Aussies! Check in here!

[darkelf9]

I have found home on this site!! I am amongst my people and I am really excited for this xx!

Welcome to the thread. Just put the six pack in the tub and tell people about yourself.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Wet day timetable here in Melbourne today. Has been warm for the first half of the week and good sunny days if you wanted to just sit around and have drink or go to the beach which lots of people did given the ANZAC Day this week and as most people take the Monday off to make it a long long weekend. Not so good if you were doing lots of physical work. Just lots of sweating. Was surprised to see so many people at the shops yesterday. Felt like it was Christmas holidays again which was surprising given the kids have gone back to school. Only a few kids out and about but is it was mostly adults roaming around so people must have decided to take the week off. Decided it was also time to get the hairs cut and it was busy. Got rid of the homeless look, now probably need to trim the beard as well to go with the haircut.

Been a busy start to the week. Spent the weekend doing some minor painting tasks since the weather was on the warm side then spent the first couple of days of the week in the garden chopping down other parts of a tree in the front yard. Managed to fill up the garden bin and another large garden bag. And on ANZAC Day what could be more Aussie than doing the mowing but only after watching the march up to the shrine here in Melbourne. Then watched the dawn ceremony from Gallipoli which is a normal thing for me to do on ANZAC Day. Again this year I was surprised by the lack of availability of ANZAC badges in the week leading up to ANZAC Day. They are normally available at supermarkets. Didn't see any at any of the shops.

So Dame Edna has gone back to Moonee Ponds for a final time. Was a much bigger hit in the UK than here. We didn't appreciate the talent and yes like most people that age controversy wasn't far away. Then there was Harry Belafonte who also passed away this week. Was a champion for black people in the US and also a famous singer who was before my time who broke a lot of barriers for black people plus gave a lot of his money to the cause. If the younger generation doesn't recognise his music just watch Beetlejuice, the dinner scene. He also called out Rump on his bullshit.

So the Army must be pissed that they aren't getting the funding promised by the LNP. Defence budgets are long term so the Army would of made plans to get the new funding now they have to cut budgets. A neutral spend in Defence means a cut to the budget it's not as the govt states "neutral". Unlike private industry if govt agencies don't spend their budget they get less money the next FY so there is no incentive to save money. If you save money you get punished. It will take the Army a long time to recoup these budget cuts.

Inflation is on the down turn but the LNP doesn't want to acknowledge the positives and at least people can see some end to the ever increasing rate rises. Now they are predicting cuts to interest rates by the end of the year and an increase in house values again. Now we just need wages to increase since has now it has been proved that wage increases are not the main reason for inflation because if that was true inflation would not have increased. It in fact it's the cost of goods and services that drives inflation that is a fact. Not the bullshit economists keep peddling that wages must stay low to curb inflation. What has increased inflation is pure greed from private industry. The rich have gotten richer because of COVID and now the war in Ukraine. Basically when bad shit happens the rich see it as an opportunity to fuck the economy and society for their own wealth. What was surprising to hear today is that Victoria pays more in tax than NSW even though NSW has a higher population. So either the wages in Vic are higher than in NSW or people in NSW aren't paying their fair share of tax on their incomes. You would expect that the higher the numbers in the workforce the higher tax collected. Seems NSW is ripping off the rest of the country.

When I was younger I couldn't give a flying fuck about politics and didn't see how it had any impact on my life. As I've got older I've come to understand that politics impacts all aspects of your life from whether you can get married, how many kids you can afford, where you can live, what job you can get and whether you need to pay tax of not. The oyster depends on which body of water you are in.

Off to another medical appointment tomorrow to end the week and the month, till next month and more medical stuff. More rain tomorrow and into the weekend so a good chance I'll get rained on when I'm out tomorrow. Then onto the PT on Monday to get the eyes checked as I keep getting reminders from the medical people to do that. Can't drive for those appointments cause of the testing required. But will get a takeaway and muffins so that balances out the annoyance factor. May be an expensive start to May.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Another wet day timetable today in Melbourne town. Was woken up to heavy driving rain on the roof in the early hours of the morning. Was very loud also with that heavy wind. All quiet now. The only evidence of it is the wet ground. Was a cool morning. Decided it was time to change to the warmer bed sheets. Morning temps are now mostly below 10C.

Learnt a few new things since last week. Coffee is good for the body including your liver but only if you drink the lighter blends and you need to drink 4-5 cups to do any good. There is this thing called green coffee which I've seen before. Apparently good for those who are not proper coffee drinkers. I'm an avid coffee drinker so I don't have to change that. Also artichokes are good for the liver. The vitamin companies are making a killing with these vitamin pills. Went to one of these vitamin shops just to check it out and the guy running it was like a used car salesman. Way too slick to even care about what he was selling and kept chewing his gum whilst talking to me. So that put me off. Then told me the actual artichoke was bad for me including those oils. The pills were better. Then I looked at the price and thought, rip off. No doubt he was just trying to sell the product, but talking shit doesn't wash with me. So won't be going back. Not a fan about buying health stuff on the internet.

Got the eyes checked this week and was told that everything was good. Learned more about the health of the eye and what impacts your eyes. So that was interesting. Was also told that since I'm in my 60's now I won't need a change to my prescription lenses as your eyes don't change shape past your 60's so the need for new specs is greatly diminished. Which will be good for the wallet. Cataracts are a totally different thing as they don't impact your prescription except that once you get have the cataract op you don't need specs for long distance. It's funny that once you get to an age when you need a cataract op, you probably won't be driving.

So Joyce is leaving QANTAS which I'm sure will send a cheer thru QANTAS workers and customers. He has done a lot of damage to the QANTAS brand. Some people who were long term QANTAS supporters and customers have given up their membership in protest and gone to other airlines as a preference. Yes Joyce has kept QANTAS financially ok but at the expense of sacking loyal workers, disrespecting customers and has lost advertising dollars and investors. They might come back knowing that Joyce is going. He fooled the public by taking public money which was meant to support staff and used that money to sack those workers hired inexperienced contractors at a cheaper rate which chaos for passengers. Then he blamed the public for the fuck ups in lost baggage. I have flown with QANTAS a lot over several decades and never once did my luggage go missing. Deliberately leaving people's luggage behind but not telling them shows he is doesn't care about QANTAS customers and he is basically an arsehole and an arrogant prick. Frankly QANTAS is better off without him.

Not sure why anyone is paying attention to what Abbott has to say about The Voice. He wasn't asked to present his views to that committee, he insisted on appearing. In fact he threw a hissy fit and complained that he hadn't been called. Then when he did appear he just talked shit right from the right wing play book. He took some of Little Johnny's words about no need to acknowledge indigenous and The Voice gives them special privilege. The real question is why do white people feel so threatened by indigenous people having a say in issues that impact them? Abbott belongs to group of people who's views are outdated and like the dinosaurs, they have had their time. Why the media keeps seeking out these people for comment is not relevant to a progressive society. That is assuming Australia is a progressive society. The way we are acting right now, puts that concept in doubt. If we fuck up this vote on The Voice our global profile is will be damaged. We won't have any moral ground to talk about any other country's treatment of it's citizens.

Will probably watch the coronation more for the theatre of it, but will also be channel flicking thru the boring bits. The military bands should be good. Usually watch Edinburgh Tattoo for the bands.

With all the wet weather this week, the garden is getting a rest so having an easy week. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Father Bob was laid to rest who was a champion for the poor and those that society has left behind. He typified what a priest should be doing. He drew people to him and was much loved. He also wasn't shy in criticizing the church and in the end they tried to silence him by kicking him out of the priesthood yet the same church spent lots of dollars in defending child abusers and Pell. Not very Christian.

Seems there is a split in Barry Humphrey's family. The ones in Sydney want the funeral to happen there but the ones in Melbourne wanted a state funeral which was offered by Danny Boy. Not sure why people are questioning Danny Boy on this. It was the choice of the family in Sydney, nothing to do with the Vic govt.

So Charlie is now crowned king in what most of us would acknowledge as a bizarre ceremony. The crowns on the heads of Charlie and Camilla looked odd in our modern times. Was a bit like watching reality TV. I watched mainly the parade bit with the military. Flicked over to other stuff during all that singing. Camilla got her cake and to eat it too by being crowned Queen. From mistress to Queen is a long standing tradition in English history so in that respect she is just carrying on a well worn path to being Queen but with no axeman in sight. There wouldn't be much tolerance for Camilla being Queen given when Charlie pops off she won't take power, that falls to William so she gets taken care off for the rest of her life which Charlie has made sure of by making her Queen.

The budget has been handed down and again nothing in it for me apart from the cut in the more expensive medication for chronic conditions so that was good, but the price of other medication has not changed. None of the cuts to bills impacts me as a pensioner. The only thing I get is the discount on the PT. The other changes to Job Seeker and parent payments plus the increase to rental assistance is a good start. More required on those in the future. A rather positive budget for those who will benefit from it, just not me. What the govt has done is show up the Lib's in getting a surplus in the budget and not a black mug in sight. The Lib's couldn't produce a surplus in a decade and kept hammering Labor as being bad money managers so the Lib's must be fuming at the surplus. They said a drover's dog could produce a surplus so by their own words they aren't as smart as a drover's dog. Now the Lib's have come out and said that we should not be giving money to the unemployed, and the well off in society are losing out. WTF!

Another rat leaving the Lib ship. Robert is getting out before the new anti-corruption commission comes for him in July when it stands up. It's quite obvious why he is leaving but the Lib's are again not being honest with the public as to why he is leaving now since he is quite comfortable sitting in parliament getting his salary for doing fuck all and he will receive a govt pension when he leaves. The Lib seat in Qld should easily be held by the Lib's but will be interesting if they lose most that majority of 10%. NSW was a safe place for Lib's now it's Qld. Lots of old white people on the gold coast in their retirement years so the Lib's naturally are strong there. COVID saw lots more retiree's going to Qld. Mainly from NSW and Vic.

Has been a wet week here in Melbourne town. The rain has comes in waves. You think it has gone and then get another wave of heavy showers. The rain has stopped only an hour ago. Was raining most of the night. It basically rained every hour yesterday. Had to change my plans for yesterday as I didn't want to get soaked walking around. Wasn't as cold as it was previously due to the cloud cover. Everything outside is very damp. Will be dry tomorrow and into the weekend. Off to the other side of the city to the cemetery at the end of the week for Mother's Day.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. And a happy Mother's Day for Sunday to all the mothers both young and old.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Seems the Lib's both state and federal are imploding. The Vic Lib's are fighting amongst themselves over the Nazi stuff and that Lib has been expelled and she is suing the Lib's. The Tassie Lib's have 2 that have resigned over the new footy stadium which Tassie doesn't need. The fed Lib's keep blaming Albo for things the Lib's didn't do when they were in govt. It's rather ironic that the Lib's now care about low income workers and about housing given they did fuck all over a decade for anyone apart from their corporate mates and the rich. The Lib's also have issues with the 'No' campaign which in itself is in-fighting. Two sets of indigenous front people saying the other one doesn't speak for indigenous people. Lydia says she represents the real indigenous people and that Mundine and Jacinta are the front people of the mining industry and they in turn say she doesn't speak for most indigenous people. Then the 'Yes' campaign is rather silent. They seem to be relying on the 'No' campaign fighting each other.

The weather this week is similar to last week in that most of the week has been and will be wet. We are getting more rain this month that we got thru the Summer months. The Winter weather has set in this week as well. Was very cold this morning. Daily temps not going to get much above 15C for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Is a dry day today. We also had an earthquake here in Melbourne yesterday morning. Didn't feel a thing but was woken up by the heavy rain. The earthquake was only a 2.3 near the Dandenong Ranges in the east of Melbourne.

Expensive month with the car rego and insurance. The TAC component keeps going up. Will be going to another family funeral later this month. That makes the third family funeral since 2020. Figure the family is due a break from funerals for a while even though my generation of the family is getting older. Only 30% of men live past 75yrs old.

Yet another Nazi rally here in Melbourne and once again the cops were protecting them from the much larger anti-Nazi crowd. These Nazi dudes aren't that clever since they put everything out on social media. Danny Boy is talking tough but is slow to act on these Nazi groups. If he doesn't do something then the general public in Melbourne will and that is going to end with more violence. Recent comments from Mr Potato Head about stopping migration has empowered these Nazi groups to come out from under their rocks because they feel immune and supported by one side of politics. The basic facts are that if we don't increase our population we won't be able of afford things like pensions. The Fed's need to get back to building social housing and stop leaving it up to private industry who only cares about itself. The Greens are all for more housing provided none of the social housing is in their Green seats. They in fact actively campaign against social housing where they live. They only want social housing is outer western suburbs where there aren't any services and fuck all PT and good luck finding a GP out there. Danny Boy stopped expanding Melbourne because the govt couldn't afford to keep trying to service new land. So unless there are govt funded services for these new housing areas, just taking more land is not the answer.

The latest price gouging is the price of Macadamia nuts. Retail stores are still charging high prices while the price for farmers has dropped. Some farmers are pulling out Macadamia trees and selling farms. Another example of big business ripping off customers. What will end up happening is our Macadamia farms will be owned by foreign buyers and there goes another Aussie icon, like when Vegemite was bought by Kraft.

If you're in the south of the country hope you find a warm place to sit. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Been looking at the Giro and the weather over there seems similar to Melbourne these last few weeks, lots of the wet stuff with smatterings of sunny dry days. It's like looking at any British TV show where it rains in every episode. Has also been down to Winter overnight temps. Had our first proper burst of cold winds from the south as we normally get in Winter. The deciduous trees in the garden are losing or have lost most of their leaves. Mostly native trees in the garden so plenty of the green foliage still around. A wet day timetable in Melbourne today and will continue in to the start of the coming week.

Got more work done in the garden in the first couple of days of the week both back and front yards and another full garden bin. Just about cleared all the tree bits and vine creeper from the back yard. Pulled out the old steel garden arch. Added some more stuff to the junk pile. Can really see the back fence now. Less screening of the back fence. The neighbours must be wondering what all the activity in the garden is all about.

Parents losing their shit over drag queens doing story time for toddlers. Young kids love dress up. They obviously don't have an issue with a colourful person ready them a story. Kids love colour and movement and they seem to be hypnotised by music. They don't have our biases as adults. This sudden morality of parents of young kids who only a few years earlier were trying to get a root in a nightclub is obscene. These same parents who are storming council offices about the drag queen story time shove their kids into the arms of an old bloke in a beard and red suit who they don't know and in most cases don't want to be near. They're told to be aware of strangers then mum is putting them in the lap of total stranger and telling them to smile. No wonder the kids are confused.

The Vic Govt debt is huge. Some of that came from COVID and was needed and some of the debt has come from the changes to railway crossings after several kids were killed at train street crossings. A lots of boom gates have been removed. Parents were urging the govt to do something about the boom gates so the govt did but it has cost a lot of money. Danny Boy listened to the parents so we can't now bitch about the cost of those improvements. Those changes have caused chaos on the train lines but the changes have made traffic flow around railway crossings a lot better. The major expense has been the expansion of the underground railway stations to include another level of stations. Not everyone saw the need right now. Currently Melbourne has a single level of underground stations. To cope with the increase in population the new expansion is adding a second level of underground railway tracks and stations. Which has caused most of the traffic chaos in the city over the last few years and we all can't wait till they come to an end.

If the cops are going to taser a 95yr old woman on a walker what hope do the rest of us have when dealing with the cops. Sure she had a knife but she was also on a walker and in the words of the cops she was moving slowly. It would be like watching a scene from a slomo camera. Not sure why the cops were called. If the response to dementia patients being disruptive is to call the cops then we are getting things wrong in our health system. The cops only know one way. They are very blunt instrument. They need to be used only in appropriate situations. For the cops everyone not in the police force is a potential enemy who must be met with force.

Everything that Stan Grant said on the coverage of the coronation was correct. It might have been hard for the white population who was watching to hear but it is part of the history of this country and the truth. The British Empire is romanced by the establishment in England and most of what they really did is not known to the general UK public. The younger generation in the UK don't have a clue what really happened in the various countries of the British Empire. The more your hear about the truth of Churchill the more you realise the guy was a real arsehole. To call him a complex character is to make excuses for his actions.

Stan walking away has again been misunderstood by the white part of society. His own management at the ABC didn't know how to deal with the issue, nor his deep values from his culture. We in general know very little about indigenous culture because it still is not part of the main stream curriculum taught in schools. Our kids, let alone the adults that go thru the education system know fuck all about indigenous culture which is a problem. If people knew more about the truth about Australia they would be less people around who talk dumb shit in public and in the media. We still don't acknowledge that racism exists in this country. The person on the receiving end is told they are over sensitive or should learn to take a joke or as in the Voice debate be getting "special privilege" which is just laughable. So before we criticise any other country on their behaviours we should first correct our own behaviours towards each other.

Jake The Peg is finally dead. Don't suppose there will be any govt offering a state funeral. May be the pomes will try shipping him back to Australia so they won't have to deal with the question. Just heard that Tina Turner has passed away. Back in my school days The Nutbush was huge at the school dances. Even if you couldn't dance or was shy, everyone got up to do The Nutbush and everyone could do the steps. It was flash mobbing before it became a thing. Now flash mobs are a common thing. This year so far has certainly been the year for death of celebrities. The generation that went thru WWII is coming to an end and now the baby boomer generation is on the way out as well. There will be more notifications of baby boomer celebs passing away before the year is out.

Hope the weekend is good for you. I'll be dusting off one of the suits in preparation for the family funeral next week. Mainly knock around in jeans these days.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Happy Winter! Apparently that's a thing now. Having an easy day today after the long driving day yesterday. The wet day predicted for Melbourne today didn't happen so a dry day but cool. Next week is now being predicted to be a lot wetter, and with Winter now officially upon us, the daily temps will drop to mid teens, 14-15C is normal day time temps in Melbourne over Winter.

Mr Potato Head's speech in parliament was extraordinary and one he and his part will live to regret. He is clearly harking back to the White Australia policy and channelling Little Johnny when he said the white population had nothing to apologise for and they did nothing wrong in the past. Mr Potato Head's front bench is walking away from his speech. They have been put on the spot both on TV and radio to defend his words and they can't do it. What his speech has done is give more opportunity to the racists to act out and more nazi salutes in the streets. Mr Potato Head doesn't do empathy well plus he can't help himself in saying dumb shit. The Lib's now facing two by-elections in Qld and Vic and his comments might see the Lib's get another thumping at these by-elections in safe Lib seats. The Lib's it seems are hell bent on moving further to the right and losing more votes.

Had that earthquake in Melbourne which I felt around 11:45pm. Knew what is was straight away given we only another major one a couple of years ago during COVID. Ironically COVID saved lives on that occasion since those streets where those older building walls crumbled would normally be busy with people buying coffees. This latest one is the second one we had in Melbourne in May. Didn't feel the other one which was only a 2.8. The epicentre of this latest one was in our north west suburbs not far from Melbourne Airport and it was rather shallow. Some people slept right through it other places had some minor damage with cracked walls. Anyone on a slab would of felt it more.

Just heard that Roberts-Smith lost his case now he has to pay costs and he has burned some bridges. Also may have opened the door to the military taking action. Would now lose income and nobody is going to pay him for his speaking tours. Should have listened to the old "sticks and stones" thing.

So for a change it's not Aussies in the news behaving badly in Bali. It's the Europeans making dicks of themselves. Frankly don't get it. If you go to another country respect the local culture. It's not fucking difficult.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

Thanks for your thoughts darkelf.

 

[darkelf9]

Thanks for your thoughts darkelf.

Hey,
Good to see you back on the thread. Need more people to post stuff, rather than just me most of the time. The old use it of lose it thing. Would love to post more funny stuff, but so much real life stuff hitting people in a negative way. It's hard to be totally positive in these times.

Hope things are good with you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Looking at Masterchef this year is a bit weird given that one of the judges recently passed away. Must be tough on his family to see him on the TV so quickly after he has passed.

Everything at the family funeral last week went to plan. Thankfully the predicted rain stayed away but that cold wind had a few people struggling. Also didn't get lost driving around the place. Haven't been to that part of the country for many decades and the town has changed a lot. Was a large funeral and certainly the most amount of people I've been in close proximity to since COVID hit. All the generations of the family were there and got to meet the latest edition to the youngest generation of the family.

The Greens have blinked first on their stance on the housing bill. They are backing off slowly and have had to defend their individual opposition to housing in Green seats. Albo will get his way eventually. Simply because something to improve housing is better than nothing. More needs to be done by the Fed's on housing. We need to get back to building social housing, but the expensive suburbs don't want social housing in their area because it brings down house prices. Councils in those suburbs always oppose social housing because it means less in future rates. Councils make a killing in building expensive apartments. Next time you go past a newly built apartment block, just count the number of apartments and add up the new amount of rates the council will receive. It is a money spinner for local councils. A house that was sold for $1.7million in my area, now has 6 double story apartments on the same site. Each one is paying around $1,500 -$1,700 in rates compared to the $2,000 the previous house owner was paying. So over 4 times the revenue for the council just on that one property.

Guess the boss of Channel 7 is now rethinking his support of Roberts-Smith. During the trial, the WA papers owned by Kerry were not allowed to report on the trial. So much for freedom of the press. But his support was on the understanding that the VC would be handed to him, which shows his real goal. $25million is not much to a billionaire and in his eyes would be seen as a good investment to get a piece of military history. Typical rich people. They always look at what is in it for them and willing to use people to get what they want. As for Roberts-Smith well his reputation is done and could end up facing criminal proceedings by the court of war crimes eventually. Now the Taliban want compensation. What a joke.

Seems the RBA Governor has foot in mouth again. He really needs to workshop his speeches with a PR person. His latest comments to him seemed fine in his own echo chamber and other economists which shows how they are not in the real world. Telling people to bunch up in the family home is very much a management thought who know they will never be impacted by their decisions nor comments. It makes the RBA seem it is only there for the business community and don't give a shit about people. It's the old master servant dynamic. The financial world doesn't deal in the real world. Economists want people to stop spending money on stuff and want more people to lose their jobs. They see people as commodities not people. We need to change how we define a healthy economy. Currently it is totally in favour of companies and sees workers as something to be tolerated. They can't make the link between an effective workforce with profits. They think it happens by magic. This constant bullshit that wages are driving inflation is total nonsense just by looking at the facts. The current inflation is due the high prices of companies who are not passing on those profits to their workers in the form of better wages. This is data that is in the economic fact sheets. Yet we have the business community still pushing the lie that wages are responsible for inflation, it is just not true.

Poo-tin blowing up the dam is to force Ukraine to shift resource to save people. The spy satellites show that the destruction of that dam couldn't of come from external explosive strikes. The dam is controlled by the Russians so not possible for the Ukraine forces to get access to it. It is yet another desperate act from Poo-tin and now he has internal groups forming their own militia against him. Russians fighting Russians. Anyone in that area of Ukraine who previously supported Poo-tin would not now be supporting Russia. Russia is going to pay a heavy price once this war is over. It will impact the Russian people long term, but Poo-tin only cares about his own power and will sacrifice anyone to keep power.

Been having back problems since the start of the week. Wasn't able to walk properly for a few days. Lots of pain just standing up. Had to go to my regular specialist appt yesterday and was not able to walk too far without pain, but it was much better. Giving it another day before venturing out to do the weekly grocery shop. Had lots of Deep Heat rub downs and heat packs to ease the pain. Last time I had something similar it took a week before I could do anything physical. So spent lots of time on the couch playing video games. Gone back to an old fav.

Petrol prices are back up again over $2 in Melbourne just in time for the King's Birthday public holiday on Monday. The govt should put a stop to this obvious price gouging, given the price is set in Singapore not here, which is only done to keep petrol prices artificially high. Bring on electric vehicles! Feels a bit weird calling it the King's Birthday holiday. His birthday is later in the year, then again the Queen's Birthday holiday was never on her birthday. Not sure why the holiday doesn't reflect the actual event. We change Easter most years so why not this public holiday.

Not sure why the Fed's don't just ban the Nazi solute. The latest bill doesn't go to the unrest in the public. It's the Nazi salute that causes issues in the streets not the exchange or Nazi items. Here in Vic, Danny Boy was the first Premier to act but it is taking a long time to get there. The Nazi's took a religious symbol, slightly tweeked it and made it a symbol of terror so banning membership of a Nazi group is the way to go. If you are a member of a Nazi group you give up your rights to live in a democratic country, it's that simple. They are groups we don't need. That is taking diversity too far. Freedom of speech comes with responsibilities.

Had lots of rain again this week in Melbourne town. The only dry day was Monday. With the back issue haven't been able to get out in the garden to continue the work in the back yard. Will see how I pull up after being out and about tomorrow. At this stage Monday will be dry but then rain for a few days. Hope the long weekend is good for you.

 

[Erodicus]

Happy to register here as an Aussie. Details about me are on my profile. If you find anything that interests you, drop me a PM. Thanks for DE9 for kicking this thread off and for his many detailed posts. It would be great if we could have more members from Oz making contributions. Here's a question to get the ball rolling: What's a sexy story that has a dinky di Auusie flavour?

My contribution comes from the old film The Naked Bunyip which recounted the story of the expat Aussie in London at Xmas time. He was wrapping presents to send back home when he realised he'd run out of sticky tape. The ubiquitous brand in Australia back then was Durex. So he set off to find a shop to buy some. Unfortunately it was after normal trading hours and most shops were closed. As luck would have it, he found a pharmacy that was still open. So he bowled up to the counter and asked the girl behind it in his best back paddock voice, if she had any Durex. Unbeknowns to him, Durex at that time was the leading brand of condom in the UK. So, understandably, the girl looked a little flustered. She went to the drawer under the counter where such sensitive products were kept. As she surveyed the contents she asked him, "What kind were you looking for?"

Our innocent abroad replied laconically, "Doesn't really matter. But the kind that has Merry Christmas printed on it would be great."

 

[darkelf9]

Happy to register here as an Aussie. Details about me are on my profile. If you find anything that interests you, drop me a PM. Thanks for DE9 for kicking this thread off and for his many detailed posts. It would be great if we could have more members from Oz making contributions. Here's a question to get the ball rolling: What's a sexy story that has a dinky di Auusie flavour?

My contribution comes from the old film The Naked Bunyip which recounted the story of the expat Aussie in London at Xmas time. He was wrapping presents to send back home when he realised he'd run out of sticky tape. The ubiquitous brand in Australia back then was Durex. So he set off to find a shop to buy some. Unfortunately it was after normal trading hours and most shops were closed. As luck would have it, he found a pharmacy that was still open. So he bowled up to the counter and asked the girl behind it in his best back paddock voice, if she had any Durex. Unbeknowns to him, Durex at that time was the leading brand of condom in the UK. So, understandably, the girl looked a little flustered. She went to the drawer under the counter where such sensitive products were kept. As she surveyed the contents she asked him, "What kind were you looking for?"

Our innocent abroad replied laconically, "Doesn't really matter. But the kind that has Merry Christmas printed on it would be great."

Don't go to the US and talk about Trojans, they'll think you're talking about condoms. And of course the old "thong" thing when they say.."you wear them on your feet, you guys are weird."

 

[Erodicus]

Don't go to the US and talk about Trojans, they'll think you're talking about condoms. And of course the old "thong" thing when they say.."you wear them on your feet, you guys are weird."

Yes, terminology can be a minefield can't it? Years ago, I heard a story about a bush clergyman who had a large parish in the far west. He was invited to the US to visit church groups and give talks about the work he did. When he told a congregation that he only wore shorts when he went to the outback, he was surprised to see all the women suppressing giggles. Later someone enlightened him that "shorts" meant boxer underpants and "outback" meant a backyard dunny.

 

[darkelf9]

Yes, terminology can be a minefield can't it? Years ago, I heard a story about a bush clergyman who had a large parish in the far west. He was invited to the US to visit church groups and give talks about the work he did. When he told a congregation that he only wore shorts when he went to the outback, he was surprised to see all the women suppressing giggles. Later someone enlightened him that "shorts" meant boxer underpants and "outback" meant a backyard dunny.

Well thankfully he didn't say he was praying in the bush

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well thought I'd get back out in the garden today to do some tree trimming as the prediction was for a possible shower, which is actually that annoying rainy spitting thing turning to light drizzle. Not the type of weather to be up a ladder if you didn't need to be. So a change of plans was required and staying indoors. Was out in the garden on Monday for the King's Birthday. Still seems weird saying it out loud. Managed to get the mowing done but the grass was rather wet so the grass didn't cut clean, just clumped under the mower. So the week isn't a total loss, got some stuff in garden bags to put in the garden bin since it's green week. The lumberjack stuff will have to wait till I can get a dry day. They must have a new crew on the garbage trucks as they are all done by the morning.

Was watching the cricket test championship game which I frankly don't get. Not sure how they score the points as to who makes this final. Whilst it was odd, it was still enjoyable, but looking forward to The Ashes which starts on Friday. The Aussies were notably rusty but they will be fresh. Was a good game and lasted the entire 5 days. The pitch was rather ordinary. The schedule between the men and women's matches compliment each other so you get cricket every week for the next 6 weeks. Lots of late nights which is ok for me as I don't have anything to get up during the next couple of months. Only issue is the cricket will eat into Le Tour starting next month so channel flicking will be in order. So the cheese and wine might have to be interspersed with a beer and pie. Still have beers in the fridge. Or given the time of year may be a scotch.

So The Jackass now has 23 grand slams and the first to do that. No doubt he will be boasting about that and his ego will be on steroids. He might think he is the greatest of all time, but he will never be the people's champion. The Fed will always draw a bigger crowd, mainly because he's a nice guy. The Jackass has a personality issue for stuff he does off the court. He is rich and believes he is entitled. He doesn't do humble. As for his comment about Kosovo, well that proves his is and always will be a fuckwit. Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't run for politics given his penchant for lying, he'll fit right in.

Speaking of lying. I see Slomo is trying to cover his ass again. He lied to parliament about what he knew when he knew it. And once again he is trying to throw a member of his former staff under the bus. She would have no reason to lie. It obviously pricked his ego and the fact he went to great lengths to defend his actions shows it got to him. If the comments weren't true he wouldn't of said anything in his defence. It would of been a one liner to a journalist.

Funny how the big corporates are now putting ads on the TV to stop the equal pay requirements being pushed by Albo. The arguments are ridiculous. Any pay deals are based on experience. The so called "fill in" workers will get less overall because they are only there for a sort period. If they are permanent employees then the pay scales are graduated so those with more experience get more. The arguments made on those ads are just wrong. Contracts are also based on experience so it's nonsense to suggest someone with a few weeks experience will get paid the same as someone with years of experience. The real issue is that companies have been getting away with paying workers less. Especially overseas students and new migrants who don't complain about the low wages as they don't know they can. These people are only employed because Aussies know what the wages should be and are not willing to be underpaid. We can't have an economy based on ripping people off whilst the managers of those same companies get million dollar bonuses for ripping people off. The entire measure of productivity is based on what the management decides, it is not based on any type of industry standard. The whole discussion about improved productivity is flawed because it's based on what employers decide. When we have accountants deciding on what is productivity, shows the system is flawed. We wouldn't have a wage issue if those companies who posted multi-million dollar profits actually passed some of those profits to it's workers who made the money for the company. The current inflation is totally the responsibility of those companies.

Tax time coming around again so the scammers will be warming up their fingers. China and Russia will be gearing up their scam centres to target Aussies during the end of the FY. It props up their respective economies. It's a well know fact that both these countries use scammers to generate income for their respective countries. Not a very well kept secret. A bit silly for them to continually deny it. The info isn't hard to find.

The Bushmasters being used in Ukraine are a big hit with their military. Bendigo has a long association with Defence supply. They used to make cannons there and also have a mapping unit there that supplies Defence. That's not a secret. It gets reported in the local paper. Tourists to Bendigo wouldn't know about that history, mainly about the pottery. Even though the factory has closed down you can still get some nice local pottery there. Definitely worth the drive from Melbourne. Sent one piece to a friend OS and she loved it.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. More wet stuff coming to Melbourne for the rest of the week and into the weekend, so definitely indoor activities for the next few days.

 

[Erodicus]

Well thankfully he didn't say he was praying in the bush

I think many of the ladies in the congregation may have had a hot flush and swooned if he had!

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Has been a wet week in Melbourne town. Wet again out there again today. Even when it is dry the ground is still damp. Had to make the trip into the city on Monday and had to use the PT cause of the railway works. They have now closed of all the side streets to certain stations so you can't even park there. Had to go the long way. It went surprisingly well but does take longer and getting home is a drag. There were lots of people in the city, which for a Monday was a surprise. Not sure what was on. They can't all be tourists. No work out in the garden this week. It was also bloody chilly on the one dry day. No point freezing my arse off. Even had to break out the sleeveless jumper which I never wear in the garden. Will see how the weekend goes. Supposed to be dry but they said that for earlier in the week and it rained. School holidays also start so the grommets will be everywhere for the next two weeks.

Albo has kicked the Russians off that bit of land which some real estate agent sold the Russians. Now there is a Russian diplomat squatting on the site so he must be freezing in Canberra's below zero mornings. He either must be from Siberia in which case it would be like a holiday or most likely he didn't get a choice. Poo-tin would of given him only one option. Squatting is illegal so no matter the diplomat's status he is still breaking the law and can be arrested or at least moved on. Going to the high court is not going to work given it is now a national security issue. If the Russians really wanted the land they would of built on it previously. The rule is that if you don't build on land within 5yrs you have to sell it. So either way the Russians don't have a claim.

People might not like Lydia as she can be erratic and act out, but her speech in the Senate was from the heart and you have to respect it. The real question is why Slomo didn't do anything to resolve the issue other than just move the guy. Why didn't he kick him out as Mr Potato Head has done. That fuckwit's actions were kept quiet even after another Lib pollie made a complaint and who knows how many junior women he also harassed who couldn't come forward due to their status in parliament. It's clear parliament is still not a safe space for women and the blokes need to change that. It's a men's issue not a woman's issue. Men need to change their behaviour and it's up to their peers and leaders to enforce the change. Back in my day if we saw any bloke acting inappropriately to women we would have words in his shell like ear. Granted when I was younger those words were spoken with the guy lying on the ground, but you can't do that these days.

The Aussie men's cricket team got out jail. It was an interesting test match as you didn't know who was going to win. They shouldn't of won that test given how poorly their top order batted. England can't count on that happening every test. If the top 5 all fired, England wouldn't of had a chance. The English cricket team told the curator to produce a flat dry pitch which is not normal for English conditions. They don't play on dead wickets over there because it nullifies their natural swing. The English bowlers couldn't swing the ball which is the main way they get the Aussies out. What it did show was that the English bowling attack is an issue. If it wasn't for Broad their bowling attack would suck. Pat showed his value in the team and he was the difference. If England insists on producing flat dry pitches then they will have trouble winning a test. All the Aussies have to do is draw the series to retain the Ashes. The English summer rain will be their friend. It rains in England every week so one test is going to be washed out.

Pauline was as it again. Racist Australia came out to play once again in Parliament. She keeps making what is termed ill-informed comment. Well she knows exactly what she is saying and the people that elect her to parliament also know what is going to say and do as they have an issue with anyone who is not a white Australian. Kylie Jenner is actually dumb, Pauline acts like she is dumb to get away with saying racist things as everyone just accepts her behaviour as her personality.

It would rub everyone up the wrong way to see pollies getting a pay rise on their healthy salaries while most of the population struggles with the cost of everything. Yes the assessment is an independent one but they could of frozen the increase till next year. The Lib's railed against the increase to basic wages but haven't said anything about the increase to their salaries. As one person put it why aren't all govt salaries subject to the same system as pollies get. All other govt employees have to fight for an EBA and pay rises. Pollies don't. They get 3-4% increases every year without any discussion.

Hope the weekend is good for you. Hopefully it will dry off and warm up a few degrees this weekend. More rain coming to Melbourne from the start of next week and predicted to last the entire week. So another wet week ahead.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Was out in the front garden yesterday doing my lumberjack impression but no lumberjack shirt just on old long sleeves shirt and a sleeveless jumper which I never wear doing work around the house. Was on the chilly side but the wind was not as cold as it has been. There was some sun but that didn't last long. Got rather dark by mid afternoon. Was only out there cause it was a dry day, but more rain today. The grass areas remain damp and have been since early last week. Lots of heavy dew on the ground on the days it hasn't rained. Basically everything is just damp. A typical Winter garden.

Watched the women's Ashes and it was another good test match. The 5 day format should stay. Women can actually play for 5 days. Not sure who thought a 4 day test match was all the women could handle. These are professional athletes and should be treated as such. The Aussies were just too good and once again the pitch was no deterrent to the Aussies for the win. Ash Gardner was amazing in the second innings. The next men's Ashes test starts tonight, then Le Tour starts on Saturday. Lots more sport happening next month with the women's soccer world cup and Wimbledon and more Ashes matches. We are spoilt for choice if you're willing to stay up till the early hours. With the school holidays on in Melbourne at the moment lots of mum's and dad's will be watching.

Not many tears being shed over that sub which went missing on that Titanic joy ride. A rich person's playground so not many people care. As for who should pay for the search and rescue efforts, well get the rich people to pay for the search and rescue. It's sad for the respective families but trying to recover the bodies would only put other people's lives in danger. If the rich people want to fund the recovery then it's up to them, but spending tax payer dollars on that would not be appropriate. It was a dumb thing to do given lots of experts told the company not to do it. The vessel was also not accredited.

Poo-tin is putting a lot of spin on the uprising of the mercenaries against his govt. He was obviously shit scared of the mercenaries he hired turning on him. As for the deal, well Belarus does what Poo-tin tells them so he told Belarus to make the deal. The mercenaries are only loyal to their leader not Poo-tin. But that's what you get when employ guns for hire. That mercenary group also generates income for Russia in Africa so Poo-tin doesn't want to stop that income. All up Poo-tin is in the shit. His grip on power is tenuous. There are only a couple of countries he can escape to since he has that arrest warrant on him. He'll have to find a holiday house in Siberia.

So the stats are out on police actions in Vic during COVID and it isn't surprising that people of African heritage were the second highest people fined. They are targeted by police in areas where they live. It's perfectly normal for ethic people to live together. That's where they get the most support and feel safer. The stat that the journalists have glossed over is that 56% of the people not following the rules were white people. The problem was white people not following the rules, not African, not Chinese, not Indians, it was white people. But that high figure is considered normal. Well of course it's normal for white people to not follow the rules, I mean it's an Anglo society right? So the real question is are police racist, well yes. You only had to look at the NSW police's actions in the western suburbs of Sydney to know that the cops are racist. Which was endorsed by their police minister. But then police think that everyone not a cop is a potential criminal to be judged. It's an us and them mentality. They need a major culture change which can only be achieved from the top. So whilst they don't admit they have a problem, nothing will change. It will take a politician with some self will to make this change. The cops won't change on their own. Change is imposed it never happens by self will. The only reason you change a light bulb is because it breaks internally. The light bulb doesn't tell you to change it while it's still on. The only reason we are going away from fossil fuels is that the planet is killing us and we can't fight nature so have no choice. Nature is imposing a change in our behaviour.

Seems the people in the Blue Mountains will get to feel the serenity when the Western Sydney Airport comes on-line. Seems ironic that people who voted in the Lib govt that green lighted the new airport are now bitching about the future noise issues. If you've spent any time in the inner west of Sydney you can almost reach out an touch the planes coming into land in Sydney airport. Seems it's ok for those in the western suburbs but not for anyone outside those areas. Could be a whole new tourist venture for aircraft nerds to go to the Blue Mountains and do plane spotting.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[jaF0]

Season's Greetings to all!

Slightly late, but in my defense I have been incredibly unwell and am now waiting for surgery in late Jan.
I hope you all managed to catch up with loved ones and friends for Xmas
Let's hope that 2022 brings some kind of normality to our lives again - if you call living with covid 'normal' - and that we all stay well and safe as we move forward

Last apparent post from WQ.

 

[darkelf9]

Last apparent post from WQ.

Let's hope not

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Has taken too long for the NSW ICAC to deliver their report into Gladys but we all knew what the outcome would be based on those public hearings. They correctly found her actions as corrupt but she herself did not get any benefit from her corrupt behaviour. However it is corruption and has tarnished her reputation. Being in love is not an excuse to behave in a corrupt manner. She tried to get the sympathy vote and has got it from Lib supporters. People are excusing her actions by blaming everything on her boyfriend. Since he had so much influence on Gladys and her control of NSW govt funds, her position as treasurer was compromised. She lied to everyone about what she knew. She betrayed the trust of the NSW public and her colleagues who didn't question any of her actions because they implicitly trusted her which she used to deceive them. The changes in the NSW budget were also not questioned because the money was going to an LNP seat. It would of been questioned if the money was being redirected to a Labor seat. Gladys knew her boyfriend was receiving bribes because of her actions. It was in the phone calls. There is a lot more in those phone calls which was not raised at the ICAC. If her boyfriend ends up in a criminal trial those phone calls will come out and she will be in the spotlight again and she can't lie in court. All those people who gave bribes to her boyfriend for govt favours and money will also find themselves in court. So this matter is far from over.

Another earthquake tremor in Melbourne. I was watching the cricket at the time. It was about 1:30am. I heard it before I felt it. It was slight and only lasted a few seconds but I felt the wobble while sitting on the couch. Seems it was an aftershock from the earthquake we had during COVID a couple of years ago. The other tremors we've had this year are also aftershocks from the same earthquake. These tremors are not normal for Melbourne. There could be more coming.

Got the latest CPI figure and it's good at 3.3%. Super pensions are calculated using a figure of 2.6% so people's super pensions will be better. The aged pensioners will get a rise in their pensions as well. I get an increase in my pension so that is good. Most years the CPI barely makes it above 1%. In the early days of COVID it was zero then less than 1%. The pension age is now 67yrs old and no riots! The French could learn from us. They would burn down Paris if their pension age was he same as ours. Now that the pension is only available at 67, all the super calculations will be recalculated so the pension will be worth less, i.e. people will have to work a little longer to get the same level of pension as was available previously.

Got the latest newsletter from the local Fed MP. Centrelink pensioners will get a $250 payment for their utilities thru their provider so the next elec bill will be cheaper. I don't get anything. Now that we are in July everything has gone up. All the utilities are going up. The fools game of shopping around is still being touted as the way to save money, but all the gas and elec retailers get it from the same source so within 12 months you are back to where you are now. The savings are false. The only way to get cheaper bills is to reduce the wholesale price. We are paying OS prices for our own resources so that has to change and that takes govt legislation. Retailers can change their prices at will so even if you change providers they can hike up the price within 6 months of changing plans. Every time you change a plan you lose something. It's all in the detail.

The Aussies are now 2 up in The Ashes and the pomes are just a bunch of whinging pomes. Barstow has done the same thing to Aussie teams in the past yet the pomes thought those actions were in the spirit of the game, but when it happens to them, suddenly it's not in the spirit of the game. Barstow made the mistake. He should of known better. He always wonders out of his crease. He has done it here in previous Ashes and was warned by previous Aussie teams about it, so the Aussies know he does it a lot. Previous England capt's have called Barstow's actions dopey and lazy. As for cheating and not being in the spirit of the game lets take a look back in history. The MCC (Lords) introduced body line bowling to hurt Bradman because they couldn't get him out. That was not considered cheating by the English nor not within the spirit of the game. When the West Indies kept bouncing the English players and they had no answer, the MCC (Lords) changed the rules again to negate the West Indies bowlers by introducing the rules of only one bouncer per over. That was to favour the English cricket team, but that wasn't considered cheating nor un-sportsmanship behaviour. When the England Capt Mike Brearley, considered to be England's greatest captain, used the tactic of putting all the fielders around the ground to stop the Aussies scoring runs, that was not considered cheating by the Enlgish. So when it comes to cheating the English have a long history of changing the rules of cricket when things don't go their way. When it comes to "cheating" the English are experts. The English still consider Australians as colonial convicts. That's says a lot about them and their attitude to the rest of the world. These days the MCC (Lords) doesn't get to change rules to only advantage the English cricket team because the money in cricket now comes from India hence why India gets a seat at the table. The home of cricket is now in India not England because India generates more money and has more people playing cricket than any other country. As for the run out, well the Aussies were only using the rules set down by the MCC (Lords). So lets not lose sight of that. These are rules developed by the English so the England cricket team should know their own rules. If people were to actually look at the footage, they would see that Carey threw the ball towards the stumps while Barstow was still in his crease. Carey was just as surprised as anyone else. Barstow wandered off like a lost cow and left his crease before the ball was deemed dead, so by the time the ball got near the stumps Barstow was outside his crease. The English can keep throwing a tanty, but that's because they can't beat the Aussies. Baz ball hasn't worked and these dead pitches are killing the only weapon the English bowlers have which is swing bowling. The slower pace of the English pace bowlers is really noticeable on these dead pitches. The pitches are killing the main weapon of their strike bowlers . It's crazy cricket by the English.

The actions by some of the members of the MCC (Lords) was disgraceful. Especially by picking out the one Pakistani member of the Aussie team who had nothing to do with Barstow's dismissal. It was racially motivated comments but Kawaja won't say what was said to him. Warner was not impressed and unlike Kawaja, Warner will respond in kind. So whatever was said must have been bad enough for Warner to react. If that was the Indian team on the receiving end of those comments it would of become a diplomatic incident as the Indians don't tolerate any racist abuse from anyone. Some members of the MCC (Lords) did acknowledge the Aussies in a positive manner so you can't tarnish the entire membership, but the attempted tripping up of Smith and Warner by younger members of the MCC (Lords) required disciplinary action. As for the suspensions well once the cameras go away those members will be reinstated. It's all for show. The people that sit on the board are all old white men so nothing will happen. I've been looking at cricket from England for many decades and I've never seen anything like those scenes from the long room. What was shown live on TV was a true view of the British establishment. At it's heart it is elitist and racist that will never change. If Lords wants to continue to host international cricket matches it needs to change the behaviour of it's members otherwise teams will avoid playing there. If there is any violence towards the Aussie team at the next test match, that's on the English fans and it will turn ugly and damage the English reputation even more, if that is possible. The English are disliked in Europe and that was before Brexit. When I toured around Europe in the late 80's, touring coaches would avoid using English licence plates because they would get targeted by various European countries. The reason I've kept quoting MCC(Lords) and not just MCC, because we have an MCC here in Melbourne so wouldn't do to tarnish the MCC here with the reputation of the one in England.

Because it's tax time the scammers are on the phones again. Phone has been ringing hot this past week even on a Saturday at the same times they ring on a weekday so you know it's an OS call. They are a day behind. They continue to use Aussie numbers and it seems our phone providers can't stop them using local phone numbers so someone in Australia is helping them. If it's not Indian scammers, it's Chinese or the Russians. Still people get caught out. Simplest way to fool them is not return the call but call the organization yourself they say they are from. Banks need to also do more.

Another wet day here in Melbourne. Was going to get out in the garden after the weather forecast changed to indicate today was going to be dry. Went outside and got rained on, so changed plans. Now an inside day. Apparently all this rain is going to keep going till the end of the weekend then may be some dry days next week.

Seems the RBA Gov is trying to keep his job by not increasing interest rates this month. Reckon that horse has bolted. The Treasurer won't be renewing the Governer's tenure.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

A dry start to the week is welcome, well sort of. Did get some rain in the early hours today but didn't last long and the sun came out for several hours, but has been overcast since mid afternoon. Expecting some dry days this week before the rain comes back for the weekend. It's a surprisingly warm day for mid-Winter but the wind has come back. The normal Winter daily temp here in Melbourne is 14-15C. Predicted to get to 18C. Similar temps for tomorrow.

Been doing some admin today and got that sorted without too much fuss. Waiting to see the increases on the new bills due later this month. There is a lull in the cricket so decided to break out the new DVD last night and watch the last season of The Walking Dead. There is apparently three new spin off's on pay TV. Will wait to see if they are of the same standard. Been playing an older video game. Not much on the new games schedule I want.

As for The Ashes, the pomes did well to win. The Aussies didn't make enough runs in their second innings. Warner and Manus failed again. Warner needs to be dropped. Bring Manus up to open and include the two all rounders. Marsh has shown he can add value and Green needs the experience if he is going to be in the team long term. The pitch was more like a typical English cricket pitch. The whole Baz Ball thing has not worked. The pomes can't seem to switch modes so the Aussies will feel they can get English wickets as the English are no longer playing for a draw like teams in the past. Aggression is ok, but you need to play to the conditions and the state of play. Hopefully the next pitch will give equal chances for the bat and ball. The Aussies have had better plans and are better at fielding.

The fallout from the Lord's test match was still happening. The English press made up a story of Carey not paying for a haircut. Not sure if the barber shop was in on the lie, but then Carey was forced to deny the story which shows that the other English journalists didn't check the facts, they just went along with the lie. What hasn't made the English press is the attacks on the wife and child of one of the players and the assault on one of the female trainers by the English fans. Apparently it's ok to assault and abuse women and children from opposition teams. That story will come out when the Aussies come back to Australia. The booing of the Aussie players keeps going and what is noticeable this series is that when the Aussie batmen make a 50 or 100 there is total silence from the English fans. Previously you would hear polite applause, but now there is just no acknowledgement of the runs. But on the other hand all the English batsmen get applause even for blocking a shot. The mood in England this Ashes is totally different. It is much more negative than in the past.

The violence in France has calmed down. The Le Tour organizers would be glad about that. The racism in France of migrants has been there for a long time. What nobody is commenting on that these immigrants actually speak French which is no coincidence. A majority of these immigrants come from previous French protectorates. In other words France went to these other countries and imposed their will on the locals including insisting on speaking French in those countries and eliminating the local language. These people didn't learn French in France. It is no coincidence that African countries speak French. It wasn't an elective like it is here in Aussie land. So it's not surprising as to why people from those countries immigrated to France. It would be like people who speak English as their mother tongue wanting to immigrate to England. Again not a coincidence that people from India and Pakistan wanted to immigrate to England, same scenario. Invade a country, impose your language on that country, get immigrants from that country.

The verdict from the Robodebt RC has been published and the first thing the LNP did was to defend their actions during Robodebt. They all knew it was illegal but ignored those facts. Slomo and his mates at the time said they were going to get those welfare cheats and claimed there was over $4 billion in people cheating the system. In the end it cost taxpayers over $2 billion in a payout. I remember those media conferences by Porter and his buddies going hard at the so called dole cheats. They lied to the public. The senior public servants who knew this scheme was wrong but didn't do anything about it should be sacked. They betrayed their own code of conduct and were complicit in what the LNP govt did. The Senior Executive Service(SES) of the public service that resides in Canberra is obviously too close to the govt. There is not doubt they were bullied by the LNP into complying. Their positive performance reviews would of been conditional on complying with the wishes of the LNP govt over Robodebt. There would of been a lot of public servants in that tier of the SES linked to those departments who knew what was going on. These SES people get paid very well and are not much liked by the remainder of the public service in the lower ranks. The Canberra bubble is true when it comes to the public service in Canberra. They breathe the same rarified air that the pollies do. It is a closed loop system. What this has done is tarnish the rest of the public service which the general public don't know of nor understand. The term "public service" covers a very wide breath of organizations doing lots of different things. Most of whom don't reside in Canberra.

As for the sound bite from the LNP of dole cheats. That is nothing knew. It's part of their core beliefs that nobody should be getting social services as everyone should get a job. However the economy which the LNP keeps going on about is designed to have 2-3% of the working population unemployed with 5% being the ideal. Economists have as their basic game plan that we have a certain level of poverty as part of our fiscal plan. The RBA has recently stated that they want more people to lose their jobs to stave off inflation. So when you have an economic plan that ensures not everyone who wants a job can get one and a political party who believes that nobody should get unemployment payments, that means we are happy for people to starve to death or stay in poverty so the rest of us can have a comfortable life. Which is interesting since there has always been Fed govt policies to lift people out of poverty. The LNP would be happy for people to starve. The economists were hoping during COVID that the elderly and those needing Centrelink payments would of died off. They even said that the govt should not be spending money on people who had medical conditions when COVID hit. We should just accept that those who don't contribute to the economy should be left to die. These are the same economists who are using the tax system to reduce or eliminate their tax payments. So when we have an economic plan that ensures poverty exists and increases, it means that not everyone has a chance to have a go. Since that is the case, unemployment payments and other Centrelink payments will always be needed. In which case the mantra from the LNP doesn't make sense. If we want to eliminate poverty then we need to change our economic plan and reduce the influence of economists in running the country and redefine what a healthy economy looks like. Currently we are using a play book that is from the last century.

The women's Ashes is also still alive. So the one day matches will be interesting. The T20 were too late for live viewing. Starting as 3:30 am so haven't been watches those matches. Usually going to bed at that time with all this sport happening in the northern hemisphere. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

New RBA Gov announced which was not surprising given the list of stuff ups the current guy has made. It was clear he only focused on the accounting process and failed to look at the societal impact of the RBA's decisions. A case of the operation being successful but the patient died. Was funny to listen to Mr Potato Head stating he didn't want a public servant filling the job which is surprising since a govt he was a part of relied on the same public service to enforce Robodebt. But it is typical LNP views on govt functions. The latest clusterfuck coming from Barnaby moving that regulator to his country seat. So not surprising it was a flawed idea which allowed private industry to run a govt organization and it turned into a dysfunctional group of numbats. None of the expertise that was in that organization when it was in Canberra moved to the new location. Yet another Barnaby fuck up. When he was water minister he allowed irrigators to illegally remove water from the respective rivers and also tamper with the water meters. He than sacked the govt auditors who found out what was going on. Under the LNP, irrigators have been illegally stealing water without any consequences. Now Barnaby is pushing to take over the Nationals again.

Just heard about the Comm Games being cancelled here in Vic. It's either a brave call from Danny Boy or it will hurt him at the next election. Given all the talk about the cost of living, it could be a positive as well. No doubt the regional areas pissed but if Danny Boy follows thru on the infrastructure spend that was going to happen as part of the games, those regional areas might accept the decision. The next state election will tell assuming Danny Boy will contest the next state election. Nobody else wanted the Comm Games. Australia only got the games because no other Comm country wanted the expense that comes with the games. However if any other city in Australia wants to host the games, now is their chance.

Got a letter from the elec company informing me about the new rates. What was surprising was the massive increase in credit card and debt card charges. Has gone from 0.14% to 0.64% and it's more for MasterCard vs Visa card. No publicity about that. If you use a debt card you also get the bank transaction fee. The banks are making lots of money from transaction fees but keep promoting the cashless payments.

Noticed that coffee was back on sale again last week. Obviously people aren't buying it at the higher price. If the supermarkets can still make money at the cheaper prices, you have to ask why they sell it at the higher price. Lets keep in mind that the sale price means that they still make a profit otherwise it would not be at that sale price. So bought another coffee jar even though I didn't need it. Not willing to pay the higher price.

Finished with the last season of The Walking Dead and it was not the ending I was expecting. But it makes it clear that the story continues. So curious to see where the story branches off to. Was a good final as it kept you guessing where things would end and who would remain alive apart from the key characters who could not be allowed to die.

The Jackass lost his bid to make history which was a good thing. The young gun played well and he pushed The Jackass to his limits. He even tried his usual tactic of delaying play when he is losing. Does it a lot and none of the main tournaments have tried to stop him. He took longer on his toilet break yet did not get any violation. One of the reasons people don't like him. The crowd was on the side of the young guy and even booed The Jackass. Alcaraz could be the next champion if he stays fit. He knows now that he can beat the best in the world and he certainly has the skills.

The Aussie women have retained the Ashes but it was tight. Saw the second half whilst channel flicking back to the tennis and Le Tour. Really needed a couple of TV's to keep up with everything. Now we have the Women's World Cup soccer starting on Thursday and the next Ashes test match starts tomorrow and the last week of Le Tour this week as well. I've stocked up on red wine, cheese, crackers, beer and pies.

The Lib's winning the by-election is like them running a 400m race, but starting at the 200m mark. Apparently the new Lib candidate has some dodgy history which the journalists know about so he will find the Fed scene is totally different to his currently small world. You can bet Labor will go after him and probe his past. Seems the Lib's have replaced one flawed MP with another one. Time will tell.

The revelations about govt consultants keeps unfolding. It was private industry that kept harassing the govt of the day to let private industry into core govt functions. So the rot in the public service started around 1989 and the '90s was known as the decade of consultants and it seems over the 10yrs the LNP was in power, the use of consultants had ramped up to remove even more govt functions. There has been $10 billion spent on consultants when the LNP was in power which is outrageous. Private industry has been making a killing on govt contracts with over the top prices for services. Everyone in private industry knows that govt contracts are profitable because they charge higher prices than they would if they were dealing with another private companies. Unfortunately govt contracts are managed by accountants who have no clue what they are purchasing. All they look at is the price not the content of the contract. This has been going on for the last 30yrs which is why govt functions cost more now which means the Feds have less money to spend on healthcare, childcare, pensions, etc. There is not an endless bucket of money. The primary purpose of private industry is to make a profit. The same functions done by the public service are not for profit which is part of it's charter. The only govt agencies allowed to make a profit are those who don't receive govt funding for some of their functions. However these agencies remain in the hands of the Fed govt. Again this was done back in the '90s and no govt is willing to reverse that.

Was a nice sunny day in Melbourne yesterday. Went out and got some sun and made a trip to the bank only to be greeted with yet another long line. Which was surprising since it was a Monday. Having a chat to one of the tellers I know at that branch, she mentioned that with the closures of some of the branches and the higher security now required, more people are being required to visit a bank branch to get stuff done. Unfortunately the people at the branches that are open are coping the anger of the customers. People are leaving one of the big 4 banks to go to CBA because of the lack of customer service at the other bank. Macquarie bank doesn't have any branches so it charges OS fees even though it says it's an Aussie bank.

Was raining all morning and the chill has returned today. Have to travel across the city later this week. Petrol is back up above $2 in Melbourne. In my little patch it's $2.06/L. Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Well thankfully he didn't say he was praying in the bush

i wonder how 'bush tucker' woulda gone down?

maybe 'gone down' was ill-advised...

 

[Tasman69]

Turns out, Tassie is a den of deviants
There are parties in Hobart, Launceston and Ulverstone on a fairly regular basis.

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