onetrack

Meantimes, with hardship in most parts of Australia, bartering has returned!

We're all set for a fuel-restricted long weekend on the water!!

How he got that far away from his original point of habitation is going to be the subject of a lot of inquiry - especially when hundreds of police were combing the area around where he shot the police, almost straight after the event. He obviously got a ride straight away from a good mate, and he would've been hidden in the vehicle. I wonder what else the police will find? More "sovereign citizen" bunkers or hideouts, and arms/food caches? A lot of these SC fruitcakes are "preppers" as well and believe in preparing and stocking up on "last days" events. We've had some in W.A., this "preppers" setup in the far SE of W.A. is incredible. I think the area is SE of Norseman.

Sovereign citizens add nothing of value to a community. But they do cause an unbelievable level of disruption to accepted and legal court processes. Their problem is, they believe no laws of any kind should apply to them, and they believe all taxes are illegal. So they want all the infrastructure that civilised society offers, but don't want to pay for it. "Sovereign citizen" is a concept born out of the gun-toting craziness of the hicks of backwoods America. They place their faith in firearms, and nothing else. They claim they have faith in God, but they don't trust him either, so that's the reason they worship guns. As in the case of Dezi Freeman, we've seen where that idiocy leads.

What do you want? Gold-plated major infrastructure built in tiny, dying country towns, with only 20 or 30 people? The Govt expends money where the population is, and where it can be paid for by those residents, on an affordable basis.

That little scumbag who owns Faecesbook is in a pile of steaming manure anyway. It appears he's got plenty of lawsuits to deal with. "As of late March 2026, Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing significant legal and public pressure regarding the company's platforms, with courts delivering major penalties and verdicts. Recent developments include: Child Safety Fines: A New Mexico court fined Meta $375 million over allegations of failing to protect children from online sexual exploitation and harmful content on Facebook and Instagram. Addiction Liability Verdict: A California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for causing a young woman's mental health issues by designing addictive products. Court Testimony: Mark Zuckerberg testified in a historic, multi-week trial where he was questioned about internal decisions, including the lifting of bans on beauty filters and the targeting of young users. Legal Challenges: Meta is navigating over 2,500 lawsuits related to youth addiction to social media platforms"

Rural population decline has been happening since after WW2. The number of rural towns that have become virtually ghost towns numbers in multiples of hundreds. The reasons weren't anything to do with Govt money allocation, it was economic reasons. Farms were regularly bought up by local or adjoining landowners, and the families bought out generally left the area. The boys, and the girls in particular, couldn't find much local work, so they left to go to the cities where the work was. The boys often left the rural areas to find a girl, because the male-female balance in rural areas was often 2 boys for every girl. In the era from the end of WW2 to the early 1970's, the rural lobby was powerful, and plenty of money was spent in rural areas. The old saying "Australia rides on the sheep's back" was very true. You'll find all your rural roads and arterial roads in the country were upgraded and widened and sealed in the 1950's to the 1970's, and ongoing upgrades continue. The economics of rural production have varied substantially over the decades, and led to large numbers of farming families leaving farming, for other, more profitable pursuits. In the era between the end of WW2 and up until about 15 years ago, rural pursuits paid poorly, and wages were also poor, in comparison to city jobs. It's only about the last 15 years that rural activities have been more rewarding - but they still have to deal with fires, floods and droughts, which can set back rural areas for many years.

Sorry, I misread what you originally posted, I thought it read, "Liberals would NEVER form a Coalition with PHON". Why would Labor ever consider a coaltion with ON, when they're capable of winning in most states with just a few other minor parties preferences? It's the Liberals who must now consider a coalition with ON, or they will disappear from the political scene. Even then, they would both still need the Nationals in a coaltion to govern.

Give it a few months, Nev, and it could be a completely different story, as the Libs desperately try to recover lost votes.

The Govt has announced the halving of the fuel excise for 3 months as a way of easing the pain of major price increases in fuel costs. This means that the price of fuel should drop by 26c litre at the bowser. Nothing has been outlined as to how the Govt plans to ensure that the full amount of the fuel excise drop is passed on to motorists, and how they can stop oil companies from keeping a portion of it for themselves. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/fuel-excise-halved-three-months-petrol-diesel/106510432

Victorian police have announced they found Dezi Freeman hiding/living in a "container-style" structure, near Walwa, about 200kms from where he was last sighted 200 days ago. They sent in a sizeable force to negotiate with him, but Freeman refused to disarm and came out of the structure carrying a weapon, so the police shot him dead. It seems obvious that Freeman has had assistance in hiding from the authorities for the last 200 days, so I expect there will be arrests for hiding a fugitive. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/live-blog-dezi-freeman-porepunkah-shooting/105719456

I had a good chuckle at Jane Hume (deputy leader of the the Liberals) being interviewed over the Libs failure to even make a dent in Labors vote in S.A. She totally ignored the question, and went into a huge and smooth diversive tactic of carrying on about, how "Labor in S.A. has a huge problem! - look at all the votes they've lost to ON!" This deluded rabid right-winger is a classic individual, for obfuscation and diversionary tactics over who actually LOST in the S.A. election. If Labor getting an increased majority and 34 seats, when the Libs lost seats and can't even get a quarter of the seat numbers Labor hold, even if they formed a coalition with ON (which they claim they never will do - well, at least, not this month, anyway) - then I'd hate to see what Hume defines as a Liberal political gain.

Interestingly, the caravanners are cancelling their trips for mainly two reasons - One, they're scared of being stuck with no fuel - and Two, a lot feel that they shouldn't be "wasting" fuel on unnecessary trips, thus depriving farmers and other critical users of their fuel requirements. The exorbitant pricing doesn't actually seem to bother a lot of people.

It doesn't get any better.

I rarely repost Farcebook pages, but this one is spot on ...... "Senator Claude Malhuret stood up in the French Senate this week and systematically torched every single member of Trump's cabinet. Nobody was spared. Not one. "A year ago, here in France, I compared Trump's presidency to Nero's Court. I was wrong. It's the miracle court," Malhuret began. Then he went through the roster. "An anti-vaxxer, former heroin addict as Minister of Health." (That's RFK Jr) "A climate-skeptic Minister of Economy." (That's Scott Bessent) "An alcoholic TV host, Minister of the Armed Forces." (That's Pete Hegseth) "An old Qatar agent, Minister of Justice." (That's Pam Bondi, whose former firm collected $115,000 a month lobbying for Qatar) "A groupie of Putin, Minister of National Security." (That's Tulsi Gabbard) Then he pulled back and went bigger. "A Turkish proverb says: When a clown settles in a palace, he does not become king. It is the palace that becomes a circus." Malhuret pointed out that since Trump created his so-called Board of Peace, he has launched more military strikes than Biden did in his entire term. He called out the Boeing jet Qatar gifted Trump worth $400 million. He called out the stock market manipulation that only insiders benefit from. He called out the Gulf investment deals enriching Trump and his family. "Any one of these conflicts of interest would have caused an immediate procedure of impeachment here," Malhuret said. "But we are not here. We are in MAGA's America where public business is conducted in favor of private interests." Then came the line that cut deepest. "Every time the Epstein affair resurfaces, bombs explode somewhere in the world and cause a distraction." This is how the world sees us now. Not through Fox News. Not through Truth Social. Through the cold, clear eyes of allied nations watching a great country be hollowed out by crooks. Every American should hear this speech. Share it everywhere."

I like talking to and cracking jokes with my barber. In addition, he knows exactly what my style of haircut is, does an excellent job, completes the haircut with a full razor trim around the edges, from in front of my ears, to the nape of my neck. And then he holds a mirror behind me to ensure I'm happy with my appearance from the rear. And all that for just $25. I've had $15 haircuts, and they look like $15 haircuts, too. A good haircut makes a good impression on people. I know a lot of older blokes care little about haircuts because they have so little hair left. I've still got a bit of hair, but it is disappearing far too rapidly. I guess I'll have to make a decision in a few years on what to do, when there's little hair left on my head to cut and comb.

The news about the U.S. bases damage, is largely correct. The U.S. military themselves have admitted damage has been incurred at 13 U.S. bases in the Middle East, with DoW damage estimations of around US$800M. There are other reports saying the number of bases seriously damaged is actually 17, and the total repair bill for all the Iranian damage is likely to exceed US$3B - and more importantly, take years to rebuild, simply because of the complexity of the equipment in the bases, and the requirement for a lot of electronic replacements, that are still in short supply from COVID-era restrictions. Even many car manufacturers are taking shortcuts in vehicle manufacturing, and leaving out optional equipment that is electronics-heavy, due to the ongoing chip shortage. What our dopey Tangerine Toddler doesn't understand, is that Taiwan may now even make overtures to China to form an alliance, to prevent a Taiwan-China war. This is because Taiwan is starting to realise that their major ally is no longer a reliable ally - and is likely incapable of protecting/supporting Taiwan in the event of a Chinese aggressive military move on them. If that alliance happens, China will then control the majority of the worlds cutting-edge chip manufacturing, and give Trump and his sycophants another dose of heartburn, because America still hasn't got any local chip manufacturing sorted yet. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddq7j48p35o https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/us-bases-uninhabitable-iran-missile-strikes-centcom-force-posture-2026-war/

China has already won handsomely from Trumps impulsive war - the war in which he cannot now find any allies, as he abused and vilified nearly every ally, he formerly had. https://www.watoday.com.au/business/the-economy/china-has-already-won-trump-s-impulsive-war-20260326-p5zirv.html

Helium always was in short supply, this war is war driving home how little the Earth has, by way of Helium reserves. Because Helium is so light and inert, any Helium produced without capture, escapes into Space, and is lost forever.

That's what we've just enjoyed! - Heavy downpour.

Well, Narelle has pretty much burnt itself out, as it heads through the Southern Goldfields of W.A. as an ex-tropical depression. We've had a very nice 66mm of rain in Perth since early yesterday morning, nice steady soaking rain, and it's pretty much finished as far as the rain from Narelle goes. Most the W.A. wheatbelt has received between about 25mm to 40mm, a great start to the cropping season. I haven't got any recent news on storm damage in places such as Carnarvon (which recorded a wind gust of 133kmh yesterday afternoon, I guess quite a few banana trees will have been wiped out. Exmouth and Coral Bay have suffered some moderate levels of storm damage, but the buildings in those places are built to withstand cyclones, so they generally survive O.K. Learmonth copped a total of over 350mm in rainfall, so pretty wet there, some of the other places down the coast didn't get a lot of rain, Carnarvon only got 11.6mm in total.

Research the location.

"Jog on" is pure British slang. Never heard it used here.

You don't understand. The dairy farm was obviously a front for drug manufacturing and transport. The cows were the transport method. You just got to keep one step ahead of cunning drug lords!

What is the phrase description? I see "research the .... something". Not a very common phrase, IMO.