News From the Lucky Countries

by | Jul 3, 2025 | I Am Lame | 60 comments

It’s well into winter in the southern hemisphere and Australian ski resorts are rejoicing. Most of the football codes are in the meat of their season. Fortunately, my AFL team has decided to shit the bed early on so I don’t have to waste time hoping.

Birthdays: June 20: the original “in like Flynn“; an actress whose eyes were wide shut when she married for the first time; an aboriginal who really did face discrimination; June 23: an actor whose starred in some decent, if not great, films; a musician who has been a member of two decent bands; June 25: a guy who started as a politician but is best remembered for helping create the closest thing Australia has to civil war; June 27: a great cricketer from days gone by; June 28: a bloke who came from the wrong side of the border, but was still pretty damn good; June 29: a warrior who, sadly, died as fast as he lived; June 30: a singer who fronted one of Australia’s more successful musical exports; another warrior who was one of the fifty murdered in 1944; July 1: an actor who had a bigger career than a brief appearance in one film may lead you to believe; a race driver who never quite delivered as much as the nation hoped; a singer who took over from the June 29 guy; July 3: a woman with one of the more haunting voices to come out of Oz; another soldier who won the Victoria Cross in the Great War but, damn, if he didn’t enlist again – this time one war too many; a guy who should be celebrated but is usually condemned; and one of the best cricketers New Zealand ever produced.

This week in history (a little light on this time around):

News from the Lucky Countries:

Music. I’m going with four links – one for each of the birthdays (meh, quit complaining, you don’t have to listen)

Not music, but this popped up on youtube the other day. It’s about 8 minutes and looks at a few outback roadhouses. There’s quite a few characters here.

And with that, happy Thursday cobbers!

About The Author

Raven Nation

Raven Nation

60 Comments

  1. Ownbestenemy

    35. that part of the battle is lost
    47 min ago
    But it’s gonna take people a while to believe it.

    Trump has his private army and his concentration camps. He has full, complete, unchallenged control of all three branches of government, and the press is quickly falling in line.

    Am I going to miss our on the nationwide Cosplay event?

    • The Other Kevin

      Just hide in your basements everyone.

    • (((Jarflax

      His private army is not doing a very good job of stifling dissent. Do better Fascists!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Also I noticed this tidbit for a few weeks….He, like Hitler, controls all of government.

        The right does the same just not with as much….vigor?

    • The Other Kevin

      This whole situation worries me. It’s not a small number of people who believe they’re fighting Hitler and hiding Anne Frank. Eventually formerly normal people will accept violence and pitch in.

      • Nephilium

        The self delusion is what angers me the most, the people claiming to be the type to hide Anne Frank were the same people calling in tips on their neighbors for having a cookout in the backyard.

  2. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

    Ribs rubbed, sat for a few hours, and about to meet the grill.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I did three racks of spare ribs trimmed down for work mates.

      I laugh at places like Chilies back in the day offering full or 1/2 rack of ribs..but really it was 6 ribs or 3?

      A full rack of ribs is anywhere from 10-14 ribs. Give or take

    • The Other Kevin

      If you changed “grill” to “girl” you’d have a great euphemism.

  3. Ownbestenemy

    Garden is in full swing lots of lettuce and herbs. Tomatoes are just now coming in. Onions drying, figure green beans or such will go on that place.

    Its an amazing feeling to nurture nature

    • The Other Kevin

      Mine is doing really well too. We had weeks of hot and humid weather with rain. I had one red tomato this week, the earliest ever. And lots of lettuce.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    I didn’t know they had skiing in Australia. I thought it was all in New Zealand.

  5. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    “an actress whose eyes were wide shut when she married for the first time”

    One of my brother’s childhood friends was a pilot for them, and had good things to say about them. She stopped her car to get out and chat with the kids who were watching her film a movie not too far from my house (not Eyes Wide Shut). My kids have a picture with her.

    • kinnath

      She was quite attractive before she had her face frozen in time.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    Trump has his private army and his concentration camps. He has full, complete, unchallenged control of all three branches of government, and the press is quickly falling in line.

    What did I miss?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Apprently everything if not living that person’s world.

    • The Other Kevin

      The Republican-controlled legislative branch passed one bill, the supreme court sided with him on some cases, and a guy on CNN defends him. We are now in the Fourth Reich.

      • Nephilium

        Aren’t we at like the Tenth Reich at this point?

      • The Other Kevin

        I don’t know, apparently I’ve missed something like Brooks.

      • (((Jarflax

        What number was Robert? That was the dumbest one.

      • The Other Kevin

        I don’t know the number, but that was the shortest one.

    • Sean

      He’s the craftiest mofo ever!

      TWO SCOOOOOOPS!!!

    • Suthenboy

      I see the quote above but I dont see a link. What nitwit said this?

  7. Rat on a train

    1986, June 26: US informs New Zealand it will no longer be a defense partner
    The community lost an eye …

  8. Gender Traitor

    Thank you for the birthday girl’s song link. I’d not heard that one before! I do, however, feel compelled to link to my favorite of hers/theirs. And, of course, my my other favorite. 🥰

  9. The Late P Brooks

    It’s criminal gangs, all the way down

    <em.Waly said the state's authority to govern is rapidly shrinking as gang control expands with cascading effects. Criminal groups are stepping into the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public services and are establishing "parallel governance structures," and gang control of major trade routes has paralyzed legal commerce, leading to soaring prices for cooking fuel and rice, Haiti's staple food, she said.

    U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the council "the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince" and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond is "pushing the situation closer to the brink."

    "Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario," he warned.

    How can the average Haitian even tell the difference?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Sounds like a real shit hole.

    • R C Dean

      We have half a million Haitians in the US. They’ve had a few years to learn how a (more) functional society works. I think shipping them back to Haiti would do a lot to turn that place around.

      Worth a try, anyway.

  10. The Other Kevin

    I haven’t gotten much news from my son-in-law lately. I got about 5 minutes on a video call last week. Sounds like things are status quo for now, hopefully they get shifted back to the Pacific.

    • Ownbestenemy

      All hopes thats the way the sea takes him.

      • The Other Kevin

        USS Ford is headed that way, Carl Vinson is due to head home, and China continues to push things in the Pacific. It’s complicated. I complimented my daughter on knowing how all these ships move, and she said she wished she didn’t.

      • R C Dean

        China supposedly has a new, more pragmatic and less bellicose leader. Who knows? Things haven’t been going so great lately on Xi’s watch, so maybe he’s been pushed aside.

  11. Ownbestenemy

    At least the FBI is getting more creative in naming its goons

    One chilling message from Oglesby and Goolsby, according to the criminal complaint:

    I believe this as much as I believe the Michigan folk trying to kidnap a governor.

    “Wanna plan an attack?”
    “I’m radicalizing my son to never trust the government — teaching him how to cultivate crops, purify water, hunt, shoot, and make bombs. We gonna survive the martial law.”
    “I low-key wish Hitler wiped out the [REDACTED].”
    “They’re like a cancer that sucks the life out of society.”

    “We have to fight.”
    “We have to kill these people [REDACTED].”
    “We have to.”
    “It better be a bloodbath of every corrupt politician in Capitol Hill.”
    “And then we need to strike — more of us than them.”

    The defendant also commented on a post on Instagram with:
    “So when are we going to bomb the White House?”

    Goolsby responded to Oglesby:

    The defendant replied with, “Totally dude, Skibidi massacre.” The defendant also posted antisemitic and other religiously discriminatory comments to his Instagram Story, including: “I want to eradicate them,” “I want to blow up the [REDACTED], a mosque in [REDACTED], Turkey,” and photographs of unknown subjects stomping on the flag of [REDACTED].

    The defendant also posted the following to his Instagram Story: “I want my pain to be inflicted upon others. I want no one to escape,” “I really hate people. I wish I could end everyone and blow the world up,” and “I hate those people so much I’ll eradicate them all.”

  12. The Late P Brooks

    In response to the gangs, the UNODC’s Waly said there has been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defense groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs.

    “Over the last three months,” Jenca said, “these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration.”

    We should air drop small arms and ammunition. Let a million flowers bloom.

  13. Sean

    ˙ʎpɐǝɹlɐ ǝɯoɥ ɯɐ puɐ ʎlɹɐǝ ʞɹoʍ ɟo ʇno pǝɔunoq I

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Nice of you to write it upside down for the Aussies.

      • The Other Kevin

        So wait, does he give them a thumbs down?

    • Raven Nation

      Thanks mate!

      • Sean

        🙃

    • DEG

      I worked way too late on a bug that I’m making glacial progress on.

      I’m drinking mead now.

      I had a comment about one of the articles but the server squirrels ate it.

      • DEG

        And I have an interview with Sandy Petersen running in the background.

      • kinnath

        oh mead

        whatcha drinkin?

      • DEG

        whatcha drinkin?

        Honey Sheré. I picked it up in Grand Junction on my FreedomFest 2022 road trip.

      • kinnath

        Sounds delicious and dangerous at the same time.

  14. rhywun

    I thought there was only one Lucky Country?

    Bonus obligatory.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    The self delusion is what angers me the most, the people claiming to be the type to hide Anne Frank were the same people calling in tips on their neighbors for having a cookout in the backyard.

    These are also the people who clapped and nodded in unison when Biden said the (right wing) resistance wouldn’t have a prayer against tanks and F-16s.

    • Sean

      All the tanks and F16s have been sent to Ukraine.

  16. rhywun

    June 25 birthday boy

    Luv that band – or at least their Greatest Hits album 🙂

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Defend our right to distort the news!

    “This is a shameful decision by Paramount,” Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA, said in a statement. “Shari Redstone and Paramount’s board should have stood by CBS journalists and the integrity of press freedom. Instead, they chose to reward Donald Trump for his petty legal assault.”

    Spineless capitulation. Stand up for our right to sling mud and defame those we do not like.

    They were just trying to help Kamala get her message across.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    “This moment marks a dangerous precedent for the 1st Amendment, and it should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press,” Gomez said.

    I’m sure that’s what you said in 2020.

    • R C Dean

      I wonder what Gomez had to say when Obama was jailing journalists for not coughing up their sources.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    We have half a million Haitians in the US. They’ve had a few years to learn how a (more) functional society works. I think shipping them back to Haiti would do a lot to turn that place around.

    Worth a try, anyway.

    I like it. Give them each a pocket Constitution, a copy of the Anarchist’s Cookbook, a High Point 9mm and 500 rounds of ammo.

    • Sensei

      Without USAID how will we accomplish that?

    • Evan from Evansville

      Keeping in line with both cultures’ beliefs, each Haitian is given a mule on their journey. They are eaten raw shortly after takeoff.

    • Ed Wuncler

      Our Haitian family friend declared once the last member of her intermediate family passed away, that she’ll never set foot in that shit hole again.

    • Nephilium

      Can we give them something a little more useful than the Anarchist’s Cookbook? Like an old Boy Scout manual?

    • rhywun

      I don’t like their sour cream. 🥴

      I buy either Friendship or even the Wegmans store brand is good.

      • Sean

        Whelp, that may be a limiting factor. 😂

        I am a fan of their sour cream.