old man emu

International public opinion surveys of the trustworthiness of various occupations consistently place politicians at the bottom, with about 15% of people thinking politicians are trustworthy. You have basically agreed on that point in your recent posts. I would attribute this lack of trust to everyone's access to what's happening in the world through internet access. I'm not going to comment on the clearly bad effects of false information. I feel that the acceptance of that bad information is due to a failure to be critical of what pops up. Those who are critical soon sort the wheat from the chaff. So I will say that without our access to information via the internet, politicians would still be getting away with things as they have done since time immemorial. How will this lack of trust manifest itself? The ideals upon which our political system evolved have been corroded by those who sought our support to place them in positions of leadership. Is it possible to eradicate that corrosion? Perhaps it could be done by only voting for non-aligned candidates who are told that ignoring the voice of their electorate can result in the candidate being made to resign the position. One flaw in my otherwise flawless plan is that being involved in the actual running of a government is something that has to be learned, much the same way that any person qualified to carry out an occupation has to learn. That is why we find that candidates have gained that learning by being involved fully in the machinations of Party politics. I introduce as Exhibit 1of a failure to gain that learning, one Donald Trump, a person upon whom Greatness has been thrust, but does not have the ability to make good of it.

Bugger! I thought it would be a loophole to use to deport them.

If Trump continues on his present course, which is very likely to impact Australia's economy, should some consideration be given to Australia's abandoning the G7 and moving towards BRICS. BRICS is an intergovernmental organization consisting of ten countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It is considered to be a counterpart and alternative to the G7 bloc of the world's largest economies and combined represent nearly half of the world's population. Some in the West consider BRICS institutions an alternative to institutions such as those led by nations of the G7 bloc, which are among the world's leading economies. Others describe the grouping as an incoherent joining of countries around increasing anti-Western and anti-American objectives. Here's a link to an interesting, seemingly non-biased, for and against article examining what approach Australia should take towards BRICS in light of the current geopolitical situation. https://www.constructor.net.au/a-case-for-and-against-australia-joining-brics/

Do American troops stationed in Australia have Entry Visas?

We should stop comparing Trump to Hitler. Hitler might have been all sorts of a nasty bastard, but at least he had wrote his own manifesto before he gained power. Trump probably thinks that a manifesto is a big booze up for blokes only.

From draftnews? More like daft news.

Has the cold weather stopped you from peeing on your citrus trees?

Who decreed that the pilot sat on the left-hand side? At least helicopter designers got it correct.

Bloody Trump and Musk are infiltrating every thread on this forum.

I correct my typos, only because I know you lot would come down on me like a ton of bricks for conduct unbecoming of a member of the Grammar police.

Mine? No, that's all my own work.

I'm noticing that AI-generated posts are appearing here now. I become suspicious when a new member posts in several different threads in a very short time, and the original posts that are responded to are old, meaning that they don't reference other people's current posts in a thread. The other giveaway is the style of the posts. If you read the posts of our regulars, you form the opinion that you are listening to blokes speaking face-to-face. The style of the AI-generated posts is more formal. I know that I use a lot of words that would not be commonly heard around a barbecue gathering, but by now you all recognise it as my style. I recognise your various styles. But these questionable posts don't 'pass the pub test'.

All I can add to this current chat is caveat emptor

This morning I posted that I was likely to get some rain this afternoon. I checked the radar about 4:00 pm and there was a nice patch moving directly towards me. About 6:30 pm there was some rain that barely got the gutters going. I checked the radar and the patch had drifted a few kilometres to the north and there is not sign of any more rain coming over my place. Luckily I have bore water and only use rainwater for drinking. I've probably got about 380 litres of 400 in my tanks.

My sister and I took Mum (99 years old) to see a skin specialist today to have a growth on her neck checked out. The specialist identified it as something readily operable under a 'local'. What impressed me most was his admission that, considering Mum's age, he was trying to find a medical reason not to operate. That sort of caring behaviour really makes you confident of the specialist. She's booked in for day surgery next Monday week.

But he's going to tell the Mint to stop making 'pennies'. That'll be a big cost saver for the Government.

The same sort of crap he writes here.

FFS GON, if you are going to continue your membership here, wake up to the fact that many times people here post statements the likes of Marty's which are to be taken as satirical. The rest of us know what Marty intended, and had a chuckle. Of course we don't condone assassination as a solution to problems. So man, chill.

Just looked at the radar and it appears that I'll be getting some light rain later this morning. There is a 999 millibar Low just north of the NSW/Qld border.

Good things come to those who wait.

Not if you bend over too far in a tight pair of pants.

There is honour amongst the Mafia. That sets it above the GOP.

Bit of a problem for Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) the Artist Formerly Known As Prince w changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, on his 35th birthday.

The weather events we are experiencing currently are definitely outside our prior experience, but as has been pointed out, accurate records really only exist for about 400 years at best, and those early ones are often anecdotal and localised. It is more likely that consistent worldwide records only began to be taken from roughly 1925. That's possibly a result of the development of civil and military aviation which depends for safety on good weather observations. For maritime operations, I suspect that sailors would just think that the weather is what it is. Probably the only way to determine if it is climate or weather that is changing is to keep analysing sediment such as glacial ice and sediments in waterbodies.

Can you imagine the complexity of the cash register software in the USA, where the price at the shelf is not the ultimate price. They add sales tax at the register, and the level of tax can vary from State to State, even city to city within a State.Say what you will about the negatives of GST, but at least it is easy to calculate, and include in the shelf price. American tourists often comment that they are surprised when they find that the register price is the same as the shelf price. Some even need to avail themselves of the free health care provided in civilised countries.