rgmwa

I'm just off to Bunnings now for some cheap timber.

I think the main concerns most people have about globalisation is the quality of the imported goods and the potential exploitation of the people making them. There are plenty of reports on programs like 4 Corners about how workers in many developing countries are used almost as slave labour, working very long hours for pittance wages and often for big Western corporations either directly or through local companies. But it's a two-edged sword, because if it wasn't for the work the country would not be able to develop, however exploitative and corrupt its progress might be. Japan and South Korea have been very successful over time. Other places like Vietnam probably have a long way to go, but have benefitted significantly from Trumps first round of tariffs on China, when factories moved there to dodge the tariffs.

I looked it up. The main reason is that globalization exacerbates income inequality, both within and between countries, as wealth tends to concentrate in the hands of a few. Industries and jobs move to countries with lower labour costs leading to job losses and economic hardship in more developed countries, and potential exploitation of workers and resources in developing countries by multinational corporations. In other words, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. America is a pretty good example of income disparity in a wealthy country and loss of manufacturing jobs. However, their export of services exceeds the value of the disparity in goods that Trump is solely focused on with his tariffs. He's only looking at the numbers that suit his narrative of the US as an exploited and failed nation.

Even if we continue to sell directly to the US, sales are assured because our lean beef is almost all used for hamburgers. There's no way the population over there will give up their Big Macs, including Trump.

I don't see how not voting is much of a protest because it has no effect on anything, apart from you having to pay a fine to the government for the privilege. If you don't like the major parties or the system, then voting for an independent would be more effective and would avoid the fine. At least your protest against the major parties would be recorded. Your call, of course.

... and Norfolk Island, but he forgot about Tasmania.

Too costly, too unwieldy and too utopian to work, GON.

We got that thunderstorm too and it was quite impressive. Another one that came through about 3-4 weeks ago knocked over two 30m gum trees on the verge that hit the house, ripped off 30m of barge, guttering and eaves lining, demolished several battens and a few rafters plus at least a dozen roof sheets, punched a hole in the roof and ceiling in one room and knocked 40m of fence down. The roofers will be here most of the week. We had 20mm of rain in 10 minutes. The storm passed in about 25 mins but we were without power for three days and the NBN was only reconnected a week ago. The Bureau said it was a microburst. It sure caused a lot of damage in our area.

Here's a partial list of Trump's achievements so far (apart from tariffs, getting rid of USAID and going after law firms he doesn't like): — Gutting the IRS so badly that the country will lose an estimated $500 billion to morbidly rich tax cheats — Killing off the EPA so polluters can run free and profit from giving us cancer — Disbanded the Public Integrity Section that once prosecuted corrupt politicians — Shut down the DOJ unit that was prosecuting violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — Moved the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) under Kash Patel’s overview with the goal of neutering it — Crippling the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) that stops big banks and insurance companies from ripping off average people — Taking a hatchet to NASA presumably to hand more power and money to SpaceX — Dismantling the Department of Education to create more demand for private for-profit schools — Paralysing the Department of Health and Human Services that protects us from disease and pandemics — Mutilating the National Labor Relations Board that protects workers’ rights — Proclaiming their intention to end FEMA, so Americans are on their own when climate-change-driven disasters strike — Tearing apart the Social Security Administration so seniors will have to rely on big banks for retirement options — Demolishing the National Institutes of Health that develops new drugs and cures for disease — Seizing control of the FCC so they can end net neutrality and dictate content of radio and TV programming — Stripping NOAA of its workers so we’ll have to rely on for-profit companies for our weather reports and storm warnings — Kneecapping the Department of Transportation to block new public transportation projects and deregulate big trucking companies and self-driving cars — Ripping up the Department of Energy so it can’t fund any more “green” energy projects — Wiping out the Department of Housing and Urban Development to prevent any new low-income housing projects — Attacking the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to leave Americans defenceless — Largely ending the ability of the Office of Civil Rights within the DOE to enforce anti-discrimination laws in education — Defunded the National Institute of Justice that works against terrorism and far-right extremism — Eviscerating the Department of Veterans Affairs and other programs that help our veterans (including shutting down the suicide prevention hotlines) — Defunding the Department of Agriculture to gut food stamps/SNAP, school lunch programs, and supports for small family farms — Paralysing the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) that oversees the executive branch to make sure anti-terrorism efforts don’t violate civil rights — Weakening the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) so it can’t do its job of protecting minority or disabled workers and job applicants — Firing scientists at the FDA, gutting oversight of drug manufacturers. — Snatching students off the streets and transporting them to a private for-profit prison in Louisiana with no due process and in clear defiance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights — Proposing changes to voting laws that will prevent tens of millions of married women from casting a ballot — Threatening to seize foreign, sovereign lands by force.

Good luck. Just don't talk about politics and don't complain about anything or you'll ruin your chances.

Much better interest than your average bank rate!

This team you’re talking about will have to be capable of being everywhere, all the time, in every hospital ward in the country. The hospitals will need to be much bigger just to accommodate the team. I don’t think you’ve thought this through very well.

I think Dutton is a bigger handicap for the Liberals than Albanese is for Labor and consequently neither party will end up far from where they are now. I cant see the Liberals beating Labor or either one getting a clear majority.

Well it will be interesting to see how Trump goes about announcing how much the Europeans owe him for attacking Yemen, now that the world knows about his plans in advance thanks to his incompetent hand-picked subordinates. He won’t be happy.

After months of complaints about how the rain keeps missing your place, one lucky day of rain and now you want it to stop?

Yes, it's extraordinary. "If the Houthis sink more of our allies' ships than ours then we win. If we stop them sinking both ours and our allies, then we lose unless we make them pay us for saving their shipping".

Apparently it was reported on Fox News a couple of hours before he was asked about it and pretended to look blank. It's very unlikely he didn't know about it. He didn't look very convincing when he denied it.

It will be interesting to see if Trump fires anyone over the unofficial Signal communications group that resulted in the Pentagon's Houtis attack plans being shared with a journalist. Hegseth, Gabbard, Rubio and Waltz are all involved in the chat group. They will be OK unless Trump thinks it makes him look bad. He has denied all knowledge of course.

Would be worth having your kidney function checked. HBP can seriously damage them over time and 200/100 is extremely high even if it was just on the day.

He's a throwback to an archaic imperialist world view. He, Putin and Xi Jinping are all on the same page and understand each other perfectly well. I suspect that many leaders of countries that have been long-time allies of the US also recognise who he is and what he's up to but don't want to publicly say what they really think until the reality can't be denied any longer. They also don't want to get him off-side because he will attack at the drop of a hat. In my opinion he's a thoroughly nasty, impulsive and vindictive character with no redeeming features or moral values. In his first administration there were enough people able to throw sand in the gears to stop his worst instincts. Not so now. He has draped himself in the Royal Purple Robes with the connivance of the Supreme Court, dared anyone to stop him, and surrounded himself with enablers and sycophants. His Achilles heel is his basic ignorance and incompetence combined with his arrogance and highly inflated opinion of himself. That may yet see him come to grief before long. We can only hope.

Yes, alien invaders of occupied lands. Trump would deport them.

No they wouldn’t. He sees himself as a king. They were trying to get away from one.

Trump once said “real power is fear”. That’s how he’s governing now, by using threats and intimidation to try to get what he wants.irrespective of the law or the Constitution. He’s often described as transactional but in reality he’s an extortionist.

Not content with getting rid of all the Inspector's General and other bodies that could hold him to account, he is now using the Justice Department to go after law firms he doesn't like. This is an extract from a NYT article: President Trump broadened his campaign of retaliation against lawyers he dislikes with a new memorandum that threatens to use government power to punish any law firms that, in his view, unfairly challenge his administration. The memorandum directs the heads of the Justice and Homeland Security Departments to “seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States” or in matters that come before federal agencies. The memo, titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” complains that lawyers have long engaged in unethical conduct in opposing him, or opposing deportations. The memo also suggests that the Trump administration will make disciplinary referrals against lawyers who pursue cases without merit “particularly in cases that implicate national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity.” Mr. Trump also used the announcement to attack one particular lawyer by name, Marc Elias. Mr. Elias previously worked at Perkins Coie, and has long represented Democrats. Mr. Trump blames Mr. Elias, among others, for a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations about his links to Russia that was investigated by the F.B.I. in 2016 and 2017. “President Trump’s goal is clear. He wants lawyers and law firms to capitulate and cower until there is no one left to oppose his administration in court,” Mr. Elias said in a written statement. He added, “There will be no negotiation with this White House about the clients we represent or the lawsuits we bring on their behalf.” At the rate Trump and his cronies are dismantling the rule of law in the US, his attacks on the world economy, backflip on NATO, sabotaging the US public service, repression of science, environmental and medical research, attacks on universities, plus his aggression against former allies and meddling in various conflicts, it's hard to see how this has any good outcome for anyone. He will end up as the incompetent dictator of a corrupt and dysfunctional banana republic run by billionaires. So much for the concept of MAGA.

He also said they might sell a less capable version to certain allies but “toned down about ten percent” because “someday they might not be allies”. Whatever they come up with it will likely take twice as long as expected to iron out the bugs, perform below expectations, and cost twice as much as their current estimates. Besides, it’s a Boeing so that’s probably not a good sign.