Friday

9.2 out of 10 based on 11 ratings

108 comments to Friday

  • #
    william x

    The 2024 United States presidential election is set to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

    So I will do a poll. Many readers of this site are unable to vote in the US. Some can.
    You can anonymously do that here.

    So to all, If you are or were able to cast a vote in the US election. Who would you vote for?

    Red thumb is Republican, Green thumb is Democrat.

    Vote green thumb – Kamala Harris

    Vote red thumb – Donald Trump

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    • #
      william x

      And your preference aside…. whom do you think will win?

      Vote green thumb – Kamala Harris

      Vote red thumb – Donald Trump

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      • #
        tonyb

        Two weeks ago this was Kamala’s election to loose. Since then she has put on a lacklustre display.

        Latest opinion poll shows a victory for Trump but its a small sampling of a big country

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14021123/trump-lead-kamala-harris-final-poll-2024-election-day.html

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        • #
          Honk R Smith

          I don’t think it can be called an ‘election’.
          The Pandemic was used to completely ruin the system.
          Three corrupt Democrat states can produce a few thousand fraudulent votes and win.
          By the time any court challenges work their way through the system, the Bill of Rights will be shredded.
          The Founders were magnificent, but there’s only so much human evil they were able to foresee and and safeguard against.
          POTUS Biden just called half the country ‘garbage’.
          It wasn’t an unspoken apostrophe.
          It’s The Blob justifying their wanton blobness.

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          • #
            Simon Thompson M.B. B.S.

            Honkr, you target for faraway laughter
            Come on you stranger you legend, you martyr,
            and shine the light on the Great Hoar of Babble on.

            Seriously, the Dems are not even trying to maintain decorum.

            Garbage in? Garbage Out? Hunoze?

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      • #
        Dennis

        I believe that the result will be similar to Hilary Clinton’s loss

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        • #
          GlenM

          The polls got that election very wrong. Clinton won the popular vote but that’s not surprising given the demographic distribution. I am rather apprehensive about the outcome of the upcoming election as we well know the stakes are high. Sounds hyperbolic but the future of the world is in the balance.

          60

      • #
        Ronin

        In fact I’ve got money on it, I won a few bucks On Donald back in 2016.

        10

    • #
      GreyRanga

      I fear a civil war if Trump wins. That is the demonrats not cheating enough. If they do cheat enough, I can see the Red States going their own way. A dissolution of the Union.

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      • #
        Dave in the States

        The MSM is currently pushing a narrative that Harris has suddenly pulled slightly ahead in the all the key swing states. In other words within the margin of fraud.

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      • #
        Geoffrey Williams

        Sorry but civil war in US is just wishful thinking, it can’t happen and it won’t . .

        32

        • #
          el+gordo

          Agreed, there won’t be a civil war no matter who wins.

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        • #
          Honk R Smith

          Your perception of civil war is anachronistic.
          From an historical/cultural perspective, it may be the end of the decade long (maybe longer if you go back to Brexit) civil war, rather than its’ beginning.
          The winners across the West will be empowered to complete the eradication of functional opposition.

          21

          • #
            Ian

            “From an historical/cultural perspective, it may be the end of the decade long (maybe longer if you go back to Brexit) civil war, rather than its’ beginning.”

            The majority in the UK now regret Brexit just as in the US the Americans will regret another dose of Trump

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            • #
              Annie

              A majority rgret Brexit? I don’t think so. A majority are furious that their choice has been set to naught by scheming leftie so-called conservatives.

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              • #
                el+gordo

                A recent Poll.

                ‘As of May 2024, 55 percent of people in Great Britain thought that it was wrong to leave the European Union, compared with 31 percent who thought it was the right decision. During this time period, the share of people who regret Brexit has been slightly higher than those who support it, except for some polls in Spring 2021, which showed higher levels of support for Brexit.

                ‘The share of people who don’t know whether Brexit was the right or wrong decision has generally been stable and usually ranged between 11 and 14 percent.’ (Statista)

                01

        • #
          Steve of Cornubia

          There may be scattered protests but the ‘authorities’ will stamp them out with overwhelming force, making examples of them with outrageous prison sentences. The Canadian truckers, Jan. 6 and the lockdown protests were used to flex their muscles and gauge what they can get away with. The vast majority of us will frown, utter a few whispered expletives, then try to get on with their lives, leaving those ‘martyrs’ to their fate.

          As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

          20

    • #
      Honk R Smith

      There is a silver lining.
      If Trump wins, Australia may gain lots of new highly successful citizens.
      The ladies of ‘TheView’, the hosts of MSNBC, Bruce Springsteen and Robert Dinero, just to name a few.
      I hope Ozzians welcome them appropriately.
      Do you have extradition agreements with the US?
      If not, you may also get some former members of Congress, the CIA, and the FBI.
      Just making little jokes.
      The last two will keep Trump from returning because they are patriots.

      You won’t get me because of the Free Speech and self defense thing.
      Try to cope.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Trump only wins if his victory is large enough to exceed the expected massive number of Demon-rat fraudulent votes.

      This election will decide the future of both the United States and the Western world.

      Trump wins = freedom for the US and it will hopefully filter to the rest of the West (but not so much to Australia I suspect, the Left are too heavily embedded already).

      Trump loses = global dictatorship of the Left.

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      • #
        Honk R Smith

        True.
        Bizarre that this is what it’s come to.
        We’re probably looking at some actual climate change, as opposed to the imagined kind, starting in few days.
        Either way.
        Have to admit, ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Pandemic’ were masterful propaganda constructions to achieve this end.
        It’s a bit on us though, we thought for too long that we were engaged in a ‘science’ debate.
        But I reckon we sort of never had a chance.

        Gotta hand it to Trump, man put up a helluva fight.
        If he somehow become POTUS again, it will be classic.

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        • #
          Greg in NZ

          Honk, imagine the headlines:

          Garbage Man Wins Presidency!
          Scientists say ‘unprecedented’
          YUGE number of private jets depart USA
          Grillers sizzle with the sweet aroma of bacon & steaks and not one Budwater™️Lite in sight

          Thankfully Americans don’t know what, or where, New Zealand is, so we’re safe from any unwanted mass immigration of aliens. Good luck!

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          • #
            Honk R Smith

            It’s going to be really annoying … or entertaining.
            If he wins, the Media/Democrat Redundancy caterwauling will be off the charts.
            If he loses, Trump supporters will be brought before the cameras and demanded to renunce MAGA and ‘accept’ the results.
            French/Communist revolution style.

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            • #
              Steve of Cornubia

              If Trump wins, that’s only the start of the fight, and real progress will only be achieved if Trump passes the baton to a similarly-minded and competent successor. In fact, I think it will take at least three concurrent ‘Trump presidencies’ to really turn the tide, including the re-establishment of an apolitical permanent bureaucracy, courts, schools, etc.

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      • #
        Vladimir

        We have birds of all feathers here, right?
        Is it not statistically important that the comments are only about the size of election fraud next week, not its polarity?

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    • #
      Ian Hill

      Driving back last Monday from Melbourne to Adelaide via Bendigo took me through a town called Donald. It felt absolutely surreal!

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  • #

    The Broken Hill Blackout
    By John McRobert

    Al Jolson introduced Talkies with, “You ain’t seen nuttin’ yet”.

    The recent Broken Hill blackout where Wind and Sun failed to provide power when needed, demonstrates we ain’t seen nuttin’ yet. That blackout is a harbinger of big blackouts for big cities when they become reliant on unreliable green energy sources.

    I have experienced what that will be like.

    On St Valentine’s Day 1985, during a Union-strike power blackout, my office was on the 24th floor of a building in Brisbane CBD. After navigating roads with no traffic lights and reporting for work, lifts didn’t work and the fire-escape access staircase was unventilated. Trudging up to an unairconditioned, unlit, unpowered office, windows would not open and no power points worked.

    I walked down the fire-escape to buy lunch and St Valentine’s Day chocolates for my wife. The shopping arcade was in darkness, shop-owner incandescent, stock melted. Back up 24 floors to spend a sweltering afternoon in unproductive endurance. After work, walked downstairs in gloom to renegotiate roads with no streetlights or traffic lights. Returned home to a romantic candlelight dinner of freshly-thawed steak (before it rotted), cooked on a gas-powered camp hotplate.

    Reliable energy sources are essential for modern society.

    We still need coal.

    https://saltbushclub.com/2024/10/29/the-broken-hill-blackout/

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    • #
      tonyb

      So, could you still walk up and down and up then down again to a 24th floor office?

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Australia has had multiple warnings about the uselessness of wind and solar.

      But “authorities” and all those of a Leftist persuasion ignore them.

      The Broken Hill blackout is a warning.

      SA going offline when the interconnector went down is a warning.

      The inability for Flinders and King Islands in Bass Strait to be energy independent on wind and solar despite ideal conditions is a warning.

      BassLink going down as a result of overloading trying to profit from high spot prices for “green” electricity was a warning.

      Australia having some of the world’s most expensive electricity when it used to be among the cheapest is a warning.

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  • #
  • #
    tonyb

    Yesterday we were talking here about the possible dangers or not of 5G and associated equipment, most notably Cell towers and smartphones. This led to the general question of Electro Magnetic Interference. I came across this article

    https://emfadvice.com/use-read-emf-meter/

    If anyone more expert than me can confirm it is basically accurate it seems a useful article as it goes into the ins and outs of the subject in a neutral, objective and easy to understand way.

    I like the term Electro Smog. This describes all the Electro radiation we have surrounded ourselves with, from many different sources. How harmful any of it is seems difficult to determine

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    • #
      Ronin

      How many of us have wifi in our home, plus mobile phones talking to the tower all the time to let the nearest mast know where it is.

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      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        Not to mention a house full of ‘smart’ devices talking to each other all day, every day. On top of all that, if I scan for wifi in my house, I can see networks belonging to my neighbours, meaning a signal from THEIR modems/routers has penetrated my walls.

        We’re all swimming through a sea of invisible radio waves.

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  • #
    tonyb

    Bearing in mind the shortage of certain materials should electric battery sizes be cut further?

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/30/electric-vehicle-battery-size-should-be-cut-by-one-third-due-to-acute-lithium-shortage-say-u-k-s-top-engineers/

    The article provides a link early on to a comprehensive report on supply issues for critical net zero related projects

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    • #
      David Maddison

      This is the “plausible” excuse the Left want and need to ban private ownership of motor vehicles (for non Elites) altogether.

      First ban ICE vehicles and force everyone (except Elites) into EVs then “discover” all of a sudden that there isn’t enough lithium in the world to make the “transition”, something the Thinking Community knew all along.

      Then confine non-Elites to the free range prisons known as “15 Minute Cities”, rebranded in Australia as “Twenty Minute Neighbourhoods”.

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    • #
      Graeme4

      Try telling that to the folks that have fitted an extra battery into their vehicle to support their off-road and camping activities. A large market for this in Australia.

      10

  • #
    Skepticynic

    Astronomers Found Something Cold and Wet Near Uranus

    The Uranian moon Miranda may contain a liquid water ocean, according to a team of researchers that recently mapped the satellite’s surface and modeled tidal stress on it.

    https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-found-something-cold-and-wet-near-uranus-2000518316

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  • #
    RobB

    On the subject of Cuba

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTX4zSfCQYM&t=160s

    Its poverty has nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with US sanctions which prevent it from trading.

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    • #
      GlenM

      The US disregards everyone and everything to get its way with embargos, sanctions and using its influence to capture foreign assets. They think nothing about interfering and invading other sovereign countries if those countries anger them. BRICS will sort it out soon. For all the good the US has done in the past, it’s making a mess of things now.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    I am in the process of upgrading phones, Android to Android.

    Why has Meta made transferring WhatsApp data to a new phone so ridiculously complicated and unreliable rather than just transferring data via a standard backup and restore?

    21

  • #
    David Maddison

    A Windows user explains why they switched to GNU/Linux and the basics of switching to the Mint flavour of GNU/Linux.

    https://youtu.be/fDDtBKOqTKI

    20

    • #
      John Connor II

      Yes, but you can’t run apps as easily as you can in Win, and scr3w the “bottle” aporoach.
      Plus Linux is now the biggest malware target, Mac is the biggest spyware and privacy risk, and Win is ad and popup city unless you know how to disable all the fluff.

      00

  • #
    Skepticynic

    Regardless of your opinion on Candace Owens, the decision of Tony Burke to refuse her a visa and thereby ban her entry to Australia, is a major blow against freedom of speech.
    Who does Burke think he is? We employ him to serve us, we don’t employ him to be a tyrant who tells us what we can hear and what we can’t.
    Does he think that by barring her entry, Australians will be unable to hear her online?

    This is not about Candace Owens, this is about the right of Australians to hear a range of views, not just the government approved lies.

    This is also about the evil of barring entry to people because of their opinions. Who is next? Could it be you or me?

    Burke’s rationale for his heavy-handed action was that Candace Owens will, “incite discord”.
    Isn’t that precisely what Burke’s action has done, “incite discord”?

    Please sign the petition, only 4 more days to go.

    https://lifepetitions.com/petition/candaceowens

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    • #
      Dennis

      Another frequent flyer and international traveller, and French cooking class student in an earlier Labor Government.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      I disagree with Candace Owens and don’t support her due to her anti-Israel stance, although I agree with her generally conservative views. However, I absolutely disagree with her, or any other speaker of any political persuasion, even Leftists, being banned from Australia as long as they don’t actively promote violence.

      It is becoming routine for Australians being denied to hear speakers of a conservative nature.

      It most recently happened with Donald Trump Jr (that we know of, some speakers won’t bother trying because they know of Australia’s censorious policies).

      This sort of thing will get so much worse when (if?) the Australian Government passes its Uniparty censorship laws which had their origin with the fake conservative Liberal Party as did the e Safety Kommissar.

      These speakers will be banned online as well as offline.

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    • #

      Now signed off with my real name, etc.

      20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Another flood, another poor response”

    Eugowra 2022

    https://www.robertonfray.com/2024/11/01/another-flood-another-poor-response/

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  • #
    Murray Shaw

    Watched the Jordan Petersen podcast called Trumps XMen, where he goes through the character and cognisance of the men behind Trump, Elon Musk RFKjr, JDVance Tulsi Gabbard, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Listen to that and you get the feeling that if Trump is not elected then the US will miss a great opportunity to have some great minds leading the country.
    Funny I look behind Kamala and all I see are Tim Walz, MSNBC , CNN, and ABC. Jordan Petersen is on the money.

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  • #
    another ian

    Re sanctions

    “The AP ran a scary story yesterday headlined, “UN General Assembly condemns the US economic embargo of Cuba for a 32nd year.” After spending two years trying (and failing) to make Russia “increasingly isolated,” the United Nations massively voted 187-to-2 to condemn the United States’s long-standing sanctions against Cuba. (Only the U.S. and Israel voted against the resolution.)”

    I guess Oz approved?

    On a different subject –

    ” Speaking of Russia, it’s not giving Google any treats, but it just treated the world to a sweet bit of hilarity. You can’t say Russians don’t have a sense of humor. As further evidence we are living in a badly programmed simulation, the UK Independent ran a not-joking story yesterday headlined, “Russia fines Google $2.5 decillion (that’s 2.5 trillion trillion trillion dollars).””

    And other things

    https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/garbage-thursday-october-31-2024?

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    • #
      TdeF

      Seriously, can no one can think of any way to help Cuba except to demand the US do it? It’s America’s fault?

      The Chinese and the Russians are parked next door in very recently destitute Socialist Venezuela, the nation in the world with the most oil reserves and no one can think of a way to supply oil to energy poor neighbour Cuba? Because the Cubans can’t afford the oil? Who needs an embargo?

      After Russia stopped buying Cuba’s sugar, the place fell apart. And they killed off their own booming tourist industry. What does the UN want, another Gaza? Each country has to maximize its income. The Australian socialist Green government is also trying to stop the exports of coal and iron ore and gas and now gold. Once the country is bankrupt, buyers can name their own price or come and get it themselves, as in Venezuela.

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    I cannot understand why any country would use ‘voting machines’. Pen and paper please with ample scrutineers.

    The office of Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold “accidentally” posted passwords for Colorado voting systems online. These passwords were available for months and are tied to active voting systems.

    But Democrats say voter fraud is impossible and we have the most secure elections…

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2024/10/i-cannot-understand-why-any-country-would-use-voting-machines-pen-and-paper-please-with-ample-scruti.html

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  • #
    YYY Guy

    I’ll be the first to name it – Foetal Fluoride Syndrome or Foetal Fluoride Spectrum Disorder.
    Nice to see PWC still troughing. Article raises so many questions.

    20

  • #
    Skepticynic

    Kamala in trouble AGAIN!

    Harris and Emhoff received $500 000 for tipping Sean “Diddy” Combs off on upcoming police raids in March 2024

    https://patriotvoicenews.com/harris-and-emhoff-received-500-000-for-tipping-sean-diddy-combs-off-on-upcoming-police-raids-in-march-2024/

    10

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Three questions come to mind.

      First why is this revelation coming to light now? Second can Harris and Emhoff possibly be so stupid as to either give a tip off or worse accept payment? Third as with Hunter Biden why did Combs collect so much self-incriminating material?

      Much as I detest Komrade Kackles I wonder whether this is another case of a lie spreading its way around the world while the truth is still getting its trousers on.

      20

  • #
    YYY Guy

    DC in QLd gets 2 ticks in his first week. First, Mike Kaiser, head crook, gone, although I wonder what the payout was and where he’ll surface next. Second, the lies, lies and more lies commission “paused”.
    Hope DC has the same “to do” list as me.

    00

    • #
      Bushkid

      Add that the LNP has officially canned the Eungella pumped hydro scheme taht would have utterly destroyed a large area of irreplaceable rainforest and other habitat.

      HOWEVER – the LNP are still going ahead with the Borumba dam pumped hydro scheme and a host of other what they call “small” pumped hydro schemes, including in the same area as the Eungella one.
      Nor are they canning any of the wind and solar plants or big battery installations proposed or under construction along the Great Dividing Range, many in similarly pristine country as the Eungella projects.

      This fight is not over yet by a long way!

      00

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Joe Rogan Experience #2221 – JD Vance

    Comments incredibly positive

    – İ like how JD Vance talks, no umming, hemming, filibustering ,straight to the point clear and smooth.

    – I doubted this pick… but I get it now. He picked someone who could step up ANYTIME. great pick.

    – Man can we all just say thank you Joe for showing America what real interviews should look like!
    Well done!

    – LOVE this conversation. Common sense and truth! Refreshing.

    – The Media painted JD as weird but honestly the man is a likeable down to earth guy. Genuinely an enjoyable guest to listen to

    – “Bureaucratic Bullsh@t”
    First time I ever heard those words from someone in Congress and 1000% respect the honesty

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      The week in whoppers: Tim Walz cries out for a mirror, spox Karine Jean-Pierre spins WH clean-up on Aisle Biden and more

      By Post Editorial Board Published Oct. 31, 2024

      Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions

      This demand:

      “[We must get] away from the name-calling.”

      — Tim Walz, Monday

      We say: Buy this guy a mirror!

      He’s been a non-stop name-calling machine, slamming Elon Musk as a “dips—t,” JD Vance and Donald Trump as “creepy” and “weird as hell” and the ex-prez as a “loser.”

      He compares Trump supporters to Nazis and zips his lips when fellow lefties paint the ex-prez as Hitler, and when President Biden slurs Trump supporters as “garbage.”

      Yet now he wants to stop the insult-throwing? Please.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        A Harris Victory Means a Fourth Obama Term

        At home, she’s no centrist. Abroad, she seems unprepared for the dangers ahead.

        By The WSJ Editorial Board
        Oct. 30, 2024

        Editor’s note: The Wall Street Journal hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate since 1928. Our tradition is to sum up the candidacies of the major party candidates in separate editorials.

        We’ll start with Kamala Harris.

        You have to admire Democrats for their audacity. They claimed for more than a year that the clearly declining Joe Biden was mentally fit enough to serve another four years.

        When the June debate made that untenable, they did a 180-degree turn and anointed his Vice President as their nominee while claiming, without so much as a nod of embarrassment, that she somehow represents “a new way forward.”

        Republicans could never pull off that one. And in the end neither has Ms. Harris, if you take her at her word.

        Asked on “The View” on Oct. 8 what she might do differently from the last four years, Mr. Biden’s loyal number two said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” That was the truest line spoken in what has been a notably dishonest and dispiriting election campaign on both sides.

        Ms. Harris has presented herself as new based largely on her biography. But as far as policies and coalition go, she represents more of the same, and not merely of the last four years.

        Her candidacy is best understood as an attempt to continue the progressive political wave that began in 2006 with the GOP defeat in Congress and rolled ashore as a tsunami amid the financial panic of 2008.

        She is running for what essentially would be Barack Obama’s fourth progressive term.

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        • #
          OldOzzie

          How Risky Is a Trump Second Term?

          He’d slow the left’s coercive march, but his policies are likely to be a jump ball.

          By The WSJ Editorial Board

          Oct. 31, 2024

          Editor’s note: The Wall Street Journal hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate since 1928. Our tradition is to sum up the candidacies of the major party nominees in separate editorials, and on Thursday we assessedKamala Harris.

          Here we take up Donald Trump.

          What a presidential choice America’s two major political parties have offered the country.

          The Democrat is a California progressive, elevated at the last minute, who looks unprepared for a world on fire.

          The Republican is Donald Trump, who still denies he lost in 2020 and has done little to reassure swing voters that his second term will be calmer than his rancorous first.

          The best argument for a Trump victory is that it would be suitable penance for the many Democratic failures at home and abroad.

          A spending-fueled inflation that shrank real wages. Adversaries on the march. Abuses of regulatory power and law enforcement.

          If Ms. Harris wins, progressives will claim vindication and pursue more of the same—perhaps checked somewhat by a GOP Senate.

          A second argument is that Mr. Trump’s first term was better than expected.

          His leadership was often chaotic and caustic, and he rolled through multiple chiefs of staff and security advisers. But voters recall that at home he presided over a strong pre-Covid economy spurred by deregulation and tax reform. His judicial nominations were excellent.

          Abroad he broke many diplomatic rules and his praise for dictators was disconcerting. But enemies stayed quiet on his watch, he kept Iran in a box, and the Abraham Accords began a new era of cooperation between Israel and the Sunni Arab states. He renegotiated Nafta rather than blowing it up as he had threatened.

          The authoritarian rule that Democrats and the press predicted never appeared. Mr. Trump was too undisciplined, and his attention span too short, to stay on one message much less stage a coup.

          America’s checks and balances held, and Democrats benefited from the political backlash.

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          • #
            OldOzzie

            A second Trump term poses risks, but the question as ever is compared to what?

            Voters can gamble on the tumult of Trump, or the continued ascendancy of the Democratic left.

            We wish it was a better choice, but that’s democracy.

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            Steve of Cornubia

            “The Republican is Donald Trump, who still denies he lost in 2020 and has done little to reassure swing voters that his second term will be calmer than his rancorous first.

            It really ticks me off when people who should know better, and/or claim to hold no bias, say things like that. The “chaos” and “rancour” so often cited was not of Trump’s making. It was 100% due to the Democrats’ and their media pals refusing to accept him as president. The weekly controversies were manufactured by them and often consisted only of his opponents obstructing and shrieking about every single thing he said or did. Celebrities had mental breakdowns live on social media. Negative stories were amped up to defcon three. Newpaper headlines loudly proclaimed that Trump was baaaad!

            All of this “chaos” was fake, nothing more than a massive tantrum on the left. Meanwhile, Trump just put his head down and accomplished much of what he promised to do, though of course he received little or no praise for it.

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            • #
              OldOzzie

              Trump has a plan to restore American exceptionalism

              By Editorial Board – The Washington Times – Thursday, October 31, 2024

              Inspirational leaders know how to make the impossible possible. Elon Musk demonstrated that recently when his SpaceX engineers sent a Starship rocket into the heavens and then landed it upright on the very pad from which it had been launched.

              It was a dazzling display of ingenuity and precision. It was also a taste of what might lie ahead if voters decide to chart a new course for the country on Tuesday. Donald Trump has promised the South African-born entrepreneur a job in the White House.

              On “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the former president recounted a conversation he had with Mr. Musk about this feat of rocketry.

              “‘Was that you?’” Mr. Trump asked. “He said, ‘That was me.’ And I said, ‘Who else can do that?’ He said: ’Nobody. Russia can’t do it. The United States. Nobody can do it.’”

              This is notable because in other endeavors, we have fallen behind. Four decades ago, one could fly from Dulles Airport to London Heathrow in a bit over three hours on the Concorde. The same journey now takes about seven hours.

              Boom Supersonic, a Colorado startup, is determined to remedy that. Last week, the company completed the sixth test flight of a prototype it hopes will take air travel beyond the speed of sound again. Like SpaceX, Boom is privately held, and none of its aircraft are designed by committees of European bureaucrats — the arrangement that doomed the supersonic Concorde jet.

              In 1962, President John F. Kennedy challenged NASA to land a man on the moon, saying: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

              Seven years later, we were there, beating the Soviets in the space race. Fast-forward to today, and NASA hasn’t surpassed its 1969 achievement. Meanwhile, China, India and Japan are catching up, landing spacecraft of their own on the moon.

              In response, NASA proposes to “land the first woman and first person of color on the moon” in a pale diversity, equity and inclusion imitation of a 55-year-old achievement meant for all of humanity. That’s what you get when government committees run the show

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  • #
    Forrest Gardener

    Just a few more data points on the US election.

    As expected there are reports of undeliverable mail out ballots. One example is a woman in Washington State receiving 16 ballots at her apartment but no other mail for previous tenants. The response from an election official reads as though this is no big deal. The incident does not appear to have triggered any investigation of how this could possibly have happened, or how to effectively tamp down the errors BEFORE ballots are injected into the voting system. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/washington-woman-shocked-find-16-ballots-different-names/

    It reminds me of a clever dog I once saw at a friends house. The dog was determined to escape and systematically tested weaknesses in an electric fence until it found a gap. The question with the ballots is just how many weak points need to be tested before the election is rendered unsafe. The US election system appears to have way too many gaps and way too many people who have an interest in the gaps remaining.

    There is also an interesting speculative piece about the advent of third parties being authorised to print ballots. The theory is that is that some of the semi-official ballots are causing the machines to malfunction when they are passed through the vote counting machines. Of course they have already been injected into the voting system by then. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/10/31/what-to-look-for-ballot-vs-votes-iteration-4-0/

    Of course all of the attempts to exploit weaknesses in the US voting system may or may not be enough to render the election unsafe.

    We will find out shortly.

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    yarpos

    Basslink has been down/out of service for a couple of days now

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    Greg in NZ

    Happy November 1st one and all. Was awoken by a warm orange glow bursting over the horizon (hmm ‘orange’, could be a good sign?). Only 51 days to go til summer arrives – with the solstice – what?! Scientists say CCCCCC causes seasons to change: panic (!) and send money, guns and lawyers…

    Oh yeah, our Southwestern Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season kicks off today – surf’s up! Except there’s no troppos but gale-force westerlies and snow showers are pummelling our south lands, brrrrrr.

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    OldOzzie

    Wild video shows family’s $64K electric Mercedes burst into flames in driveway: ‘Like a bomb going off’

    Published Oct. 31, 2024

    This is the shocking moment a family’s $64K electric Mercedes burst into flames on their driveway.

    Dramatic footage shows the luxury EQA model explode just feet away from Scott and Georgina Bayliss’ front door.

    The blaze was so intense it set fire to the garage and caused smoke damage to the front bedroom.

    Firefighters raced to the couple’s home in Spratton, Northants in the UK after their son James,
    17, raised the alarm at around 9:15 p.m. on September 30.

    Scott, 47, said he and Georgina were baffled about the cause of the fire which engulfed their car as the battery was charging.

    “My son thought someone was letting off fireworks but then there was a very loud bang like a bomb going off. There were flames everywhere.

    “The pace and ferocity at which the fire took hold and engulfed the entire car and pretty much the entire front of our house was scary beyond belief.”

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    Tides of Mudgee

    Funny how Woolworths thought it such a good idea to have no Australia Day merchandise this year and yet they’ve just had masses of the American-celebrated Halloween stuff. Hmmmmm, profits down? Customer trust down? Wonder why. ToM

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    I’d add another to Trump’s X peeps. Megyn Kelly for Attorney General. Watch for the final six mins, starting from 24 mins, as she wraps up the lawfare, and posits what will be a big help moving forward. She is so impressive.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW3Ip9_k_zc&t=450s

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Yeah, but …

      A skilled lawyer is equally adept at arguing both sides of a case. And does a leopard really ever change its spots.

      For the moment it’s nice to have her arguing for the good guys.

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    OldOzzie

    Bill shock as Sydney residents asked to pay 50 per cent more for water

    Sydney residents are being asked to pay 50 per cent more for their water bills over the next five years as Sydney Water says infrastructure has struggled to keep up with the city’s booming population.

    The water supplier, a state-government-owned asset, has proposed an 18 per cent increase in water bills in the next financial year, followed by yearly rises of 6.8 per cent – plus inflation.

    The typical household bill would increase by $235 next year and then by $213 over the next four years.

    An average bill of $1308 today would increase to $2037 by 2029-30. Indicative bills for the next price review between 2030 and 2035 suggest smaller rises.

    In a 546-page submission to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), Sydney Water’s managing director Roch Cheroux said the changes were essential to “manage Sydney’s water future”.

    He said the utility’s “ageing assets, population growth and climate change resulting in more unpredictable and extreme weather events” were the key drivers of the changes.

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      Graeme4

      They could increase the height of their dam walls, or fire up the mothballed desal plants…

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      Philip

      Yet another problem with booming populations. Higher infrastructure costs, and maintenance of it. Life all becomes very expensive. Theoretically it should be the opposite, shouldn’t it? Economy and tax base grows, more people making each person’s contribution less.

      This is why every interest group in the world wants continuing population growth. Australians in particular are terrified of the population not growing.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        We bought our block of land Belrose in 1967 and was non-sewered

        When we built a project home in 1971, Sewer was 2 Septic Pump Out Tanks serviced by Warringa Shire Council Pump out Tanker

        Water Board Sewer came through in 1974

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    Philip

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZqlWUZ0Oz0

    Seen this? Nuclear hearing in parliament. Pretty good.

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    John Connor II

    Great Britain is the first to start: monitoring health insurance holders via sensor

    In Great Britain, the state health authority is planning to use body monitoring technology on those with statutory insurance. By checking blood values, people’s behavior and consumption of alcohol, drugs and medication can be monitored.

    For example, the blood values of a diabetes patient can be used to determine which he or she is embroidering to his or her diet. If the patient does not comply, the insured person can be punished or excluded from the insurance. The values also provide information on whether the patient has the medication and vaccines prescribed by the doctor in their blood.

    If the patient does not comply with the instructions and preferences to use natural healing methods, for example, this could also lead to sanctions in terms of insurance coverage. However, Häring fears that monitoring the sick is only the beginning. In the long term, every stored person could be required to wear monitoring devices on their body.

    https://de-rt-com.translate.goog/europa/224257-grossbritannien-macht-anfang-ueberwachung-von/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

    Everyone remember the “ordering a pizza” satire from 20 years ago?

    https://youtu.be/RNJl9EEcsoE?si=LMir_vOkjC_-34ns

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    John Connor II

    The superiority of intuitive eating in a hypercarnivorous human model for optimal health outcomes!

    The modern dietary landscape is dominated by approaches that prioritize calorie counting, macronutrient tracking, and dietary restriction, frequently designed to counterbalance the adverse effects of ultra-processed and carbohydrate-heavy diets on human physiology. However, the premise of humans as Hypercarnivores offers a unique perspective on why an intuitive approach to eating – relying on intrinsic hunger and satiety cues – may not only align with human evolutionary biology but also be more effective for achieving optimal health outcomes.

    Additionally, human digestive anatomy, including a relatively small cecum and longer small intestine, supports a diet that relies on nutrient-dense animal foods rather than fibrous plant matter, as seen in true omnivores or herbivores (Milton, 1999). These characteristics are consistent with hypercarnivorous adaptations that favour a nutrient-dense diet. A hypercarnivorous diet is not only evolutionarily appropriate but aligns well with intuitive eating because animal-based foods naturally provide a high satiety index and are highly compatible with hormonal signalling mechanisms, particularly those of leptin and ghrelin.

    https://rickyduplessis.substack.com/p/the-superiority-of-intuitive-eating

    Fat bad! Wrong, fat good, but demonised for profit for decades.
    Carbs bad! Wrong, but not the body’s preferred primary energy source, plus it sells books.
    Still waiting on studies for food-insect diets for satiety, hormonal effects, compatability with our slow-burn metabolisms.

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      Salt: was bad, now vital.
      Eggs: awful high cholesterol grenades, now a superfood.
      Sunlight: Aaaaagh, skin cancer! Now we get insufficient vit. D.

      I take every piece of ‘new’ health and fitness advice with a huge pinch of the aforementioned salt. Every health revolution has a book launch, expensive supplement or diet subscription behind it.

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    John Connor II

    Halloween done properly

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sm877n1McQ1areze9.mp4

    Way better than the hopelessly pathetic displays locally.

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    Custer Van Cleef

    Murray Rothbard (1926-95) was an influential Libertarian writer:

    Rothbard and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | mises.org

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    Steve of Cornubia

    Every time I pay our rates bill I mutter the same words, “Where does all the money go?” I say this not just because local councils collect a huge amount of revenue but also because services are reducing and degrading fast, with more and more hitherto ‘free’ services now being charged for, such as waste disposal.

    So, when I was looking to see who our new local state MP was, I came across a list of local government councilors, as per the most recent council elections. To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement, though I’m honestly unsurprised, not by any particular names etc, but by the sheer NUMBER of them. It turns out that QLD alone has 578 of the buggers. This of course is the ‘lowest’ tier of government, lying below all the state and federal leeches.

    Going further, I sought salary info, just for councilors, not mayors etc. There was a big range, going from $60K p.a. to $166K p.a.

    Just taking the average of $113K, that gives us a total salary bill, not inc expenses, cars and other perks, of… wait for it … more than $65,000,000. I can’t imagine what the rest of the council staff are paid but it’s clear that salaries, super, perks etc just for local government staff is simply enormous, before a single bin is emptied or oval mowed.

    I might have a seizure when I open the next rates demand.

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