Mojeaux & I are alternating Thursday p.m. links for a bit while Tonio takes some much deserved R&R.
They say, write what you know, so today’s links will be heavy on the other side of the world.
Antipodean birthdays: April 6, a talented artist; a woman who overcame both gender & racial barriers when those were real; the current Australian F1 hope; April 7, perhaps the only Academy Award winner to be a football club co-owner; April 10, an extraordinary batsman who hit one of the biggest shots ever; April 11, semi-blowhard politician who continues to defy being pigeon-holed; April 12, one of the greatest rugby league players of all time – “chook” might be an odd nickname, but better than his actual name; a guy who was one of the best ever in both rugby league and rugby union.
This week in Antipodean history:
- April 6 (April 5 in the US), 1932: Yanks guilty of more bloodshed.
- April 7, 1896: first Australian gold medal.
- April 10, 1919: a brief moment of terror before relief.
- April 10, 1968: the Wahine disaster. I was a kid at this time and that pic of the ferry listing is one of those images you never forget.
- April 10, 1996: highest recorded wind speed (253 m.p.h.) during Cyclone Olivia.
Enough with the history lessons, give me some links!
Fine:
- Woo-hoo! It’s election time in Australia which means you get to choose between Kodos and Kang. The current prime minister (Labour, left-of-center) channels Kamala. In contrast, the Opposition leader (Liberal, moderate right-of-center) decides to…channel Kamala.
- I wrote a post on the Royal Flying Doctors a year or two back. Looks like there are more stories waiting to be heard.
- In New Zealand, government-run health care continues to exceed libertarian expectations.
- New Zealand timber exporters relieved about “Trump tariffs.”
- Congrats to the Croweaters, 29 years is a long time (even though they beat my team).
- Where else would you look for love in Australia?
This Australian classic kind of fits with the last link.
Shouldn’t these be upside down?
?sı̣ɥʇ ǝʞı̣ꓶ
🙃
What’s with the weird question mark?
It is a sign of Gustave being a Blu Oyster Cult fan.
Don’t fear the typesetter.
Larf.
That was my first thought as well.
Someone is going to get a reverse swirly for being a smartass
Are the leaves falling there?
Or are those drop bears?
The koalas fall out of trees like iguanas in Florida when it gets cold.
29 years, huh?
That’s cute. Over 70 years for the Indians, and they’ll never have a chance again (although the Guardians may), over 60 years for the Brownies.
Viqueen pulleeeeaze!
What was that?
Yeah, it sucks about the Indians losing. Certainly in the talks for best World Series. The drama of both teams’ droughts is great, but the series itself was fantastic. Cubs win Game 7 in extras? Uh. Damn.
I played a *very* important role in Our victory.
That ferry was so close, damn
Nothing about New Zealand rejected equality under the law?
I recently learned that New Zealand is to the southeast of Australia. My mind had it northeast just off the coast and Papua New Guinea was never that large a land mass
I mean, its better than the prequels!
“Center.”
I do not think that means what you think it means.
I realized that I had a Picture of the dish I made in class. I figured I should share. It’s seabug and beets. (Lobster with beets and miso citrus vinagrette)
When I saw seabug I thought shrimp. Looks nice!
Thanks.
It only rated blod and sweat (kept away from the food proper through proper sanitation).
BLOD THRUST-RAPES WITH STEVE SMITH.
In New Zealand, government-run health care continues to exceed libertarian expectations.
And of course the media is blaming it on the government not spending enough and trotting out one sob story after another.
That’s a good song.
“We have backpackers that come in the door dragging their butt, saying it’s hot, too many flies, so far away.
“Three months later they don’t want to leave.”
They get tied up?
More Aussie content: The Story of the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum.
Repeat after me. Do not take the helicopter tours of NYC. This seems to be a roughly every 5 year occurence.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/helicopter-crashes-hudson-river-new-york-city/story?id=120691975
It seems to me we had a whole series about how helicopters don’t stay in the air.
So we’re good for another 5 years then.
Solid statistics right there!
Pre-Disastered Home
https://www.youtube.com./watch?v=GTqz4duPdYQ
That’s why I pack a bomb when I’m flying, because what are the chances of there being two bombs?
No; it only happens when Trump is President.
At least NYC tourist helicopters don’t take commercial passenger airplanes with them.
Apparently, their is an Australian Libertarian Party. I’ve started seeing things from them on my social media feed.
They used to be called the Liberal Democrats. They had a senator for a while.
They aren’t in jail yet?
Duke Cannon* is having a pretty decent sale, if anyone is interested…
https://dukecannon.com/
*No, they don’t sell cannons.
Then I am not interested.
Ok, stinky.
Women love my sensuous Brussels sprout scent.
Outfitting the new house?
Can you ever reach peak Anne Applebaum?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/dictatorships-trump-republicans/682387/
She’s seem perturbed. Perhaps bothered. Why suddenly now?
I can’t read the whole thing, but I did see this quote: “The Republicans who lead Congress have refused to use the power of the legislative branch to stop him or moderate him…”
Anne, the problem is that for decades Congress has given ever more power to the Executive Branch. It’s rather foolish to suddenly be outraged.
She’s the highbrow Jen Rubin.
She’s the highbrow Jen Rubin.
Perfect. Applebaum has at least 10 digits of IQ on her.
Also the physically attractive Jen Rubin, relatively I mean.
Yeah, Rubin has a face made for radio and a voice made for Twitter.
Someone wanted it animal style. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/massive-brawl-reported-california-innout-20269454.php
No video?
20 to 30 people?
My gut says the Varsity in Midtown got rowdier and with more people from time to time, especially during Finals week at Tech. For LA, that shouldn’t even make the news — SFGate must be having a slow news day.
Too Local News: NH House proposed budget erases most of the post-Lil Rona Panic state government spending growth
A decade’s worth of state revenue growth, primarily from rising business tax collections, has fueled significant state spending increases since 2015, with a particularly large jump coming in the 2024-25 budget. When writing that budget, lawmakers included more than $850 million in new revenues. That pushed state budget growth well above the rate of inflation and necessitated spending reductions in the following budget cycle, should revenues level off.
And revenues have leveled off. Though revenues are only $6.6 million below budget through March of this year, House budget writers expect them to be lower in FY 2027 than in FY 2025. High levels of current economic disruption suggest that such cautious estimates are warranted.
With that in mind, House budget writers have sought to balance the 2026-27 state budget by clawing back state spending increases of the last few years. The budget presented last Thursday by the House Finance Committee does that and more.
The House Finance Committee budget lowers state General and Education Trust Fund spending to almost the same level as the 2020-21 budget, erasing most of the post-pandemic state spending spree.
But it gets little love:
Some 200 protesters gathered outside the New Hampshire State House Wednesday to blast the budget Republicans are hoping to pass today, denouncing the GOP’s spending cuts and proposal to cap local spending.
Inside, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte told reporters she isn’t much of a fan of the House budget, either.
“I am confident that the revenue numbers that I laid out in my budget are actually more accurate revenue numbers than the lower proposals made by the House, and that is being born out also by the first three months of the fiscal year and how revenues are coming in,” Ayotte said.
“I spent a lot of time on my budget, and I wouldn’t have put it together if I didn’t think it was the right blueprint for the state,” Ayotte added.
Both Ayotte and Democratic activists are unhappy with cuts in the House budget, an austere document after years of significant spending increases.
Now they can start cutting.
JFC….
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fatal-helicopter-crash-reported-hudson-river
Looks like no tail rotor…tragic
Look above! Also don’t take the tourist helicopters. I’ll say it again.
Now I’m just really glad my son and I didn’t die when we did the Mount Rushmore one on a whim last summer. (Yes… y’all know what I did last summer!)
Looks like no tail at all and no rotor. Like the whole thing fell apart.
Those sightseeing helicopters are always the newest and best aircraft.
Pay no attention that they basically operate for good part of their lives in a marine environment.
One last bit of too local news: Lily Tang Williams will run for Congress again in 2026
Lily Tang Williams, the proudly pro-America, anti-China Republican activist whose 2024 campaign for Congress garnered national attention, is back for another round.
But with incumbent U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D) considering a run for the U.S. Senate, who will the eventual GOP nominee be running against?
The filing period in the 2nd Congressional District race doesn’t open for another 14 months, but the Weare Republican announced Wednesday she’s running again. The question of who she will be running against, both in the GOP primary and the general election, is still open.
“I am living the American Dream,” Tang Williams said in a statement. “I have experienced firsthand the transformative power of freedom, opportunity, and hard work, which is why I am the ideal representative for the people of the Second District.”
Reached by phone Wednesday night, Tang Williams told NHJournal she believes 2026, when the state’s voter ID law goes into effect for the midterm election, will be her year.
“I learned how to campaign better, and I learned that digital is the key to raising enough money to compete,” Tang Williams said. “We did not have enough time (in 2024), we did not have the money, and we did not have the ads.
Uffda. I was so hoping that Ilhan was delusional enough to think she could win a statewide race.
She’s gonna be like Pelosi. Still the Congresswoman from Minneapolis when she is 80.
The Honorable Congresswoman Dumbass Brotherfucker…never been there but I did like Fran Tarkenton back in the day and I weep for Minnesota.
Fran was the biggest dick on those Vikings teams.
What a pompous ass he was. But he could play.
Revoke and deport.
Won’t anyone think of the
childreninternational students?!When I met Mrs. Holiness at Memphis State she was always very concerned about getting in trouble with the law for any reason because they had told her that her student visa would be revoked.
All her international student buddies were the same way. None of them were willing to ever try sneaking into a bar because they didn’t want to get sent home.
Before we were married my -to-be wife’s green card expired when her job was closed. She went underground, going to school, living in a dorm, disregarding any thing to do with immigration.
Essentially an illegal. She lived like that for 2 years. No one ever asked what her status was. After we were married she got her citizenship, jumping through the hoops.
Weaponized victimhood for the win!
That quote made me wonder what they left out of the story.
I’m aware of pleading guilty for a DUI. I’d like an example of the deportation for speeding. I think I will be waiting.
“There is a reason why we got accepted, and why we’re here,” said the student
“That reason? Our parents will pay full-freight for us.”
Good. Go. Home.
Stock-Tout-in-Chief
Senator Adam Schiff on Wednesday called on Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump engaged in insider trading or market manipulation when he abruptly paused a sweeping set of tariffs, a move that sent stock prices skyrocketing.
“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff, a California Democrat, tells TIME. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”
Schiff’s comments regarding a formal inquiry, which has not been previously reported, came soon after the S&P 500 surged more than 9% Wednesday afternoon after Trump announced the tariff pause. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social minutes after the market opened on Wednesday, along with the letters “DJT,” which stands for both his initials and the ticker for his media company.
——-
The timing of Trump’s announcement—and the market rally that followed—has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. “When my own barber asks me whether Donald Trump is selling short or doing this to try to make money for himself, it shows that a lot of people are pretty suspicious about what’s going on,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, tells TIME on Wednesday.
Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, when asked by TIME on Wednesday if Trump should be investigated for potential market manipulation, said: “It’s a great question. He certainly had a lot to gain. I hadn’t thought of that.”
They’ve got him now.
I actually don’t think it’s unreasonable, but Schiff should start looking closer to home.
He’ll end up in her
meat lockerspecial ice cream freezer if he tries that.Schiff-for-brains thinks announcing “Buy on the dip!” is special or insider…. what an embarrassment.
Wait, they are basing their accusation on him saying to buy the dip? That’s a special kind of stupid. Sadly they will probably convince a lot of people.
Schiff sees a pattern in Trump’s economic policymaking. “I think what American businesspeople need is some certainty, some predictability,” he said. “They’re getting anything but. Americans who have seen their retirement savings wiped out need to be made whole.”
Reparations for everybody.
Free money! 💴
Wiped out? That would be exactly no one.
Shush, you.
decimated
“It’s just disappointing. You come to the land of freedom, and you’re caged,” she said, adding that she hopes to stay in the country longer, with her wedding set for August. “If anything, I’m less free here than I was in my country.”
Free yourself.
Justice Dept. Bars Its Lawyers From American Bar Association Functions
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/us/politics/justice-dept-bars-its-lawyers-from-american-bar-association-functions.html
https://archive.fo/ZRDjm
So pretty much like those of us at most regulated financial institutions. Where is my tiny violin?
The department, Mr. Blanche wrote, “will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for any travel to or engagement with A.B.A. events.” Any department employees who work in policy-related positions also may not “speak at, attend, or otherwise participate in” the association’s events in their official capacity, the memo continued, adding that those employees may not hold positions in the association or renew their memberships.
why the fuck were they doing that before?
Attorneys feel they are exempt from most of the rules they impose on other professions.
How else could the ABA and the DOJ collude to coordinate lawsuits, prosecutions, and the like?
Now let the DoD do that to AUSA.
Antipodes always reminds me of Alice in Wonderland – thanks for the smile Raven Nation!
Thanks to Raven for pitching in. Much appreciated. I enjoy hearing news from the other neck of the world.
I just submitted an article, although I couldn’t get the images to align the way I wanted, lousy WP editor.
Hilight image,
Click center,
Pray
It’s happening… not.
Daylight saving time hearing held before Senate panel: “It’s something we have been stuck with this since World War I”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daylights-savings-2025-senate-commerce-committee-hearing/
Kill it. Kill it with fire. Bury it deep without a marker. Kill everyone who knows where it is buried.
Claim Daylight Savings is racist. After all, a big proponent was the racist Woodrow Wilson who ethnically cleansed the White House staff while in office.