@canefan said in Royal drama:

@majorrage said in Royal drama:

Yawn. IT's all about racism in case you weren't aware.

Meghan is perfect in every way, but unfortunately as she is 50% black, she is hated.

Hated by who? The British public seemed to like her, the Queen appeared to like her. The press were their usual predatory selves. Wait a minute.... 🎣

Ha, yeah very sarcastic by me. Basically, most people don't care either way, but the wokists are using this as an excuse to call our racism.

@sparky said in British Politics:

I understand why economically and morally it might be considered a good idea to support the poor by taxing the rich. It is an idea that goes back to Robin Hood and beyond.

But at the heart of Sunak's budget is the very different idea of supporting bad, unprofitable businesses & penalising good, profitable ones through higher Corporation Taxes. How does that make any long-term economic sense? Aren't you essentially trying to prevent the creative destruction that is at the heart of capitalism? Isn't it a recipe for encouraging profitable businesses that can to move abroad? Isn't a sure-fire way to make your economy less competitive and dynamic over time?

Profitable, successful businesses should be celebrated as they encourage more exchange and make us all (to a degree) richer. You can spread the wealth once it hits the hands of individuals who have enough or more than enough already if need be.

The second two paragraphs should have been word for word Keir's response.

I guess it depends on how other countries react. I think Sunak should already be aware of how larger companies will react. If he isn't, then he isn't doing his job properly.

@godder to the moon!!

@jc said in Tech, monopolies, censorship:

@bones Course Tim will be there. Pie loves a bit of yacht rock to work him into the right frame of mind. They lock him up like Hannibal Lecter and play Michael McDonald at him till he starts howling then push him onto the stage.

Thank you JC. Couldn't think of his name. Got stuck on Alan Patridge.

@mn5 said in Political Memes (memes only):

CB6E25C0-7430-46B3-B855-744EC9F31EC0.jpeg

You fucken racist. Brilliant!

@mikethesnow How man people can truck rollon/rolloff employ?

And doesn't the extra paperwork offset the reduced physical workload?

Not arguments to your point, more questions.

alt text

A big week or so in Aussie Politics.

Sexual assault cover up
Who knew what and when
Who chose to not know
Poor treatment and follow up support of the assault victim and of political staff generally
A new Rape allegation regarding a current Cabinet Minister prior to entering politics
A sudden health crisis for the minister who was due to go in front of the National Press Club and answer questions regarding the sexual assault that occurred in her office
And a labor opposition who have remained relatively quiet on the matter which could suggest they have a few of their own skeletons closeted somewhere.
And on top of all of that….

Handbags at 20 paces with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook over the paying for news content that appears on Facebook. Only real winner there will probably be Rupert Murdoch. No details of the deal done with FB have yet emerged.
Craig Kelly, rogue crack pot and conspiracy theory loving Liberal MP now ex-Liberal MP reduces the Libs majority in the lower house to zero I think, so that the Libs now have to go and do deals with other crackpot MPs like Bob Katter.
A doctor completing botching the Covid vaccine doses and over-dosing a couple of elderly patients (who seem to be fine thankfully)

I am sure I have missed plenty

Level of self importance: Extreme

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124347716/green-mp-ricardo-menendez-march-sought-emergency-room-in-miq-a-second-time-for-national-interest-reasons

@godder said in US Politics:

Virginia is about to abolish the death penalty. That doesn't sound like much, but that would make it the first southern state to do so. Virginia has the most executions of all the states and was the location of the first US execution, and also has the second most executions in the modern era after Texas, so it's a watershed moment in the abolitionist struggle.

The modern era is usually defined in the USA as post-Furman, which was a legal moratorium imposed by SCOTUS between 1972 and 1976 due to racial bias in death sentencing, with the first execution after that being Gary Gilmour by firing squad in 1977 in Utah (for sports fans, his last words were "Let's do it", which was the inspiration for Nike's catch phrase of "Just do it!").

Virginia used to be solidly Republican at state level, but has recently switched to Democratic, so it's interesting to see the various agenda items being progressed after the change and whether that will be replicated in other purple states.

that's awesome

@snowy said in Climate Change:

@Catogrande said in How's the weather?:

The Thames is significantly less polluted now than over the last 100 years which would have an impact. Water freezes at a higher temperature than most pollutants.

That is all true, it could also just be that it is bloody cold.
"London weather: Freezing February could be coldest on record in London as arctic conditions continue"
**"Parts of the UK could be facing the coldest February night since the 1940s after warnings that mercury could fall as low as minus 20C.

After recording the coldest night in the UK in 11 years, forecasters including the Met Office are now warning it could be about to get even worse, with five more days of bitingly cold weather"** (that was a couple of days ago).

15 degrees yesterday .... this is nuts. The temperature swings here much more like opposite side of Atlantic now.

I think we learnt in lockdown 1.0 that being stuck at home was quite the punishment.

Home D is presumptive for sentences less than 2 years, so that's probably what happened here.

Mori is the biggest f#ckwit ever. How he got the gig is beyond me.

@MN5 said in Matariki Holiday:

@Bovidae said in Matariki Holiday:

Queen's birthday is irrelevant today, as is it being in June.

....not to mention her immediate family are either racist bigotted old fucks, flocking to leave the establishment or kiddy fiddlers.

Although true you need to add Queen's Birthday to the 'relevant to NZ' pile. After all she is the Queen of NZ and our head of state.
One we would lose if we became a republic.

I like the Matariki addition. All part of our growth of an identity of our own.
Would be happy for Labour Weekend to be replaced by something more relevant (would be good to clear out the religious celebrations as well as long as they are replaced)
Not a holiday but FFS, when are we going to stop 'Guy Fawkes' night as something in our legislative calendar (i.e. the timing for sale of fireworks)

I knew about Peter Nygard, but I didn't know that he was another of Prince Andrew's mates.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Nygard

On November 24, 2019, Bahamas police began investigating six allegations of rape made against Nygård. All the alleged victims were under 16.[49] On January 27, 2020, Nygård faced two separate lawsuits after being accused of sexual assault.[50] On February 13, 2020, 10 women filed a class action against Nygård in New York, alleging that he had raped them at his Bahamas residence. They also alleged he maintained a sex-trafficking ring. Eight of the alleged victims were underaged.,[51][52] On February 25, 2020, the New York headquarters of Nygård International were raided by the FBI and NYPD, in connection with sex trafficking claims. This led to Nygård stepping down from the company.[53][54][55][56] On April 22, 2020, 36 new women joined a sex assault suit that was filed in February 2020.[57] On August 17, 2020, Nygård was sued by two of his sons on accusations of directing a known sex worker said to be "his girlfriend" to rape them.[58] On December 15, 2020 it was reported that Instagram model Suelyn Medeiros and Warren & Baram Management LLC were named as alleged co-conspirators in Peter Nygard's alleged sex trafficking scheme in 2 separate lawsuits.[59] On December 15, 2020, Nygård was arrested in Winnipeg for extradition to the US to face charges of sex trafficking by the US attorney's office in Manhattan.[60]

Prominent figures have visited Nygard Cay over the years include Michael Jackson, George H. W. Bush, Robert De Niro, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York.[19][20]

@antipodean said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:

In the words of the ACCC:
"The transition from large-scale synchronous generation to variable and intermittent renewable energy resources has had a more pronounced effect on retail prices and number of offers in South Australia than any other state in the NEM."

I saw that quote in the ABC article, but can't find it anywhere on the ACCC's website. It would be nice to have that quote in context of the wider report and what is was referencing - particularly gas. From the same article, and in part to answer your question on the coal closure:

The coal closure means power generated by a more expensive fuel source — gas — is more regularly setting the price. "South Australia is now much more reliant on gas-fired generation … which is a higher cost of energy compared with what Northern used to be," Mr Evans said. "The price of gas has nearly tripled in the past few years and that has meant that the fundamentals of where we get our energy from has increased substantially."

What I did find was this ACCC report:

https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Retail Electricity Pricing Inquiry—Final Report June 2018_Exec summary.pdf

Which refers to another reason why the number of gentailers in SA is a bad thing: less hedging, less competition, and therefore higher prices:

Wholesale hedging contracts The ACCC has also undertaken a detailed review of the hedging contract market. Apart from contracts traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the contract market is generally opaque. In certain regions of the NEM, particularly South Australia, the level of liquidity and the advantages enjoyed by vertically integrated retailers make it difficult for new entrants and smaller retailers to compete effectively in the retail market

Gentailers stopped offering good prices because they could, not because of renewables. Renewables didn't drive the higher market prices - gas did, and the gentailers who had both laughed all the way to the bank.

While Environmental costs derived from supporting solar subsidies do contribute to the increase in bills, at less than 10% it isn't as big a factor as the network costs across the NEM - which thanks to NSW, QLD, and TAS gold plating their privatised networks, kicked off a round of snouts in the trough.

Given the different conversations going on about the Trump Ban on Twitter and the debate about free speech, the Joe Rogan podcast with Ira Glasser (former ACLU head) is really interesting.

TLDR/W: he's on the side of free speech (2nd video) because at the end of the day, the other side will get the power at some point (the Kirwan argument, I'll call this), but on the fence about FB and Twitter banning ppl (1st video), because they are non-government entities and have the right to limit what is on their platforms, depending on how you view them.

@Victor-Meldrew ridiculous

SE Qld getting a cyclone before us is a pretty 2020 thing

If you've got a few minutes (about 40) this is worth a listen.

Kind of like the assertion that there's no retirement plan ...

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/frank-dikotter/11675242

@pakman said in European Politics:

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in European Politics:

@Snowy said in European Politics:

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in European Politics:

You chose not to have kids because of over population? I wish more people like you made choices like you..... I fully support your choice. The world needs more little me's than little you's.

Yes, as I said, partly. Comprehension not your forte?

Insulting type aren't you. How are your kids manners?

Jeez.... I was just supporting your choice not to breed. I appreciate you sharing your virtue and doing your bit to save the world. So many people don't have kids due to not being able to, or because they just don't like kids. Someone choosing to not breed to save the world is just so much more virtue signalling and interesting.
I guess some people just think having kids or not having kids is not a virtue..

Some people are more interested in rugby than having kids.

@Baron-Silas-Greenback has left the building

@MajorRage I did read the article, and thought it was so cringe that I just posted a screenshot in here for headline lols. The part where she served fancier Japanese style fried chicken at her supper club, even though she didn't like it as much was epic.

@Tim The Provisional Government was very progressive, for example they repealed the death penalty (not for long though). The problem was they were all intellectuals and Lenin ran rings around them. It’s the question everyone should ask themselves when they decide they want to be revolutionaries: “If we are successful what really are the chances that they won’t shoot me too?” Because they probably will.

@Bones said in The Left ... Need Some Thoughts ...:

@MiketheSnow pissed myself laughing when she shows footage of herself supposedly getting sighed at on public transport....while eating.

Got to keep the engine running, or should that be idling

@dogmeat said in The Politics Quiz!:

All these things show me as being miles away from my voting intentions.

You simply don't know your own mind then. 😉

Hopefully that is the last we see of him in our media now (unless he is shived on his way to the shower) even when he does eventuslly die in prison, there shouldn't be a mention, consign that fluffybunny to the dark pages of our history books.

Looks to be all back in the press again...

@pakman Thanks. Interesting read.

My major take out was

"moved into new offices (complete with an on-site pub)"

@booboo anonymous - goes by pseudonym "The Mocker" .

@ACT-Crusader said in The Folau Factor:

@antipodean as an aside, that Nicholas Sandmann piece was gold.

Isn't it just?

@Tim

https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-nova-scotia-shooter-case-has-hallmarks-of-an-undercover-operation/amp/

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/time-for-real-answers-on-the-nova-scotia-mass-murder/amp/

@Stockcar86 said in Tiwai Smelter Closure:

@NTA Similar I think. The generators offer into the market a specific quantity at a specific price. The highest-priced bid offered by a generator required to meet demand for a given half-hour sets the spot price for that period

That sounds right. In theory, if cheap hydro is available in large quantities, the expensive generation should rarely be required, so spot prices should trend quite a bit lower.

@JC said in Cannabis referendum:

@Kruse Akira is more dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes, and more awesome than weed. He should definitely be legalized.

Dangerous ground there on a contentious issue.

Lets stick to the safe discussions like abortion and religion.

@Godder I was gonna say ol' Gareth has been banging that drum for years then I saw the link address...

@Catogrande I did actually see the press conference when he said it. Whether he follows through, or is able to, we will see. If it doesn't happen then someone will call him on it no doubt.

This is from Newsweek and funnily enough they appended a video of Jussie.

RACIST THREATS AND ATTACKS THAT RATTLED A CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS WERE FAKED, POLICE SAY

[...]

Dominguez Peña, who was living in campus housing and named in the threat, found her parked car emitting smoke. Someone had tried to start a fire with a backpack inside the vehicle. The university cancelled all remaining classes that day and the La Verne Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stepped in to investigate.

The back-to-back incidents rattled the community, forcing the administration to hold town hall-style meetings and cancel more classes the following week. But no arrests were made. Some students blamed the university for allowing racism to fester and warned that it would only be a matter of time before another racist attack. Two months later, Dominguez Peña reported she was attacked by a masked individual who placed a bag and rope over her head, groped her and slammed her head against the railing in a dormitory stairwell.

All the cases remained unsolved—until March 9, 2020. After nearly a year of investigations involving multiple agencies, the LVPD said at a press conference that Dominguez Peña, 25, had faked the threats against herself and others in ten total separate "incidents." The same day, she was arrested on felony charges of making criminal threats and perjury, as well as seven misdemeanors related to electronic impersonation and filing false police reports.

[...]

https://www.newsweek.com/racist-threats-attacks-that-rattled-california-university-campus-were-faked-police-say-1497533

Back to OP

I'm chief cook & bottlewasher in my house when I'm not away in Japan for the winter.

My partner Nerys has the full-time job out of the house.

I get up every morning to walk the dog then back to make her breakfast and lunch if she wants to take one to work.

Then through the week it's cleaning, shopping, cooking.

That's my role.

To support her.

The lady from Brisbane is doing the same thing.

Unlike a lot of partners these days, she doesn't want her cake and eat it too.

IMG-20200324-WA0014.jpg

@Siam said in Tommy Robinson:

@MajorRage you haven't seen the footage either.
If it were anybody else, that video would be edited and on news in every country.

Don't get all shitty about it, you're simply commenting without seeing all that's available. That footage is tv gold and entirely topical.

The guy did a good thing, it's all simply what depersoning someone looks like. In this modern world of equality.

The above has no relevance to anything I wrote. Which were my observations.

You can argue anything you want fella, but you can't argue my observations, unless you are calling me a liar.

As for getting shitty ... best grab a mirror mate.