old man emu

I think this one exceeded my current capacity.

To boldly go ...... and yet to return ...

The reason those Methuselahs appear in the figures is quite easily explained. Before computerisation, the data was recorded manually. When it was computerised, sometime in the 60s (?) the programming language used was COBOL. Apparently Musk's computer nerds never learned that language and so are unable to understand why those Methuselahs are in the data. Also, there may be a bit of false information in the reporting. The print out must be a spreadsheet with the data in columns. Apparently the data in the next column shows the date of the last payment to the recipient. and for the Methuselahs, those dates show last payments being made before the 1950s or 60s. There are so many videos being published daily identifying the falsehoods of the Trump administration that it's impossible to remember which one contained the information I have related here. I can't search my viewing history because I can't remember the title of that particular video, or on which day I watched it.

I think that the coming election will be fought on domestic issues, avoiding Europe. There's enough ammunition in the debate over our relationship with China. On the one hand we like their trade, and on the other we don't like their military posturing.

Let's see what the March exports to the USA are. If they drop from the average monthly figure, then it's time to yell. I suspect that Both Albo and Dutton are adopting and wait and see attitude before taking the plunge one way or the other. While we have our own domestic topics on which to run election campaigns, the global situation generated by Trump is something to monitor. We also have to be mindful of China/USA trade. If that breaks down, China will not want our raw materials to the current levels. Globalisation: The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone.

Click on the image to make it legible.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-04/rawlinna-sheep-station-on-nullarbor-sold-to-uk-buyer-cpc/105008032 https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/jumbuck-sells-rawlinna-australia-s-largest-sheep-station-20250304-p5lgtn

Oops! I did think that "marshal" looked strange. I was in a bit of a rush to write that post and get out to the Men's Shed.

People have been comparing Trump's actions to those of Hitler in the way that both have taken over government and turned their countries upside down as if it was something new. Have you heard of the Rum Rebellion in NSW in 1808? The false story is that the military overthrew the appointed governor who was allegedly a tyrant. The truth of the matter is that the military, made rich by their control of trade had brow-beaten earlier Governors until the British Government sent William Bligh to bring order to the colony and reduce the economic power of the military to make things fairer for the free people who were trying to make a living. The leader of the military faction was John Macarthur who used threats and legal action to cower any opposition. After arresting Bligh the rebels set up a legal system that ensured that the rich and powerful could eliminate opposition. Eventually, the nominal commander of the military, Johnson, was brought back to England and court marshaled. Macarthur had resigned his commission, so he could not be court marshaled. However, the evidence adduced in the court marshal was enough to alleged that Macarthur had committed treason. A quirk of the law at the time meant he could not be tried for treason in England, but could if he was in NSW. That's why he stayed away for 9 years. (It was his wife, Elizabeth, who really was the founder of the wool industry through the development of the Merino strain of sheep.)

Remember back in the day when the USA would enter into foreign disputes because the side it backed had oil? Now it's all about securing the metals needed to sustain an electric world.

He's sacked the weather bureau people. No storm warnings. No aviation weather.

That's a Haitian thing to say.

I don't like what she does. I just admire how well she does it. She has the political nous of someone who has spent years operating in this area. It is too bad that she has hitched her wagon to the wrong animal.

The Ukrainians ARE fighting to restore and maintain their autonomy after Russia launched an unprovoked invasion the intention of which was to wrest the autonomy of Ukrainian lands from the people. There are no ifs or buts or maybes. Russia attacked and Ukraine defends until it can repel. Hey Fellas! GON has just given us carte blanche to enter his home and take whatever we want from it. He'll even let us throw him out on the street.

Didn't want to put this in the Trump thread, but I just had to express my admiration for Karoline Leavitt. I really admire her ability, at only 27 years-old, to navigate the minefield the the position of White House Press Secretary is. Her performances in those press briefings show an incredibly quick mind and complete grasp of the material she has to deal with. I haven't seen her stumble once at any time in the videos I've seen her in. Now, don't think I've gone over to the Dark Side. What she says is absolute crap, but one must be fair. She craps on exquisitely. I think she's the genius in the White House.

We are only interested in what your belief is, not the beliefs of politicians. As a great man said only a few days ago, "don't try to dictate what others feel".

Let's try to find some escape route for the USA. In Australia, if a government acted in the way that Trump has acted in the USA, our Constitution has a means of putting that government out of office. Our Constitution allows for the Monarch to end the reign of a government and then throw the formation of a new government back to the electorate - The Dismissal. Then it's up to the electorate to return the dismissed government, or to install another one. Impeachment is the only way to remove a President, but the steps to do that are complex. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. So the first step is to convict these people of the described offences. "High crimes and misdemeanors" is a term that was commonly used when the Constitution was written. It was used to describe crimes committed by people in positions of authority who abuse their power to avoid justice. The recent ruling of the US Supreme Court giving the President indemnity could make that difficult. But if Trump, Vance and their administration were impeached, what would replace them? It is clear that the framers of the Constitution never envisaged the current situation. Not doubt they thought that there would only be the need to deal with one person at a time, eg Nixon. Such a massive impeachment would be akin to a political revolution. The impeachments would be the means of restoring the Ship of State to an even keel. I do believe that the Americans would continue to have themselves governed by an unchanged Constitution. The First American Civil War mainly arose out of the economics of slavery. We know that tentacles of economics wrap themselves around many things affecting the lives of the people, but it is common to assign the cause of that civil war to different attitudes to slavery as a blanket reason. It is possible that there could be a Second American Civil War? I think not, because those who previously supported Trump are the ones who seem to be suffering the most as a result of his manifesto. There does not seem to be as much anger directed towards those who did not support Trump. Perhaps the civil war might not be fought amongst the common people, but would be like the French Revolution where the common people rose up against the ruling class.

I disagree that Albo is bumbling. As I said earlier, Albo did declare Australia to be standing by Ukraine's side. Although I didn't hear Dutton say anything, I firmly hope that I am correct in thinking that he supported Albo's declaration. I said that Australia is still concerned about the uncertainty of Trump's tariffs, which are due to come into effect next Wednesday, our time. Better to keep one's mouth shut until one knows if there is anything to say. At the moment Albo has to deal with political point scoring arising from the movements of the Chinese navy. Where's the hullaballoo over the US nuclear sub arriving in Perth? Oh! There can't be any of that since SkyNews and the Conservative media are all for it.

I'm just a simple commoner, but I'd love a Mark 2 Jaguar. I'll never have one. Morse's the pity.

A secondary advantage of the disappearing bonnet ornament might be the prevention of it theft, but I would say that the primary reason is to prevent injury to a pedestrians when you "run over the bastards".

I love a pun that uses of the meaning of 'homonym'.

I watched several videos of this meeting. Most of them were short clips from news services. However the last one I watched was a long one, in which the creator broke the whole meeting into short pieces. Knowing what was being said in each of these pieces, I didn't pay much attention to what was being said (mostly by Trump), but watched Zelenskyy's body language, mainly his facial expressions. You could almost hear him thinking, "What' this f-wit going on about?". In fact at least twice towards the end he inhaled through his nose very forcibly, as one would if one had a runny nose. Different cultures have different non-verbal communications. I don't know it what Z did was a Ukrainian thing, but I'm willing to bet that it is a sign of disgust. Trump has put US/Australian relations on eggshells. Those who don't read history believe that the Yanks are the altruistic defenders of democracy and the weak. Bullshit. The Yanks will do just enough to push back the attackers of democracy and the weak, but as soon as that is achieved, they will abandon those it "helped" and go hell for leather to gain as much as it can. Look back at the way Macarthur denigrated the victories of Australian forces in New Guinea and the subsequent push towards Japan. To the US, Australia is simply a safe place from which to support its goals in the Asia-Pacific region. Would Trump come at Australia, saying, 'Let's make a deal, dope'? I've watched two comments from our Prime Minister. The first was a response to Trump's asking what AUKUS was. Mr. Prime Minister simply said that there are lots of acronyms in politics and it is easy to forget what each one means. I think that response was, in the current political climate, a well-thought-out one. It was the Goldilocks response, not too hot, not too cold, just right. It was made at a time when the US has not announced the level of tariff it intends to apply to imports from Australia. It is clear that the Right Wing media has sensationalised the incident, which in reality doesn't upset the condition of the contents of a teacup. The second video was our Prime Minister's response to a question about the Trump/Zelenskyy meeting. Once again Mr. Prime Minister was diplomatic, only reiterating the Australia stands with Ukraine. He dodged the trap in the question, as any one practiced in diplomacy would. Best to keep out of the ring and save one's country from being hurt in the aftermath.

Holy Shit! Trump and Vance have just taken a major step towards alienating their Administration from the rest of the Free World. They got into a yelling match in which insults were hurled at Zelenskyy. Trump doesn't know the difference between diplomacy and Reality TV. Can you imaging any other World leader holding diplomatic talks in a room filled with the Media? Honestly, I am so astounded by what Trump and Vance said to Zelenskyy that I have to urge you to log in to YouTube and pick a video from the many to see what went on. Here's a link to a short video, but also take the time to look at some of the longer ones which show more detail. Even in that yelling match, Trump lied when he claimed that Zelenskyy campaigned for the Democrats. That was fact checked in this video. Zelenskyy went to a munitions plant to personally thank the workers for making the munitions provided to Ukraine.

Well, now we know how much Trump has his finger on the pulse of US/Australian relations. In the press conference with British Prime Minster, he was asked if they would later discuss the AUKUS deal. Trump did not know what AUKUS was, and when it was explained to him, he immediately tried to salvage the situation by uttering platitudes about US/Australian relations. He didn't say anything solid, just all huff and puff. AUKUS is going to turn out to be a waste of our money. Why does will it take a decade or more to deliver the submarines? Will the US find some reason to back out of the deal, claiming it has a prior need for the subs?