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As far as the Republicans are concerned Democracy is too valuable to be entrusted to the will of the people.

There will be a lot of unhappy Republicans if and when he does declare he's a candidate. Most of them must be thinking that he's got too much baggage to win now. Of course with all the behind the scenes scheming that they've been busy with to control future elections, he could still get across the line by cheating.

I think they will soon find themselves in the front line in Ukraine.

I wonder how long it will take them to get it partially functioning again. If the damage to the rail bridge is fairly minor and the inner roadway is not too bad they may have it usable again fairly quickly.

Democracy is supposed to be `government of the people, by the people, for the people'. The US Republicans' definition these days is more streamlined. It's just `government of the people'.

They're Rushin' all over the place judging by what the Ukrainians are saying.

I hope he runs again and loses badly. It’s the Democrats best hope with or without Biden. If it’s Biden against De Santis, the Dems will lose.

Given that the Aboriginals have a long history and a complex culture and social system, calling themselves a `mob' probably wasn't the best way to enhance their image.

Or ‘the Invisible Man’! I’m pretty sure he would have shown up as blue in the thermal imaging camera.

Yes a candle probably wasn’t the best example as it’s self-illuminating. Maybe a saucepan with a lid on it filled with water would be better. You can’t see the water irrespective of whether the kettle is visible or not so the easiest way to tell from a distance whether the water is hot would be to use a thermal imaging device. However, there’s nothing very mysterious about either an unseen elephant or concealed water. I think the point you were making was that some things could be there but invisible to our normal senses and therefore possibly paranormal. However, I’ll believe that when I see it, or maybe not.

But you can't see the heat coming off a candle with your naked eye either, Red.

‘Bigfoot makes Moonshine’ should be another episode worth watching.

Italy has had about 66 governments since 1945, so you won't have to wait long for a new one.

I wouldn't like to be in Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev's shoes. He's probably wondering what his chances are of being assigned to a high-rise desk job in the future too.

When I was about 20, I went to a concert by Spanish flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya in Melbourne. One piece prompted the crowd to enthusiastically clap in time which went on for a fair while before naturally dying away as he kept playing - except for one idiot (me) who doggedly kept clapping the whole way through. Why? I'm not sure but it was a great piece of music and despite becoming very self-conscious that I was on my own, I kept going. Both Carlos and I and certainly the rest of the audience were very grateful when the piece finally ended. I'm still astonished that nobody told me to stop being a nuisance and ruining the performance. I still cringe when I think about it.

Answer to question 1 is probably nobody that's going to make any difference to the outcome. We tender for Government engineering contracts and they always have the `lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted' clause, and tenders are assessed on a number of qualitative criteria plus overall `value for money', not just lowest cost, so there is not much recourse if you are the lowest tenderer but don't get the job.

I heard he’s planning to mobilise up to two million reservists. The Russian population must be starting to wonder why this is necessary when the special military operation has been going so well. On the other hand I also heard that 75% of the population support what Putin is doing - up until now anyway. It will be interesting to see if that figure changes after this announcement.

It will reveal enough to make you watch the next episode but not enough to make you any the wiser.

It burned down.

I circled Mt Connor on the way to Uluṟu. Approached it from the south east after leaving Kulgera. It’s spectacular from that side jutting straight up out of the flat country, but the back looks a lot less steep and would be easy to climb. When I first saw it in the distance I thought for a moment that my navigation must have been out and I was looking at Uluṟu.

My dad was in the Dutch army when the Germans invaded. He was an anti-tank gunner. In their first action his crew shot up and derailed one of the returning troop trains that took the first German troops into Holland, although they didn’t know that at the time. They fought non-stop for five days until Holland capitulated. He then spent the rest of the war as a forced labourer (chemical engineer) in the Austrian oil fields, before that area was over-run by the Russians. The Germans on the field had left overnight. Although they suspected him of being a German in civilian clothes they eventually let him go and he spent the next months trying to get back home by whatever means he could, finally returning almost a year after the war ended and his family had given him up as lost. He was 26 at the time. He was always proud of his war service and in later years regularly marched on Anzac Day, despite still being Dutch and knowing many of the other marchers. He justified that by saying “I was an Allied soldier, so why shouldn’t I?”. Nobody seemed to mind.

I'm not sure that would go down at all well with Macron, although it would seem to make good sense. I believe the design we were buying was a nuclear sub that they had to re-design to use diesels, just for us.

Lucky? Hah! You’ve only got one keyboard!

Limited by bomb shelter capacity ... it's a bit sad isn't it.

But Marty, although your two blokes are definitely sons they are not necessarily fathers. We only have your word that they are family men.