Bruce Tuncks

Yes, the UK was a dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell and they came back from it, unfortunately planting the seeds of puritanism in the USA. Apparently there was a time in England where you could look out and see a bunch of Cromwell's thug-soldiers trampling your kitchen garden. If they found a herb, you would be tortured till you admitted to being a secret Catholic.

To attempt to answer the last question first, I think the answer is "yes, because a dictatorship has no means of transfer of power except a big fight or a murder" Who wants to be ruled by a murderer?

I reckon we've seen in Trump and in Putin just how easily this can happen. Well it didn't happen with Trump, but there are lots of examples in history where it has happened. Maybe the modern media, with its concentration at the top, makes it more likely these days? Maybe the Westminster system is better than the Presidential system? AND, is a dictatorship necessarily weaker than a democracy?

Didja hear about the guy who was trying to fix his Indian motorbike up near Marla when a panting guy runs out of the scrub. "hey mate, says the mororbike guy, you ever ride an Indian?" " no way, says the panting guy, but I did try a lubra and now the whole tribe is after me..."

That's right fellas. Here at the farm, there is enough firewood to fire a steam boiler to run a generator. The problem is that the boiler attendant's wages are way more than the electricity bill. Apparently you MUST have a boiler attendant.

I can't help but remember Howard selling our natural gas to China etc for 5cents a litre. I think he was a fool more than a bad guy, I reckon he honestly thought there was plenty more gas if only the right incentives were applied. Nowadays, it is cheaper to buy Australian natural gas in China.

I like your idea Nev. The most effective lot in Alice Springs last time I was there was the Tangengerie council. They were aboriginals themselves so there was no racism charges I ever heard of. They looked after the neglected kids of some neighbors we had there, and they did this without being sabotaged by fat white bleeding-heart ladies. So a camp run by aboriginal elders would be a great replacement for jail.

I agree that locking aborigines up is a terrible thing to do, which is why I advocate "walkabout". Walking home from the WA border would be educational and physically good for those made to do it, especially including those whites among them. But I hasten to say that you can't expect too much from a punishment, look at the history of "penitentiaries" to see this.

Well said Nev. I still hold labor to very high standards if they want my vote. Last time, I voted Sustainable Australia, which is not for left-wing bleeding hearts . In a 2 party preferred system, I still finish up putting labor ahead of the libs. If they ( sustainable Australia ) get in the slightest place corrupt, I will move on.

Bugger nev, I reckoned that ice would hopefully produce a reading of zero or near zero. 26 ! that should be safe as a carb body temperature , thought I. If you need to measure humidity as well as temperature then it is getting too hard, just like the posters are. Yes I have seen them and learned that icing can occur at quite high temperatures of the air, but I reckon its too hard to use during flying.

Tell him goodonyer too spacey. The best way to get hoony kids off the roads we all use is to provide them with tracks to do it properly. It's one of the reasons why sport is good for kids, and motorsport is especially good.

I really hate corruption and though I support Labor in general, corruption must be fought against at all costs. I'd like to see the court system able to hear cases from losing bidders and to award damages if they lost unfairly. The "winning " bidder would be among those contributing to the damages, but mainly those who corruptly selected the wrong suppliers would pay. Why is this not already the case? It seems that fox news in the US was subject to such a case, well nearly so.

I still am waiting for somebody to suggest a way out of the lawlessness at Alice Springs. It has been suggested that whiteman's money and alcohol are to blame, but nobody has suggested taking these things away. As a long-term resident from Alice Springs, may I point out that enmity between tribes predated white arrival by a great many years, I suggest 40,000. AND, I suggest that it is only among north-western europeans that anything like care for those worse-off even begins to factor in.... from the abolition of slavery to the emancipation of women, to being genuinely non-racist, these are all accomplishments of a very small group of humans. Who else would preferentially give vaccines to "indigenous" before your own? My take on the current lawlessness is that we have been too soft and not given enough tough love. For example, I would have anybody ( whites too ) have to walk home from the WA border as punishment for an offence.

I like Albo. I reckon he is going through the motions of this voice thing because he is fulfilling a promise and he is doing that to the best of his ability. I feel sorry for Dutton. He is by no means stupid, but he looks too much like Voldemort to get elected. I would change my vote on the voice if the pro side could come up with a good statement on the lawlessness at Alice Springs... for example, that the law should be applied equally regardless of race. Alas, I reckon they will do the opposite and Alice Springs will fade away.

Well I read and like what red has written. Personally, I have never exploited an aborigine at all, and I have always paid fully for any property. And I can't see why I am less Australian than any other person, aboriginal or not. They have had all the opportunities I have had and more besides. The reason I will be voting "no" is that I have never had it explained how this voice thing would benefit anybody at all. Airy ideas about morale don't impress me, but being told I can't go climbing in the Grampians sure makes me angry. I submit that the aborigines have so very few disadvantages that they are reduced to prohibiting whitefellers from climbing, because that is about all they have left. Gosh, I wish I had some of their access to lawyers at the taxpayer's expense. Not to mention university education.

Thread drift, Red. I do it all the time....sorry. I have never had carby icing on a bike.

Good onyer, old K. I support Assange too. It's my one big criticism of Julia, that she didn't support Assange better. I think though that Albanese is. Assange is Australian, and deserves to be treated as such.

Back in the olden days, we had , every wednesday, " religious instruction" which was delivered by a mixture of priests, deacons and lay people. And we had to split up, my catholic friends were told that the anglicans were started cos the pope refused to let Henry murder another wife... next door, we anglicans were told that the religion was started to stop the english being taxed to fund the Spanish Armada. They obviously didn't think that we kids talked afterwards. The most famous case happened though in the metho classroom, where the priest's son was caught doing a ( quite good ) drawing of a copulating couple. ( I don't know for sure that methos had priests, maybe he was called something else.)

How about a temperature sender at the carby? .... just thinking aloud here..

good onyer nev.... one day my engine played up until I found I had left the choke on.... good lesson, I only did that one time. AND I have learned the hard way about carburettor icing, dunno if I can say for sure I always do the right thing now, something automatic would be good for me.

Years ago, it was fashionable for japanese backpackers to ride the stuart highway all the way from Adelaide to Darwin. One day there it was on the front page of the morning paper... the mangled remains of a bike hit from behind by a truck. The story was all about " stupid japanese who didn't understand Australia's road transport system". I would rather have a bike track built parallel to the main road than the stock-fence they funded. I reckon that, properly advertised, that bike ride could be a big hit. In the meantime, I agree that it is foolish to ride facing away from the fast trucks. But if they had ridden facing the traffic, police with guns would shoot them....

I agree with onetrack and so I waited till the law change before buying an electric bike, although I had actually ridden to work ( 20K) beforehand on a normal bike. There is a real danger of being deliberately killed by a sick car driver if you are sharing the road. I used to have a rear-vision mirror to see them coming up fast behind me but I'd sure rather be allowed to ride on the other side of the road so that I was facing the oncoming cars. Then it would take little to swerve off the road to the right.

Quite right old K. I reckon journalists should always be well-protected. They stand between us and living in a dictatorship.

It's more like 0.4%

oops sorry, the shopping lady has a lot less than 11% of the bikes ke