Birthdays: July 18: Australia’s original golden girl; a woman who’s contributed to libertarianism; one of the finest fast bowlers of all time – Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Lillee don’t get you, Thommo must (here’s one demonstration of his skill); July 21: a terrific football player and decent coach; July 23: another one of those guys whose courage I can never understand; a woman who really was a pioneer; a guy who was not actually born in Australia but who gave his name to my hometown; another one of those people with courage; July 24: a guy who came within one point of being the first Australian to play on a winning final four team; July 25: before my time but a great of Australian football back when South Australia was easily the second best league in the country; July 26: a guy who made his name as a sheep shearer; July 27: a great cricketer who will always be remembered in my home state for this moment; an actor who died way too soon; July 28: a pioneer in the art world (here’s a selection); a damn good rugby league player; July 30: another damn good rugby league player; an actor whom I didn’t realize was Australian; July 31: a great, if sometimes quirky, tennis player.
Aniversaries:
- 1865, July 26: New Zealand’s capital moves from Auckland to Wellington. Oddly, the recommendation to do so came from Australia.
- 1923, July 30: New Zealand claims Ross Dependency
- 2011, July 24: Cadel Evans becomes first, and so far, only, Australian to win the Tour de France
- 2022, July 28: the final episode of Neighbours.
What’s going on down under?
- Not all of Trump’s tariffs are about tariffs.
- Cutting about 6.6% of its workforce – mostly from management.
- This and this are what happens when you combine publicly-run health care and unions.
- Wrong side of the world, but trying to be on the “right” side of history
- Armageddon, New Zealand style.
- A fun new Australian animal.
- I could go on a rant about the media problems in Australia and provide multiple examples. But I’ll use this one as an example of how the Australian
stateindependent broadcaster accepts certain bureaucrat announcements without question. - F**k off slaver
Music, a 3-play this week:
- The Easybeats lay claim to the first Australian band with an international hit. But, instead of that song, I’m going with this one (+ includes 1960s dancing girls).
- My favorite song from probably my favorite Australian band of all time.
- Finally, the story of my life (true story: actual name of the recording artist was Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. And, yes, that’s a Lou Reed nod).
Happy birthday Margot Robbie?
Happy birthday Rose Wilder Lane?
Happy birthday Eve Pownall?
*This* one should be Rose Wilder Lane.
I was going to guess Annette Kellerman.
Well, there was no reason to have a cow about it.
They got steered the wrong way.
They were just trying to take the bull by the horns.
I got here late. All the good puns were taken.
We should mooove on you’re saying?
No, we have to keep Milking the topic.
I’m sure you code think of something, RJ.
R.J. is udderly useless.
Dammit!
There’s plenty of Fodder for new puns just waiting to be Herd.
Buck up, RJ.
Go easy, he’s just a little off-Brand.
Hay, maybe RJ will just bale.
That’s not a very Christian comment!
So… it’s becoming a Bull market?
At least it’s transparently a cash grab by an industry group, unlike here in the US where we use the AMA and medical school admissions to artificially restrict supply and drive up wages for physicians while maintaining the pretense that they’re heroic and selfless demigods.
It’s the evils of a free market healthcare system!
We are far from a free market healthcare system. Maybe one or two more steps and everything will be a commie system just like theirs.
*taps R.J.’s sarco-meter*
Oh, I know. I have frequent online clashes with an old acquaintance who’s an MD about this subject. He wants more government control of healthcare, and claims to believe that Medicare and Medicaid are good, efficient systems. He has some valid complaints about the current health “insurance” market, but his solutions are awful (and rather NPC like for someone who fancies himself smaht).
Expertise in one field confers absolutely zero knowledge or credibility in any other field, of course. But my experience has been that physicians are so accustomed to having their asses kissed and being at the top of America’s social hierarchy that they’ve bought their own hype and genuinely believe themselves to be experts in everything. As if a post-graduate level economist could walk into an ER and provide an accurate diagnosis for a heart attack patient. Sounds pretty stupid when you frame it in any other context.
It’s broke. You are right.
Thank Christ, it’s just oil and gas exploration. I thought maybe Peter Jackson was helming another epic battle for earth flick shot on location.
Meh, it’s a stick bug. Let us know when you guys find something as awesome as the ornithorhynchus again.
Thank you for maintaining our Family Friendly certification with the asterisks.
Oh shit. I’ve probably fucked that right up, haven’t I?
We’re used to you fucking things up.
Good afternoon, Pat!
Lol. To you as well.
“A responsible government needs to take a long-term view of where opportunities lie in our regions and where opportunities lie for New Zealanders in work.
Okay, commie.
“In the world of invertebrates there is so much that we don’t know yet and so many that are yet to be described.”
Somewhere, Lovecraft is nodding.
Another big foreign policy win for Trump.
He posts a crazy rant about India.
https://x.com/AXChristoforou/status/1950826829469855852
They tell him where to stick his F35s.
https://defence-blog.com/india-rejects-u-s-f-35-fighter-offer-report-says
Can somebody please slap the phone out of his hand?
The burgeoning global superpower that’s still working on getting its populace to shit in the loo instead of the street may have higher priorities than procuring America’s dumbest weapons platform of all time.
Even the US shouldn’t have bought and F-35’s – they’re lemons.
I hope he puts out another album before he dies – he’s getting up there in age.
its world-leading under-16 social media laws.
Delaying access to social media, including YouTube, until the age of 16 will protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.
We wouldn’t want to risk allowing them to be exposed to anything other than government approved propaganda.
I’m perfectly ok keeping kids off electronics for as long as possible, and that includes social media. Our oldest 2 got phones when they were over 18, and immediately proceeded to misuse them. The youngest got hers at 16 and learned from her sisters’ mistakes.
The problem with any of these laws, per our discussion the other day about VPN’s, is that there is no way to enforce them. Our middle kid had a special ed plan, and it said “no laptops”. But the school gave her one because they didn’t want to buy her text books.
In my experience, the younger generation doesn’t really want to dig into how to bypass things. A while back, I was working on a computer issue for the nephews (I had built the machine for them), and had to log in as the Admin account I created. They didn’t even try to shoulder surf to find it.
Kids these days…
“robably my favorite Australian band of all time.” The Wiggles?
God help me, but I still have Newsboys albums from my ’90s church kid days. I think they’re actually still around, albeit without a single original Australian member left.
I was hoping for the Triffids.
🙁 I just tied up most of my liquidity.
I opened a CD so that I would not have access to my savings to be tempted to buy a car I don’t need.
At least I’ll be earning 3.4% while it’s tied up.
Slightly beating inflation at least is good, but I’m getting 3.9% on an ordinary savings account through Capital One. I’d have expected a CD would be running a little higher. But then again, I got in on a promotional 12 month rate about 8 months ago.
I made the decision based on
A: I needed to short circuit the temptation loop my brain had gotten into. (I know myself)
B: The money was already in this bank, so the hassle to move it would be nil.
C: It was previously earning nothing.
I admit had I done rate shopping I could get a better APR, but 🤷♂️
Um, my mom’s getting 4.21% on hers, which is only slightly more than her high-yield savings account that I set up for her. I’m worried about liquidity at her age, but she’s healthy and mobile now, so I’m not making the decisions at the moment.
I literally have no idea where to buy this stuff.
Bank keeps calling me because I guess I have “too much” money in checking but I’m always like “I might need that”. I certainly have in the past. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I set up a series of CDs at 4.28% (well, a variable rate currently at 4.28.%) with one maturing each month. When the point comes that I need the cash, I can get at some of it once a month.
Ted you’ve created a “ladder”. Whether through intuition or research, good thinking.
https://www.schwab.com/fixed-income/bond-ladders
They were just trying to take the bull by the horns.
This always reminds me of a truly great line from Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy:
“grab the bull by the tentacles”
His what?
Meanwhile, in the cradle of the Enlightenment
needs more guns in private hands
Need to behead another Charles
I don’t think that’s the solution.
I think a whole bunch of front line and mid level bureaucrats need to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders in the aftermath of a wave of vigilante justice.
It’s fine if they spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. I just think the only fix for the UK is going to involve a lot of ‘high’ heads rolling in the gutter. The mid level and front line folks take their lead from the higher ups.
I don’t know if the ultimate problem is fixable. The cultural rot is too far advanced.
Cops complicit in criminal conspiracy. News at 11!
I’m perfectly ok keeping kids off electronics for as long as possible, and that includes social media.
I definitely don’t disagree. I just find it galling to see people nakedly in favor of censoring things they dislike or disapprove of.
Your gall bladder must work overtime then, as that seems to be 95% of “political” discourse these days.
Bile is produced in the liver, the Gall Bladder merely stores it. If you’re constaantly spewing bile, you don’t need much storage capacity – but it’s better to have it for the digestion of fats. If you don’t have the gall bladder storage, too much fats will lead to… well… do you remember Olestra?
Just a reminder that I’m taking over this space again starting next week (Aug 7). I’m tanned, rested, and ready.
Again, I want to thank Raven Nation and Mojeaux for tag-teaming on Thursday Afternoon links while I was on break. They both did very good jobs, and their efforts are appreciated.
Thank you all for being so very good to the summer replacements.
Wait, you mean I forgot to be mean?
You used a different mode?
I’ve been focused on my median.
“I’m tanned, rested, and ready.”
It official, Tonio is the head of Richard Nixon in a jar.
I had fun, except that one day I forgot and had 5 minutes to throw something stupid together.
The solar installation racket is starting up again. Go away. I’m not biting.
It pays for itself in just 55 years!
With a 25 year life expectancy you can’t afford to wait!
Wait, did they re-instate tax breaks?
To save the planet from the evils of water and CO2! We need to defeat the menace of plant life!
I don’t know. They mentioned I live in a high kilowatt area, blah, blah …
Most likely you need to act now before the FedGov funds stop. I’ve been getting blasted by Tesla for the end of the rebates and to buy now.
I have solar from Tesla. My house gets something like 375 days of sunlight a year and no trees to cast a shadow. It saves about $350/year by my estimates. When I considered buying I found the ROI calculators to be LOL. Half the payback was due to an increase in the home’s value, which my real estate agent neighbor scoffs at. Another large chunk of the payback was the tax credit. And even then, the payback was over 10 years.
You are in CA, right?
Just avoiding the rolling blackouts and having backup power at other times would make me pay $350 a year…
Funny you should say that. It doesn’t protect against blackouts. I would need batteries and a different inverter for that.
I thought you had the power wall too.
Nope. Even with the rebates a power wall would be over $10K. We haven’t had many rolling blackouts here, but they do shut down the power whenever we get heavy winds.
It’s a damn fine aircraft
An F-35 fighter jet crashed near Naval Air Station Lemoore in central California, the U.S. Navy said on Wednesday.
“The pilot successfully ejected and is safe. There are no additional affected personnel,” a statement from NAS Lemoore said.
——-
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, the maker of F-35 fighter jets, said in response to a Reuters request for comment that it was aware of the F-35 incident at Naval Air Station Lemoore.
Everybody should have one.
Yes, but no chainsaw opener I know about.
Pilot trapped in F-22 cockpit after canopy failure
I wonder if the Lockheed PR person pretended to be surprised an F 35 augered in. “Seriously? No way!”
Replacement cost of the canopy will be $182,205.
Just stick it back together with J B Weld.
Follow up article said it was “only” $83k! Bargain.
I’m fighting “Hitler” here while making fun of an old man. Don’t you people see my genius?
Jon Stewart Brutally Mocks Jay Leno for Criticizing Colbert
I see the problem: lecturing on what you actually believe isn’t comedy or a joke. It’s just lecturing. People typically go to professors or lecturers for that service rather than high school educated television personalities.
Hmmm….
Leno or Stewart?
Yes, that is a rhetorical question.
I thought Stewart was really funny – showing what a dumbfuck he is about government spending in that exchange with Ezra Klein. Yeah, Stupid – that’s what it is like all the time with YOUR TEAM.
Does he also have a team of 40 writers to come up with that genius?
Are they going to keep a SWAT team on standby?
Unsettled by NYC shooting, companies wonder if their offices are safe
Meanwhile my company expressly forbids the incredibly rare NYC CCW holder from carrying in the office. For our safety! Pay no mind my CEO has armed security.
Being New York Government, the drones, even us CCW holders are not allowed to carry on site by penalty of law.
There are security guards – unarmed.
The doors… are a joke.
There are ground-level windows whose durability I can’t attest to, but break one and you could enter the Men’s bathroom, or one of the offices on the ground floor.
Neither the stairs nor the elevators have any security on them once you’re inside the main swipe perimeter.
A few of the office areas do have separate swipe locks, but for the most part, these belong to IT. The DMV offices are quite easy to get into with no authorization.
Security against a disgruntled member of the public, let alone a disgruntled employee is laugable.
I’m sure there are state troopers over by the capital – but they will stay by the capital.
“Blanket with cameras” just means you watch the carnage.
Let everyone carry weapons. Id that makes you nervous, why dis you hire them?
At the very least, it makes for more exciting footage from the cameras.
RJ exactly. What fucking good is the camera?
I hate typing on a phone.
Hate!
See federal prosecution of Mangione being publicly directed by the AG.
Stephen Colbert, a frequent critic of Donald Trump, was blindsided by the news of his firing, which came just days after he’d called out Paramount on air for settling its lawsuit with Trump ahead of its lucrative Skydance merger that required his administration’s approval.
Blindsided? If that is true, Colbert is dumber than even I could have imagined.
Your show is losing millions a year, and you’re blindsided by your firing. What an asshole.
Relevant
News from the upside down.
Wild. Like Christmas in the summer.
And why would they think that?
Fewer Americans see discrimination as anti-DEI push gains traction, AP-NORC poll shows
And….? Whose fault is that?
25 people? Crew I totally get, but that seems a lot of people with no seatbelt and/or taking a leak. Looking for a payout?
I’ve never found it that uncomfortable to have a loose lap belt for exactly this reason.
Severe turbulence on Delta flight forces emergency landing and sends more than two dozen on board to hospitals
I blame climate change and DOGE.
I was driving a transport with two staff and two patients once. We pulled into a parking lot. I saw a car backing out of a space so I stopped. The car continued backing out and bumped my van about as hard as if you were to lean on it. The ‘collision’ left no visible marks.
A second or so after contact the two staff instantly threw themselves out of their seats into the side wall of the van. It was pathetic.
Everybody wants to win the lottery.
It’s a weird thing. When I was a yute, SHOWING pain was embarrassing. Now people want to fake pain.
This is true. Suck it up, walk it off, rub some dirt on it. Being a victim was considered shameful.
Looking at a Sydney Sweeney ad: she’s a rich famous young actress. Can’t she afford to buy a pair of jeans that fit? I’m not talking about that stupid painted-on nonsense, but she looks like she borrowed those pants from an NFL linebacker.
Haven’t seen the ad in question, but I will go on record as saying that Sydney Sweeney is the most overrated bleach blonde since Britney Spears. FFS, nice tits are not that difficult to find. I see equally equipped women without the Down syndrome face every week in my local Walmart in west bumblefuck Texas.
I have seen that the American Eagle stock price rose 22% after the ad landed.
Haven’t seen the ad in question, but I will go on record as saying that Sydney Sweeney is the most overrated bleach blonde since Britney Spears.
She’s not “holy shit” beautiful. To be honest, my preference runs to smaller boobed sportier girls. She makes me think of Marilyn Monroe. I’d have to see her move, and talk. I have only seen photos. ever seen any movie she is in. I had never heard of her until not too long ago.
I’m totally fascinated by the hoopla.
I am confused that apparently any reference to human genetics apparently equates with eugenics. Do people think there is actually something controversial about the idea of human traits being genetic?
It’s a failed attempt at flex. Just a year ago, they would have gotten her ads pulled, AE would have appologized, and she would have been on a pity-me tour.
And it all failed.
But, I have to say, all the po-mouthing her around here is weird. She is pretty in a normal, healthy way, and not the waif/junkie that we had been seeing for a long time. Her face is nice, not the butterface everyone seems to think she has. Just normal pretty. And that is the reason she was picked for the ads – a return to normal pretty.
+1 ZWAK.
Yeah, the left hates a pretty white girl. That’s all it is.
Notice that the loudest objections are coming from other white women. They’ve been trained in this shit for decades.
The hoopla is marvelous. I respect her for lighting up every retarded marxist from the river to the sea.
Yes and it hilarious that they are accusing Sweeny of being a Planned Parenthood supporter.
I missed out most of the day.
*adjusts tinfoil hat*
I just found out that the NY shooter got in his car in Las Vegas, made a bee line across a continent to NY to the offices of Blackstone and murdered their executives cuz football. Sailed right past the NFL offices on accident, missed it by 30 floors and thought ‘what the hell, why not?” and shot Satan’s realtor. Pure coincidence.
For a crazy who doesn’t understand NYC elevator banks that are called to a given floor by work ID badge no tin foil hat required.
Woman called an elevator to her work floor saw nut with a gun and decided rationally not to get on the elevator and ran instead.
Said nut hops in and realizes the elevator is now going only to the floor on the ID or back to the lobby.
In cleaning up my blog, I finally dealt with old databases I wasn’t using anymore, so I had to rassel SQL and integer date conversion (like, come on, at least give me an option to put it in human-friendly formats). So I got three databases backed up, then deleted them off my server.
I have one more to go, but it’s a phpBB, and the last denizen has yet to give her opinion on shutting it down (I’ve had it going for 20 years). I don’t need to free up another database or anything, but times change and none of us has used it in months.
AAAAAALLLLL of that was to say I didn’t blow anything up. Because I’ve done that before.