In reaction to the pending arrival of President Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now saying the conflict with Russia is possible to end with diplomacy:

(Via CBS) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would like to end the war with Russia next year through “diplomatic means” as both countries prepare for President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

In an interview with the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne, Zelenskyy said he is certain that the war will end “sooner” than it otherwise would have once Mr. Trump becomes president.

Sundance, CTH

After a 64-year-old pensioner retweeted a meme of Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck, in which Habeck was described as an “idiot,” Bavarian police raided the man’s house and arrested him. The crime has even been recorded as a “politically motivated right-wing crime.”

Don’t think albo wouldn’t like to do the same.

How’s the shoulder going BB?

Clare accused Israel of trying to “bomb its way to peace”. Bombs seemed to have ended WWII and brought peace to Europe and Asia

Yes indeedy.

There were over a million more people alive in 1948 than there would have been otherwise, because the Yanks dropped a couple of big BANG barrels over the Land of the Rising Sun.

Summary: In a conversation on “Forbes Newsroom,” Philip K. Howard discusses how Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can potentially reform the U.S. government by focusing on improving operational efficiency rather than simply reducing budgets. He emphasizes the necessity of changing the underlying processes that govern federal operations, such as procurement and bureaucratic red tape. Howard argues for the establishment of a “Department of Government Efficiency” that prioritizes accountability and responsibility over compliance-based bureaucracy. He believes the success of these reforms will depend on bringing public opinion along and may require several years to implement effectively. ### Key Points: #### Introduction: – Britney Lewis interviews Philip K. Howard, Chairman of Common Good. – Discussion revolves around Trump’s election win, Musk and Ramaswamy’s roles in government efficiency. #### The Proposal: – Musk and Ramaswamy to co-lead a proposed “Department of Government Efficiency.” – Mixed reviews about their ability to bring about genuine change. #### Government Functionality: – Focus on changing government operating systems by removing red tape. – Advocating for a shift from a compliance-based model to one that emphasizes human responsibility. #### Outsider Perspective: – Howard believes Musk’s practical approach is beneficial for government reform. – Ramaswamy’s background in biotech and politics could contribute to the mission. #### Executive Powers: – Certain reforms could be made via executive orders, including terminations of non-performing public employees. – Legislative changes may require public support and involvement. #### Initial Steps: – Suggests targeting the Defense Department for operational improvements, using pilot projects to test new methods. – Advocates for efficient procurement practices that allow timely acquisition of essential resources. #### Budget Cuts: – Skepticism about the feasibility of cutting $2 trillion from the budget; majority constitutes non-discretionary spending. – Identifying wasteful practices rather than indiscriminate cuts. #### Civil Service Reform: – Advocates for protecting civil service employees who make responsible decisions from retaliation. – Suggests that senior officials should have greater management authority. #### Manageability of Government: – Reform depends on bringing in knowledgeable personnel and creating simpler operating frameworks. – Transition to efficiency cannot happen overnight; it requires a long-term strategy. #### Transparency and Conflict of Interest: – Importance of transparency to prevent corruption and self-interest. – Musk should avoid decisions directly benefiting his companies to maintain integrity. #### Signs of Effective Government: – Improvements will be evident through quicker decision-making and execution in various departments. – Better procurement processes and efficiency will lead to public satisfaction. #### Narrative Shift: – Howard calls for a shift from the current “slash-and-burn” rhetoric to one that inspires capable individuals to serve in government. – Advocates rebuilding pride in public service. #### Draining the Swamp: – Discusses the idea of cleaning up ineffective government processes as akin to “draining the swamp.” – Emphasizes a positive direction in reform rather than merely targeting villains in the system. #### Closing: – Howard expresses optimism about the potential changes and hopes for future conversations on the subject.

II.

Did you visit the city before awarding its high status? Arrive at the Soviet-style airport, and note an absence of chairs of any kind throughout much of the tin shed?

Did you queue for the bus to go to the city, after searching in vain for a train station, for the trip which can take as long as the flight?

Or did you get an Uber or cab, and brace for the dead ends of road spaghetti which locals refer to as a “network”, but only when they’re joking.

Victoria slashed 95 per cent of its regional road repair budget last year, which means lots of potholes, old and new, many big enough to swallow beachballs whole. Locals compare hilarious stories about car damage and foiled claims for state compensation.

On the way to town, did you pass the big Ferris wheel which hasn’t carried a customer since the pandemic? Or analyse its storied history, which involved opening in 2008, then breaking down?

Did you talk to locals (and avoid the trigger word which starts with D and rhymes with Ban)? Did you talk to interstaters who pity Melbourne as just too sad to be a rival city anymore?

If you answer yes to any of those questions, can we then also explain that since your survey result, a few months ago, the powers-that-be in Victoria have unofficially given up.

TBC

IV.

The problem with wealth taxes, of course, is that ordinary people end up paying for them. Land tax here goes up overnight, just ‘cos. Investment property owners cannot afford to pay; instead, they raise their rents, which they can, because there aren’t enough houses.

You can’t even say that today’s Victoria is where people should go to die. Don’t – it’s too expensive. Fees for smaller estates rose 650 per cent this month, while the highest fee is almost three times the fee of NSW.

True, Victoria still boasts some fun moments. The Melbourne Cup earlier this month sung to the rhythms of a brighter age. But such staples have been cut to exceptions. Few Victorians dare to celebrate them, lest their joy prompts a Sunshine Tax.

Disbelief and disillusionment is now the Victorian way.

Here, it’s not about making it better anymore, but smudging what is wrong. Confidence belongs to the other states. This engine has been stripped for spare parts.

Once fantastic, Victoria is fantaxic. Its mojo has gone dodo.

There is no governing for the people here, not unless blowing the books and clinging to power counts as a community service.

In short? May we humbly suggest that Melbourne is relegated in the most liveable city rankings to properly reflect the absence of hope each of its drivers feel when they hit yet another of those bloody potholes?

*thunderous applause*

My two bobs, not numbers and his twin, worth is that Donald John Trump doesn’t expect to do what he’d like to do but in choosing J D Vance as a much younger person brings on board younger voters and to expose the Deep State within the Republicans so as to weed them out. All the Rino’s holding up D J Trump’s agenda on view to the voters. “Are you going to vote for these traitors again in the primaries?”, it becomes an easy choice. The base voters see in Trump a way to improve their lot. Hope is very strong motivator. They’ve already what he can do and what the demonrats haven’t.

Over the life of the Albanese government, hardly a week has passed without Energy Minister Chris Bowen proclaiming that wind and solar provide the cheapest forms of power. 

Is there anywhere to find the TRUE total cost of ruinables that contains calculations to include things like ;

• opportunity costs vv coal/gas
• subsidy in the form of debts to be paid by taxpayers – with compounded interest.
• Long term maintenance costs – 30 years min.
• Maintenance logistics pipeline costs – 30 years min
• Geopolitical risks of maintenance supply disruption.
• Cost overruns of existing and planned ruinable projects.

There should also be a public register of all beneficiaries in and outside of parliament who are financially associated with Govt subsidy to ruinable corps.

This “cheapest form of power” needs a true very deep dive/audit into what exactly are the cost to taxpayers of this ridiculous ruinable “cheapest” energy scam.

Enjoy!

Greenies invoke God on climate while Africans are dying
Gemma Tognini

“Restore the sacred balance,” the sign told me.

“No public money for coal and gas.” 

Walking past the dark, imposing church on Collins Street in Melbourne last week, my first ­response wasn’t especially godly. Oh, go take a flying leap, you sanctimonious cretins, I thought as I kept walking. It wasn’t until later that night that my train of thought meandered back to that sign.

I wondered about the people who made it. What kind of lives they live. I wondered if they go home and switch on the lights, turn on the heater with the flick of a switch in the dead of a bitter Victorian winter. Perhaps they like long, hot showers, fuelled by gas hot water systems. I suspect they all use a mobile phone, also dependent on the existence of fossil fuels. Did they drive into the city to put that sign up, or take the train? No matter. Neither would be possible without the contribution of coal and gas. I thought about how borderline offensive, not to mention manipulative, intellectually flawed and indefensible, it is to infer that it is God’s will to stop investing in fossil fuels. That doing so would restore some kind of holy alignment on the earth. 
I wonder if these people realise that their “sacred balance” is someone else’s prison. Their death sentence. Let me explain. 

Here in Australia, the unbridled race towards an unachievable net-zero target by 2030, born of rank ideology, is biting hard. 

For families and for some sectors of the economy more than others, the biggest sting has been the crippling increase in the cost of power. It’s energy poverty, and the creep is slow but sure and growing in impact.
On the other side of the world, energy poverty is life or death and the best-case example of this is in sub-Saharan Africa. There are many others, obviously, but today we’ll focus there.

For context, according to the International Energy Agency, approximately 600 million people (more than half of the population in the region) live without access to electricity. It says there are a billion people globally stuck in the same impoverished revolving door. Most are in Africa and South Asia. They don’t go home and switch on the lights. They don’t flick on the stove to get dinner ready. They burn animal dung, firewood, and kerosene.

The fumes and the smoke cause chronic respiratory disease and various forms of eye disease which research says is (conservatively) responsible for the deaths of more than 1.5 million women and children each year.
Additionally, house fires sparked by cooking on open flames is a leading cause of death throughout the region. 

This is just one facet of the horrendous human toll directly linked to a lack of access to the energy the “only renewables” brigade take for granted. There is, of course, a broader developmental weight that continues to crush populations who don’t have the privilege of jumping on hobby horses because they’re too busy trying to exist. 

Insufficient access to reliable energy means things like the inability to develop industry, agriculture, manufacturing. This obviously dominoes into lack of opportunity for employment and socio-economic advancement which leaves the poorest countries trapped in disadvantage. All because they can’t access the energy needed to lift them out of poverty. Meanwhile, women, children and infants die from preventable diseases directly linked to a problem nobody in Australia or anyone else who’s calling for a fossil fuel ban, would ever have to consider.

But sure, restore that sacred balance, why don’t you.

It’s the definition of out of sight, out of mind, isn’t it?

Nobody pushing to ban gas exploration and development ever talks about this stuff. They never mention that millions are dying for lack of access to the very thing they want us to believe we don’t need and shouldn’t have. They peddle hysteria, wrap it in emotion, and now invoke the almighty, and to what end? 

My position remains unchanged. I sit in the centre, in that I believe we need to have the cleanest, cheapest mix of energy possible. Yes, the climate is changing and will likely continue to change. No, there is no evidence that we’re in an emergency (Messieurs Flannery and Gore say hello, the Great Barrier Reef says, I’m doing fine, come visit). 

It’s curious, isn’t it, the aggressive push from certain quarters in the West who rail against oil and gas exploration and development in Africa and other places. Do its citizens not deserve a standard of living commensurate with our own? It’s saying, you don’t deserve to live like we do; and it is outrageous that this position has been tolerated without question for as long as it has. 

It’s not just data, but the history of civilisation that tells us that access to reliable power is critical for social and economic development. By extension, for the eradication of systemic disadvantage. 

In a study release in June this year, World Development Sustainability shared a study that spelled it out clearly and simply. Improved access to electricity, modern cooking technology and developed fuels significantly reduce infant, under-five and maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. And for those who might suspect a conflict of interest, not a cent of money from the oil and gas industry was involved in the work. 

I don’t understand how people can, with a straight face, be so indifferent to the plight of others. To a small degree, I understand that it’s human nature to be focused on issues and problems closer to home – but people are hurting here in our own back yard. 

Friends, neighbours, colleagues. Family, too, in many cases. They seem invisible, especially to the activist class. Meanwhile, out the front of a Melbourne church, the privileged seek to invoke heaven to further their cause. I suppose they can afford the luxury of such an elitist position because, among other things, they’re not heating cow dung to make ­dinner, and their babies won’t die from inhaling the smoke thereof.

Public money should be spent on energy sources that are reliable and affordable, and our energy mix should be diverse and multi-layered. Gas, nuclear, clean coal, renewables. We should be making it easier for private companies to do the same. 

That, to me, would restore a balance. Nothing sacred about it, but highly sensible instead.

In a study release in June this year, World Development Sustainability shared a study that spelled it out clearly and simply. Improved access to electricity, modern cooking technology and developed fuels significantly reduce infant, under-five and maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. And for those who might suspect a conflict of interest, not a cent of money from the oil and gas industry was involved in the work. 

I don’t understand how people can, with a straight face, be so indifferent to the plight of others. To a small degree, I understand that it’s human nature to be focused on issues and problems closer to home – but people are hurting here in our own back yard. 

Friends, neighbours, colleagues. Family, too, in many cases. They seem invisible, especially to the activist class. Meanwhile, out the front of a Melbourne church, the privileged seek to invoke heaven to further their cause. I suppose they can afford the luxury of such an elitist position because, among other things, they’re not heating cow dung to make ­dinner, and their babies won’t die from inhaling the smoke thereof.

Public money should be spent on energy sources that are reliable and affordable, and our energy mix should be diverse and multi-layered. Gas, nuclear, clean coal, renewables. We should be making it easier for private companies to do the same. 

That, to me, would restore a balance. Nothing sacred about it, but highly sensible instead.

Outstanding (the Hun):

Families have turned out to enjoy the Myer Christmas windows in defiance of a small group of protesters who tried to destroy the opening.

The protestors – calling themselves ‘Morons 4 Palestine’ – gatecrashed the famous Myer Christmas windows on Bourke St just after 10am.

‘Morons 4 Palestine’. Like that moniker won’t dog those halfwits for years.

The name of the protest seemed to be mocking Jacinta Allan who had called the protesters morons only days earlier.

Duzzenmadda. Every single keffiyeh-clad fat local screecher will forevermore be dubbed a ‘Moron 4 Palestine’. Ill-thought-through, and truly hilarious.

Eight protestors turned up to the flagship store where they chanted slogans while blowing bubbles.

Eight. Bubbles. That’s the spirit.

But the short-lived protest wasn’t enough to ruin the Christmas cheer of the hundreds of families who turned out to Bourke St to enjoy the Australia Zoo-themed windows.

Huzzah! By the way, those people would have included hundreds of husbands who, having had a gutful of these idiots ruining their childrens’ fun, would have been only too willing to perform some amateur dentistry on the Morons 4 Palestine.

Video of the arrest of an elderly UK citizen by half dozen UK cops for posting that he doesn’t want to see Palestinian flags all over the UK, calls them terrorists.

East German Stasi would be proud of this.

By importing shitholers, the UK is now governed by tyrants appeasing shitholers. We aren’t far behind.

https://x.com/EYakoby/status/1857432557379338615

US DoD tendering for the supply of Industrial Shredder- on November 6th.

https://x.com/realErikDPrince/status/1857958305110327630

Levity No. 1.

Yesterday I was at my local IGA buying a large bag of My Dog dog food for my loyal pet and was in the checkout queue when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had an elephant?

So, since I’m retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn’t have a dog, I was starting the Dog Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn’t because I ended up in hospital last time, but I’d lost 10 kilograms before I woke up in intensive care with tubes coming out of me and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with My Dog nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in queue was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked me if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I was chasing a cat across the road and a car hit me

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard. I’m now banned from the supermarket.

Britons warn of dangers of shared home ownership scheme as Australian government mulls Help to Buy plan

Going into partnership with the Govt for the roof over your head? The results are predicable.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-17/australian-shared-home-ownership-schemes-help-to-buy-uk/104540712

A woman springs a sudden reproach upon you which provokes a hot retort, and then she will presently ask you to apologise.

Mark Twain

PHON’s fighting fund has crept up to $640k, slowing down by the look of it.

Yep there are some great contributors here. Best source of news and info.

Zulu.

You appear to be lurking here again.

I posted this linky for you the other day but I am uncertain that you saw it.

Here ’tis again.

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/history/resurrecting-the-sphinx-sir-nevill-smyth-vc/

Winston Smith
November 17, 2024 3:04 pm

I’ve already donated, but I’m looking at the Rum Collection.

The only problem with that is that I detest rum.

Oooh! Look – Gin! I hate Gin.

Wodka! Yummy.

Is buying a bottle of rum a donation or some of the money is going her way?
Is it the only way to donate?
I’d rather donate the full amount and buy my booze at Dan’s.

Are you on the turps, Mak? And, um, was it you who recommended one of the travelogue Cats luncheon at a hotel in Glen Innes some years ago? If so, which one?

On Outsiders today an advert was played offering people to be put out for the four years Trump is in Sleep through and avoid the stress of living through his presidency I hope it was a joke.

“Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bullshit. Gaetz was the only one who said: ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ f—in’ heads.’”

Amen