It’s another week in the land of the free and home of the brave! But let’s rotate our view to what’s been happening down under.
Birthdays: June 7: the star of (IMHO) the best of the X-Files derived s-f programs (and also this pretty well done political thriller – Season 1 anyway); an actor who’s the new Bones; June 8: a warrior who paid the ultimate price – but at the hands of his captors; June 13: a musician who played the featured track in my first links post; a cricketer who could really knock the snot out of the opposition (fun note: this game was played in a NZ summer – see what the spectators are wearing); June 15: another warrior whose tactical nous helped win the Battle of Britain; June 18: one of the greatest rugby league players of all time; June 19: an actress whom I always forget is Australian; and an explorer who was one of those you can think of as an Australian Lewis & Clark.
This week in history:
- 1803, June 9: first circumnavigation of Australia completed.
- 1838, June 10: Myall Creek Massacre
- 1928, June 9: Charles Kingsford Smith and crew complete the first trans-Pacific flight.
- 1901, June 11: New Zealand imperialists annex the Cook Islands (check out the beaches)
- 1916, June 16: apparently “king & country” didn’t have the desired results
- 2005, June 19: Michael Campbell becomes the first kiwi to win the US Open (and only the second kiwi to win a major at all).
What’s new?
- Woh! Apparently New Zealand also has a meth crisis.
- Experts surprised and confused.
- OTOH: farm economies seem to be improving.
- There are a few people with economic common sense in NZ
- Soap opera: OMB snubs PM (or maybe not).
- The pickleball wars have come to Australia
- Thieves channel the Blues Brothers
- Another thieves story: the family that robs together, stays together
- Not sure I would want to be part of this community but kudos to them for doing it as a private project
- This has pretty much become the trial of the decade
- I got no snappy intro to this story, but it seems to be Glib-interesting.
Music: The Hulamen are/were a really obscure NZ band who didn’t stick around long (they don’t even have a Wikipedia page!). But, for some reason this track has floated around my brain for about forty years.
I was curious why I was seeing Liv’s face in the media library today.
˙ǝɯɐu puɐq pooפ
,,ɯɐǝʇ ʇuᴉɹds ɥʇǝɯ,,
It’s a little known fact, but we here in the States are the ones actually “Down Under”.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8b/9f/99/8b9f997dac58726576f7355c53f7e433–world-maps-australia.jpg
What would we do without experts?
Without experts, economic predictions will be no more accurate than flipping a coin or throwing darts. So basically no difference.
“I know it when I see it”
Nissan lives up to its reputation worldwide.
In response the NBR’s latest list, the Greens claimed: “It’s time to tax wealth, and build a country where all of us can thrive” and made the claim that a wealth tax on the ten wealthiest kiwis alone would pay for free GP care for all.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
They learned it from observing other socialist leaning countries. However, if you live in a reserve currency country there’s no need to even tax. Just print and go.
Is it also going to pay for the wall you would need to prevent them from the getting the hell out?
That’s the most important question they will never ask.
Why do they keep me in the dark and keep feeding me shit?
What makes this country a great place to live is the economic success that results from private investment; from a small builder borrowing from a private lender to someone raising equity fire rockets from the Mahia Peninsula, as fellow Rich Lister Sir Peter Beck has achieved.
The ’80s were a brief anomalous period of sanity in New Zealand.
Kind of a slow news day, and a slow commenting day. Everybody must be Juneteenthing it up. Woot woot!
The markets are closed and I’m off work. OTH, NJ needed to signal its virtue before FedGov and Friday is the state holiday. So schools and government stuff is open.
I’m glad I don’t have a school age kid as that creates a PITA situation.
Another fake holiday, like kwanza. Meanwhile they’re making nukes in Iran!
Must crush the enemy!
Holidays are fake by definition. People want an excuse to take a day off and have a party, good for them. It doesn’t break my bones or pick my pocket, I couldn’t care less about it.
But, soon, it may escalate. It typically does. Then, where will you be when ya hear them comin’…?
WHOOO?! WHOO doezn’t want to wear zthi rribbon?!
“it may escalate. It typically does.”—”WHOO doezn’t want to wear zthi rribbon?!”
In all my 54 (or so they tell me) years I have never been forced to “wear the ribbon”, I get the sentiment but In my lived experience you people are a bunch of paranoid outrage junkies. Yes, yes “they came for the blah blah blah…” sure some day it may happen but my money is on “chicken little” not the “wolf crying boy”.
I have issues with a national holiday for something I had never heard of until I was an adult, especially one that’s two weeks out from a much older and established holiday.
I never heard of it till I moved to TX in ’95. All I was told then is it’s a bad weekend to go to Galveston.
Just got back from participating in the local Juneteenth performance. I guess the 3 of us white soldiers (there were 6 usct) were there to remind folks that the 200,000 black soldiers had help from 1.8 million white soldiers in ending slavery.
I’ve heard about Juneteenth since junior high when I moved to Texas in 1978. It was always kind of in the background here, the few black kids in the small town schools didn’t seem to care, just some teachers mentioning it. I’ve always thought it an odd holiday for a national spot, the day slaves in Texas learned they were emancipated doesn’t really need to be a national holiday IMO. Whatever, banks are closed.
I knew some rednecks that would say they aren’t taking off for MLK day, only for Confederate Soldier’s Day (Jan 19 in TX.) But, rednecks are gonna redneck.
Speaking of the thin veneer of civilization
Worth a watch. You might pick up some pointers.
I might see the flash, but nothing more from my vantage point, just vaporized in a flash
Sounds like an alternate plot for Fallout… you have people attempting to keep civilization but resorting to cutthroat means (ripping off the gun owner and the gas station), raiders (obvious), remnants of the US Government… all the trimmings!
The recovery that is happening is driven by the external sector – export prices are up 17 percent in the March quarter primarily driven by dairy price increases.
What about mutton?
People profiting off of it are on the lamb.
… he said sheepishly.
You can’t pull the wool over these guys’ eyes
Someone is trying to ram a joke through.
ewe guys!
I’m betting the pedestrian had the right of way as all the stories I’m reading are silent. Finally the right asshole is dead after a bike v pedestrian collision.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/06/19/man-riding-e-bike-in-nyc-central-park-dies-in-crash-with-pedestrian/
Moral of the story? When going ludicrous speed, always remember your helmet,
And maybe just obey traffic laws?
They may have been distracted by a Druish Princess though.
No mention in the article whether he was wearing a helmet.
Top-shelf journalisming – I expect nothing less from that outlet. 🙄
resorting to cutthroat means (ripping off the gun owner and the gas station)
I’m protecting my family. That’s different!
These are your two choices:
https://babylonbee.com/news/i-dont-know-if-america-should-be-involved-in-another-middle-eastern-war-says-raging-antisemite
or
‘
https://babylonbee.com/news/israel-has-the-right-to-defend-itself-says-pro-war-neocon-zionist-shill
Profit WTF is that? The important thing is happy customers and, of course, workers.
Powerful alcohol distributor abruptly quits California as it takes stand over problems doing business in the state
SCIENCE!
Cheap or free access to AI models keeps improving, with Google the latest firm to make its newest models available to all users, not just paying ones. But that access comes with one cost: the environment.
In a new study, German researchers tested 14 large language models (LLMs) of various sizes from leading developers such as Meta, Alibaba, and others. Each model answered 1,000 difficult academic questions spanning topics from world history to advanced mathematics. The tests ran on a powerful, energy-intensive NVIDIA A100 GPU, using a specialized framework to precisely measure electricity consumption per answer. This data was then converted into carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, providing a clear comparison of each model’s environmental impact.
I have no idea why google nooz pukes up “Fast Company” on a regular basis. Even more baffling, the article is paywalled. Does anybody actually pay to read their DEI tripe?
No way. So they proved that LLMs use large amounts of power and that some models are more efficient than others.
Never could have seen that result.
They would have a lot more people on their side if they just said “It uses a lot of energy, and that means you will have to use less, pay more, or suffer outages.”
If the eco-nazis put a stop to the AI hype it will be the one useful thing they have accomplished in decades.
Has this made the rounds yet?
Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei reportedly removed from decision making after mental health breakdown
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/iran-supreme-leader-ayatollah-khamenei-reportedly-removed-from-decision-making-after-mental-health-breakdown/articleshow/121913681.cms
I don’t think there are any people over 80 or even 70 who could be trusted to lead a nation in war. Trump should keep that in mind.
Grumpy Old Men is a movie, not a military strategy.
Sounds like some ass covering as they move forward. Which is a good sign.
No politician should serve after 60. Conflict of interests, making decisions that the younger folks will have to live with, such as SS.
The day an elected official hits 60, outta here! If they can’t steal enough by 60 they are too damn dumb to be representing younger people.
No, no, no. When they hit manditory retirement age, the politician’s assets are confiscated and they’re sent to a remote monastary with a strict vow of poverty and even sctricter adherence to it. No health care, just a shallow, unmarked grave when something goes wrong with them.
This might maybe possibly lead to a change in their government. Which might or might not be a good thing.
Let’s hope?
There was a Star Trek episode featuring an alien culture where everyone who lived to 60 committed ritual suicide after a ceremony which celebrated what they achieved in life. It was also meant to prevent elder abuse and the suffering that comes with age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVB6bIchRjI
***
“Half a Life” is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 96th episode overall. It was originally released on May 6, 1991, in broadcast syndication. The episode was the first of the series written by Peter Allan Fields, who later joined the writing staff. Director Les Landau said that “Half a Life” was a morality play about “how society deals with the elderly”.[2]
***
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_a_Life_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
One of David Ogden Stiers (and Majel Barrets too) better performances. Great episode.
Ugh Lwaxana was so bitchy in that episode.
This is why we need a wealth tax
As Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, prepare for a lavish, star-studded wedding in Venice, not everyone in the Italian city is happy about the impending nuptials.
“No space for Bezos,” a sign read at a protest by residents who say the famed canal city is already overrun by tourists, billionaires or otherwise.
They should get married in space.
Don’t they have the biggest yacht in the world or something? Get married on the bow, then have your honeymoon on the stern.
Bezos is a simp.
He’s already lost more money from divorce than any other man. I guess he wants the #2 spot as well.
Fun fact: he got his start-up money from his stepdad. His biological father was divorced after a short marriage for lack of money.
Decisions have been made, as follows:
“”I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, ‘based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,'” Leavitt said at a White House briefing quoting Trump.”
You can take that as a definite answer
Or not. OMB has been on fire here.
Well I don’t know where he’s NOT…
https://youtu.be/2xhC2cbq7zA?feature=shared&t=96
Don’t they have the biggest yacht in the world or something? Get married on the bow, then have your honeymoon on the stern.
I completely forgot about that. That would make a lot more sense than that second world shithole Venice.
If they sail in on it, they’re going to knock down a lot of bridges.
Is that why I can’t drive to Hawaii anymore?
Did they close the interstate?
Maybe she’ll still have the honeymoon from the stern even in Venice.
$5.50 each so $124/month. I’m sure she wonders why she has no money.
How Do You Build a $500 Million Coffee Chain? By Selling Matcha to Teens.
In completely unrelated news, younger people can’t afford a house and have a big problem with obesity.
Young people can afford a house, the problem is they want a McMansion. As for obesity, there are plenty of fat fucks of all ages, and I may live in an outlier area but most of the yutes around these here parts could eat a few more sammiches.
I think it’s hard to get the message across to young people how much something is costing over the long term when you get it on a regular basis. They see that it’s only $7 for some maple syrup whipped cream chocolate coffee drink, and they don’t realize that if you stop for that every single day before and after school, it’s going to add up to a colossal amount. They have a hard time making the boring decision to just buy a big bag of ground coffee and some flavored creamer and make something close to that beverage at home for probably less than two dollars.
And I’m not pretending to be above it; I used to smoke cigarettes, which is pretty much the ultimate money-wasting habit.
Not even close. Smoking is cool. 🚬😎
Goddamn I miss smoking.
OFFS!
We are not a serious country.
Happy b-day Karl Urban.
He’s very urbane.
Bezos is a simp.
Wait. Are you trying to say an elaborate shindig in Venice might not have been Bezos’ heart’s desire all along?
Perhaps.
I mean, how many billions did his last divorce cost him? How much is his next divorce going to cost him? Nuptials in Venice is going to change what, precisely?
Simp.
I was trying to guess what “cohousing” is supposed to mean.
I’m about 2/3 done with uploading all the Spot the Nots to my blog. Here’s #87:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/06/spot-not-87-george-bernard-shaw.html
Dead pedal
According to documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall covers certain Honda Pilots between model years 2023 and 2025 — as well cars under the auto maker’s luxury Acura brand: 2021-2025 Acura TLX and 2023-2025 Acura MDX vehicles.
The NHTSA’s recall report notes that the brake pedal pivot pin in some of these vehicles was not secured properly during production. That can lead the pedal to shift out of place and “may lead to unintended application,” the report notes, increasing crash risks.
“The issue could also cause an abnormal brake pedal feeling during operation, illuminate the brake malfunction light in the instrument cluster, or cause the vehicle’s brake lights to remain lit even when the brake pedal is not applied,” America Honda said in a statement Wednesday.
As a remedy, Honda says authorized dealers will inspect the vehicles covered by this recall and replace the brake pedal assembly if necessary, free of charge. Per the NHTSA’s report, the company estimates 1% of these vehicles have this issue.
No software update needed.
But my wife’s car impacted.
Now I get to see if I can shoehorn myself under the dash and see if the douchebag supplier properly pinned the pivot shaft in place.
The maker repair and inspection procedure doesn’t look to be available yet.
It’s the annoyance of wasting half a day at the dealer versus a few minutes seeing if it needs to be replaced.
It’s very dark out.
My tv says to very afraid.
We got quite a few booms here, but the sun is out now.
Mostly over here, but more importantly it looks like there may be cooler air on the other side. 🤞
Among the many reasons why rocket artillery is better:
Inside America’s Only Giant Gun Barrel Factory Arming Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWOCxtfN4js
It takes 4 months to make one cannon barrel.
[Kif sigh]
Sounds like she was a remarkable woman. I’ll warn you, it’s dusty in there.
It happens, you live with it but it never goes away,
/5 years on….
TPTB: Last I checked the evening post was not scheduled. It is “Primeval.”
They’re off gamboling through the forests of Cascadia, romping and cavorting.
Nope, its not there, hmm
Well, I may get my butt handed to me for this but…although I am definitely not one of TPTB, I have been temporarily granted scheduling powers because of the links duty. So, I’ve just scheduled it for 7pm today. I couldn’t see anything else that might have preempted it so fingers-crossed I haven’t moved above my station.
No complaints. TPTB only pay attention when you have more power than you should have and you actually use it. 😬
No worries. I was just going to take a look, now I don’t have to.
XY moved out, Mom moved in, Mom is moving out, XY is moving back in for a month before Chipotle sends him yon to the middle of Missouri to open a store. Meanwhile, XX hasn’t been home for 3 days.
Shit. Uh, is everything, within reason, ok?
Hey, cool, he’s managing starting up a store now? That’s great!
Local news announces plan to use more scary words.
https://www.whio.com/news/local/heat-alert-changes-look-ahead-an-upcoming-heat-wave/GR4CRZYHBFAUVP3OMAXTT7PSZY/
Lemme guess, hot and humid, maybe T storms, sound right?
Hey Raven Nation,
Check out my dude Ross’s travelogue. He’s been flying his Cessnas around the world for a while and finished a circumnavigation in his modified 182 a couple years ago. He took a job in Western Australia last year and is now flying a lot in the region. https://katamarino.co.uk/