As it usually does on Boxing Day, The Australian has published quarterly aggregates of Newspoll with state and demographic breakdowns, on this occasion casting an unusually wide net from its polling all the way back to July to early this month, reflecting the relative infrequency of its results over this time. The result is a combined survey of 5771 respondents that finds Labor leading 55-45 in New South Wales (a swing of about 3.5% to Labor compared with the election), 57-43 in Victoria (about 2%), 55-45 in Western Australia (no change) and 57-43 in South Australia (a 4.0% swing), while trailing 51-49 in Queensland a 3% swing).
Gender breakdowns show only a slight gap, with Labor leading 54-46 among men and 56-44 among women, with the Greens as usual stronger among women among men. Age cohort results trend from 65-35 to Labor for 18-to-34 to 54-46 to the Coalition among 65-plus, with the Greens respectively on 24% and 3%. Little variation is recorded according to education or income, but Labor are strongest among part-time workers and weakest among the retired, stronger among non-English speakers but well ahead either way, and 62-38 ahead among those identifying as of no religion but 53-47 behind among Christians. You can find all the relevant data, at least for voting intention, in the poll data feature on BludgerTrack.
“International travel is essential in developing a global ethos of sustainability and respect for the varied environments across the planet. It’s also vital in getting to Hawaii and Aspen.”
Air travel is what it is. But shutting it down would be stupider than shutting down Australian coal and hydrocarbon production tomorrow.
You know someone is a real scumbag and moron when they apply personal woke tests on others who are smarter and better than them because they can’t stand to look at themselves in the mirror.
From the Guardian:
Australia news live: Sydney-bound passengers stranded on Pacific island after emergency landing now ‘drinking beers on a deserted beach’
American Samoa apparently.
Having stopped there briefly on a Hawaiian Airlines flight many years ago.
There could be worse places to be stranded. Lots and lots of worse places…
“I have no problem with tolls but ALL of the tolls should have gone to the government not private monopolies.”
The more I see/learn on the massive subsidies to suburbs / cars the more comfortable I am with tolls being rolled out extensively and the money being put into public transport options.
‘WeWantPaul says:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:38 pm
“International travel is essential in developing a global ethos of sustainability and respect for the varied environments across the planet. It’s also vital in getting to Hawaii and Aspen.”
Air travel is what it is. But shutting it down would be stupider than shutting down Australian coal and hydrocarbon production tomorrow.
You know someone is a real scumbag and moron when they apply personal woke tests on others who are smarter and better than them because they can’t stand to look at themselves in the mirror.’
—————————————————
1. Personal abuse. Quite a lot of it, actually.
2. Air travel ‘is what it is’ is the problem. It contributes 5% of global greenhouse gases
3. There is nothing stopping the Greens Party from advocating for a cessation of all but emergency air travel. They won’t. Why the silence?
4. The Greens Party is all for the destruction of half a dozen rural and regional industries. But not a peep about air travel. Why?
5. There is nothing at all ‘woke’ about air travel or advocating for shutting down the industry.
6. A lack of government action on banning meat does not stop vegans from following their principles. A lack of government action is not used as a cop out by vegans. A lack of government action should not stop Greens from refusing to fly.
I had another toilet thought about the George Santos story in America. Yes he lied and was telling lies through out the campaign but why did nobody pick the lies up? Given how easily his web of lies has been untangled it shows firstly that his political opponents were not doing their job and the media was not doing their job either.
I think the Democrats could benefit from a PAC that just funds opposition research. Uncovering this mess would have taken some maybe a week of research and that is not going to cost more than 10K.
aqualung
That said, it does rather seem as if ‘drinking beers on a deserted beach’ is a clever deflection from marketing central. Everyone wants to be stranded by yet another airline stuff up, right?
Exactly 3 years ago, I read this with mounting trepidation. Little did I know…
One only has to watch the evening news bulletins and their traffic reports to see that peak hour traffic on these toll roads is as bad as ever outside holiday periods.
Nice li’le earner gov.
Boerwar. Seriously:
“The Greens believe the federal government needs to urgently invest in alternatives to air travel, like high-speed rail to reduce emissions from aviation.”
https://greens.org.au/vic/melbourne-airport
Generally they have been very consistent on this theme….
‘rhwombat says:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:52 pm
Exactly 3 years ago, I read this with mounting trepidation. Little did I know…’
————————————————————–
Sends a shiver up the spine. It makes you wonder about the stages by which China managed to turn that reality into what is happening today…
‘Alpha Zero says:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:53 pm
Boerwar. Seriously:
“The Greens believe the federal government needs to urgently invest in alternatives to air travel, like high-speed rail to reduce emissions from aviation.”
https://greens.org.au/vic/melbourne-airport
Generally they have been very consistent on this theme….’
—————————————
IMO, dDeflection, AZ.
Air travel contributes 5% of global greenhouse gases. It is, in fact, an extremely low hanging fruit. Most of it is discretionary. Most of it is luxury. So alternatives are not necessary. As an added attraction to the Greens it is nearly all undertaken by the globally wealthy people. No new technology is required. No new investment is required. It can be achieved by government fiat or by individual decisions.
The Greens routinely advocate for the destruction of half a dozen rural and regional industries. Why are they not advocating for the destruction of the global air industry?
Simon Henny Penny Katichsays:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:12 pm
It is understandable that areas with majority Russian speakers should want to be governed by a Russian speaking head of state.
*******
Zelensky is (was at time of election) a Russian speaking head of state.
Which goes to disprove the lazy, and demonstratedly incorrect, assumption that ethnic russian Ukrainians are disenfranchised in Ukraine. It’s an appealing line to justify the Russian invasion, from the same place as their ‘Ukraine doesn’t/never did exist as a sovereign nation.
Lars at 12.33 pm
You say: “So my question is the West of the Country ie Lviv etc is clearly pro-NATO but the Donbass region and Crimea is pro-Russian. The former pro-Russian President Yanukovich had most of his support from these regions.”
Be careful with your tenses. Putin has been bombing mostly the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine for 10 months. He has occasionally bombed the west (Lviv etc) and somewhat more the centre (Kyiv) following the Russian withdrawal from the outskirts of Kyiv after one month of Putin’s war, but mostly he has bombed the ethnic Russians.
Don’t presume that the vote percentages from the 2010 election that Yanukovich won would still apply. If the Liberal Party in WA started blowing up the enclaves of white South African emigres in Perth even they might switch allegiances in such an ordeal.
The history of Ukrainian attitudes toward NATO is more complicated. Yes, there were regional differences but there was very little support (around a quarter or so overall) for Ukraine joining NATO before 2008. Ukraine was already then on a divergent path from Russia but not on a collision course. The situation began to change in 2008, the fateful year that NATO membership for Ukraine was not ruled out (as it should have been, according to Bush’s key Russian politics adviser, Fiona Hill). Then the changes accelerated greatly in February 2014, with the first phase of the war starting soon after.
The comment from Hill is at: https://ip-quarterly.com/en/one-mans-war-one-mans-choice
The one area of Ukraine that might still accurately be regarded as pro-Russian is Crimea, partly because of the population shifts since 2014 (100,000 or so Ukrainians have left and more than that number of new Russian settlers have arrived). Hence it is the territory that is hardest for Ukraine to regain, despite the repression of the Tartars.
Here is a comment in early April from Sergei Karaganov, one of the leading belligerents in Moscow, who is known to Paul Dibb among others:
“SK: If the operation is to turn Ukraine into a “friendly” state, then absorption is
clearly not necessary. There might be some kind of absorption – which has happened, effectively – in the Donbas republics. Whether they will be independent or not – I think they might be. Certainly there are calls for referendums there, but how you could run referendums during a conflict I do not know. So my judgement would be that some of Ukraine will become a friendly state to Russia, other parts may be partitioned. Poland will gladly take back some of parts in the west, maybe Romanians and Hungarians will, too, because the Hungarian minority in Ukraine has been suppressed along with other minorities. But we are in a full-on war; it is too hard to predict. The war is an open-ended story.”
https://www.climateblog.uk/Sergey%20Karaganov%20on%20what%20Putin%20wants%20-%20New%20Statesman%202%20April%202022.pdf (comment is on p 5)
35 years ago Karaganov was a genuine new thinker under Gorbachev. He has become a militarist, who has been associated with the idea of defending ethnic Russians abroad going back to Yeltsin (who begat Putin). But he is no nutcase. Two comments from that passage stand out: i) referendums are meaningless in a war; and ii) it is too hard to predict specific outcomes of a war (because, as Clausewitz said, that is war’s nature).
One of the real tragedies of post-colonial (i.e. post 1991) Ukraine is that federalisation of the country was never attempted, largely because of the corruption of politics. The need for federalisation was obvious to blind Freddy well before the divergent electoral results in different regions in 2010 to which you refer. Much of the Ukrainian diaspora had experience with federalisation, particularly in Canada, the largest host country for the Ukrainian diaspora. Federalisation in Canada has had its challenges, especially around Quebec and the rights of the Cree and other Indigenous Peoples. Overall it has been a viable system. The problem with Canada as a model for Ukrainian federalism is that it gives much stronger regional autonomy to the provinces than does Australia.
The right of self-determination is a core principle of international law, but constrained in practice. E.g. the right of the East Timorese to self-determination was upheld by the International Court of Justice in 1995, but scorned by Indonesia, and also by Australia. Yet within 5 years it had been affirmed by a UN-supervised vote.
One of the many problems with Putin’s war is the side-lining of the UN, because of the Russian veto, and geopolitics. In the years after 1995 the UN was not side-lined about East Timor. But, tragically, it is hard to see the UN protecting the rights of the Tartars.
Since no belligerents are currently interested in negotiating, it is hard to guess what might be a viable path to ending Putin’s war. One possibility, admittedly unlikely, is for Russia to withdraw to the internationally recognised border (i.e. as at March 2014) except for Crimea, then for the UN to supervise a referendum in Crimea on whether its population (the current population plus any ex-residents who have departed since March 2014) wish to associate with Russia or Ukraine. As well, Ukraine could formally commit not to join NATO, though this would be a fig-leaf to cover up a little of Putin’s failure, because Ukraine is now an American military dependency for a long while.
If such a scenario ended Putin’s war sooner instead of later, the will Tartars lose again.
AndrewMcK
True.
Hitler used the same justification.
Were it to be used a legitimate justification just about every state in African would be justified in invading any of its neighbouring states.
Asia, ditto.
Player One @ Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:25 pm
“”Griff @ #1708 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 11:43 am
Player One @ Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 11:33 am
Conflating an opinion poll with a vote on a psephology site.
Thanks for the lolz! Carry on ”
Well, I think this may be a candidate for one of the stupidest comments ever posted here.”
Once again you demonstrate your true problem. When you find your opinion challenged, you think the alternative as stupid. At what point do you start reflecting? In this instance, are you seriously unable to discern the difference to how people respond to an opinion poll and how they vote? Even after other Bludgers have provided the distinction? Perhaps the real issue in your statement is “I think”.
Or, carry on 😉
Sick.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/dec/30/pakistan-court-frees-rapist-after-he-agrees-deal-to-marry-his-victim
Boerwar @ #1787 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 1:56 pm
Not really – it wasn’t as if “China” had any agency or could have altered the outcomes. Not even the CCP (or the Ximonster) can alter the contingent biology of respiratory viruses. I still have great respect for some of the virologists and clinicians in Wuhan and elsewhere (some of whom I count as friends) who did the hard yards before the fucking politicals got involved.
Lars Von Trier says:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 12:33 pm
Ok tks MacArthur.
So my question is the West of the Country ie Lviv etc is clearly pro-NATO but the Donbass region and Crimea is pro-Russian. The former pro-Russian President Yanukovich had most of his support from these regions.
Basically voting shares peaked in the West and progressively declined as you moved East for the pro-Western candidate for the last 30 years.
If one group doesnt want to be part of a multi ethnic state – what should happen to that group? Do they have any right to self-determination? Or if two groups are irreconcilable what then?
___________________________________________________________
That’s an interesting and complex question. Ukraine is not the only country in Europe, or the world, where the existence of ethnic or national minorities can result in divided loyalties, or even hostility, towards their nation state.
The best way to resolve, or at least ameliorate, such problems is through internationally-supervised referendums. That way, people can peacefully decide which side of the border they wish to live on. Of course even that is not a perfect solution, unless say, about 90% of the people voted the same way.
If only 51% of people in a region voted to join the neighbouring country, that would leave a pretty substantial minority being forcibly absorbed into it.
There are no easy answers and I’m not sure how to find one. But one thing I am certain of is that such problems should not be resolved by marching troops into a disputed area and declaring it “liberated”. In 2014, I thought Russia did have some moral claim to the Crimea, given the large presence of ethnic Russians there and the fact that it had once been a part of Russia.
But I did not think Putin should have tried to solve it by force and nor should any other government faced with a similar question.
Right now there is probably no appetite on Ukraine’s part to talk about “peaceful, internationally-supervised referendums”, so these problems will probably simmer for years after the Ukraine war itself is settled.
rhw
It seemed to me that a reasonable management strategy was containment by forced isolation in hot spots coupled with social distancing coupled with enforced mask wearing with those strategies being used to fully vaccinate the population prior to relaxation.
My view is that the transition in the management strategy from sensible strategy to virtual open slather was too abrupt but that it was a political decision.
But, perhaps, the virus beat them anyway, inducing them to open virtually all the containment gates at once?
Incidentally, we still adhere to some of your hints from the early days (for which thank you) and remain covid virgins.
Boerwar @ #1755 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 1:19 pm
Bloke, it is xmas, a time when this Katich is surrounded by the inlaws nearly 24/7. I saw those peeps stranded in Baku and thought – BLISS. I assure you I wouldnt have been easy to find when the “rescue flight” arrived.
“Exactly 3 years ago, I read this with mounting trepidation. Little did I know…”
Lucky that all turned out to be a nothing burger.
It is interesting to speculate on how open slather self-determination would work out were Indigenous Australians provided such an opportunity. Would there be a largeish queue of non-Indigenous Australians being forced to seek another home?
Would large areas of Australia form a foreign nation of sorts?
Reflecting on the seperate threads request from yesterday, I am against.
It is fascinating to see how Pollbludger is used by Bludgers. It truly is a modern agora. A pulpit for some. Daily exchange of news for others. A meeting place to commune with fellow Bludgers. Even a space to express oneself through creative pursuit (thank you Late Riser for your poems each morning).
The variety of discourse is the essence of the value of Pollbludger. Thank you William Bowe, for allowing it to flourish.
SHPK
LOL.
Trailblazer Barbara Walters has died at age 93:
New York: Barbara Walters, TV news pioneer and creator of The View, has died at 93, US broadcaster ABC News says.
Her cause of death was not immediately known. Other details, such as where she died, were not immediately released.
Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented $US1 million annual salary.
During more than three decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with the famous and powerful brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs.
Her drive was legendary as she competed for each big “get” in a world jammed with more and more rivals, including female journalists who had followed on the trail that she blazed.
As a highly successful side venture, she created and appeared on a daytime ABC talk show, The View. In May 2014, she taped her final appearance on The View to mark the end of her career on television, but she hosted occasional specials after that.’] – SMH
C@tmomma @ #1521 Friday, December 30th, 2022 – 4:58 pm
Get a dewar and some LN2. Makes better ice cream faster, and doesn’t need any specialty gadgets. You can also make weird toppings, like powdered PB and banana. Plus you get to play around with LN2.
Dr Doolittle 2.02
Thanks, very informative.
Lars 12.33
Thinking further I realise I failed to consider before your basic point about what happens to the “no” minority when new states form.
However the war in Ukraine ends, it seems likely there will be some independent Ukraine state, which may contain a minority of people who do not want to be in it.
Following Dr Doolittle’s points, that number may be growing smaller with each Russian missile strike or enforced conscription in the Donbass, but is unlikely to be zero.
Would it help peace negotiations with Russia if Ukraine offered a “right of resettlement” to any Ukraine residents who wished to return to Russia after the war ended as a condition of peace?
Even if only a token few thousand accepted it, it would give Putin a political sop, and perhaps be a bargaining chip to settle the counter problem – all the Tartars and children reportedly forcibly resettled into Russia.
This discussion of air travel versus Zoom or Skype or Teams or FaceTime(?) reminds me of an effort my company made in the mid 00’s to reduce costs. As a 100% employee-owned business every dollar saved added to everyone’s annual profits and bonuses. But despite investing in remote conferencing technology and training it never rose above novelty use. What did work (most of the time) was always-on chat windows with audio. My team was scattered across the US, but it felt like we were all in the same room. Today’s bandwidth, larger lighter screens, and more sophisticated software might have worked for us.
Also, with today’s tech I have to wonder if it’s possible to remote drive one of those dancing (robot) machines. A screen on the machine could show who was driving and the driver could see using the machine’s video stream. It could be walked (or run) to wherever it was needed, even outside. (I’m now also thinking of hazardous or just uncomfortable work.) The time-share cost for a walking drone could be offset by savings on air fares, local transport, and local accommodation. There might be an opportunity for an enthusiastic entrepreneur. Rent-A-Bot?
Apropos of nothing in particular re the flight stranded in American Samoa.
1988 Hawaiian started flights to Australia.
My wife and a friend and his wife took advantage of the introductory offers for a trip, our first to Hawaii.
We arrived at KSA and duly adjourned to the bar after checking in.
We had a view over the sky bridges and duly noted the mix of 747s and DC10s with the various airlines noted on the tails.
Wondering where the colourful Hawaiian tail was?
Right at the far end barely visible was the tail of an obviously smaller aircraft. I wonder?
Flight called to gate whatever.
We walked and walked and walked to the end of the world it seemed. Well not really. Finally through a door and down down to the depths of… sorry got carried away. Onto the tarmac. There resplendent in its colourful Hawaiian livery sat a DC8.
I kid you not. Entered service in 1964 or thereabouts and it’s 1988!
Hence we stopped in American Samoa to refuel. Through the shack which doubled as a terminal and viewed the tropical scenery in the distance along the dirt road.
Then the most terrifying take off as we sat at the end of the runway with the pilot, foot on the brake, revving the 24 year old engines. Foot off the brake, sling shot towards the mountain at the other end of the runway.
Sigh of relief as we passed over the palm fronds on the mountain that felt within reach as we headed skyward.
Staff were great. Food was good, plenty of room between the seats.
Loved it. Even the terrifying storm.
Hope the staff are friendly still. I know their planes are more up to date now.
Thank you for your indulgence. 🙂
Happy to join the pile on from other West Aussies in regard to our local Paul Murray.
Known as “Mooner” to locals, he seems to walk a magic path which has given him access to the West paper’s opinion pieces which have been, for countless years, mainly anti-Labor stuff.
Today’s piece was a gem and as someone mentioned earlier, he has dug up “Reds Under the Bed” or “Sleeper Communist/Trotski-ites and fellow travellers” (as if this means anything these days) to paint Albanese in this mode. A tribute to how out of touch he is.
In his day he has been a failed shock-jock on local radio 6PR, but now as a yesterday man he vents his right-wing guff in what is, arguably, the worst metropolitan daily paper in Oz.
As an earlier poster mentioned, he likely gets support from the over 70s who are probably the only people who still get the junk, called The West Australian Newspaper, in any number.
AndrewMcK @ #1761 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 1:32 pm
I just set up the sarcasm.
Sovereign borders, as I have said regularly on this blog, are not play things. They are not perfectly placed to satisfy everyone all the time – that is just how it is. But they are fundamental to a functioning international system and domestic systems and do need to be somewhat stable. There must be gross negligence on a region or broad acceptance by all parties for change. They are not for popularity contests, change is not an acceptable recourse for losing democratic elections. And nothing can justify the brutal invasion and bombardment by a neighbouring superpower to gain control because they f’ed their softpower influence and see every softpower loss as an existential threat.
Not all states are nation states tightly defined by ethnicity and language – and just as bloody well. People need to get on and find a way to tolerate, include and then thrive in a multi ethnic state which involves responsibilities of the government to care for all its citizens AND its citizens to not threaten to secede or start civil war because you are no longer getting everything your way. Otherwise, you slip and slide down the slope of differentiating by ever smaller differences under appeal to some impossibly idealistic idea of nation.
Or you could setup a sovereign boundary commission to redraw all the borders (good luck herding those exploding cats).
Could swear I just crossed paths with royal commissioner Catherine Holmes in the supermarket aisle.
Stereotypically, you’d expect retired judges to retreat to Noosa or Aspen for the Christmas break, instead of pushing a trolley around Woolies in Brisbane’s north-western suburbs. But maybe the venerable lady has work to catch up on.
Simon Henny Penny Katichsays:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 3:10 pm
AndrewMcK @ #1761 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 1:32 pm
Simon Henny Penny Katichsays:
Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 1:12 pm
It is understandable that areas with majority Russian speakers should want to be governed by a Russian speaking head of state.
*******
Zelensky is (was at time of election) a Russian speaking head of state.
……
I just set up the sarcasm.
********
Fair enough. My sharpness (on re-reading) was directed more at Lars’ original comment/question than your response to that.
Thanks for the comments on my Ukraine question all.
End of year thoughts.
#1 Thank you William Bowe for your light touch, broad tolerance and apparent omnipresence.
#2 This is a good time to remember people we have lost and why we remember them. I’m not going to name them. It’s a personal choice. But I remember their tenacity, spirit, and courage. I thank them.
#3 This is a good time to reflect on people who have joined this motely group, and what they have brought to it. Again, no names, but it reflects well that they have brought new enthusiasm, curiosity, and their courage.
#4 Predictions for 2023
Ahh. Always fun. Here’s a poorly thought out list.
– Trump goes to prison, along with a handful of his lieutenants.
– Putin’s war drags on.
– South America gets turbulent.
– China struggles with covid, but remains too big to fail.
– Africa continues to be forgotten.
– Europe muddles on.
– Ditto North America
– Though Britain slides further into poverty.
– In Australia
* The referendum for a Voice To Parliament passes.
* Covid continues and continues to be ignored.
* Overall, we do OK.
Happy 2023 everyone!
Socrates at 2.37 pm
That probably would not help negotiations significantly, because it’s just something that affects mainly the little people who do the suffering during wars. Any deal will be prepared possibly by changes on the battlefield in the next few months, then grudging agreement on the major issues. Ukraine’s FM Kuleba has talked of a peace conference in Feb involving UN Sec-Gen Guterres, but not Russia. Guterres will tell him you cannot end a war by refusing to talk with the villains. The US knows that from Milosevic.
The problem for Ukraine remains that, unless the Russian front collapses, there is no quick military path to regaining their territory, leaving aside Crimea. Remember in 1917 collapses at the front happened after political changes in Petrograd, when the new and historically impotent Provisional Government continued fighting a senseless war.
Meanwhile here is a Russian article on the mass murderer Igor Girkin, alias Strelkov:
https://russiandissent.substack.com/p/the-tragedy-and-the-farce-of-igor?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=844709&post_id=92004957&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
The writer comments that “it turns out that the cult of the restoration of the empire, to which [Girkin and others] have given their lives [sacrificing the lives of many others], is nothing more than an empty operetta. There is no substance to it: the empire is simply not needed by anyone. The nationalists of the 19th century sometimes entered into alliances with reactionary forces, like the same Garibaldi who made a deal with the Sardinian monarchy. But they were solving an objective historical problem: they were creating a nation-state with a single market, a standard language, and a system of national education. In the conditions of industrialization, it was impossible to do without these. But today’s Russian ‘imperial reconquista’ does not solve any problems that are really facing society. While it might make the ideal ideological justification for a massacre, it could inspire nothing more than apathy.”
There you have the contrast between Russian lack of motivation and Ukrainian defence.
Girkin is the biggest of the three criminals convicted by the Dutch court over MH17. The Dutch will be trying to ensure he ends up in a Dutch prison after Putin’s war ends. Girkin is quite out of favour in Moscow, but so arrogant as not to go hide out in Siberia.
Apart from captured low-level Russian soldiers, Girkin is the one war criminal most likely to end up in gaol.
a r @ #1775 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 2:06 pm
Takes 10min in my fairly cheap machine (anglaise made the day before tho and stored in fridge). No need for special gloves…. or liquid nitrogen. And, I have been told, LN icecream doesnt keep well?
Oliver Sutton @ #1781 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 2:18 pm
Well done you. All I’ve ever managed was to avoid hitting Malcolm Roberts who was wandering about in the car park at our local Coles.
Dr D
It is difficult to envisage a negotiated settlement that includes war criminals being brought to book.
Dr Doolittle
Thanks that makes sense re possible Ukraine settlements.
B.S. Fairman @ #1708 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 1:48 pm
Yes the Democrats WERE doing their job and so was the local community newspaper. They tried to get larger media outlets to take the story seriously but this was a Democrat Congressional District that no one thought would ever change hands, so the story was essentially ignored in favour of more ‘colourful’ stories, such as about Kari Lake or Dr Oz. Once George Santos actually became an elected Member of Congress, that all changed.
Late Riser, back before Rudd was PM, I’d occasionally spot him browsing in Folio Books in Brisbane CBD.
Apologies. I need to correct to my end of year post. I had wished to thank new bludgers. Sorry. I’ll do so now.
To the new bludgers in 2022, thank you for making this place as interesting as you have. I come here to learn, more than I do to vent. Thank you.
Simon Henny Penny Katich @ #1740 Saturday, December 31st, 2022 – 3:35 pm
Also, I have never made the Anglaise. #1 Son used to do it. I’m afraid to try. 🙁
I DID make an absolutely epic and delicious Chicken Ceaser Salad today though. Even made my own croutons! 😀
Predictions for 2023:
1. Global recession
2. Recession in Australia.
3. Unemployment rate to rise.
4. Voice referendum to be brought down by Bandt, Littleproud and Dutton.
5. New variants of Covid to keep going through populations in waves.
6. Anthropocene Extinction Event to intensify.
7. Last two Australian Covid Virgins to be given Hero Of Australia decorations.
8. Putin’s War to continue.
9. Global famine to increase.
10. Areas of Australia with no practical natural disaster insurance to increase.
11. China to make over 300 military incursions into Taiwan air space.
12. Australia makes decision on building the HMAS Unbuildable class of nuclear-powered submarines.
13. Butwhatabout Palestine, S3 tax cuts, the Evil West and obsolete tanks will continue to get runs.
14. Several hundred vested interest groups will continue to prove that there is not enough government funding for their interests.
15. EV fleet in Australia will increase but will still be pathetically small by end 2023.
16. Major infrastructure projects to underpin renewable economy will commence construction.
17. The Greens will continue to advocate for the destruction of half a dozen rural and regional industries while ignoring the air industry.
18. There will be more plastic in the oceans.
19. There will be fewer edible fish in the oceans.
20. Existing climate trends will remain largely unperturbed.
Tim Fischer used to shop in our local Coles.
If you stopped to talk to him, he’d try and flog his latest book.
More likely it will be a 1995 Dayton style peace imposed by the US.
Something like the Ukrainians pushing to Melitopol and the coast and an imposed ceasefire. You would have to think the US can basically say to the Russians accept “x” ceasefire line we have ordained or it goes on with more weapons etc for UKR. Similarly the US says to UKR this as good as it gets or otherwise go ahead without our support.
The US will have a dependent UKR client state and the Russians will have been permanently weakened for a decade or two and wont be bothering anyone anytime soon.
After that the US beefs up the Pacific presence – AUKUS, more forces moving into East Asia etc to deal with Xi JingPing.
It will be a cynical cold war realpolitik outcome – from the Biden administration of all people. Pretty amazing from the US POV.
There has to be two Paul Murray’s surely? The fat little Trump groupie on SAD can’t be 70ish?
Stephen Koukoulas @TheKouk
My 2023 calls:
GDP to slow – no recession
Unemployment to edge up ~4.25%
Inflation to free-fall – to hit RBA target in Q4
Wages growth to peak mid year
RBA no more hikes
10 year bonds to 3% or less
AUD mid to high 70s
House prices to bottom in Q1 & rise in H2
ASX 8,000++