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[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Looks like the Comm Games is going the way of the British Empire or the Dodo. The costs for the Comm Games & Olympics has continued go up after each games. The Aussie Comm Games committee is totally focused on their needs rather than what the general public would want. The Comm Games have been on the nose prior to the previous Comm Games in Birmingham who were forced to hold them. So no country wanting to host the games is nothing new. Most countries in the Commonwealth can't afford to hold the games. It has mainly been the UK or Australia. Canada pulled out of the bidding to these games due to cost. Also no other city in Australia was willing to bid for the games so it's a bit rich for other cities to criticise Melbourne. Danny Boy went to Albo for funding and was refused but when Anastasia asked Albo for funds he said yes and is giving Brisbane millions in support dollars. Both are Labor state govt's but Labor needs to make inroads to the seats in Qld hence the support in dollars. Vic is a safe Labor area. If the UK wants future Comm Games to continue then they need to put up 50% of the cost. If England isn't interested in their own games then why should other countries care especially in these times of high costs. If you can't afford to pay your mortgage or bills you aren't going to afford to pay the cost of tickets for things like the Comm Games. When Australia becomes a republic, the Comm Games will be irrelevant anyway.

Hasn't taken long for the far right to put out false information about The Voice in the form of propaganda pamphlets that falsely that The Voice will require a new tax to fund it. Also the far right has illegally used indigenous art on their pamphlets which is a breach of copyright and frankly they should be sued. We can expect more of this bullshit being put in our letterboxes claiming it comes from the AEC. Not the first time the LNP have used the AEC logo to publish false information. The LNP has not come out to speak against these false pamphlets which is subliminal racism. The Voice will not impact the people on the North Shore of Sydney nor Bondi. It will also not impact any migrant culture nor have any influence over migration which is a govt function, nothing to do with any advisory body. The misinformation from the far right and their newspapers continues to stoke fear and wants to divide the country.

The Aussies have retained The Ashes albeit thanks to the English weather. The weather for that test were well known by both teams. The English batted for too long if they wanted the test to end before the rain came. The Aussies weren't going to fold cheaply given the pomes made over 500 so the wicket was still good and wasn't going to break up with the wet weather forecast. The final testhas started and the pomes folded when faced with a proper wicket. Baz ball once against hasn't worked against the Aussies. They can't play on a bouncing pitch and rely on dead one day type pitches that favours batting. England has a bit to prove since baz ball hasn't worked in their favour. The only reason they got a sniff is because the top 4 Aussie batsmen haven't made their normal amount of runs.

Another mock election in Cambodia. Seems all these dictators are learning from each other. These mock democracies are recognized by the UN so while that persists then why would any of these dictatorships change. Bearing in mind countries like Cambodia gets lots in UN support and also gets money from western countries in the form of aide, most of which doesn't reach the people of these countries and only goes to fund the dictatorships which these dictators know. So any moral outrage from the UN is just widow dressing. The UN is totally useless and needs a rethink as to its relevance in the world in the present time. Just like NATO it has gone to sleep and needs a shake up if it's going live up to its ideals. It's ok to have ideals but if you aren't willing to make them real then it's just a bunch of words.

The weather this week in Melbourne town has been unusually warm for mid-Winter. Took a friend to Bendigo yesterday and it was a lovely sunny warmish day. Took a walk around the centre of Bendigo and had lunch as the famous Shamrock pub. Has been a lot of changes in the centre of town. Much more built up than I remember it. Even the price of petrol was cheaper than in my area of Melbourne which I found surprising given Bendigo is in regional Vic. It has been a long time since I was there last, something like nearly 20 yrs which I only realised after talking to people at Bendigo Pottery. Anyone visiting Melbourne, Bendigo is a good option for a day trip. The highway is a lot better than it used to be and easy sign posting so can't really get lost if driving. Decided to purchase a few pieces from Bendigo Pottery which were reasonably priced and worth a visit if in the area. Even Beechworth Bakery has a store there so couldn't resist buying a bee sting to have with a coffee. Didn't have to travel all the way to Beechworth to get one.

Just heard that Vic is banning gas stoves and ovens for new homes as soon as next year. So all those who are in the throes of building or planning which have to have a rethink. Danny Boy is leading the charge on this stuff again. Vic is being the progressive state again. Gas stoves are on the way out in Vic at least. NSW will be the last state to adopt something like this. Have had an elec stove for over 20 yrs and have had no issues. I don't miss a gas stoves, plus the elec stove tops are far easier to clean. Only thing I've had to replace is the heating element. Those who like using woks might have to do that on the gas bbq. Then again the gas bbq's would be the next obvious thing to tackle.

Not much more rain expected in Melbourne for the next few days. Got a lot of rain last night into the early hours of the morning. Heard it come thru whilst watching the Ashes at 3am. Saw that The Matildas lost their match against Nigeria. Canada will be tough to beat so we might get an early exit from the Women's World Cup. Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

I wish I could get invited to these parties! I'm in Hobart.

If you're single, then you're probably the wrong gender. Single women however seem to be always welcome. Sexist I reckon. Then again I gave up team sports, too many swinging dicks in the change room. Jesus dude wear a towel. So I get it. Would of preferred to shower with the female teams but that was against the rules. Sexist right !

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

You would be forgiven if you weren't aware that the Women's World Cup was on in Australia. It has barely received any coverage apart from sports reports on respective media. A vast majority of the games have not been shown on the TV so a majority of young girls haven't had the chance to see the games. The only way to see it has been to either go to a live site, use pay TV or be lucky enough to get tickets. If this was the men's soccer world cup, TV stations would of bid for the rights. We have seen the world swimming championships on the free to air channels. So we have a long way to go before women's sport gets the same prestige as men's sport. Apart from the Aussie games, we have seen some random games. Not sure why these games were chosen. Why was the Irish game telecast and not another one? Hopefully we get all the finals and not just the final game.

Has been a mainly dry week. Was out yesterday and was surprised by the northerly warm winds. The daily temp was also up thanks to a new weather system currently buffeting Melbourne. Very high winds all day today but thus far no rain, so most the wet stuff must have missed Melbourne. Still recovering from a cold so no work in the garden this week. Lots of sleep has been the main activity for the week apart from getting cold and flu stuff. Been downing a couple of oranges at a time to get big injections of vitamin C.

The house across the street has started it's demolition phase. The tradies have moved in decommissioning it before the big toys turn up. Waiting for the beep beep beep trucks to turn up. Driving around the neighbourhood it seems houses are still selling even during Winter and like most houses in the neighbourhood, the house is demolished leaving a fenced off block of land. Looks like another set of apartments will be built near the station. The blocks in my area are large so ideal for multi-dwellings. Not one house that has been sold, has remained standing. It continues to be a trend of modern house ownership. Far more developers are buying houses these days. Previously developers would buy the land first, now they are buying up existing houses and competing with genuine house owners.

Seems the LNP are back on the immigration band wagon as if that is the reason for inflation. They are like a drowning man grasping at anything to keep themselves afloat. The 700k immigration number being quoted is yet another false number. If you pass thru Australia and stop off for a couple of days you are included in the immigration figures. In fact it includes all tourists, packbackers, temporary workers such as those working on farms, international students, refugees, etc. This number is being confused with the number of people allowed to settle in the country which is still around 160k. So when we talk about immigration vs migration we need to quote the right figures and stop muddying the waters. Migrants built this country and if we want to continue to enjoy govt funded services then we need more people to migrate to this country otherwise we won't be able to raise enough taxes to pay for things like pensions. What will happen it that the govt of the day will increase the old age pension to 80 because we won't be able to pay for it under that age. No govt has managed to get large corporates to pay any form of proper tax. The rich get away with paying no tax and in fact get a tax refund. Unless you pay tax on your income you should not get a tax refund. So govts need to do their bit and tax the rich and make large corporates pay tax as per the normal tax tables.

Seems Slomo was on his high horse again about his role in Robodebt and just denied everything. But he is a narcissist so he can't help himself and he will never resign. What was interesting was that the LNP backed him up. His leader Mr Potato Head defended Slomo's speech. Other LNP MP's essentially said that since Slomo is a former PM he should not be subjected to any scrutiny and he should be respected. They even used Rump words indicating the Robodebt RC was a witch hunt of Slomo. WTF! So even though Slomo has gone, the LNP still see a loyalty to him and have the need to continue to defend Slomo's actions. They have even dismissed Robodebt as something that was not that bad and we should all move on. If nothing happens about the outcomes of the Robodebt RC before the next election, people will be pissed and Labor will lose seats.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Massive positive feeling about the Aussie women's soccer team happening in the country. With a number of the top nations now out of the world cup, the feeling is that the Aussies have a real chance at winning the world cup. We have won against France recently so a big chance we can beat them again. The team has shown they can win without Sam Kerr which shows the depth in the team. Huge viewing numbers of these games so it seems the free to air channels have missed a trick in not bidding for the viewing rights to these games.

This week has reminded Melbourne that Winter is still here with temps back to normal Winter temps. The last two weeks the weather was warming up. Was only 2C in my little part of Melbourne yesterday. Not much rain during the week and mainly at night. Overcast today so no sun to speak of and rain is forecasted for the weekend. No work in the garden this week again. Still feeling the lingering impact of my cold. So back into it again next week.

The mushroom deaths at a lunch is bit like a Midsummer Murders episode, involving an ex-daughter in-law, a priest and a previous similar poisoning of the ex-husband. Who picked the fatal mushrooms and why did only those people get sick? A typical murder mystery. Not the first time someone has died from eating wild mushrooms. If you don't know what you're doing just stick to the ones you can buy at the local grocer or the supermarkets.

Garma is over and the leadership of the LNP have not had a good week. Firstly they lied when they said Garma was a Labor party event, then they lied when stating the notes associated with the Uluru Statement from the Heart were part of the one page document. As was explained those notes came from dialogues with local indigenous peoples about their stories which informed the final document. So for the LNP to suggest these notes were a secret document is total bullshit. Once again the LNP talking shit to muddy the water about The Voice. Then the week for the LNP got worse when they tried to block cheaper scripts for people with chronic conditions, then they had to back down and it then turned into a farce in the Senate which saw the LNP on the wrong side of the issue and makes them look foolish. Again not smart tactics from the LNP and doesn't give anyone confidence they deserve another chance at govt. The LNP is on the wrong side of history on The Voice and people won't forget.

The new Hard Solo is not appropriate as it looks just like the regular Solo soft drink can apart from the different colour. Soft drink companies blurring the lines into alcoholic drinks is not on. If Solo wants a booze option then put it in a stubby not a soft drink can packaging.

The tragic scenes in Hawaii of people losing everything. Who would of thought Hawaii, which most people think as tropical would have such bad wildfires. The islands are not that big and surrounded by water. Have been to most parts of Hawaii and remember going to that part of Maui on a day trip. Went to a nice bar there. Notch is up to another impact of climate change. It doesn't matter where you live, climate change will impact you and only we can change that if we have the will to change our habits. If you don't believe we as humans are impacting the climate, you're a fuckwit. Your money will not save you.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Watched the Matildas game and was obviously disappointed with the outcome, but England was the better team on the day. The Aussies looked tired and the back line kept breaking down. The tactic to stay back and let England dictate the pace was a mistake. Sam Kerr was amazing but she can't do it all on her own. England was very aggressive and clearly bullied the Aussies which the umpire let happen. The American umpire didn't enforce the rules so England were allowed to do what they wanted. The umpire only gave a yellow after the game was lost. The time wasting by the England team was not penalised. That umpire needs to go back to umpire school and brush up on the rules. Hopefully she won't umpire another finals game. She clearly can't handle the pressure. All is not lost, the Aussies have one more game to win a medal but they need to be more aggressive. If they do what they did against England, they will lose that game as well. Overall the Matildas have done an amazing job, they just need to take the next step and believe they can do it. We think they can. Aussies expect their teams to win regardless of the sport. As a side note apparently you can't buy the goalie's shirt. Not sure why as she is an amazing player.

Was out yesterday and saw that the petrol price in my little part of Melbourne was $2.24/L as to why, well who the fuck knows. It's not a holiday period and Father's Day is a few weeks off so as to why the high price, it's totally random. That's the highest price petrol has been this year.

The morning temps here in Melbourne this week have been very chilly. Nothing higher than 4C. The heater is getting a run into the early hours. Yesterday was the warmest day with at least some heat in the sun, but it didn't last long. The Winter flowers in my front garden are starting to bloom. Did the mowing this week so that I don't disturb them in the next couple of week. The grass was wet even though we haven't had any rain for most of the week. The magnolia is also starting to bloom which has large pink and white flowers, which are signs that Winter is coming to an end.

The LNP is showing more of their true colours. Initially they said they would support a legislated Voice, now the Nat's say they would not support a legislated Voice and would remove it when they come to power. So the LNP has lied to everyone when they said they endorse legislated indigenous rights. If The Voice fails, the LNP doesn't have an alternative plan. They align themselves more with the Republican party in the US rather than Aussie values. The Voice has shown that the Lib's are using the same misinformation campaign that the Republican party uses. So if The Voice doesn't get up, there is no other plan to give indigenous people better outcomes. The LNP clearly doesn't care and Albo has clearly stated that if the voting public reject The Voice then they are saying indigenous people don't need any mechanism to improve their lives and apparently the current system is ok, which is total bullshit. Without a Voice there is no truth telling and certainly no treaty mechanism recognised at the federal level. There can never be one treaty. By "treaty" it means treaties for the various indigenous nations customised to the local peoples. That is a given. To think there will only be one treaty to cover all indigenous people is rather naive. The only way to make things better for indigenous people is by working inside the system. It's very easy to rage against a system from the outside. You are just seen as another angry person. Lydia likes to be a rebel, but she is just seen as crazy woman. You might as well piss into the wind. Those indigenous people who oppose The Voice are better off ensuring that indigenous people get elected into local councils, states and then the federal parliament. That is the only way to change what is seen as a largely white fella govt. I learned a long time ago that working within a system to make change is the way to go. Use the system to your advantage.

Rump's dance card is getting very full for next year. The latest indictments in Georgia are probably the most dangerous for him cause they are state charge not federal so he can't pardon himself if he gets into power again. He clearly tried to subvert the election results in Georgia and you can bet he will throw everyone else under the bus to save himself. So being a Rump ally is not a good thing now. Well at least the orange jump suit will match Rump's fake tan. Should be funny to watch him in court trying to bullshit his way threw that trial.

Rain on the forecast for the next few days into the weekend then again early next week. But it is Melbourne so any forecast longer than 3 days it very changeable at this time of year. Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[Tasman69]

Another rainy day in the south of Tasmania. I'm going to go and have a nice hot shower, and masturbate to the fantasy of fucklicking a wet pussy with a tasty cock in it. All the while dreaming about finding an uninhibited adventurous lady to eat to am orgasm on the top of a lonely mountain.

 

[summerlurvin]

Wow, it's been a really long time since I logged in here. Amazing to see the thread still going, supported mostly by Darkelf. Lol

 

[darkelf9]

Another rainy day in the south of Tasmania. I'm going to go and have a nice hot shower, and masturbate to the fantasy of fucklicking a wet pussy with a tasty cock in it. All the while dreaming about finding an uninhibited adventurous lady to eat to am orgasm on the top of a lonely mountain.

Is the mountain really lonely? If I had to climb to the top of a mountain to get a root, I'd of become a monk. It's a lot of effort to get a root for her only to tell me she has a headache

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Everyone is disappointed that the Matildas didn't make the final of the World Cup and also didn't get a medal in the tournament. They will need another gear if they want to win the top prize but there is a lot of positives to take away for the Aussies. They have set the new benchmark of what future teams need to surpass. We know now that they are good enough to make semi-finals and now more funding is required by our govt but also by FIFA. Private also needs to come on board. The model used by the AFL should be adopted by Soccer Australia. The AFL pushes money down to the local level to get local clubs and more importantly getting kids into AFL thru community programs. Soccer doesn't have anything which is the equivalent. Things like soccer gear is expensive same as for cricket and footy. The $200 million announced by Albo is ok but that is for all women's sport. We don't know what portion of that is for women's soccer. The Aussie netball team won their world cup but it hardly made the news. So other women's sport needs better support.

Lots of Aussies would of been cheering that Spain beat England in the Women's World Cup. You can't support the old enemy. England went in to the match rather cocky and didn't respect the other team. Didn't watch the match but did catch up on the highlights. Have to feel for the Spanish player who lost her dad before the final but her family didn't tell her till after the game. So she went from a massive high to a major low. Even though Spain won the match one of their players was subjected to sexual harassment on stage in front of the cameras. She was then made to defend the actions of the man who still has not apologized for his actions. The Spanish players are not happy about their coach and those who spoke up were removed from the team by the management who are men. It was clear that the players don't like their coach as none of the players hugged the coach. If women are not safe even in on the international stage in front of cameras then where can they be safe. This is an issue for men to fix and for other men in senior roles to ensure women are safe in their workplaces. This has to change.

Been watching the World Athletic Championships from Hungary. Didn't even know they were on till I channel flicked and found it on SBS. Only problem being it goes till the morning hours, so havenot been able to see all of it live. Tried the other night but it went till 6am. The games have been good to watch. Now La Veltua starts on the weekend. Have to get more cheese and crackers.

The two major political parties have had their respective conferences. The one for Labor had some very honest debate which showed they are not of one mind on all topics. The honesty had some reporters surprised. Then the LNP had their CPAC conference which sounded like an accountants convention but as usual these days it descended into a play ground for racists. Comments made by some speakers was totally racist and none of the moderators tried to shut it down. It was in fact defended as free speech which is a normal LNP tactic. It's not racism it's free speech...fuckwits! It seems whenever the LNP holds a rally it's a mating call for all the racists and fascists in the area to gather in a safe space created by the LNP. It is a dumb strategy which is not what the general public want in a political party. They should retitle CPAC to Collective Party of Arseholes Convention. They even took the Republican format for running a convention. The LNP are now a little brother to the Republican party in the US and that is not a good thing and like the Republican party the LNP will become more radical which attracts violence. We don't need that shit here in Australia.

Seems the man in the moon doesn't like Poo-tin. The crashing of that Russian space craft seems to be a metaphor for how Poo-tin is going currently. Nothing he is trying is working. Russia like most countries relies on US componentry to make their space craft work. Russia also relies on US components for their missiles as does those M.E. dictatorships as does China. There are still American companies who are selling their components to Russia thru a third party as they do to countries like China, Iran, etc. The free market is working against democracies around the world. War is good for business and private industry is making massive profits from it. They will sell to anyone. There was a time where govts were in control of military munitions and weapons, but that horse has bolted over 30 yrs ago and it isn't going back so we are stuck with private industry making weapons which they sell to anyone who can pay. Morals is not part of the business plan.

Have seen the images from Maui and for those of us in Aussie land is looks very much like previous bushfires here in Australia which has wiped out entire towns. Doesn't seem to matter which part of the world it is, when fire goes thru a town it all looks the same. It is going to take 5-10 yrs for that area of Maui to get back what they have lost. Govt's are always too slow to act. As has been the case here in Australia, there were people living in temporary accommodation for nearly 5yrs waiting for their homes to be rebuilt. So the local govt in Maui needs to find long term accommodation for those people impacted by the fires. 12 months of accommodation will not be enough. It could take that long just to get the insurance sorted out before any rebuilding can happen. Insurance companies never want to pay out and you can bet they will find reasons not to pay their customers. These weather disasters is costing all of us more in insurance regardless of where the disaster occurs.

Big dump of rain yesterday in Melbourne town. At least with all the cloud cover, the mornings haven't been that chilly thus far. Not saying we have turned a corner yet, but it feels a little warmer. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[Tasman69]

Still looking for a friend to climb mountains with and eat them silly. Southern Tasmania appears to be sexually repressed and boring.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Lots of discussion about affordable housing. Can't watch any news show without that issue coming up. Freezing rents does not seem the way to go as landlords with either jack up rents exponentially before the date of the freeze or evict people at short notice and sell the property. What we need is a proper minimal standard for rental properties which the govt needs to set. Currently there is not a standard enforced by local councils. The only thing local councils care about is that you cut the grass on your front lawn. They don't say anything about the liveability of a rental property. There are people being forced to live in run down "shacks" due to the price. There are lots of properties to rent just not a price most people can afford. The Fed's should ensure that state govt's can only get funding for housing if local councils ensure that a % of their housing is set aside for social housing. If every council did that it would improve the housing situation. All cities around the country have stopped expanding their suburbs because of the cost of infrastructure to service those new houses. So the only choice is to build multi-dwelling properties. In my area a vast majority of new housing has been multi-dwelling housing. Old houses are being purchased by developers and at least two dwellings are being built on the same land since the blocks in my area are large. Not the smaller land sites for new house blocks. Local councils have made millions from selling govt land to developers. It is time that local councils do the thing they all purport to be about which is community. I get the local council letter telling me how well they are helping the community and where my rates are going. Not one mention of how the local council is helping in the housing issues. It's all about sport fields and parks and schools. No point doing that if people can't afford to live in area. Schools are being closed because families can't afford to live in those suburbs. So what is happening in regional areas with small towns loosing their schools due to a reduction in population is also happening in the city suburbs.

Been watching a bit of Youtube music from artists not really well known. Latest one is Stand By Me sung by Music Travel Love. Also been watching a guy called Markus K a street busker. Check it out. They are obviously professionals but not well known. Wasn't aware that the younger generation knew who Creedence were but I was wrong after watching the Youtube dance.

Watched the last day of the World Athletics Championships. Rather try to watch it live even though it kills the rest of the day. Can now get back to a more normal sleep pattern. The Aussie field athletes did well. Our track athletes need more work. Apart from some individual stars we aren't known for our track results.

The dynamic of blaming the boomers for everything is changing in that the kids of the boomers are looking at their parents home as their asset and are already factoring that into their future wealth. These same kids are also opposing anything that might damage the full potential of that wealth. So they are voting against the revision of negative gearing or social housing in the suburb where their parents house resides. So we now have two generations who are part of the problem. The third group are those who have just bought into a neighbourhood and are counting on the price of their newly purchased home going up even if they have a 30yr mortgage which they can't payout for several decades. The boomer generation never looked at purchasing their house as a future asset. It was a place to live and raise the family. House prices go up and down all the time. You can't predict what your house is worth in 30yrs so think about finding a place to live first. So it's now multiple generations that are stopping a progressive society and they all need to take their share of the blame, not just the easy target of boomers.

Got my latest rates notice and saw a flyer for a new bin app which is essentially an app to tell you when to put out which bin. We seem to be developing technology to make us dumber. Not hard to work which bin to put out just look at the council website and print out the calendar and stick it on the fridge. It's a one time action. Don't need to constantly check an app. Councils used to provide a hardcopy in your junk mail but that's gone the way of all services. They don't tell you stuff, it's up to you to find it. The other option is just to look out on the street on bin day. Not hard. If you can't figure it out then you're dumber than Kylie Jenner and she's got the IQ of a cucumber.

So the Intergeneral Report is out and basically we are going to run out money to pay the aged pension and any other welfare payments including the NDIS, etc. Which is going to increase the poverty in the country as the bar will be raised as to the definition of poor. The difference between the have and have nots will be huge. Now those people my age or older will say well I'll be dead in 40yrs so not my problem, however it won't be a light switch moment, it will be gradual shift to a larger portion of society in poverty. So unless we start to elect a progress govts to run the country we will all pay for it. We need to get brave about negative gearing, franking credits and corporate tax loop holes which allows companies to pay no tax yet still make a profit. QANTAS is an example of corporate Australia giving the middle finger to society. Taking govt money and sacking thousands of people to implement a new business plan of paying workers less. Using tax payers money to fund their business plan. Harvey Norman is another example of a private company that used tax payers money to add to their budget. That money could of gone to fund govt services. Private industry in this country needs a shake up and a massive kick in the arse. We need to start jailing people in corporate Australia who don't follow the rules. The fact that they get a free ride pisses people off. Corporate Australia wants to pay less payroll tax then pay less corporate tax at the same time making millions. They want it all yet not willing to pay their share like the rest of us.

The weather for the rest of the week is for wet stuff. The weather forecast turned to crap within 24hrs. Was watching La Vuelta when I heard the rain on the roof. Which wasn't supposed to happen, so it's been wet since this morning and we are expecting a thunderstorm or two as the day goes on. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Was waiting for the date for The Voice to Parliament to plan a trip to the country next month to check out houses in planning the big move. Will be a bit warmer and the upcoming school holidays will be over by then. Melbourne still on the chilly side during the morning. Another week of mainly wet stuff although we are having a few days of warmer than normal temps. I also see that the bushfire warnings are already out for Qld. Very windy in Melbourne today. Was thinking of getting up a ladder since it's a dry day, but killed of that idea with all that heavy wind around. Currently it's rattling the windows.

The rhetoric from the No campaign has ramped up and it has got nastier which isn't surprising. It was well known that things would get worse on social media before the referendum was over. Same type of thing happened before the same sex marriage decision was made. It is always an opportunity for the crazies to come out and once again the far right are leading the charge. Not to say there hasn't been bad stuff said from the left, but not to the same scale. Can always bank on Warren Mundine to make lots of noise and believe his opinion is the only one that is relevant. His attack on Albo was not appropriate and looks like it came from him feeling some of the heat from his stance which is purely self serving. He is more worried about his financial situation and that The Voice will mean reduced access to pollies to get more govt contracts. The No campaign has a disconnected group of individuals saying No for their own personal reasons. Fair enough that indigenous people don't trust any govt, but The Voice is not a govt body. White fellas don't have any control over who gets elected to The Voice panel. They come from the indigenous communities, so the Yes campaign has to ensure all indigenous peoples have a say in the make up of that panel. There are no guarantees in life, so anyone expecting guarantees that all indigenous issues will be resolved with one tool is expecting perfection which doesn't exist, but if you don't try to make things better then nothing will improve.

Seems the referendum will depend on SA and Tassie. WA will be a No as will Qld but for different reasons. Vic and NSW will be a Yes. It seems ridiculous that what happens in the ACT and NT doesn't count. They are part of Australia yet their vote doesn't count. Whilst the overall count has to be a Yes, it means nothing without 4 of the 6 states voting Yes to get the referendum over the line. Everyone's vote should count since everyone is required to vote. This second provision is because a majority of the population resides in Qld, NSW and Vic which makes up 20 million people out of the 26 million population, so the 4 out of 6 states is to balance that aspect. This second provision is why a referendum rarely succeeds. It should be simply a majority in every state and territory in the country so population doesn't matter only the %. The population is larger than it used to be when these rules were developed. Changing a constitution should be done for a serious reason, however everyone in a democracy should feel that their participation in that democracy counts otherwise why vote.

Qld was the last part of Australia to get with the program of indigenous rights as a majority of Qld doesn't believe indigenous people should have their own rights nor any form of treaty. Where as in WA it's all about the mining industry and the ability to mine on any indigenous lands regardless of whether it is considered a sacred sight or one of historical significance. Plus there is the recreational fishing group that want to fish where ever they want regardless of the local indigenous rights. Since indigenous people only make up 3% of the population, they have buckleys of getting their voice heard without a specific system for them to get access to pollies. This means any fed govt can play one indigenous community against another which is already happening because of the lack of transparency. The argument for voting No because The Voice won't change anything, well that is not the case here in Vic. The scare campaign that The Voice will reduce the rights of other Australians well that is total bullshit. Here in Vic we have an Indigenous Voice to the Victorian Parliament which has allowed indigenous people to have treaty and it's a process that is ongoing. It has not impacted on part of my life. In fact it has gone largely unnoticed to the wider population. The sky has not fallen in and nobody has been dispossessed. Farmers haven't been kicked of their land nor has private industry been impacted in making profits. So if anyone wants to see how The Voice to the Federal Parliament can work, look to what is happening in Vic which is the most progressive state in Australia when it comes to indigenous rights. It works!

Seems the fallout from that unwanted kiss has the Spanish soccer managers scrambling to distance themselves from that fuckwit. They were all seen on TV applauding his stance, but it took others speaking up and the potential court action to get them to change their tune. Bunch of fucking hypocrites. The sports journalists in Spain need to quiz each of those soccer managers as to why they supported the guy who was the perpetrator. Their soccer federation should have a separate president for women's soccer who is actually a women as in a past female player. As it seems men can't behave themselves. Now the soccer manager for the women's team has been replaced but that has only happened due to the public pressure and the heat being felt by the men in charge of Spanish soccer. Sponsors don't like controversy so I wouldn't be surprised if private companies threatened to pull their money away from respective Spanish clubs. The Spanish men's team has come to the party rather late and only after the pressure has put on them so it's just a token gesture. They didn't want to endanger their individual lucrative contracts by speaking out earlier. Money before morals.

Mr Potato Head is now proposing another referendum on The Voice when the LNP get back into power. Why the fuck would we want to vote twice for the same thing? Especially with the Nat's stating they wouldn't support a second vote. Seems the Lib's and Nat's are not on the same page. The Nat's don't want any indigenous rights for indigenous people since the mining industry has them in their pockets. This new proposal is nothing but yet another tactic to cause confusion. The Lib's are using the Republican play book where they talk all sorts of shit just to muddy the waters. The Lib's have already attacked the AEC to set up the stance that the vote is illegitimate. So the Lib's won't accept the outcome of the vote unless it's a No. So they are now attacking a democratic institution which is totally independent of any political party. Once again a Republican tactic. What next. Lib's supporters will storm the AEC and attack the workers there. One thing you can guarantee after the vote is known the far right will protest and that will end in violence once again stoked by the LNP.

The Aussies have demolished the South Africans in the T20 matches. Mitch Marsh is back from the wilderness and looks good as the T20 captain. It would be hard not to keep him on in that role. I think we have found our next T20 captain. Given the workload of cricket these days, we need separate captains for test and one day/T20 games. They are different skills.

The footy finals are on. By that I mean AFL where you actually use your foot. That other carry ball game, well there is a reason it's only played in two states. I may watch one of the finals matches. My team isn't there so not much interest, but will be watching the grand final like I always do. Will be beer time.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Got the booklet for the referendum finally. Friends in Sydney mentioned they got the booklet last month. Seems they ran out of print or the plan was always to provide the booklet to the south later. I've read both cases and the No case is just so much negative stuff. Even containing false statements. It's one thing to say incorrect stuff in interviews and on social media but then to repeat those falsehoods in the official documents shows the No case is all about creating confusion. They claim for example that treaties are only between govts, which is not true. The agreements between govts are mainly MOU's. The Voice has nothing to do with NATO then again neither does Australia. Treaties around the world are predominately between govts and native peoples. The problem has always been that govts break those treaties based on pure greed. I will be voting Yes and am waiting to find out where I can vote early. If the No case wins well then you can bet that the indigenous people in this country will continue to go backwards. Money is not an issue. The Voice will not cost any more money but hopefully will influence govts on where to spend the already available money. You can also bet that future LNP govts will use the win by the No case to deny indigenous people their rights. Yet another attack on indigenous culture and you can also forget about truth telling and any form of treaty in the various indigenous nations in those states that vote No. Any treaties agreed to in the NT and ACT can be killed off by any Fed Govt since Canberra governs both of those territories. That can't happen in the respective states.

Seems the Lib's are getting very touchy about their tactics in the No case. They are cold calling people pretending to be someone else, then pushing the No case. Also now they are sending anonymous texts to people using false links to redirect people to the Lib's how to vote information. They are not being upfront with people they work for the Lib's. They are quick to condemn Professor Langton's comments but that isn't free speech apparently. Considering nearly all indigenous people have been on the receiving end of racism in this country, they can recognize it. When it happens to you, you get to recognize it even it's not spoken. The Australian newspaper was forced to remove it's headline due to public pressure, yet Mr Potato Head has repeated the unacceptable statements by that newspaper. They really should rename that newspaper The White Australian. To deny racism exits in this country is to deny the sun rises. Yes technically the sun doesn't move but us humans believe the universe is based on our point of view which is a whole other discussion. Hopefully one outcome of the referendum is that Australia is mature enough to have an honest discussion about racism in various parts of the country. The latest example being those cops in a Qld police station joking about killing and burying black people and the rest of the cops in that station laughing about those comments. The response by Qld police was to say they needed cultural training. No sanctions placed on those cops. They are treated as if they were naughty school kids, not members of the police force who are supposed to implement the law without bias. The other question is how do people become cops without understanding the need to treat people without bias. Sorry I forgot, it's Qld. How silly of me. The running joke is that FNQ is racism central. Ah Qld, sunny one day, perfect the next with a side order of racism. Just cover it with your lettuce, nobody will notice. It's not surprising Mr Potato Head says the things he does, as he used to be a Qld cop.

I think I'm getting addicted to watching stupid people on Youtube having their arses handed to them. From watching all that you can conclude America is a racist country and it's not just whites against blacks even though a majority of the racism in America is whites against black people. The entitlement has seeped into other ethnic groups making racist comments against each another. It seems to be infectious. The "where are you from?" question comes up a lot which I used to get when I was younger, and of course you can count on that one set of neighbours who believe they are doing a community service by questioning everyone in the street that doesn't look like them. Old white women need to get a hobby. They've been married for too long so they treat everyone like they do their long suffering husbands. They have spent decades telling their husbands what to do so they can't switch it off when they leave the house. I also learned a male Karen is called a Kevin. I don't look at social media so don't pay much attention to this stuff. Mind you we have our own Karens in this country. We just tend to call them fuckwits and dispense with the politeness calling them ma'am or sir like they do in the US. Far too polite they are. If people didn't have mobile phones and record this stuff it would be hidden and people would deny it happened. And what is it with all these people losing their shit over fast food. It's fast food! You want a proper meal, go to a restaurant.

Well finally that Spanish soccer president resigned but only after playing the victim. Really! Then does an interview where he says it wasn't his idea to resign but his family had to talk him into it. They must have had so much backlash in their personal lives and on social media. No mention if his mum gave up her hunger strike, although from what I saw she didn't seem she was denying herself food. Now that idiot is facing criminal charges. They need to also go after all those male coaches who applauded that idiot for standing his ground.

A nice week in Melbourne this week. Starting to get some warm weather. Spent a few days in the garden this week. Which started off quite cool and is ending rather warm. The air yesterday was very dry and felt a bit smoky. Didn't take long to fill up the garden bin. Going to remain dry and warm till next week. Yet another record in warm temps and we are only in Sept. Spring is typically cool mornings and warmer day time temps but not a run of multiple warm days in a row. So the weather this week is unusual. Have had to put a water bottle in the fridge as if it was Summer. Normally doesn't get warm till the end of Sept.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Was up very early this morning and have already had 3 cups of coffee. No buzz as I drink a lot of coffee. Surprisingly coffee is good for your liver but you have drink 5 cups a day to make a difference and it has to be medium strength. Nothing too dark.

Well Jacinta Price has lost the plot with her comments about colonisation having no impact on indigenous people. WTF is she talking about. Seems she is only concerned with herself and is more focused about keeping her job as an MP and has turned into a political animal with little care about who she represents. Was also telling that Nat's MP's in the front row were laughing and cheering her on. She was saying the things that the Nat's truly believe which is why they were cheering her on but when they were questioned about their support for those comments, they suddenly backed away from Jacinta's comments. Even Warren Mundine has walked away from those comments. Telling people to just move on isn't helping either. The No campaign can't even agree as to why they are saying No. There are people on the No campaign who would not normally be caught dead in the same room nor would they be welcome in their respective neighbourhoods. There a lots different No's which is why there is so much confusion on the No case. Wouldn't be surprised if they don't turn on each other before this is done.

The nuclear debate is a nonsense and yet another distraction. The LNP has no intention in pursuing this if they were to win govt at the next election. We can't even agree where to dump the nuclear spent fuel. Nobody wants the stuff buried in their area. We can't keep sending our nuclear waste OS as we do now otherwise we will run into the same problem we did when Asian countries refused to take our recycled waste which means it's just piling up in warehouses here. We can't even recycle all our own recycling.

Not all people who vote No are racists. That's a given. To suggest otherwise is nonsense. However to deny that racism will be part of why some people will Vote is denying that racism exists in Australia. Every time racism is raised, the first reaction is always to defend the country as not being racist. Anyone who starts an argument with the words.."I'm not a racist but...", well yep you are. It's the go to phrase by those who want to discriminate against people based on heritage. If anyone was in doubt that racism is wide spread in this country, you only have to look on social media. The closer we are getting the referendum date, the higher the volume of racism that is being seen on social media platforms and even in printed media.

What everyone needs to realise is that this referendum is being eagerly viewed by countries outside this country, even our Pacific neighbours. If the vote is No, Australia will be seen in a negative light and some people who might have thought of coming here will rethink their plans. The No vote could damage our ability to attract talent to this country. There is a lot at stake with this referendum so people should take the time to inform themselves and make an informed decision not one based on fear and traditional bias. If the vote is No, the next time anyone asks if Australia is a racist country well the answer to that based on social media would have to be a Yes. Which is something I thought I would not of contemplated in the past or even stated. If that upsets white people in this country, well they need to open their eyes and minds and stop looking the other way.

Rupert might have finally pulled the pin but his legacy is forever tarnished, not that he really cares. He has single handedly diminished democracies in the US, UK and here in Australia. Newscorp enabled what happened on Jan 6th in DC thru FoxNews. His companies in the UK bugged politicians phones illegally to threaten and blackmail the UK govt. Here in Australia, Sky News and Newscorp newspapers like The Australian has amped up the racism being experienced by all indigenous people and their communities. 60% of the printed press in Australia belongs to Rupert and that fuels social media which is why there is so much far right antisocial rhetoric in the media. All of this has been done purely to increase profits in the Murdoch empire. Will anything change with his son taking over? Hell no. They have a formula to make money by fear and misplaced outrage so why would they stop now.

The weather here in Melbourne town has turned back to Winter type temps. Haven't had to use the heater this past week, till last night. After over a week of warm humid days and higher than normal temps, we had some rain mid week and the mornings have gone back to being chilly. Some more warm weather coming back early next week. The late Winter/early Spring flowers are just about gone and the leaves are more visible on the deciduous trees. It seems NSW has been on fire these past few days and also those fires in Qld so early. We are only a few weeks into Spring.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

A cooler day in Melbourne town today with still some sun. Was rather warm the last couple of days. Back up to more Summer like temps by the weekend and no rain in sight for most of the next week so good days to be out in the garden. Spent time yesterday doing some re-grouting in one of the bathrooms. Doing a small repair and paint task today. Will take longer for things to cure and dry than actually doing the painting.

Teams are set for the AFL Grand Final. Not going for either team. Despite coming from Melbourne, I can't support Collingwood so don't really care who wins. Will be having a beer and may be a pie. Since Melbourne is a sporting city, it seems only natural for us to have a public holiday this Friday on the eve of the Grand Final. Forecast is for a rather warm day on Sat for the match.

The Royal Melbourne Show is on at the moment so lots of kids would of been heading there. Due to COVID you can buy the show bags on line these days, but you don't get the atmosphere. Really did enjoy going to the show as a kid. Did go back several years ago but it had changed. Preferred the original version. Did get show bags though.

The new QANTAS CEO has made her apology but what people really want is a better service. Simple stuff like having your luggage travelling with you. If you have type 1 diabetes you have to pack your needles in your luggage so if your luggage is left behind that could be life threatening. QANTAS baggage handlers don't have enough experience to even load a plane properly. If QANTAS really wants to get the trust of people back, they will need to reverse their actions and employ an experienced workforce so that passengers can get on with their travel. It's stressful enough travelling without an incompetent airline screwing up your travel plans before it's even begun.

The media keeps going on about the polls. The polls got it wrong in a big way at the last two elections. They predicted that a progressive Labor agenda would win an election and Slomo won much to his own surprise. They predicted that the Lib's couldn't lose since the public couldn't trust Labor and Albo smashed it. The polls predicted that Danny Boy would lose seats and possibly lose govt due to his stand on lockdowns and COVID restrictions and Danny Boy won a larger majority and the Lib's were smashed to the point they don't count any more and won't win the next state election because they have lost too many seats. So why would the polls be correct when it comes to The Voice outcome. The methods used for polling are out of date. The only people who answer cold call polling are old people because in that generation you always answered the phone. That's when phones had a cord from the receiver to the base, i.e prior to cordless phones. Scammers use that to scam old people since they always answer the phone. Young people don't respond to phone calls since they all text each other. I don't answer the phone unless I recognise the number as do most people. Polling and surveys are not a good indicator of the mind of the population these days, unless it's a captive audience like Q+A or similar shows that happen in real time. Most people these days don't want to tell anyone how they are going to vote. So we won't actually know which way the country is going with the referendum till after voting closes on the 14th of Oct. All the hype in the media about the polls is just white noise. The only people hanging on the polls are the Lib's. If the polls favoured the Yes case the Lib's would say they don't trust polls which is what the always say when the polls are not in their favour. Found an early voting place nearby so will be heading off there on Monday 2nd of Oct.

Yet another story of a senior public servant in Canberra doing things they shouldn't. Another guy trying to give himself more power and increase his salary by creating a job for himself. Shows that the Senior Exec Service of the public service in Canberra is part of the Canberra bubble. It's as if the rest of the country doesn't exist nor relevant. Whilst the guy might not have done anything technically wrong the fact he tried to create his own empire in his image is an issue. Not sure what they teach people in these leadership courses but being a narcissist seems to be in the job description. It's a bit like how kings in the past used to operate in killing off any opposing voices. Now it's done by political deals and this type of behaviour is considered normal in leadership circles. Which is why when things go wrong the first question always asked is how it could of been allowed to happen and people are shocked. Comes down what is considered acceptable behaviour in any seat of power whether in govt or private circles. Another reason why good people end up quitting leadership roles and we are left with narcissists in charge.

Another No campaign rally and another group of Nazi fuckwits show up. It's like a mating call. You can't have a Lib's rally without some far right or fascist group being accommodated by the organizers. At some point people in the centre and the left of politics will say enough is enough and begin to push back in a stronger manner. You could just ignore these far right arseholes in the past, but not now. The far right is now a major player in Germany's politics to the point they might be part of the next parliament. This same group said it was ok to shoot refugees then qualified the statement saying to only shoot the mothers. This was said by one of their candidates. The birth place of Nazi's is now looking at a comeback with a new cover to make them user friendly. Here we have the LNP to thank for the rise of Nazi groups in Australia because the LNP want their votes.

The COVID inquiry should include the lived experience of states and how they dealt with COVID not just the Fed's response which favoured NSW. The Labor states were left to fend for themselves. The NSW govt even came on TV and said they were the most important state in the country and therefore should get the most funding and proportion of the vaccine stocks. Slomo did a secret deal with Gladys which ensured NSW got more than their fare share of the vaccine. Slomo also didn't order enough vaccine as the LNP govt didn't take COVID seriously and thought it was like the flu. Victoria, Qld and WA missed out. Sydney was the epicentre of the virus and allowed it to spread to Qld and Vic without telling either state govt that the virus was rampant in Sydney, and refused to place any restrictions on people in Sydney who happily spread the virus to friends and family in other states. So Albo has got it wrong. The respective state govts should be involved in this inquiry and if it gets to a Royal Commission that Mr Potato Head wants, he might regret it as the other states will give the NSW Lib govt hell and Gladys will be in the firing line again. Her lack of leadership pissed of the rest of the country. The NT was shit scared that people from Sydney would visit and bring the virus with them. Keeping in mind that when COVID first hit we didn't have a vaccine. The only safe measure was restricting travel to stop the spread of the virus. Time lines are import when talking about how each state handled COVID. The experience of people in regional Vic was far different to people living in Melbourne. The only reason people in regional Vic carried on life as normal is because of the lock downs in Melbourne and the Ring of Steel as Danny Boy called it. We only have the stats of how many died each day. We don't have the stats of how many lives were saved by the lock downs. People forget to ask that question. It seems now people are looking at those dark times thru rose coloured glasses. We keep talking about COVID in terms of the economy not the lives saved and those who died who are now the forgotten in this conversation.

Just heard that Danny Boy has decided to resign an Premier of Vic. I guess that is his style. It would be a shock for most people. He has a massive majority of seats so could keep going till after the next election. If he was craving power he would of stayed on. Will be interesting to see what happens now.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Wet day timetable in Melbourne town for at least the next two days with lots of rain. No work outside this week. Rain predicted for the rest of the week. Should all disappear on the weekend. Has been a warmish night and still feels a bit warm this morning so the cold front hasn't really hit yet. There are bushfires raging in the east of Vic, near some holiday spots and also flood warnings are being issued on the same day for the same area. Crazy weather. Now we have fires in three states which could really do with a big dump of rain to kill off these fires. Here they have also issued road alerts in all Melbourne suburbs. Haven't seen that before. Usually it's for selected suburbs but they predict flash flooding on streets because of the amount of rain. Wouldn't be surprised if some streets in the city get flooded. Especially on the older streets.

Did the early voting yesterday and it went rather quickly. Took longer to park and walk to the polling booths than actually vote. No queues. Had a new system of colour coded boxes for the different electorates. Seems that is because of the small number of pre-polling venues. Saw another part of the local area I normally don't visit. Not sure if putting a polling place in a new age church is a sign from God. There were lots of Yes voting banners and one small No vote banner. Even the people handing out the Yes vote paper outnumbered the single No vote person. My electorate will probably vote Yes, given that it is a strong Labor voting electorate. Not surprising that the No campaign have volunteers who are spreading lies at polling booths like The Voice will require an extra tax and that people will lose their houses if the Yes vote wins. Such total bullshit which is perpetuated by the Lib's to the point that they have convinced Lib supporters these lies are true. The Lib's have used the Republican play book for spreading lies. To call it misinformation is to give these lies credibility. There is no credibility in the No case points. They are simply not true.

Also went to Bunnings yesterday to get stuff on the list. Haven't been there in a while. Got everything I needed but as usual it was a bit like a treasure hunt. They could do with a directory like you get in shopping centres. You have to constantly ask staff where to find specific stuff. More of those visits to come in the next few months. Replacing some stuff in the house before Christmas and packing away other stuff in preparation for the big move next year.

Saw Q+A last night and Noel Pearson was that wise man on the hill. He was eloquent, thoughtful and didn't get annoyed by the stupid stuff being said by the Lib MP. Although there were times when his face was wondering why the hell he was listening to the crap being said. He looked pissed off at times but didn't respond. I know how he felt. Had a number of times when sitting in management meetings listening to total bullshit being said by other managers. Had a boss who would defer to me for the final word as the voice of reason. So frustrating when you know what needs to be done yet people just don't want to do anything. If the NO vote wins we will be the "do nothing" nation. It will be a sad day for the country where we are so concerned with our won circumstances we don't care about what happens to others. The cost of living thing is being used as an excuse to vote No which is just a cover story. Will certainly change how we see ourselves as not being that progressive smart nation. Will change how we are perceived by others. You can bet when Aussies travel in the future we will be quizzed as to why the No vote won and is Australia a racist nation. We have the current situation where indigenous people are being asked to justify their claim of being indigenous. White people are never asked to prove their English heritage nor is their heritage questioned. Through my entire life my English heritage has been questioned because of the colour of my skin.

Daylight savings has hit us again here in Melbourne. It's a nonsense time which we really don't need. Half the country doesn't use daylight savings. On the east coast at this time of year we have two time zones which we don't need. Insurance companies don't like the switch over to daylights savings either as it causes more car accidents as people have had less sleep. You can't just switch your body clock in a day. There is no reason to keep daylight savings. I used to hate it when working because here in the south you are just getting used to waking up with daylight only to be waking up in the dark again as if Winter was back.

Looked at the merits of purchasing a PS5 and discovered several issues. Firstly it has a smaller hard drive that the PS4 I have. With the software loaded requiring about 200G it leaves you with about 670G and given the size of most open world games being around 100G plus updates worth another 20G you can only load about half a dozen games but like the PS4 you can't use all the HD space. You have to upgrade the PS5 by buying an extra hard disk such as an SSD. So you can't get a PS5 with a 1 TB drive. You also can't use an external hard drive loaded with PS5 games but you can import PS4 games from an external hard drive which is nuts. You have to import games from an external hard drive to play them so given the smaller drive you have to import then delete then import another game. So whilst you can play a PS4 game on a PS 5 it's a case of lots of time spent importing or downloading games. Copying games is not quick. It can take hours. The PS5 is supposed to be an upgrade from a PS4 but it seems it has gone backwards. Given the cost of the PS 5 plus the need to purchase an additional drive it becomes an expensive expenditure also given the limited number of PS5 games on offer. Unless their is a game I really want, I'll hold off buying a PS5 for now and wait for the next version of PS5.

The pies, i.e. Collingwood, won the AFL which was a good game and either team could of won it in the last quarter. Was one of the more even grand finals in a while. Qld couldn't win any of the grand finals. They lost the AFL, NRL and the NRLW grand finals. Now that the footy is over the ODI world cup is next although not sure how much of that will be available on the TV. Probably need to pay to see it which is annoying.

Was a nice weekend if windy here in Melbourne. Spent Sunday cleaning out most of the large garage and sorting out the hard rubbish for the rubbish day either this month of next. This is stuff the council won't take and has built up over 20yrs plus stuff I've dismantled this year as part of sorting out the backyard. The clean up shows how big the garage actually is. You just tend to keep stuff and getting rid of it is not a priority.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The referendum is coming to a close and the racist stuff that has been happening on social media is now playing out at some polling venues. The No case supporters are verbally attacking people who won't take their hand outs. Reminds me of the aggressive nature of one independent supporter I encountered at a polling venue for the last state election. He was very aggressive with everyone walking in and if it hadn't been such a public place I would of punched the prick. People going to vote don't need to be hassled by fuckwits. I usually take all the handouts even though I already know who or what I'm going to vote for. The No supporters are sniggering in the corner because they have managed to cause confusion with lies and have fooled people into voting No. The only divisive party in this debate is the No case with Mr Potato Head as their leader who then goes on to blame Albo which is typical tactics of the far right. One thing is for sure Mr Potato Head will never become PM based on his actions. What I find funny is that white people are shocked by the amount of racism and anger towards The Voice and towards indigenous people. It's as if they have been asleep their entire lives. Welcome to the real Australia.

If the No vote wins there will be consequences for Australia from our pacific neighbours. They will be more reluctant to send their people here. The Solomon's govt will say that their decision to court China was right as Australia will be perceived as a racist country. Countries in Europe and Asia will rethink how they think about Australia. Anyone from non-white countries thinking of migrating to Australia to live will think again about coming here. The No vote has massive ramifications for Australia outside our borders none of which the LNP cares about as they are have gone to the far right and as with all far right parties they are very insular and only have fear to gain supporters. Just have to look at the Republican party in the US. They are now so far right they have to add another margin to the right. If the No vote wins, Australia takes one more step towards being the US because you can bet that when the LNP next wins govt the No vote will give them license to abolish any state treaties with indigenous people. Those who have been champions for indigenous rights may just give up on Australian society to bring indigenous people up to equity with all other Australians. The only way that indigenous people have had improvements is through life long champions which is a very hard way get improvements in life. If the No vote wins, in 50yrs time when people look back at this time in Australian history, the people of that future time will wonder what the fuck were we thinking. Similar to how we perceive the racism of the 1950's. We will become the new 1950's. As for the statement that The Voice will divide Australia, well guess what we are already divided in politics, in wealth, in disability, in suburbs, so wake the fuck up.

Been watching the news about the terrorist attack in Israel. You can't call it anything else. Not sure what Hamas was thinking giving the far right govt in Israel the green light to now do what they wanted to do previously. People who were against the govt would now be supporting them. Moderates in Israel will support the actions of the far right govt. Not a smart move from Hamas given they put a lot of planning into this attack. Any legitimate argument Palestine have is now wiped out. Netanyahu will now feel he has the right to go after Gaza without any constraints similar to how Bush was given free reign after the 9/11 attacks even though people didn't like Bush. Innocent people on both sides of the now Israeli war will continue to die and Israel won't be satisfied till Hamas is destroyed or Gaza is razed. They will occupy Gaza again to ensure this won't happen again. It's just a dumb move from Palestine. War will not lead to peace, just more occupation. It will lead to war crimes being reported to the ICC and like Poo-tin the leaders of Hamas will be issued arrest warrants. With the stories of mass murder, people being shot in their homes and on the street, women being raped and taken as hostages, children being killed in front of their families and Hamas is dumb enough to post this stuff on social media. They are providing their own evidence of their guilt, again not smart. International courts don't have to look for the evidence. If this wasn't happening in Israel you would be forgiven to think it was a news story from Ukraine. The stories are very similar and more shocking stories to come as survivours come forward. There are no winners in this, just tragedy.

It hasn't taken long for the events happening in Israel to come of our shores. The rally by that Imam in Sydney was not appropriate given the rhetoric. He is supposed to be a priest not a supporter of war. There is no glorification in war. Taking any religion and weaponising it is not welcomed. We have anti-terrorist laws now so rallying people to violence could land you in jail. The cops are now looking at the footage from that rally to see if arrests will happen. Not a problem in demonstrating but we don't need people inciting violence. That shit should not be tolerated regardless of the cause.

Having a lazy day today. The weather is on the cooler side in Melbourne town. Was nice and sunny on Sunday if a tad cool. Went to visit family and buy some treats. Normally only buy those treats at Christmas time but just felt like it now. Gone back to a PS4 game I've played previously. The price dropped by $30 so decided to buy it again. Now have both games in the series. Went to do the update on the PS4 and found that most of the games I have on that console had updates. Took 5hrs to complete all the updates. Some of these updates were 20G. Even the older games had updates which seem to come out of nowhere. So I've currently got two games on the go. Some nights there is so much crap on the TV, the games are the only option to not get bored.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Will be watching the vote count on Saturday night. It will be an historic day for Australia. Will we be on the right side of history or will we regress to the 1950's. In our little corner of the world we are largely immune to what happens in the rest of the world and we sometime forget we are part of the world and what we do has ripple effects outside our borders.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

I’ll be voting ‘yes’. The following seemed a good, succinct case for it:
“After 122 years we have a chance to complete our Constitution, forge a reconciled future with our first peoples, and cement ourselves as the land of the fair go.”
From Chris Kenny, of all people!

 

[darkelf9]

I’ll be voting ‘yes’. The following seemed a good, succinct case for it:
“After 122 years we have a chance to complete our Constitution, forge a reconciled future with our first peoples, and cement ourselves as the land of the fair go.”
From Chris Kenny, of all people!

G'Day mate,
Yep I reckon it's a no brainer to vote Yes. Has no impact on me and it's time for indigenous people to have their own voice directly to the parliament. The local Voice here in Vic goes largely unnoticed by non-indigenous people and the sky hasn't fallen in. If you were to ask people on the streets of Melbourne what they think about the local Voice, most wouldn't even know it exists. Again, zero impact on non-indigenous people.

Hope things are good where you are.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

A beautiful day up here in Brisbane.

 

[Razzyricho]

Aussie bloke checking in, new here. I’ll be voting yes, our antique government needs a change. Hope everyone is well and having a top arvy

 

[darkelf9]

Aussie bloke checking in, new here. I’ll be voting yes, our antique government needs a change. Hope everyone is well and having a top arvy

Just leave the beers in the fridge, just none of that four x stuff.

 

[Razzyricho]

Just leave the beers in the fridge, just none of that four x stuff.

Carlton Zero it is

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Was in shock when I saw that Cal Wilson has passed away. She was only 53 yrs old. Whilst she wasn't an Aussie, we'll happily claim her and she had been living in Melbourne for a long time. Her family must be devastated as her sudden death.

Wet day timetable here in Melbourne town. Got woken up by the heavy rain on the roof then went back to bed. The rain has now turned to drizzle. Expecting a thunderstorm this afternoon and some hail as well. So it ain't over yet. Took advantage of he warm sunny day yesterday and did he weekly shop and a couple of other tasks. Was going to spend yesterday in the garden till I saw how much rain we were expecting today. The forecast is for rain till next week just in time for me do another round of medical stuff.

The pictures from Gaza are sad. Looks like parts of Syria. All this can stop now if the people of Gaza give up the Hamas gunmen and release all the hostages that were taken. Lebanon also has to expel the Hamas leaders who are sitting in Lebanon sipping tea as people continue to die. They clearly don't care about their fellow Palestinians in Gaza and are willing to sacrifice them for a lost cause. Hamas has put back the Palestinian cause several decades. Hamas is so dumb that they even killed and kidnapped Israelis who were helping Palestinian kids. Given the amount of planning that went into the Hamas incursion, it seems nobody in the room asked the question, should they do this. It's clear that Hamas gunmen did not have any rules. Their only plan was mass murder which won't be tolerated by any other country. They also killed and kidnapped people who are not Jewish. How stupid are they? Did they think by doing that that other countries would come to their aid? Given the atrocities committed by Hamas, no western country will come to the aid of Palestinians in Gaza. It would be political suicide for any western country or any of the countries who have had their people killed or kidnapped to now accept refugees from Gaza. Any sympathy or empathy for the Palestinians in either Israel or western and European countries is virtually gone. If the reports are true that people in Gaza were cheering as Hamas was committing those atrocities which were being streamed live on social media, then Palestinians have lost a lot of support. No matter how you look at it Hamas did something very very stupid and if they think they can negotiate with Netanyahu, they have picked the wrong guy. He is a hard-liner himself. This situation is only getting worse and not ending any time soon, so we are in for weeks of more tragedy none of which needed to happen.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the resounding message sent to indigenous peoples in this country is that Australian society rejects them and their culture. There will be a lot of anger, hopelessness and helplessness being experienced by indigenous people at the moment. One thing is abundantly clear, there is deep racism in Australian society towards indigenous people and their culture. Frankly I don't understand where this hatred towards indigenous people comes from. I've always defended Australian society when asked if this country is racist. I've always said that whilst there are pockets of racism in Australia, the society as a whole is not racist. Even though I've experienced racism at various stages of my life. Well it seems I totally misjudged the current Australian society. My answer to that question in the future now must be..yes Australia is a racist country. There can be no other answer to that question. Other countries will also come to the same conclusion. The subtle arguments about what's the model, etc will be totally glossed over. The only thing that will be mentioned is that Australians don't believe that indigenous people need to be recognized in Australian society. They in fact need to assimilate in Australian society and give up their traditional lands and their culture, because white people want to either dig a hole on their traditional lands or they want to build another cattle station and use up all the underground water. Indigenous people love to play footy, love a bbq and downing a cold one. How much more fucking Aussie can you get.

The outcome of the referendum is a dark point in time in Australian history. It's a shame that we can't whitewash and will remain a stain on Australian society forever as there is now a permanent record of it. The only positive to come out of the vote on Saturday is that millions of Australians do support and value indigenous people and their culture in pockets of Australian society. As for the rest of Australian society, they need to take good long look at themselves. They will have to explain to their grandchildren why they voted No. No matter how that conversation ends, the listener can't come to any other conclusion than the reason was based on racism. If Australians found it so difficult to grant indigenous people a say in what happens to them in this country, there is sure as shit no appetite for treaty and truth telling at the federal level. It is now up to each state and territory to continue the work towards local treaties and their own truth telling.

Now that white Australia has dealt with the indigenous issue, their next target will migrants. Migrant populations voted No because they saw on the news that most white people were going to vote No and they didn't want to rock the boat. There is fear in migrant communities that if they do rock the boat against the wants of white Australia, they will be deported. It's an irrational fear but it is a fear none the less. The irony of this is that a majority of migrants coming to live in Australia come from the UK. However when even Aussies talk about migrants they have a vision of people from non-anglo countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. As for the whole keeping this country Christian thing, hence ensuring that a majority of the migrants come from places like the UK, well there are Christians in most countries around the world and on every populated continent on the planet. Christians come in all colours. There is again total ignorance of this fact in Australian society. We as a country need to wake the fuck up and stop letting fear and bias rule our society. There are three Australias. White Australia, Migrant Australia and Indigenous Australia. White Australia tolerates Migrant Australia provided they don't take jobs white people believe are theirs. Indigenous Australia is only their so we can put them in a glossy booklet for an ad campaign and sell their art to tourists. Apart from that White Australia as a majority doesn't give a flying fuck about them. After all they are all on welfare right? Such a dumb comment but that's the perception.

We have along way to go to in Australia for equality to be enjoyed by all people in Australian society. It's obvious to me I won't see that in my life time nor is there any appetite in Australia for that to happen. When I turned the clock forward at the start of this month for daylight savings, I was actually turning the calendar back to the 1950's. We look back on the 1950 and can't believe the blatant racism in Australian society back then. So welcome to the new 1950's. In another 50 yrs, the society at that time will look back at us and say.."what the fuck were they thinking". My view of Australian society is forever changed and not in a good way. The outcome of the referendum has no impact on my life, but I do have concerns that we have forever damaged the view of indigenous people towards Australian society. They have been rejected in their own country.