Marty_d

Bloke goes to an Asian massage parlour for a massage.

Very attractive young lady is massaging him.  When he rolls over for her to do his front, she notices the large tent in his towel.

Giggling, she says "You want happy ending?"

Bloke thinks... why not!   "Yes please", he says.

She smiles and leaves the room.  He's a bit confused, but waits for her to come back.

5 minutes later she reappears and says... "You finish yet?"

2 hours ago, old man emu said:

To my mind that means reducing personal debt and concentrating resources on those needed for basic survival. 

I have an inkling that economics is a hard area to make predictions in, because they can become self fulfilling.

So in your example above - yes, on an individual basis it may make sense to pay off your debts, stock up with tinned goods & ammo and hunker down.

However if there's broad movement in the population to stop spending on all the stuff we spend on, then that money doesn't go around the economy from my pocket to say the sparky, from his pocket to the coffee shop, from the coffee shop employee to JB Hifi etc...

My preferred fix would be a slightly more socialist slant to our democracy/capitalist system.  Using methods such as @nomadpete's idea of a transaction tax to shift more of the burden of taxation from the poor to the wealthy.  Better and more targeted taxation of large companies and what I would class as "obscene" private wealth (what individual needs more than say 20 million dollars?)  Smarter spending of defense budgets so we're not just equipping for the last war but for how future ones will be fought.  A change of focus in housing stock from being an investment to being owner occupied.

There are vast stocks of wealth locked up in things that don't cause economic activity - people sitting on empty houses to make a killing when the capital value increases, tucked away in trust funds, etc.  There must be ways to disincentivise this.

A clever country shouldn't have to have cost of living crises (or homeless people, or people who have to choose between eating or heating).

Well done Peter. I missed it!

I'm happy with Gmail.  The spam is pretty much non existent.  Plus easy to search up old emails, all the folder stuff etc.

4 hours ago, spenaroo said:

On another note,

 

was handing out the fencing gear at training the other night.

we tried a new system where they wrote down the gear they had on a slip so we could easily mark it  in the records.

 

well I was really struggling to read the names. we refuse to take on students under the age of 10 (its a focus and time thing - its a 2 hour night and they struggle, would need 1 on 1 attention) and many of these are studying year 11/12. but there was no discernible difference in ages from the writing

 

one of the kids mum's was helping me and saw my confusion and struggle - she remarked "they dont teach kids how to write anymore""
how things change - was 15 years ago I was in school, and was just starting to transition to laptops, my younger sisters both had computers for school.

 

guess the transition has happened - typing has taken over from writing.

the same parent was saying that the kids don't even hand-write notations anymore.

Interesting,  might be different school to school. 

My 15yo son (grade 10) is often saying an assignment must be hand written. 

4

Name

3.  One of each.

31 December. 

4 hours ago, red750 said:

Maybe highjacking the thread a bit, but why is Clive Palmer bringing Tucker Carlson to Australia? Who cares what either have to say? 

Because they're both braindead morons, and other braindead morons will listen to them.

Businesses use cheques for refunds because a lot of them won't get cashed.  Means they don't actually have to pay the refund.

8 hours ago, red750 said:

Good guess, that's correct. 

 

Most of the questions were pretty easy this week, some too easy to bother about. I can't copy the graphics ones.

 

Next:

If planet Earth has a Heart, what body part does Mars have?

 

Was there a follow-up question about Uranus?

6 minutes ago, facthunter said:

You're showing your ignorance, chaps. I while back I did say I'd keep you informed.   Nev

No, we're having a laugh.

3 hours ago, old man emu said:

All the weeping, gnashing of teeth and self-flagellation we do in Australia does nothing for air pollution and global warming when you see what is happening in the emerging countries of Asia. 

 

Just have a look at the first two minutes of this video while thinking about the environmental impact of the process of making an aluminium pressure cooker for domestic use. If you have the time you could watch through further of it to get an idea of conditions the employees work in to make the cooker. 

 

 

Poor bastards.  Imagine the injuries they're getting - even if they manage to avoid crush/cut injuries there's the repetitive motions, hearing loss, ingestion of gas and aluminium particles... and the soul destroying labouring at one task for a pittance.

I've never met him.  Weird surname.

Not a habit I ever want to develop.  I've seen it ruin lives.  These things are set up so the house wins.

I heard there's even online casinos where you pay real money to buy their betting money - but you can never cash out.  Doesn't matter how much you win, you can't convert it back to real dollars.

37 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Bikes, like dogs, should be kept outside.

My two miniature Foxies would bite you on the ankle for suggesting that.

They are true inside dogs, only going out for bathroom duties or to chase wallabies.  (Or if no one is home).

They don't even have a kennel - nights are spent on the beds of random humans.  Sometimes one kid will have both dogs, sometimes they split up, occasionally no one wants them in bed so they're relegated to the couch in the lounge room (which, in winter when there's a fire in the woodheater most of the night, they're quite happy about!)

PS... in my early 20's, in my little 1 bedroom flat, I had not only the VFR750 parked in the loungeroom but also a hang glider.

4 hours ago, facthunter said:

I used to be surprised how some women flirt outrageously even thought their husbands are right there. As I get older  the less things people do surprises me. at all.   Nev

Maybe the husband likes it.

A mate once told me of a very attractive woman he met at a party, who after 10 minutes conversation invited him back to her place for a good time. 

He was keen as mustard,  until she said "you don't mind if my husband is in the room,  do you?"

He changed his mind very quickly. 

5 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

 

 but would be interesting to hear from a retired policeman.

 

 

Unless I'm much mistaken,  OME is a retired policeman.

Maybe not jail time but definitely banned from the platform(s) they posted on.

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

Go to the real experts - the victims and the grassroots organisations that have to deal with the frantic knock on the refuge door at 2:00 in the morning.

Again there's a conflation with the cause and the end result.  You're asking about causes.  The victims are suffering the end results and the grassroots organisations, which do a fantastic job on limited budget, know all about the effects of DV and how best to help victims after it happens, and about the DV itself - but they probably couldn't tell you what in the perpetrator's history turned them into the arsehole that belts their partner.

My point is that cause is a far more difficult thing to unravel so you need experts in the field(s).

RABBI TEARS may be caused by the high prices.

1 hour ago, red750 said:

I said that and was roundly admonished.

You recommended the death penalty.  "Draconian" doesn't have to mean killing people.

OME, the CAUSE can be varied and a starting list might be (note I am not a psychologist, behavioural therapist or any other "ist")

• Perpetrator is just a prick and always has been 
• Feelings of inadequacy - failing to live the life they think they deserve, so they lash out
• Brought up in a house where abuse was common - including beatings - so violence is normalised
• Brought up in a cultural or religious setting where violence against women is "allowable" if they go against the will of the male
• Low IQ 
• Lack of appropriate parental / "father figure" guidance in formative years
• Mental health issues - ADHD etc
• Sociopath

Note that several of those are also root causes of alcohol / drug abuse which I would consider another factor but not a cause.  You can have happy drunks/druggies that wouldn't hurt a fly.  The old saying is that alcohol just enhances whatever mood you start off in.  If you're happy to start, you'll probably be happy drunk - if you're aggro to start, you'll be drunk AND aggro which isn't good.

Also point out that the vast majority of people who have one or more of those causes never actually commit violence against anyone.

Life is not simple and there are no silver bullets.  The best any government can to is to get the experts involved and try to bring a wideranging and balanced set of solutions which MAY help bring down the rate of DV.

Cart before the horse OME. 

Substance abuse is a symptom,  not a cause. 

Lesley 3 - 0