
I don’t know why I defend you sometimes?

Why would she be involved in the campaign?

cohenite
October 28, 2024 11:26 am
Reply to  Gabor

WTF would you defend a complete arsehole?

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:31 am
Reply to  Arky

Not quick. Better looking than a Postie bike though.

Arky
October 28, 2024 11:46 am
Reply to  H B Bear

Postie bike would be my second pick.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 1:08 pm
Reply to  Arky

I vaguely recall a modified Postie bike racing at Mallala in the lower classes – would pick up the front wheel on gearchanges.
That would have been around 1969 or 70.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 12:04 pm
Reply to  Arky

Mate had a 125. We used to rib him about not being able to handle the power. Later he became national champion and took the chequered flag at Daytona

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 1:34 pm
Reply to  GreyRanga

1000cc class

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
October 28, 2024 2:11 pm
Reply to  Arky

Orthopaedic surgeons used to call Honda and Kawasaki motorcycles Hirohito’s revenge.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:28 am

QLD doesn’t need nuke. Plenty of coal. Burn baby burn.

Queensland electricity exports (as a result of excess government generating capacity) has allowed the NEM to last as long as it has. Those days are coming to an end.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 12:01 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Mate had a 125, we used to rib him about not being able to handle the power. Went on to be national champion and took the chequered flag in the 1000cc class at Daytona.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 11:29 am

If I was going to choose something to restore, rather than letting an evil possessed vehicle follow me home, I would do an old 1970s Honda CB. Maybe a 100 or a 125.

Pretty, don’t take up much space, and fun to ride once finished.

Way to go. I have 1.9 Norton Commando’s awaiting my retirement.

(Although restoring a demonic Model A is a far nobler pursuit.)

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 11:39 am
Reply to  Dr Faustus

Old Nortons weren’t slow. Was a guy on one on my Perth commute who always left me behind.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 11:49 am
Reply to  H B Bear

They were alpha bikes of their generation. Now, burned off at the lights by every boy-racer on an entry-level Jap.

They are however comfortable long distance rides because of the extra weight cleverly engineered into the design.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 1:36 pm
Reply to  Dr Faustus

I’m jealous

alwaysright
alwaysright
October 28, 2024 11:38 am

We are literally living in the age of stupidity.

0.04%

Arky
October 28, 2024 11:43 am

I have no evidence for the following, but I believe that in most circumstances you are better off not getting what you want. Selecting precisely what you desire after careful consideration often ends in disaster.
Consider the girl of your dreams from your youth. If you could have magically got that girl, how might that have turned out? what does she look like today? How many of you did marry the girl of your dreams? Did that turn out as good as expected?
There were times I got to pick the classes I taught. Usually the “good” class turned out not so good. Whereas the random assortment of lunatics and mongs flung together who had driven others to the end of their tethers worked out quite well.
Imagine if you could have pushed a button in 2020 and decided the US election. We would never have had Trump 2024. No JD Vance running. Pence would be the 2024 Republican candidate.
Sometimes, going with the flow and taking what you are given is the way to go.
The girl you really wanted in 1977 is now a fat, old cow who drove several men to divorce and the edge of suicide. You dodged so many bullets.

Last edited 5 months ago by Arky
John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 1:29 pm
Reply to  Arky

Arky

 October 28, 2024 11:43 am

I have no evidence for the following, but I believe that in most circumstances you are better off not getting what you want. Selecting precisely what you desire after careful consideration often ends in disaster.

Never took you for a Nietzsche fan.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 1:40 pm
Reply to  Arky

My missus is better looking now than when I met her in 72.

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 2:03 pm
Reply to  Arky

I have been blessed with a husband who is probably a finer man than I deserved. On my birthday last week he gave me a card that made me blubber uncontrollably.

Frank
Frank
October 28, 2024 4:07 pm
Reply to  Arky

The Rolling Stones wrote a song about that.

Lawgi Dawes-Hall
Lawgi Dawes-Hall
October 28, 2024 11:43 am

re motorcycles, tinkering and stuff

Should any Cat not be aware of this gentleman, I commend his work to you with great enthusiasm.

Oh, and re bringing sexy back

Morini 3 1/2

Last edited 5 months ago by Lawgi Dawes-Hall
Arky
October 28, 2024 12:09 pm

Beautiful.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 1:18 pm

Mr Millyard is a genius, no debate allowed.
Which lead me to recall – today’s thread is interfering with work, I must confess – and this kind of brings the discussion back to where it started.
A chap in California with Millyard level skill made an overhead cam Model A engine using a pair of Subaru flat 4 heads – apparently the bore spacing is similar. Haven’t checked it myself, you understand…..

John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 1:26 pm
Eyrie
Eyrie
October 28, 2024 11:52 am

Anyone who can survive multiple take-offs and landings from aircraft carriers in fast jets must have a significant level of flying skills.

Flying skills, yes, fighting skills a different matter.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 1:37 pm
Reply to  Eyrie

Those without flying skills are useless, regardless of the level of their fighting skills.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 11:54 am

Somehow I don’t think that recent arrivals will be pleased to pay more taxes which will be given to the entitled idle class.

That may depend on whether they grew up imbibing grievances against colonialism with mother’s milk. My observation, for what it’s worth, is that many from the sub-continent and Africa did. Others, however, might surprise us by exhibiting a better understanding of the Australian ethos of citizenship than some native born possess (I think I’m correct in saying it’s a long time since civics was taught in Australian classrooms.

Arky
October 28, 2024 12:08 pm

Trump’s political career has been the classic hero’s journey.
A tale of redemption.
It remains to see if the ending completes the tale in a satisfactory, classical way.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 1:02 pm
Reply to  Arky

Very nicely put, Arky.

He’s like King Ulysses returning to life with faithful Penelope in Ithaca after many an adventure and his original hubris, which caused the initial wrath of the gods, now redeemed by his many trials, tribulations and adventures.

He’s even taken a bullet and survived by a miracle. The gods smile.

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
October 28, 2024 12:11 pm

The very astute Tom:
Fox News has live pictures of Vivek Ramaswamy addressing the Trump NYC rally. Sky News has fluffy Analiese and replays of Kamala Harris calling Trump Hitler. That says it all about the hopeless Australian media.”

Australians who are not getting their info from a range of shows including Fox News (The Five, Laura, Jesse, Hannity and Gutfeld) plus Sky At Night, are hopelessly misled about US politics. Even the polling numbers in the USA are affected by Trump voters not saying who they are voting for. No wonder, when having a Trump/Vance sign in your front yard can get you abused.

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 12:12 pm

Re Quaint-arse club, kept up my membership when I was flying 10 times a year, but after that $500+ pa for free drinks and toasties was a rip-off – yes, particularly when it became over-crowded.

Back in the day you used to get priority bags but then that stopped. Dunno why – maybe the new computerised bag belts couldn’t cope.

Just had a look and annual membership is $699.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 1:19 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

You get freebies for the relevant airline’s club when you buy a business class ticket. That tends to do us these days. When working, Hairy got his membership paid and as a platinum flyer we were often bumped up to the First Class lounge. The quality and value of the Qantas Club has fallen badly off in the years since Hairy retired.

If we’re going Premium Economy, which we do now on daytime flights, you get a quick check in included, also when you flash a status card (mine is silver) on any economy run that is connected to OneWorld ff’s. That’s the main advantage, imho, not waiting at check-ins. We mostly arrive JIT but if we have half an hour to kill after passing security we buy a drink in the bar and toast the trip. Who needs extra nibbles? Buy them if you wish.

We’ve never considered it worth paying for a single-use club membership with some private outfit. Might be worth it if flying non-business on a gruelling route, for a rest and a shower. Never had to do this so far.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
October 28, 2024 2:27 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

SAtill got priority tags but the weird beards in the handling area don’t care.

Best one last year was a flight back from Sydney full of African immigrants whose luggage plastered with IOM stickers all coming out first, even before the Business Class luggage.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 2:48 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

Silver (or higher) FF status is the way to go. Got bumped into Business London-Singapore when I was bouncing around more, which only made Economy even worse thereafter.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 12:13 pm

Speaking of colonialism…

A Moral Maze of Post-Colonial Guilt

Nick Cater, Quadrant Online, 27th October 2024

There is no such thing as an easy win in politics. It is wrong to assume from the margin of last year’s Aboriginal Voice referendum that the result was a foregone conclusion. Yet when the Prime Minister announced the referendum in mid-2022, there was a substantial margin in favour of the Voice, allowing its supporters to dismiss those who spoke against it as Neanderthal racists, particularly if the critics were white, male conservative columnists of a certain age.

Two people gave me the courage to say what needed to be said about the Voice. The first was Senator Jacinta Nampijimpa Price, whose maiden speech in July 2022 passionately expressed the feelings many of us had hidden. Price reframed the argument from Aboriginal rights to responsibilities and the equalising bond of citizenship that accords the same respect to every Australian regardless of their background.

The second great enabler was Professor Nigel Biggar.

Professor Biggar is an Anglican priest, theologian, and ethicist from Britain who had not stepped foot in Australia until this month. His much-anticipated book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning was finally published in February 2023. Bloomsbury dropped the book in the final stages of editing out of fear for its likely reception from the woke establishment. It was eventually published by HarperCollins after Rupert Murdoch intervened.

Biggar is well qualified intellectually and temperamentally to navigate the tangled moral maze of post-colonial guilt. He declines to condemn British imperialism outright, but he does not claim that it was always and everywhere a good thing. This moral nuance enrages his critics.

Biggar takes us back to first principles to expose the flaws in the post-colonial argument. Assuming wrongs were committed in the early years of settlement, can Australians still be held responsible generations later? Is there such a thing as collective guilt, or should guilt only be attached to a person due to personal moral decisions?

These questions must be answered before we get to the question of reparations and who should pay what to whom. What proportion of Aboriginal blood in one’s veins decides one’s position on the ledger? Since Lidia Thorpe is of both Aboriginal and European inheritance should she be paying reparations to herself? We must wrestle with the moral and scientific basis for the theory of inherited trauma. Claims for personal injury sustained at Myall Creek would have been relatively easy to assess in 1838. A demand for compensation lodged in 2024 is a different story.

No biological mechanism for the intergenerational transfer of trauma has been established, so how is it supposed to happen? And how can one be held to have participated in a crime in which they did not participate and did not profit?

Biggar cites a letter published in The Times by a former British diplomat who recounted a conversation with a ruler of Nigeria shortly after the country’s independence. The ruler was pressing the case for reparations for decades of colonial oppression.

“I entirely agree,” the diplomat replied. “And you shall have your compensation – just as soon as we get ours from the Romans.”

As Professor Biggar writes in a memorable line in his book: “The riotous jungle of history overgrows and obscures the causal pathways.”

Biggar’s influence in the final months of the referendum debate was not insignificant. It added cogency and intellectual heft to the arguments for the No case many of us were making, giving us arguments that were hard to refute.

The retreat to ad hominem arguments by Voice advocates as the referendum grew closer signaled they had run out of intellectual firepower. Ray Martin’s late denunciation of No voters as dickheads and dinosaurs was a sign of desperation more than anything.

Many people deserve credit for preventing the establishment of a powerful sectarian institution that sought to lock a racial hierarchy in civic debate into the Constitution.

Two deserve special mention. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price gave us the courage and confidence to fight, while Biggar replenished our intellectual arsenal with unadulterated, clear-headed thinking — and, as he explains below, paid a heavy price.

For those unfamiliar with Biggar, he has also written cogently against the proliferation of human rights and in defense of war against pacifism.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 28, 2024 1:05 pm
Reply to  Roger

I’m currently reading Biggar’s book which I purchased at the recent Quadrant dinner where he spoke very well to it. It is extremely readable, which for some reason I hadn’t expected. Not hard going at all.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 5:45 pm
Reply to  Roger

I’d not heard of the book – but just bought it add to the electronic pile beside my bed.
Thanks, Wodger.

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 12:15 pm

A woman charged with assaulting outspoken Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe at the MCG in May this year is a proud Yorta Yorta woman and Richmond Tigers AFL fan.

Ebony Bell, 27, allegedly assaulted the firebrand senator after the AFL Dreamtime match between Essendon and Richmond at the MCG on May 25.

On Monday, she appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court via video link from her home where the court heard she was accused of attacks on multiple people. 

Daily Mail

cohenite
October 28, 2024 12:26 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

Fuking hilarious: the mad 3rd nations skank is beat up by another 3rd nations skank. Yorta yorta!

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:31 pm
Reply to  cohenite

A great belly laugh.

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 12:48 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

I’m shocked!

No one could have predicted this!

rugbyskier
rugbyskier
October 28, 2024 2:47 pm
Reply to  calli

You nailed it straight away with the assessment it was a scrag fight.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 2:54 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

More blak on blak violence. Sort of.

johanna
johanna
October 28, 2024 3:47 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

Yorta Yorta, yada yada. 🙂

And props to calli for nailing it first.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 12:15 pm

From The Oz….

Aston says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seems particularly fond of freebies and the luxurious surrounds of the Chairman’s Lounge.

“For all his talk of growing up in public housing, his appetite for sponsored VIP hospitality and travel is insatiable,” he says, adding that it was Albo who petitioned Alan Joyce to have the privileges of the Chairman’s Lounge extended to his then 22-year-old son, Nathan.

Albanese complained, bitterly, when the story broke in Aston’s newspaper column. “This is a game played by people when their back is against the wall,” says Aston. “Albanese said: ‘You can’t attack my son. You’re attacking my son. He’s not a public figure.’

“No one was ever attacking his son. What Albo did, through his grasping behaviour, was throw his son into the middle of the traffic. No one else did that. I didn’t do that. The Prime Minister did that because he can’t help himself.

“He spoke to Alan Joyce and said, ‘Can you please give my son a member of the Chairman’s Lounge?’ And no other Prime Minister has ever dreamed of asking that question. I mean, it is pretty shocking.

“Now, I’m not saying now that there is established causation between Albanese getting a Chairman’s membership for his son, and Qatar Airways, for example, being blocked (from flying more frequently into Australia).

“But what it does do is raise a lot of questions.”

Gosh, he’s one big grub.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 12:39 pm

Gosh, he’s one big grub.

Grown fat feeding in the veggie patch of public life.

Last edited 5 months ago by Roger
Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 1:08 pm

Reminds me of a post (losing) election report by the federal secretary of the Liars (David Coombes at the time IIRC).

The killer quote was along the lines that Labor “looked like a party of rorters who do not expect to be in office often or for long”.

Last edited 5 months ago by Boambee John
Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 1:25 pm
Reply to  Boambee John

The very definition of Julia Gillard.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 2:56 pm

Animal Farm with an Australian flavour.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 5:48 pm

Freebie Albaneezie.
Scum.
Duplicitous scum.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 12:19 pm

ROFL!

Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei launches Hebrew account on X/Twitter (26 Oct)

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, opened a Hebrew X/Twitter on Saturday night.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s X account in Hebrew has been suspended (28 Oct)

The Hebrew X/Twitter account opened by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been suspended after just two posts. 

I blame Mondayitis.

P
P
October 28, 2024 12:19 pm
Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 12:24 pm

Eggcelent!

Israel set to pass bills shutting down UNRWA despite int’l pressure (27 Oct)

The Knesset is set to pass two bills on Monday that would shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency operations in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank within 90 days, despite a massive international pressure campaign against such a step.

A source in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the bills were expected to pass.

Foreign Ministers from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement expressing their “grave concern” over the shutdown, particularly in light of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza due to the war.

Deport their sorry arses. I wish we could do the same with Bad Penny.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 12:27 pm

From The Daily Telegraph. So much for Thorpe’s attacker being a far-right white supremacist.

We all knew Thorpe’s story was bulltish. The woman charged is herself ‘indigenous’ and she and Thorpe knew each other.

Woman accused of Lidia Thorpe assault says she’s received threats since police charge
The woman accused of attacking firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe outside the MCG says she’s received a barrage of threats from the public.

Preston woman Ebony Bell, 28, appeared via video link in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with multiple counts of unlawful assault and recklessly causing injury.

Police allege the Koori woman, who uses an online alias, assaulted Ms Thorpe after the Dreamtime AFL game between Essendon and Richmond in May this year.

Ms Bell and Senator Thorpe are alleged to be known to each other.

It’s alleged the pair were known to each other prior to the alleged assault.
Ms Bell’s barrister Manny Nicolosi told the court his client was appearing remotely because of threats she had received since being charged by police.

He convinced magistrate Belinda Franjic to allow the woman to avoid attending court in person at her next appearance on November 22 and instead reappear via video link.

“This case has sensitivities,” Mr Nicolosi said.

The court heard an offer to resolve the matter had been made on Friday and was still under consideration.

Mr Nicolosi said there were “real deficiencies” in the case and cast doubt over whether the assault publicly referred to by Ms Thorpe was the same his client was charged over.

“The alleged victim of the assault did not nominate when or where (it happened). She made only a bleak reference to the alleged assault,” Mr Nicolosi said.

Last week Ms Thorpe went public with an assault so severe she said she suffered spinal injuries which meant she could not attend parliamentary sitting days.

She has reportedly attended 28 of 44 sitting days and voted in 222 of 493 divisions so far this year.

Ms Thorpe said the injuries sustained in the assault prevented for attending parliamentary sitting days.

Last year the Senator was present for 38 of 66 sitting days (58 per cent) and voted in 206 of 558 divisions (37 per cent).

“Earlier this year I was assaulted at the MCG. I sustained serious nerve and spinal injuries in my neck, which required spinal surgery and a plate to be inserted in the back of my neck,” she said in a statement to the Herald Sun.

“There’s a scar on the front of my neck from this. I was ordered by the doctor not to travel and could not attend parliament. My doctor told me to take time off work. There is currently a police investigation under way.

“It’s unfortunate that I have been pushed to disclose this to defend myself, when I would have preferred to keep this private, but that’s just another day in the ­colony for you.”

Ms Bell uses an online alias but social media records show she is a Richmond supporter.

She was charged by detectives from the Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit.

“Investigators allege that a woman assaulted another woman outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground after an AFL match about 10.30pm,” the spokeswoman said.

“The incident was reported at Melbourne East Police Station on 26 May.

“The woman sustained minor injuries during the incident.”

Barry
Barry
October 28, 2024 2:20 pm

Is there so little news that a couple of gins having a booze-fuelled set-to ends up in the newspaper?

Aaron
Aaron
October 28, 2024 4:33 pm
Reply to  Barry

No many gins on a six year bender costing the taxpayer 250 large per annum.

Should have strangled the hag.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 5:53 pm

Now all we need is video of the scrag going horse riding or something while she’s chucked a sickie from Parliament.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 12:29 pm

Snap Top Ender.

John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 12:30 pm

No biological mechanism for the intergenerational transfer of trauma has been established, so how is it supposed to happen?

Incorrect. Epigenetic modification of HSD 11. Lots more to unpack but I’m not going there today or ever again. Put quickly: relates to stress response axis which obviously is fundamental to trauma.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 12:35 pm
Reply to  John H.

Interesting. But is it established? And does it cross generations?

John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 1:15 pm
Reply to  Roger

The idea of IT arose in 1966 from studies of the descendants of Holocaust survivors.

It isn’t just trauma that can be generationally transmitted. In a huge blow to neoDarwinism vertical transmission of traits arising from ancestor experience is documented. Not entirely Lamarckian because if anything the studies point to a deficit not a benefit as is needed for natural selection. Suits me just fine, never liked neoDarwinianism so suck on that Dawkins. Two key processes: methylation(usually inhibition of gene transcription) and acetylation(usually elevation of gene transcription).

Invoking IT as a cause of this or that behavior is problematic. Using it as a general explanation for undesired behaviors is stupid. Nor is IT inevitable, it is possible to stop the progression but that requires a cultural style like that of Jewish families.

It is not inevitable, it must wash out otherwise we’d all be damaged goods.

Don’t doubt IT. Seriously doubt those who constantly invoke it because nearly all of them don’t perceive the epistemic challenge regarding understanding human behavior and probably think CPG islands are where the pirates have hidden their treasure.

There is both a behavioral and physiological component to IT. Fascinating stuff but not as fascinating as the question that currently troubles me: which game today?

Have a nice day Roger.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 1:26 pm
Reply to  John H.

Invoking IT as a cause of this or that behavior is problematic.

We cannot be reduced to our genetic inheritance.
Thanks John.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 1:29 pm
Reply to  Roger

…and affects some races/tribes/peoples
and not others, regardless of the original level of trauma?

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 12:31 pm

Aaagh..! The joys of pedalling .. Scenic route to Fairfield .. Fairfield, Hospital, Bonnyrigg, Miller, Liverpool, Cabramatta thence Fairfield .. 25kms .. Flat tyre by fairfield Railway Station .. But seeing I’d come out to buy fruit carried on ..
Trundle home, 5kgs fruit, bike, 30C & 10kms (shortest) ……. duuuuuh!
Fast closing in on 77 but still luvvin’ life .. LOL!

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
October 29, 2024 12:06 pm
Reply to  shatterzzz

Good on you, Shatterzzz. Living it up like a true blue Aussie. Having fun, on a fine day in Springtime and loving it.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
October 28, 2024 12:41 pm

Golly gosh, have a listen to this ignorant braiwashed clown. Scary to think she will vote.

—-

Charlie and Vivek.

Trying to Talk to a CNN Viewer is Like Talking to a Rock

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 12:42 pm

Victorian magistrates have been trained on how to avoid imposing sentences that would result in violent migrant criminals such as pedophiles and drug dealers being deported from Australia.

The shock training formed part of professional development sessions for magistrates last week and was described by some attendees as “troubling”.

During the sessions, magistrates were trained on how to impose sentences for visa holders to avoid triggering deportation under migration laws.

A hypothetical example was given involving a Vietnamese student who had just arrived in Australia and had sexually assaulted an eight-year-old multiple times.

Advice was given to sentence the accused to 11 months and 15 days so that he would not be deported at the end of his sentence.

Federal laws allow the deportation of non-citizen criminals who have been in Australia for less than 10 years and sentenced to a year or more in prison.

The Herald Sun has also been told magistrates were lectured on avoiding jail sentences for drug-trafficking crimes.

“This permissive approach to crime is straight from the socialist playbook,” one justice source familiar with the training said.

Latest federal government data shows over the past five years the number of visa cancellations for child sex offences fell from 104 to just 27.

A court spokeswoman wouldn’t answer specific questions about the training but did not deny any of the details as described by the Herald Sun.

?

Salvatore - Iron Publican
October 28, 2024 12:57 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

These bastards hate Australia.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 1:36 pm

These bastards need to be affected by their judgments.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:41 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

Our legal officers keep going down in public’s estimation until we get to the point when nobody will consider them legitimate. What happens then?

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 3:03 pm
Reply to  Crossie

Victoriastan already well down that path. Luckily Pell had the resources to make it into the High Court. Everyone else?

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 1:45 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

I understand the obsession of the Left with the “oppressor and oppressed” world view & how it distorts their concept of justice. But I simply cannot comprehend their willingness to sacrifice children in order to maintain this ideology.

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:48 pm
Reply to  Vicki

These magistrates would be sentencing differently if the victims were their children or grandchildren.

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
October 28, 2024 2:17 pm
Reply to  Crossie

Or if the kiddie fiddler was a priest, rabbi or political conservative.

Miltonf
Miltonf
October 28, 2024 2:56 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

The Victorian pubic ‘service’ really is something

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 3:00 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

My succinct and cogent comment describing Love v Cth as a load of garbage was rejected by the Paywallian.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
October 28, 2024 5:26 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

We are now at the stage of pettifoggery aren’t we?

Next come when families sort things out themselves without use of judiciary or constabulary like low trust societies.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 5:59 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

They were lectured by WHOM?
The Paedophile Support Group?
The North American Man/Boy Love Association?
I’d like to know just who is lecturing our Magistrates about how to lessen the punishment of the people who abuse children, and who set these lessons up.

Salvatore - Iron Publican
October 28, 2024 1:01 pm

Queensland has 93 state electorates. Sixty-Six of these electorates are smaller in area than 100,000 acres.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
October 28, 2024 1:09 pm

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare October 28, 2024 11:59 am

Knocked me off the Cat when I clicked [Rosie’s X link] and then tried to return.

What I usually do, Lizzie, for any side diversion on the Çat is to open as a private or incognito tab (usually a right click or a long press to get the option). The Çat page sits in the background then waits while you check the link and press the Back button to close it. Simples! 🙂

Turnip
Turnip
October 28, 2024 1:14 pm

Word from within Qld PS ranks is that Armageddon is upon them.

KPI’s apparently are a psychological hazard in the workplace.

There is also about $70 mill in wage overpayments in Health that were not going to be collected. This is now on the radar as will all future overpayments

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:05 pm
Reply to  Turnip

Word from within Qld PS ranks is that Armageddon is upon them.

Please, please let it be so!

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
October 28, 2024 1:22 pm

Kaitlin. It’s good to know she has two bodyguards not on screen behind the scenes.

Big blokes.

——

Liberty Hangout:

College Kids Completely EMBARRASS Kamala Harris

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 1:23 pm

“This permissive approach to crime is straight from the socialist playbook,” one justice source familiar with the training said.

Worked well for Labor in QLD.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 1:29 pm

Astonishing cost, miserable return It will take a long time to undo the damage done to our energy grid

Alan Moran’s latest article about the hideous mess blackout and rub and tug are doing to our energy system.

Even more depressing is Melanie Phillip’s latest about Israel’s attack on iran and why much more will be needed:

The war with Iran – Melanie Phillips

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 2:12 pm
Reply to  cohenite

Should Donald be successful next week all these US “red lines” will change or disappear .. Israel only needz to bide it’s time until Nov 6 shines a new light on US mid-east policy ………….

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 6:30 pm
Reply to  shatterzzz

Do not put it past the evil bastards who actually run this current Biden Government to do something to ruin it for both President Trump and America.

Lysander
Lysander
October 28, 2024 1:35 pm

Last week the MSM were calling Trump “weird.”

This week they’ve resorted to “Nazi.”

Last week Muntard was calling Trump “weird” and this week he’s calling him Nazi.

The thing I love about the Cat is there are a lot of free-minded, independent, thinkers who approach the world from interesting (and useful) angles. Muntard does not fit in that box and, despite his efforts, can hardly do any Engels.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:08 pm
Reply to  Lysander

Muntard does not fit in that box

Does that make him weird too?
Asking for a fantasy footballer.

Last edited 5 months ago by Bruce of Newcastle
Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 2:17 pm
Reply to  Lysander

Monty supports a guy (Walz) who puts tampons in boys’ toilets and takes a male school student with him to gay bars yet calls his opponent “weird.”

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:40 pm
Reply to  Lee

Walz’s wife says putting tampons in boys toilets will help them to read.

A very strange couple.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 2:18 pm
Reply to  Lysander

You mean to tell me the fat freak doesn’t think of these things himself.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 1:37 pm

Alan Moran’s latest article about the hideous mess blackout and rub and tug are doing to our energy system.

The Greens candidate for the inner-city Brisbane seat of Maiwar, who will just retain his seat despite a 7.3% swing against him, has suggested that the Greens have won, not lost, despite their electoral setbacks.

His reasoning? They’ve won because Labor has adopted their policies.

Last edited 5 months ago by Roger
Lysander
Lysander
October 28, 2024 1:42 pm
Reply to  Roger

It looks like he’s going to win, 72% counted but he’s only ahead by 999 votes… SHAME!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:17 pm
Reply to  Roger

So the Greens won because Labor adopted their policies and lost in a landslide? Oh ok.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:42 pm

Federally, Bruce.

The context was provided by the reference to Alan Moran’s article.

But at the state level Crisafulli is committed to 70% by 2050 and pumped hydro.

Entropy
Entropy
October 28, 2024 2:47 pm
Reply to  Roger

Well, they would have won a few more seats if the LNP voters had preferenced the greens like the last election. Instead the greens almost uniformly went last and the ALP kept those electorates, and won south Brisbane.

that more than anything else saved a bit of the ALP furniture. The ALP narrative that they won the campaign is bullshit of course, as it was in fact a landslide.

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 1:39 pm

Word from within Qld PS ranks is that Armageddon is upon them

But will a cleanout (overdue) of the PS bring on a the same punishment that incurred when Campbell Newman valiantly tried the same?

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:55 pm
Reply to  Vicki

No need to go in with napalm torches, all they need to do is freeze recruitment and let natural attrition take its course.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:09 pm
Reply to  Crossie

Crisafulli has already committed to no mass redundancies.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 2:26 pm
Reply to  Roger

Hopefully matched by a recruitment freeze

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 1:40 pm

Last week Muntard was calling Trump “weird” and this week he’s calling him Nazi.

It’s projection from our very own Nazi.

Lysander
Lysander
October 28, 2024 1:41 pm

Looks like 5 remaining QLD seats will go to LNP (giving them a total of 53), four seats will go to Liebor (given them a total of 34) and 1 to Katter.

Lysander
Lysander
October 28, 2024 1:50 pm
Reply to  Lysander

Other than the 2012 QLD election, Labor last won this few seats back in 1986.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:07 pm
Reply to  Lysander

The Sunday-Mail headline was along the lines of “Minority government possible!”

Chuckle.

Black Ball
Black Ball
October 28, 2024 1:45 pm

Once FIFO workers started to accrue Frequent Flyer Points and the fluoro vests started to outnumber the pinstripes in the Business Class lounge, I guess avid Torrie Fighters needed a refuge.

Outstanding Mr Panzer. Take a bow. (Thunderous applause)

Crossie
Crossie
October 28, 2024 1:46 pm

Biggar cites a letter published in The Times by a former British diplomat who recounted a conversation with a ruler of Nigeria shortly after the country’s independence. The ruler was pressing the case for reparations for decades of colonial oppression.

“I entirely agree,” the diplomat replied. “And you shall have your compensation – just as soon as we get ours from the Romans.”

Another answer could have been to request Nigeria to first repay the colonialists the costs of construction of cities, roads railways, hospitals, schools etc. Then they can be paid reparations.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:09 pm
Reply to  Crossie

In many cases these countries wouldn’t exist apart from British colonisation. India, for example.

m0nty
October 28, 2024 1:47 pm

Musk’s PAC also going full cohenite.

Interesting closing argument to make in a close election.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:25 pm
Reply to  m0nty

I’m waiting, Monty, for you to reveal your reusable rocket, your self driving electric car, your internet satellites and your tunneling machines.

I’m amused that that person describes itself as an “adrenochrome addicted Judeo-Bolshevik cultural Marxist”. Well whatever floats your boat I suppose.

(Also I’m old enough to remember when the Dems used to say the Koch Bros were worse than Satan. John Hinderaker did a long series of all the emails he used to get from the DNC about the brothers Koch666. Please donate just $3 to stop their nefarious plans!)

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 1:51 pm

Word from within Qld PS ranks is that Armageddon is upon them.

KPI’s apparently are a psychological hazard in the workplace.

My QPS spies tell me that the major, existential hazard is that the ogre Crisafulli will interfere with Labor’s ‘remote working’ policy.

The prospect of Strategic Support Officers, Internal Workplace Relationships Managers, and Service Content Analysts having to attend a formal office environment on a regular basis is literally Hitler.

Apparently there are studies by University Experts (with F-tests and everything) that show vastly improved productivity and mental elf if these people work from home (or wherever, other than under fascist supervision) – and only Satan would interfere with this sustainable work-life-balance situation.

As we sit here, Together and the unions covering nurses, police, and teachers are developing a unified strategy to ensure that the Crisafulli Government can be demonised as worse-than-Newman for the next election.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 2:24 pm
Reply to  Dr Faustus

As much as Chrisifooli is literally Hitler, where does that leave Donald John Trump? He can’t be Hitler as well. Can they share the name and what about other slightly conservative leaders, do they get a turn?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:28 pm
Reply to  Dr Faustus

My QPS spies tell me that the major, existential hazard is that the ogre Crisafulli will interfere with Labor’s ‘remote working’ policy.

I think that upgrades Armageddon to Ragnarok.

Entropy
Entropy
October 28, 2024 2:47 pm
Reply to  Dr Faustus

Same thing happening in the APS under Albanese.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:05 pm
Reply to  dover0beach

Preferred, but not only; we have bilateral trade agreements with most.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 2:33 pm
Reply to  dover0beach

The problem of voting for a government when you are already halfway down the throat of a bear is whether you should bother trying to extract yourself from its maw. Doesn’t help either when every government is corrupt as.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 6:01 pm
Reply to  dover0beach

Somehow I don’t think the bear will ever leave them be, especially after taking two large bites out of it already.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 2:09 pm

Musk’s PAC also going full cohenite.

Like all leftoids dickless when you try to be funny you are even more grotesque. In fact Elon is much more gentile than me with his clever play on “c” word for communism. For me the “c” word is for both commies and kunts.

Which reminds me of an old classic joke:

Old Bert in the front bar of the pub. Smartie comes in and says to the barmaid:

Smartie: tickle me arse with a feather.
Barmaid: what did you say?!
Smartie: typically nasty weather

Old Bert likes this and goes out to the back bar and says to barmaid:

Old Bert: tickle me arse with a feather
Barmaid: what did you say?!
Old Bert; kunt of a day.

m0nty
October 28, 2024 3:01 pm
Reply to  cohenite

The thing with double entendres is that they can only mean one thing.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 2:17 pm

Dr Faustus
 October 28, 2024 11:19 am

The Big Learning from the Broken Hill blackout should be the near impossibility of operating diversified and intermittent renewables without the ‘backbone’ of a stable synchronous grid supply.

This is 19thC Electrical Engineering 101 stuff, now apparently being relearned by the Arts-Law kiddies via practical experience.

Unfortunately, it is also our future.

Come on, man!
I studied “Reimagined Power Generation and Distribution for the New Millennium” as part of my Arts Degree.
The first thing we learnt was that Powerful Vested Interests would say just this sort of thing.

Entropy
Entropy
October 28, 2024 2:57 pm
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

Nothing like a bunch of HR consultants telling engineers how things work.

in my recent employment experience (state and federal) the latest thing is to set up an EPMO to cast judgement over programs and projects in the line areas of the agency. It would make sense for an EPMO to be under the senior executives of the line areas of the department, but no, it seems these end up in the HR division.

these “People and Culture” wankeries need the Rabz Doctrine even more than the ABC.

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 2:21 pm

I’m still baffled by the cost of this “weekender” .. Knowing the “Copa” area I know the house, great for whale watching but a hassle for the beach 

It really is “horses for courses”. There are waterfront purchasers those who love views, and those who want to be on, or over the road, from a beach. Let me tell you, the price does not necessarily favour beachside presence.

Many years ago we had a beach house on the NSW Sth Coast that had the most spectacular ocean views you could want. It was high up, with a walk directly down to rockpools, with a further walk along to the beach. That house was valued at the same price as houses that fronted the beach. Mind you, you had to brave the damn ticks through the bush to the rocks! Carpets snakes – fine; ticks – No!

Entropy
Entropy
October 28, 2024 2:51 pm
Reply to  Vicki

Maybe Albo and Jodie want to walk the trail down to Macmasters beach and get all their kit off to frolic in the sea in their birthday suits??

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 3:06 pm
Reply to  Entropy

Mcmasters is a bit further along other end of Copa Beach ….
too far for Luigi to walk .. LOL!

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
October 28, 2024 2:23 pm

“He spoke to Alan Joyce and said, ‘Can you please give my son a member of the Chairman’s Lounge?’ And no other Prime Minister has ever dreamed of asking that question. I mean, it is pretty shocking.

Watch this space.
Luigi will invent a story that his son was being harassed by Far-Right Eshtremishts and he just wanted to protect him from these attacks where he could.
This is how we fight Torries.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
October 28, 2024 2:29 pm
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

It’s funny Thancho how whenever someone writes about Luigi I put on the same face and splutter through the commentary.

shatterzzz
October 28, 2024 3:07 pm
Reply to  GreyRanga

I alwayz expect the “houso” reference to be prominent ………!

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 2:53 pm
Reply to  Sancho Panzer

People who dislike Tories like Albo fight Tories.

People who fight Torries are just illiterates who can’t spell the word.

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 2:28 pm

Greens leader Adam Bandt’s extraordinary response after Qantas perks come to light during tense exchange with ABC journalist

Adam Bandt said people ‘can make their own judgment’ about him enjoying an exclusive and discretionary perk from Qantas in a tense exchange with a journalist.

The Greens leader has been outed as a member of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, an invitation-only set of catered waiting areas and services handed out by the airline in what has been called ‘Australia’s most exclusive club’.

Mr Bandt was challenged on Monday by ABC Radio National stand-in host Steve Cannane that he was ‘enjoying free hospitality from a company that has illegally sacked hundreds of workers’.

Mr Bandt replied: ‘And I’ll declare that and people can make their own judgement about what they think about that.’

Cannane was referring to the Federal Court’s ruling that Qantas illegally sacked 1,700 workers at the start of the Covid pandemic in a case brought by Transport Workers Union. 

Commenting on the sacking in June of 2020, Mr Bandt called it a ‘devastating day for thousands of Qantas workers & their families’ in a Facebook post. ‘We’re thinking of you,’ he wrote.

Daily Mail

Old Lefty
Old Lefty
October 28, 2024 8:18 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

What’s the betting that the personnel file of ABC stand-in host Steve Cannane has already been stamped ‘Never to be re-employed’?

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 2:29 pm

I studied “Reimagined Power Generation and Distribution for the New Millennium” as part of my Arts Degree.

The first thing we learnt was that Powerful Vested Interests would say just this sort of thing.

Have a heart; it’s bloody hard being a tool of Big Energy.

There are so many people like you with ‘alternative knowledge’.

We used to be able to just scoff at people who knew that we murdered the original inventor and now controlled the technology to produce oil from water. Not so easy these days.

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 2:32 pm

The story about the sprog and the Chairman’s Lounge coupled with the demands for upgrades reminded me of stories about the Ceseauscus. Her Maj had everything valuable removed from apartments when they visited – they were well known pilferers of trifles because entitlement.

No, it doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.

The “don’t you know who I am” is strong in this one.

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 2:39 pm

Commenting on the sacking in June of 2020, Mr Bandt called it a ‘devastating day for thousands of Qantas workers & their families’ in a Facebook post. ‘We’re thinking of you,’ he wrote.

Oink! Oink!

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 2:52 pm

Ray Martin’s late denunciation of No voters as dickheads and dinosaurs was a sign of desperation more than anything.

More a comment on the J’ismist class. Ray’s lack of class on full display when John Safran was going through his bins. Well worth hunting down on YouTube.

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 2:58 pm

I went on a date yesterday. Well, we met up for coffee and cake at Avner’s. He asked me out in Shul on Yom Kippur, suggesting ‘coffee’. I knew he’d been eying me for months and whenever he would see me, he’d produce a big smile. I was flattered and said yes.

Two drawbacks, one he’s a lawyer, I have only ever attracted lawyers. Secondly, he has TDS despite being a conservative.

However, all of this was music to my sick mother’s ears when I told her. Despite being 85 years old, she nearly jumped out of her bed with glee!

And yes, I’ll meet him again!

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 3:01 pm

Does he like dogs and cats?

Cassie of Sydney
October 28, 2024 3:02 pm
Reply to  Pogria

Yes. Very important.

Entropy
Entropy
October 28, 2024 3:22 pm

More importantly, what kind of car does he drive?

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 3:25 pm

Go you good thing, Cassie!

Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 5:15 pm

However, all of this was music to my sick mother’s ears when I told her. Despite being 85 years old, she nearly jumped out of her bed with glee!

Hope springs eternal!

😀

Bruce in WA
October 28, 2024 5:47 pm

Go for it, Cass!

“A man chases a woman until she catches him!”

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 3:00 pm

“He spoke to Alan Joyce and said, ‘Can you please give my son a member of the Chairman’s Lounge?’ And no other Prime Minister has ever dreamed of asking that question. I mean, it is pretty shocking.

As I understand, Handsome Boy claims he was able to have his son included as his “plus one” – because he was then single.

I’m very worried that arrangement might create unbearable tension in the Albanese household now that he is to be married. Because Shirley post-Joyce QANTAS won’t be able to dish out yet another membership?

No, really.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 3:21 pm
Reply to  Dr Faustus

Nothing like a bit of Father Son bonding in the Chairman’s Lounge over complimentary drinks and canapés.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
October 28, 2024 3:24 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Yes, only a monster would object to that.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 3:43 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Sounds like your true Tory to me!

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 3:09 pm

The Greens leader has been outed as a member of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, …

No one likes being outed.

Tom
Tom
October 28, 2024 3:29 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

That’s as big a story as Elbow sucking up to the Poison Dwarf.

Bandt is just an elitist POS who thinks the peasants should lick his boots — when as a Marxist revolutionary he pretends to be the exact opposite.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 4:23 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Be better if he were to be ousted.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 4:50 pm
Reply to  Boambee John

Better outed than ousted. No argument there. Inside the Chairman’s Lounge looking out and all that.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 5:53 pm
Reply to  H B Bear

Most Greens seem very outable.

Barry
Barry
October 28, 2024 3:24 pm

Declaration of a conflict-of-interest does nothing to neutralise that conflict. The corruption remains, festering and stinking the whole place up.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 3:42 pm
Reply to  Barry

Mangy Roo a bit of a punching bag lately. Where is my tiny violin?

local oaf
October 28, 2024 3:29 pm

🙂

464828071_10161743166482488_472104795076808707_n
Kneel
Kneel
October 28, 2024 3:49 pm

“We used to be able to just scoff at people who knew that we murdered the original inventor and now controlled the technology to produce oil from water. “

Sheesh, stay up to date, will ya?
It’s called “Green Hydrogen” these days.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 3:49 pm

Two drawbacks, one he’s a lawyer, I have only ever attracted lawyers.

I’ve only ever attracted women and gays.

Secondly, he has TDS despite being a conservative.

Alright, this is serious. It’s like a trannie saying I’m a woman despite having a dick. This is a test for you and him. I’m not saying you have to go Lysistrata on the bloke but you’ve got to toss that coin and if it keeps coming down TDS he ain’t no conservative. What approach are you going to take: tough and firm or feminine wiles? Why don’t you suggest he blogs here for a while.

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 3:56 pm

Dover:
Our coal and iron ore exports are denominated in US dollars because the spot markets for immediate delivery are publicly listed in USD. Balance sheets, profits and loss statements are all in dollars for the big mining companies. We’re not about to switch to non-convertible currencies, regardless of the BRICS’ latest will-to-power plays.
BHP simply won’t be dealing in any currency that isn’t freely convertible.
And no, just because someone’s waving a magic wand in Kazan—wherever the fck that is—doesn’t mean things will change, no matter what Arnie, Xi, or the Russian kleptocrat have to say.
The only real risk for the dollar is the US debt load, but given that most other countries are equal or in even deeper, it’s not going to be a concern for at least the next decade.

Let’s try to understand this. The most important and core basis for any reserve currency is the ability to transact freely and to at least have a shot at being able to get your money back when you want it. Not a single one of those BRICS idiots allow for anything like that. They ALL have strong capital controls and they’re mostly there to prevent their own citizens from moving money to another domicile or currency. Consequently anyone outside wanting to park funds in these shitholes would be immensely retarded.

And just to give you one last example: Last Friday, I paid an outstanding bill for repair work in the US. I simply went to my Australian bank account, converted Aussie dollars into US dollars, and made the payment. The next day, the firm emailed to confirm they had received the funds. Presto – as easy as clicking a few keys on the keyboard.

On the other hand, if you want to get money out of China, the current workaround is to buy diamonds, fly to Singapore, sell them, and receive whatever currency you need. Although the transaction in China starts with Yuan, it’s based in US dollars since diamond prices are set in USD.

Nothing meaningful will change unless these imbeciles open their capital accounts for conversion—no matter what you and Arnie might be hoping for.

Arnie is a bold idiot.

Last edited 5 months ago by JC
Kneel
Kneel
October 28, 2024 4:09 pm
Reply to  JC

Isn’t the Yuan fixed to the US dollar?

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 4:04 pm

Cassie of Sydney

October 28, 2024 2:58 pm

I went on a date yesterday. Well, we met up for coffee and cake at Avner’s.

Cass, all good except the cake part. He needs to see you’re not a calorie fiend. Next time, no cake please. 🙂

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 4:53 pm
Reply to  JC

Cake and coffee is perfectly civilised, if leaning towards a bit Eurotrash.

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 4:56 pm
Reply to  JC

JC, you obviously have never been to Avner’s! You simply MUST have cake.

Foxbody
Foxbody
October 28, 2024 5:43 pm
Reply to  JC

I can’t see a problem
– he may well like a girl to be girl shaped.
His shape however…..

Bungonia Bee
Bungonia Bee
October 28, 2024 4:12 pm

Fluffy Annaliese seems to be choosing her vox pops on the street fairly carefully. And in the tenpin bowling place too.

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 4:15 pm

Kneel

October 28, 2024 4:09 pm

Reply to  JC

Isn’t the Yuan fixed to the US dollar?

Probably a more apt description is that it’s a managed currency, as the Chinese central bank sets bands (a floor and ceiling) with an eye on the movement of the US dollar against other currencies. A fixed currency would imply a strict peg to the dollar, but that isn’t the case here. Instead, it’s a closely managed currency with strong capital controls—a ‘roach motel’ where money can easily flow into China but is very difficult to move out without express central bank approval.

Last edited 5 months ago by JC
Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
October 28, 2024 4:19 pm

Next time, no cake please

One may have all the cake one desires.

As long as one, ahem, works it off.

JC
JC
October 28, 2024 4:22 pm

LOL

Eyrie
Eyrie
October 28, 2024 4:20 pm

Those without flying skills are useless, regardless of the level of their fighting skills.

Correct but irrelevant. In the exercise scenario I posted the USN lost badly in mock air combat against a bunch of F-5’s.

Eyrie
Eyrie
October 28, 2024 4:21 pm

Come to think of it von Richthofen was an indifferent pilot but a great combat aviator.

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 4:22 pm

Indolent

 October 27, 2024 10:08 pm

@ElonMusk: “The media tries to characterize January 6th as some sort of violent insurrection, which is simply not the case. That is false … There have to be a lot of guns for it to be a violent insurrection.”

“It’s not as though the January 6th protesters had no merit. They had some merit. I disagree with the magnitude of what they did. But it’s not as though there were no issues [with the election].”

“Almost every country on Earth has voter ID requirements, but we don’t. Why? And why do the same people who demanded vaccine IDs for you to do anything say no ID for voting? Something doesn’t add up. It doesn’t add up. My firm opinion is that those who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves the threat to democracy.”

It always amazes me the Democrats and their supporters who claim that voter ID for elections is racist because it’s too hard or inconvenient for black people to prove their ID (code for we have very low expectations of them).

Even though there are many things people can’t do in their everyday lives without ID.

Of course, we all know why Dems really are opposed to voter ID.

Last edited 5 months ago by Lee
Morsie
Morsie
October 28, 2024 6:11 pm
Reply to  Lee

Worth remembering Australia has no voter ID.You are asked if you have already voted and that’s it.If you could be bothered youcould vote multiple times

Kneel
Kneel
October 29, 2024 8:16 am
Reply to  Lee

Saw a youtube where the host asks black people in Georgia if they know where the DMV is. “Yeah man, you just go down there to …” etc IOW, they thought he was asking for directions to it, not if they knew at all.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
October 28, 2024 4:51 pm

Gerard Depardieu trial to test French tolerance of sexual violenceCharles Bremner
4 hours ago

Gerard Depardieu will stand trial on Monday local time for sexually assaulting two women in the first big legal reckoning in France’s version of the MeToo movement.
The 75-year-old actor, a giant of French cinema, is accused of groping, grabbing and harassing the women on the set of Jean Becker’s Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in Paris in 2021.
The trial, which comes five years after an actress first accused Depardieu of rape, is seen as a test of a supposed shift away from France’s tolerance of toxic male behaviour in the entertainment world. “This case will also be a trial of French cinema because it involves the scenes of sexual assault that are apparently ordinary on film sets” the news magazine Marianne said.
In an echo of the prosecution in 2017 of Harvey Weinstein, the American producer, 21 women have made claims of assault against Depardieu. Six investigations have been opened and an examining judge will rule shortly on whether to try him for raping Charlotte Arnould, an actress. The Paris prosecutor requested the indictment in August after investigating her claim that Depardieu raped and sexually assaulted her in his Paris home in 2018 when she was 22. He claims that she consented.

Depardieu, who has been defended by President Macron and some eminent women in the film industry, denies all the allegations and claims that he is the victim of malice.
“Never, but never, have I abused a woman,” he wrote in an open letter published by Le Figaro last October. His accusers in the trial say there was an atmosphere of crude and insulting behaviour on the Green Shutters set. One, a 53-year-old set designer named Amelie, has said the actor boasted about his penis and claimed that he could “give women an orgasm without touching them”. He “brutally grabbed” her and pinned her with his legs before groping, she told the Mediapart website.
A 33-year-old assistant director reported Depardieu to police for assaulting her and Anouk Grinberg, an actress in the film, said Depardieu had used “salacious words … from morning till night” on the set. “When producers hired Depardieu, they knew they were hiring an assaulter,” she added.
Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, Amelie’s lawyer, said: “I expect the justice system to be the same for everybody and for Monsieur Depardieu not to receive special treatment.”
Jeremy Assous, Depardieu’s lawyer, said his team would call “witnesses and evidence that will show he has simply been targeted by false accusations”. The women’s demands for damages showed they were attempting to make money from their claims, the lawyer said.
The case opens during the marathon trial in Avignon, of the alleged associates of Dominique Pelicot, 71, who has admitted inviting dozens of men to rape his wife in their home after he had drugged her. The trial and the ordeal of Gisele Pelicot, 72, who waived her anonymity and has attended every day, has shocked France into examining a failure to confront sexual violence. While no one is defending Pelicot’s actions, Depardieu’s legal showdown has led sympathisers to say he has been demonised for his “excesses”.
Carole Bouquet, the film actress who was his partner, said he was “incapable of hurting a woman”. She was among 60 celebrities who say he is being “lynched”.
If convicted, Depardieu, star of The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac, among dozens of films, could face five years in jail.

Arky
October 28, 2024 4:57 pm

Winston Smith

 October 28, 2024 12:26 pm

 Reply to  Arky

Bloody good thing it was a simple job eh Arky?

Well, apart from the missus.

Diamonds work. Or if you’re a bit skint, a bottle of wine – or maybe a flagon

I don’t know. Using diamonds to clean out the tank seems extravagant. The galvanised chain link worked fine. And I think wine isn’t acidic enough to convert rust.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 6:59 pm
Reply to  Arky

Depends on the wine, Arky.
I have a bottle of red wine I found under the sink in this place when I first moved in.
Ominously, the inside of the bottle is etching – badly.

Vicki
Vicki
October 28, 2024 5:01 pm

And yes, I’ll meet him again!

Oh gosh – with all the scary news, to hear this, Cassie, is so great!

Hmm – he has TDS – that is a worry. But you can persuade him otherwise.

Hmm – he is a lawyer. Thats OK. You have that in common.

All good.

Arky
October 28, 2024 5:12 pm

Once you don’t have dogs anymore the local wildlife considers your backyard terra nullius.
Bloody possums, rosellas, Bassanian thrushes, stupid pigeons. Suddenly they think they can set up shop and take over. Two nights ago I went outside to find two dopey possum stooges sitting on the back fence. “Piss off out of it” I told them.
Bloody rosellas too, I know they’re just casing the place for fruit trees.
Well, I’m not running a lodging house for useless, parasitical, freeloading flaming avian vermin.
I have a strictly magpies only policy, and any other critters pushing their luck is like to get a smack in the beak.
Just now a thrush flew down, parked itself in the apple tree and started eyeing me off. Cheeky little bastard.

Last edited 5 months ago by Arky
John H.
John H.
October 28, 2024 5:20 pm
Reply to  Arky

Do scaredogs work when combined with a loop recording of dog’s barking? Or spread doggie poo around the yard.

Last edited 5 months ago by John H.
Barking Toad
Barking Toad
October 28, 2024 5:29 pm
Reply to  Arky

Carna Pies!

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
October 28, 2024 5:49 pm
Reply to  Arky

Just got the first of the young magpies to accept mince from my hand. It’s a helluva drug.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 7:01 pm
Reply to  Arky

Good thing you got rid of the apricot tree, otherwise you’d be in strife from the RSPCA due to the traps you need to set.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 5:24 pm

Lia Finocchiaro is the woman for the times:

Govt vows to rein in NT debt as it soars above $11b

This on the other non-masturbating hand is the opposite: a woke skank advocating the usual woke BS; and a professor to boot at Tassie Uni:

Melissa Hart Publications | University of Tasmania

Last edited 5 months ago by cohenite
JC
JC
October 28, 2024 5:31 pm

Population of NT is 250,000. How the hell have they accumulated $11 billion in debt. That’s $44,000 per person!. FMD.

Debt’s around $150 billion in Victoria and the current pop is around 7 million. Debt per head is around $21,500.

Last edited 5 months ago by JC
Roger
Roger
October 28, 2024 5:44 pm
Reply to  JC

Population of NT is 250,000. How the hell have they accumulated $11 billion in debt. That’s $44,000 per person!

And the territories are meant to be overseen by the Commonwealth.

Lee
Lee
October 28, 2024 5:46 pm
Reply to  JC

Victorian state debt before Dictator Dan took over: $21.8 billion.

Now we are building statues to him and putting him in a (ironically) top mental health position.

Boambee John
Boambee John
October 28, 2024 7:43 pm
Reply to  JC

How? Governed by leftard idiots (BIRM).

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
October 28, 2024 5:33 pm

Mono-Sodium Glutamate is innocent!

“What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?”

Black Ball
Black Ball
October 28, 2024 5:42 pm

Fantastic work

calli
calli
October 28, 2024 5:45 pm

What is the charge?

Enhancing flavour.

And it’s in just about every processed item you buy.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 5:58 pm

Uncle Roger to provide a character reference.

Pogria
Pogria
October 28, 2024 5:45 pm

Oh God! I don’t know whether to laugh, or be a little disgusted. As it’s Tassie, I’ll go with laugh… 😀
Mum was a disappointment. snork.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14009431/husband-catches-brother-wife-sex-tasmania.html

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 5:54 pm
Reply to  Pogria

Perfectly normal in certain parts of Tasmania.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 6:00 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

That doesn’t make it right.

cohenite
October 28, 2024 6:07 pm
Reply to  Pogria

Looking at the trio they must all be blind.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 7:08 pm
Reply to  dover0beach

What’s to stop them making a BRICS “Euro”?

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
October 28, 2024 5:50 pm

You may have heard about the picture being put about purporting to be Kamala in a McDonalds uniform.

The whole thing fell apart when someone pointed out it was a picture that had been photoshopped – and that the original was of a woman who died of cancer in 2007.

My first take, in my naivete, was to assume they chose a woman who had passed away because if she was still alive she would recognise the photo, the room, the furniture, even the posture – it would be a photo she was very familiar with.

Turns out they are not even that bright.

The original image was the one of the first result that comes up when you enter “80’s McDonalds Uniform” in Google. It is a Pintrest page.

Actually, I am not certain Kamala’s team was involved in the fraud, but it shows how desperate and stupid her supporters are.

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 6:02 pm
Reply to  Mother Lode

Democrats have an affinity with the dead. Especially around election time.

Top Ender
Top Ender
October 28, 2024 5:56 pm

Albanese’s Qantas upgrades won’t fly with the public

The scandal over Anthony Albanese’s reported requests for Qantas upgrades is yet another sign the tone-deaf Prime Minister is heading for the departure gate, writes Tim Blair.

Anthony Albanese hasn’t quite entered the prime ministerial departure gate, but he’s definitely made it through baggage check.

And what a terrible load of baggage the PM is now carrying.

Fresh from his extraordinarily ill-timed decision to drop more than $4m on a clifftop mansion, Albanese is now accused of leaning on his old mate, former Qantas boss Alan Joyce, for free flight upgrades on overseas trips.

To be sure, the issue here isn’t that Albanese received upgrades. Anyone who flies as frequently as the prime minister and other notables can expect to be granted the occasional free promotion.

Nor is the issue to do with Albanese reporting that free upgrades were obtained.

The issue, as former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce accurately put it, is if the upgrades were requested. At that point, the upgrades shift from being a simple perk of high office to being matters of privilege and compromise.

“It’s whether you solicit it,” the former deputy PM said. “If you ring up Alan Joyce, that’s the issue. That’s an issue that Mr Albanese has to explain.”

Add it to the list.

Albanese still has not fully explained the thought processes that led him to splurge on a mansion during a housing crisis.

Nor has Albanese dealt publicly at any great length with his impossible election promise to reduce power prices.

We await, too, expansive prime ministerial explanations about his government’s erratic energy policies and staggeringly poor attitudes regarding ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

At a certain point – and this Qantas upgrade scandal may be that point – Treasurer Jim Chalmers must start considering his leadership options.

In fact, Chalmers may have little choice but to begin some mental calculations, because right now his PM seems increasingly eager to become an ex-PM.

Australians are generally very tolerant when it comes to the expenses and advantages enjoyed by our politicians; more tolerant than we should be, perhaps.

But we don’t cop secret mate’s rates deals easily. This isn’t good.

Daily Tele

H B Bear
H B Bear
October 28, 2024 6:07 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

The Liars aren’t travelling well enough for a bait-and-switch. Hawke’s election was a drovers dog one and KRuddy 2.0 was just save the furniture stuff.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
October 28, 2024 7:13 pm
Reply to  Top Ender

Once you start opening these sorts of investigations, it’s time to start looking elsewhere.
For example, who pays the power bills? Who pays the rates? Start going through the bins at his house like someone did to Ray Martin, and see what falls out.

Lysander
Lysander
October 28, 2024 6:02 pm

And the territories are meant to be overseen by the Commonwealth.

Just like the USoA are meant to be overseen by a President.

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