Old Koreelah

A doctor goes out and buys the best car on the market, a brand new Ferrari GTO. It is also the most expensive car in the world, and it costs him $500,000. He takes it out for a spin and stops at a red light. An old man on a moped, looking about 100 years old, pulls up next to him. The old man looks over at the sleek shiny car and asks, "What kind of car ya got there, sonny?" The doctor replies, "A Ferrari GTO. It costs half a million dollars!" "That's a lot of money," says the old man. Why does it cost so much?" "Because this car can do up to 250 miles an hour!", replies the doctor. States the doctor proudly. The moped driver asks, "Mind if I take a look inside?" "No problem," replies the doctor. So the old man pokes his head in the window and looks around. Then, sitting back on his moped, the old man says, "That's a pretty nice car, all right, but I'll stick with my moped!" Just then the light changes, so the doctor decides to show the old man just what the car can do. He floors it, and within 30 seconds, the speedometer reads 150mph. Suddenly, he notices a dot in his rear view mirror - what it could be...and suddenly... WHOOOOOSHHH! Something whips by him going much faster! "What on earth could be going faster than my Ferrari?" The doctor asks himself. He floors the accelerator and takes the Ferrari up to 175 mph. Then, up ahead of him, he sees that it's the old man on the moped! Amazed that the moped could pass his Ferrari, he gives it more gas and passes the moped at 210 mph. WHOOOSHHH! He is feeling pretty good until he looks in his mirror and sees the old man gaining on him AGAIN! Astounded by the speed of this old guy, he floors the gas pedal and takes the Ferrari all the way up to 250 mph. Not ten seconds later, he sees the moped bearing down on him again! The Ferrari is flat out, and there is nothing he can do! Suddenly, the moped plows into the back of his Ferrari, demolishing the rear end. The doctor stops and jumps out and unbelievably, the old man is still alive. He runs up to the mangled old man and says "Oh my gosh! Is there anything I can do for you? I am a doctor." The old man whispers, "Please unhook my suspenders from your side mirror."

For the poor buggers at the pointy end, the big difference from past wars is the instant mobile phone call to Mum- a heartening show of humanity by Ukrainian captors. Our grandmothers had wait months or years to get a letter via the Red Cross confirming their worst fears, or that hubby or son was alive in a prison camp.

Saruman

If they scrape back in it certainly won’t be three more years of the same; they will quickly implement their most unpopular, right-wing policies, hoping that the dumb voters will forget in time for the following election. Expect the ABC to be further castrated and Rupert Mudoch’s media to be given an even greater stranglehold on information.

Unfortunaley I doubt Russia will play nice and join the west, although many of her smartest people do. The Russian mafia is well entrenched and will never give up their power.

The rest of us had better appreciate the ones we still have.

The West, and the US in particular, should heed the lessons of history. They are currently in a similar position to 1950 in Korea, when McArthur ignored President Truman’s orders and pushed the invading North Koreans across the Yalu River. This triggered a massive influx of Chinese troops, leading to a larger bloodbath. The numbskull couldn’t get it into his head that his actions would widen the war, leading to a generations-long stalemate. Ukraine might push the invaders out their country, but the Russians will never accept total defeat. They still have lots of nukes.

“Corrupt Liberal hack”. Those three words have become a tautology.

That applies to more than just voting. Australia, the laid back country, where you don’t really have to work too hard and very few do the hard yards to get highly qualified. Where we can always import people to do the dirty and hard jobs. For years, our town has only had doctors from Africa and Asia, Dentists from Korea and Priests from the Phillipines. A bit further west (before Covid) every little town was dependant on the labour and enterprise of backpackers from Europe.

Always intrigues me why cars radiator intakes are so low; the air just above the bitumen can be super heated.

OME in all the years I was a poor hitch-hiker, I was never passed by a carload of Aboriginals; they always found space for one more.

Reminds me of a wonderful small rural school I taught in. Sardinian migrants were a major part of the population and the school had a unique kind of parent-teacher meeting: the student translated for the parents! Luckily, none of them had anything to cover up, being very hard-working, well behaved kids. I have happy memories of a year ten class of gorgeous movie-stars. Another thing: that school was Kinder to Year 10 and the seniors were often asked to help with the little kids; as a result, they were far more mature than most Year 12 kids I’ve known. Kids need to be given responsibility.

My big sister married a Croation bloke who became a major figure in my life. He recently left us aged 80, having spent all but 20 years in this country, but his spoken english never advanced beyond the thickest accent.

Well done all those good people for exposing the rorts, but I fear too many voters won’t actually watch the debate or these exposes.

Love to see how Trump supporters would perform on this test.