What’s making news - 2020

[Bird]

https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/us-base-in-iraq-under-missile-attack-reports-20200108-p53pqb.html

Friggin great, here we go. How many hundreds of thousands will die, and the untold suffering that will follow.
I only hope people will have had enough of blindly following our leaders driven by ideologies and egos(and money). But I doubt it. Queen and country and all that B.S. usually wins.

This is a worrying development.
Trump has been itching to launch a nuclear strike on *someone*...

[JusyApples]

https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/us-base-in-iraq-under-missile-attack-reports-20200108-p53pqb.html

Friggin great, here we go. How many hundreds of thousands will die, and the untold suffering that will follow.
I only hope people will have had enough of blindly following our leaders driven by ideologies and egos(and money). But I doubt it. Queen and country and all that B.S. usually wins.

Cheers Glen

Are you serious? Soleimani was a terrorist. I guess you were happy for another Benghazi


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[glenm64]

Are you serious? Soleimani was a terrorist. I guess you were happy for another Benghazi

Well off you go then.
Forgot the individuals, its the same old same old.
If we werent over there telling them how to live (and trying to install regimes to secure their oil) we wouldn't have this crap. The only time any of those nations have stability is when a dictator is in power. They just fight along tribal based lines until someone takes control. We will never change that.
Funny how we dont give a rats ass about all those African nations that commit gross atrocities. Oh thats right, no oil.


Cheers Glen

[plusnq]

Well off you go then.
Forgot the individuals, its the same old same old.
If we werent over there telling them how to live (and trying to install regimes to secure their oil) we wouldn't have this crap. The only time any of those nations have stability is when a dictator is in power. They just fight along tribal based lines until someone takes control. We will never change that.
Funny how we dont give a rats ass about all those African nations that commit gross atrocities. Oh thats right, no oil.


Cheers Glen

Imagine if all the money spent on war in the Middle East had been spent in research  and development into better energy sources and batteries. Hmmmm

[Pottsy]

This topic is going south quickly.

[Fizzie]

Imagine if all the money spent on war in the Middle East had been spent in research  and development into better energy sources and batteries. Hmmmm

On that (more cheerful?  ) subject: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-08/lithium-sulfur-battery-greener-cheaper-and-more-efficient/11849590

Not holding my breath, but it sounds good!

[Fizzie]

But having just said more cheerful

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-08/ukrainian-boeing-737-crashes-imam-khomeini-airport-state-media/11852504

737 down with ~180 killed

I can already hear the conspiracy theories starting to gather

[edz]

Two FNQ QLD Police officers assist two young boys Bush fire fundraiser lemonade stand by setting up an RBT near them to help raise money ..    those officers ..
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-brothers-lemonade-stand-raises-money-for-bushfire-victims-20200107-p53pjn.html

[Fizzie]

Good on 'em

But now they'll probably get hauled over the coals for breaching protocols in some way

[glenm64]

This topic is going south quickly.

Your right Pottsy.
Sorry folks, got to learn to not react. You know what they say about opinions.
New years resolution, from now on I'm only going (to try) to participate in meaningful posts.
Nothing positive to contribute means Ive got nothing to contribute.
Lets have a good year folks and play nicely, god knows we can certainly do with one seeing the start we've had.

Cheers Glen

[Pottsy]

Your right Pottsy.
Sorry folks, got to learn to not react. You know what they say about opinions.
New years resolution, from now on I'm only going (to try) to participate in meaningful posts.
Nothing positive to contribute means Ive got nothing to contribute.
Lets have a good year folks and play nicely, god knows we can certainly do with one seeing the start we've had.

Cheers Glen

All good Glen, there are just so many emotive subjects nowadays that it can be hard to post something that doesn’t upset someone’s apple cart.
Regards
Pottsy

[Raym]

Lets see who can come up with a good news story, because I’m flat out finding one. 

Hadn't seen this anywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrpCk-ZfsrI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMenLxORN6M

[edz]

https://www.fassifernguardian.com/firefighter-compensation-government-sham  and now the Nitty Gritty cop outs begin ...
 Dosnt sound good for those  that havnt worked for  weeks while fighting fires and guiding crews in around their local areas and arnt in the RFS / SES etc .

[Bird]

https://www.fassifernguardian.com/firefighter-compensation-government-sham  and now the Nitty Gritty cop outs begin ...
 Dosnt sound good for those  that havnt worked for  weeks while fighting fires and guiding crews in around their local areas and arnt in the RFS / SES etc .

Do you expect anything different?

The fine print

[xcvator]

https://www.fassifernguardian.com/firefighter-compensation-government-sham  and now the Nitty Gritty cop outs begin ...
 Dosnt sound good for those  that havnt worked for  weeks while fighting fires and guiding crews in around their local areas and arnt in the RFS / SES etc .

So far tonight I have forwarded this link to :-

ABC
Channel  7
Channel  9
Greg Hunt member for Flinders
Farcbook


Suggest everybody does something similar, especially their member of parliament, both local and federal, let them know that this is unacceptable

[#jonesy]

When it was announced it was compensation for lost wages, and not "payment" for fighting the fires.
They did say up to $300 a day.
All the scenarios put in that article show the person hasn't lost income.
The only ones struggling would be farmers to show how they lost income.

[JusyApples]

Well off you go then.
Forgot the individuals, its the same old same old.
If we werent over there telling them how to live (and trying to install regimes to secure their oil) we wouldn't have this crap. The only time any of those nations have stability is when a dictator is in power. They just fight along tribal based lines until someone takes control. We will never change that.
Funny how we dont give a rats ass about all those African nations that commit gross atrocities. Oh thats right, no oil.


Cheers Glen

The address to the nation Cleary shows the President has no interest in a war.


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[Spada]

https://www.fassifernguardian.com/firefighter-compensation-government-sham  and now the Nitty Gritty cop outs begin ...
 Dosnt sound good for those  that havnt worked for  weeks while fighting fires and guiding crews in around their local areas and arnt in the RFS / SES etc .

I'd imagine that no matter what the criteria, not everyone would benefit equally There are a significant number of volunteer organisations in Australia that all work towards different goals, and most people volunteer due to their own desire to assist a cause that they see as worthwhile. I'd imagine it's quite difficult to put a dollar value on what fair compensation for volunteer efforts should be, and where do you draw the line between "volunteer" and "paid worker"?  I imagine organisations like RFS and SES etc would keep records of who did what, and for how many hours? I wonder if instead of cash compensation for specific events, would some sort of rebate scheme to allow volunteers to off-set volunteer hours against taxable income work? Records of volunteer hours could be recorded online by the eligible organisations (similar to how child care hours are reported to the ATO), and some sort of deeming rate applied to their annual tax return to reduce a volunteers taxable income? Not all volunteer organisations would need to be eligible, but certainly those that assist in times of crisis (SES, RFS, Red Cross, St Johns ambo's etc) should be on the list. Perhaps some sort of incentive scheme like that might encourage more in the community to volunteer and assist? Just a thought?

[Bird]

I can feel the insurance companies shaking in their boots already..

ASIC tells insurance companies to behave

Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC has warned insurance providers they should not be “unscrupulous” when dealing with bushfire victims.

“ASIC is committed to helping Australians affected by the devastating bushfires to rebuild their lives,” an ASIC statement read.

ASIC Deputy Chair Daniel Crennan QC added: “ASIC is working with insurers and other key stakeholders to ensure that claims are handled efficiently and fairly. We expect those involved in handling these insurance claims to act with the utmost good faith”.

ASIC has information about what to do after a natural disaster

[tryagain]

This is a worrying development.
Trump has been itching to launch a nuclear strike on *someone*...

Trump is many things, but I think he is probably the least war mongering President the US has had in a long time. Just costs to much money from his perspective, hence why he pulled out of Syria and left the Kurds to fend for themselves.

[Pottsy]

Good news story

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-bushfires-queensland-man-who-lost-family-home-wins-lottery/522f1406-3c59-490d-8f37-8f47f441ea8e?ref=BP_RSS_ninenews_2_man-who-lost-family-home-in-bushfires-wins-the-lottery_090120

[rockrat]

Trump is many things, but I think he is probably the least war mongering President the US has had in a long time. Just costs to much money from his perspective, hence why he pulled out of Syria and left the Kurds to fend for themselves.

I agree. We all know Trump is unpredictable and I don't think he has a problem going into a zero sum game if he thinks he can win.  But  he also knows that a major conflict with Iran would be a nightmare. On the other side, I'm pretty sure Iran also know not to f$@k with Trump too much because if he does retaliate it isn't in his nature to do things by halves!

[Brij]

When it was announced it was compensation for lost wages, and not "payment" for fighting the fires.
They did say up to $300 a day.
All the scenarios put in that article show the person hasn't lost income.
The only ones struggling would be farmers to show how they lost income.

Agree. I was also under the impression it was compensation for lost wages.

I don’t think I really want to be on the fire line with "volunteers" that are there trying to make a profit.

(30 year, 3rd generation CFA vol)

[gronk]

Trump is many things, but I think he is probably the least war mongering President the US has had in a long time. Just costs to much money from his perspective, hence why he pulled out of Syria and left the Kurds to fend for themselves.

The only trouble is....every time he opens his mouth...my super takes a dive.  The stock market gets jittery and starts to panic every time he threatens to do something.

[rockrat]

The only trouble is....every time he opens his mouth...my super takes a dive.  The stock market gets jittery and starts to panic every time he threatens to do something.

Aren’t share prices at or close to record highs? As i recall the ASX went up by something like 18% last year so super should be doing ok.


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