Old Koreelah

Rugby League games have enough violence on the field, so the fans tend to go home peacefully. Soccer games build up so much frustration that, on their way home, fans sometimes trash the town.

We once had a pair of German exchange students who had a similar reaction to our school’s Monday morning ritual of playing the National Anthem (a ceremony imposed on us around the time of Howard’s enthusiastic embrace of Bush’s disastrous Iraq War.)

A common story, Willedoo. Maybe when his kids leave the nest he can pursue his real life passion. I knew a bloke who taught himself to build Baroque keyboard instruments. After spending time sneaking close-up inspections of historic spinets and harpsicords in museums across Europe, he came home and built a couple of his own, in his dad’s woolshed. Later, a few if us helped him build a proper workshop and his reputation spread. His instruments are now found all over the world.

Jerry I agree totally. I usualy switch channels when sport comes on, but women’s teams like soccer and cricket are far more interesting to watch than the men. Real sportsmanship when you see them help a fallen opponent (and our girls have been supportive of all women being paid what they’re worth). The teams defeated by our Matildas can go home with their heads held high. Another thing: lets stick it to the evil Taliban, who grind down their womenfolk at every opportunity. Australia hosts the Afghan Women’s team, who should be recognised by FIFA. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/meet-the-women-who-escaped-the-taliban-and-now-play-for-melbourne-victory-20230608-p5deys.html https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/afghan-womens-football-team-a-symbol-of-resistance-against-taliban-repression/

No, Red, we became more open and honest. The bloke in shorts does not appeal to me, but I bet he is more honest about his identity. Marion Morrison was not the big macho he-man that we see in the movies. A persona created to sell more movie tickets.

Some encouraging news: schools are finally challenging the undue power of religious groups. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sydney-high-schools-where-scripture-enrolments-fall-below-15-per-cent-20230802-p5dt95.html

KG is dead right about addiction to growth. Our leaders are running scared of the masses; a year or so of economic inconvenience could bring down a government. Our lifestyle depends on us borrowing from our children. Despite Australians being swamped with news about how unsustainably we are living, many are adopting some of the worst ideas from America. https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/stupid-american-trucks-aussies-erupt-as-hated-us-trend-takes-over/news-story/7d27bb85b33782ab28acfd18d29bda2d

Christianity has no monopoly on teaching good behaviour; it could be argued that, compared to many other religions, the Bible’s Ten Commandments are quite deficient in this regard. Most of those ten rules are about a jealous god. That line of reasoning is core to the Intelligent Design philosophy, but contains a monumental flaw. Modern life forms sure are incredibly complex and impressive, but why did it take the great creator so long? The fossil record shows numerous design dead-ends. We probably find only a tiny fraction of the prototypes that were discarded. In our own species, the great creator made lots of design errors, which modern medicine is still battling to overcome. By way of comparison, our own humble species took only half a century to develop fragile box kites into supersonic jet planes. A couple of decades to go from room-sized computers to iPhones. Many doubters seem to have no idea of the unimaginably long time frame over which life has been evolving. The mechanisms are mostly understood. Indeed, science is often surprised at how quickly life forms evolve to cope with changing environments. Evolution has not been a steady, gradual progression towards more complex species; life on Earth has been all but wiped out a number of times. Life has bounced back, evolving fast enough to rebuild whole new classes of life forms in just a few million years.

Depends on what you consider education to be. Many may be poorly educated by the standards of atheists, but the bible-thumpers would probably consider me poorly educated. I have a family member who spent years studying that old book, but never went very far in secular education.

In the 70s my wife’s family moved to a new subdivision that contained a drive-in theatre. Before trees grew up to cut the view, the kids could watch all sorts of very explicit stuff happening a few streets away. In a slight change of character, the place has been replaced by a Bible-Belt church. It went from showing soft porn to supression of human instincts.

That Wikipedia article is one of the longest they have; presumably because his rap sheet is so extensive. I agree with quite a few of his initiatives, but this case is a classic illustration of the need for separation of powers and an educated electorate.

This bloke was unknown in his own land, but a giant in some countries: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/music/rodriguez-searching-for-sugar-man-singer-with-an-aura-of-mystery-dies-at-81-20230810-p5dvho.html

Bluddy Murphy! The bugger has been running my life lately. Every time I start work on my plane (maintenance and some improvements) something torpedoes my deadline. I had hoped to get it ready for OME’s event in May, but no luck. Last week my dodgy knee got attacked by a big lump of firewood. That cost me a week. Back working at the airport, but the plurry epoxy resin won’t set properly! Spent up large on a heat gun; even that won’t set the resin. Maybe the scales are reading wrong. Ripped it apart, did another job using volume measurements. Lots more heat. Setting like rubber. Rang the manufacturer. One of their workers had added the wrong component to a big mix. They thought they had traced all of that faulty batch. That’s another week lost. They’re sending me a replacement, but it will take another week. I sure hope businesses appreciate the good staff they have, because there’s no shortage of dunderheads!

American consultant firms paid squilions to advise our government on defence purchases? The same crew working for US weapons makers? Maybe that explains the outrageous prices. Time to ensure our Public Service has enough skilled people to serve our country. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/public-service-puts-taxpayer-billions-at-risk-by-fumbling-major-contracts-20230809-p5dv1c.html

That he is a horrible specimen is well known around the village. The big worry is that millions of Americans support him not despite this, but maybe because of this.

Very clear explanation of a fastening system many of us use but never understand. The difference between cut and rolled threads is another worthy topic.

Not so long ago there was a scene in a Hollywood disaster movie where huge crowds of Americans swamped the Mexican border, fleeing to a safer country. Not so far-fetched now.

How do we stop government decision-maker, elected or public service, from being bribed by the cashed-up army of lobbyists who are given freedom to roam the halls of power? Perhaps they should have their personal finances (and even those of their close family members) subject to investigation for at least a decade after they leave office. The Feds could promise to guarantee their privacy, just like they do with little people like me.

Tonight at 8:30pm. Four Corners lifts the lid on the privatisation of our Federal Public Service. Foreign fat cats ripping off mug taxpayers like us.

Torque reaction would be a major factor on the first one. It might require a sidecar.

Fascinating to see such a huge, torquey engine driving cheesecutter tyres. This Merlin installation was found at Narromine one year; every time he started the engine, people came running.

How do you find 12 good men in a nation of such divisions, such ignorance? Will any jury be unanimous? I predict a deadlock and dismissal.

Menzies saw the value of a well-educated nation, but recent governments only see the cost; Australia is already suffering the cost of public education being neglected. I agree 1,000%!

Being a contancerous Geographer, I prefer the original standard from which all metric messures were derived: one ten millionth the distance between the North Pole and the Equator, through France.