Dead1

Tasmania's government has been trying to ban protests for some time. One of our premiers, Peter Lennon did actually try to change planning laws to fast track a pulp mill. This was after the company that was building the pulp mill renovated his house. https://tasmaniantimes.com/2006/03/good-morning-mr-lennon/ Bizarrely this is not considered corruption. Though NSW takes the cake - they've been stuck in a Rum Corps mentality since 1789 (noting Australia was only colonised in 1787).

Speaking of incompetence... What do you do when you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hospital beds that don't meet the specification and don't really work? Why you buy a second batch of course! And a year later you have to replace all of them with something that actually fits the specification. This is Tasmania!

It is but I love the environment and lifestyle. Remember I am a lazy incompetent moron too. I like small country town living and the lack of hustle and business. Poor access to healthcare, near non existent public transport, shitty roads and occasional lack of drinking water (some places you have to boil or drink bottled water), 50% functional illiteracy rate and bogans fighting on street are small prices to pay for the beauty and lifestyle. The mainland is far worse with their heat, congestion and mass metropolises. And they still get corruption and crime (eg my dad's car was broken in to twice in 6 months when he lived in Sydney) All of Australia is getting more corrupt too - it's what neoliberalism does. If I had money, I'd live in some isolated chunk of Europe though. I am not Australian and the government even made sure I knew that I was not Australian earlier this year when they fucked around with my citizenship which I've had since 1985. Chunks of Europe still aren't afflicted by wokeism either.

While Victoria is in NEM, he can resurrect every electricity body in Victoria's history and it won't make a difference! Tis why I love Tassie!

Haven't seen that one (we get no choice in power provider in Tassie - it's all government owned but for profit (Aurora). Greenwashing is the latest marketing craze!

Basically whole electricity market in Australia is borked! Here in Tasmania we run hydroelectric but cause we are in National Electric Market (which ACT and WA are not), we are paying massive increases due to mainland providers gas and coal costs going through the roof even though cost of hydroelectric generation is stable (no drought). The NEM needs to be overhauled and the states need to be removed out of the equation. Government also needs to smash the gas and coal cartel. Given how much gas this country produces, the stuff should be near free. But it's nearly all exported and to make matters worse the gas companies pay virtually no royalties and very little or no tax. So Australia is not benefiting from its massive natural resource reserves at all.

Open windows? I have 2 heat pumps that have air cooling but we seldom use them. Usually we open the windows and create drafts as well as close blinds/curtains that face the sun. I think that is the exact government policy!

The Haunted - The Haunted Made Me Do It Creme of the crop in one of the best 4 album runs of any band! Master - On The Seventh Day God Created Master Would be awesome had it not been for that horrid kick sound.

Machine Head - The More Things Change... Overkill - The Years of Decay

Cops don't lay charges unless they're pretty certain the accused did it. Prosecutors don't take it to hearing unless they're pretty confident they have a good chance of winning the case. Very often it's down to proving intent and horse trading on types of guilty charges to reduce time served. And as mentioned, how the perp and victims appear physically and the way they behave and their standing in community is often more crucial to sentencing than not (eg a guy who is an upstanding member of the community and presents well might get a good behaviour bond for something a more rough looking person might get prison time). Most crimes are never reported or even go through court system. I was personally friends with several drug dealers who did brisk business yet never were caught by police. I've witnessed friends bash their girlfriends on multiple occasions with no charges ever laid. I knew a drug dealer who was kneecapped by a fellow drug dealer but no charges ever laid. Both parties attested to it being a hunting accident. I've known people who were burgled and never reported to police. I've known and still know people who regularly shop lift. I myself was caught drink driving and wasn't charged. Neither were my best mate or my brother while my dad's alcoholic friend was given several warnings before finally being charged with it. I have known people who owned illegal firearms and things like sound suppressors. I work for an organisation that has swept under the carpet everything from corruption and fraud to paedophilia over the 17 years I've been working for it (not to mention over a dozen negligent deaths). And no charges laid despite media uproar at the time. Quiet retirements for all involved. As a youth I was involved in vandalism, underage drinking, drinking in public, numerous cases of drink driving and drug use. Other than some driving charges for escaping from the scene of an accident, I was only ever caught 3 times and only ever charged once (driving away from a scene of crime). Crime is actually endemic and rampant. System never catches even 1% of it. So if I was charged with something by the police, it is most likely because I did actually do whatever it is. Of course if I can weasel out or get out on a technicality then yes I would do that. Basically Australia's criminal justice system is permissive and tolerant. Australia's population is generally tolerant of crime. Indeed when my mates and I would literally look away while my flatmate choked his girlfriend, then that tells you everything. Not where I am from. As mentioned in my post above, I've witnessed lots of crimes (mainly drug dealing, family violence, also some white collar stuff which I as a responsible adult reported but nothing done) and committed some myself in my youth (drink driving being most serious) but cops don't know about this. And my wife has worked in the criminal justice system for near 2 decades in various capacities. Basically if Tasmanian Police charge you, you've probably done it. If it goes to a hearing/trial, you've probably definitely done it (even if you are found not guilty). Because most things don't even have criminal charges laid, let alone go to trial or hearing. And that's just the stuff the cops/system knows about! Next you will be telling me democracy actually works and politicians are actually in control and know what they're doing! 😵😵

As I am discovering from my victims of crime counsellor wife and her lawyer-prosecutor friend, the criminal justice is a lot more convoluted than "guilty v non-guilty" or "charge v non-charge" or "go to a hearing v don't go to a hearing" let alone taking into account judge and magistrate personal preferences. Suffice to say most criminals are never even charged due to lack of evidence and sometimes even when there is evidence, the prosecutors don't bother for a number of reasons from laziness to its too hard to the victim is unreliable,* cops or prosecutor doesn't like the victim to cops just fucked up (eg not interviewing witnesses for 6 months, losing paper work) to one case where prosecutor was in a sexual relationship with a known criminal. *Because lawyers are allowed to completely defame a witness in a court room whilst alleged perpetrator's priors cannot be mentioned. Also in many cases victims don't want to go to trial or have charges laid because it's too stressful, they fear for their lives or lives of children and pets, they fear the impact on their reputation the situation is complex (eg financial or children) or they don't believe the criminal justice system will work (because most of the time it doesn't - anywhere up to 24 months for a hearing and then the perp gets 2 months gaol time which they might have already served and are thus released. Also from personal experience, modern law and systems of accountability are so convoluted that responsibility is too difficult to determine (eg my employer covering up for pedophile) or government/organisation wants to avoid embarrassment (hence people that covered up pedophile or two executives who committed fraud were let go quietly). Suffice to say 99/100 the bad guy probably did it but the system doesn't work so they don't even get charged let alone found guilty. So I think the guy from Inquisition probably did it but whether anything comes of it is another story.

Anthrax - State of Euphoria Sepultura - Chaos AD

Metallica - Metallica I enjoy this album and never got sick of it (joys of being poor and being unable to afford new music or even a CD player when I was young).

At my work indigenous Australians have been allowed to cancel meetings, appointments and take urgent leave because Australia voted against a referendum to create an indigenous advisory committee in our constitution. Nothing like medical staff of certain races taking time off because of democracy. World's gone fucking mad!

Other Vio-lence, that's a great set! Gorefest - Mindloss

Black Flag - Damaged on vinyl Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream on vinyl

Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream Edge of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows Edge of Sanity - Crimson Entombed - Clandestine Back when Swedish metal was fucking phenomenal!

Wow I don't envy you. I don't think I could handle that given I am a 6 foot tall office rat with an aversion to exercise.

Entombed - Clandestine

Metallica - 72 Seasons Testament - Low

My facial features aren't Slavic. I look more Kazakh as does my whole family on my father's side. My skin is also darker than Slavs and similar to Kazakhs and other Turkic people. My mum looks Turkish and has extremely dark skin even by Turkish standards. Last time I checked Asiatic/Turkish features and olive/brown skin don't make one white. It could well be there's gypsy (Indian) or some other ethnicity in my blood lines. I have met other people from my part of the world (Bosnians and Croats) whose skin and facial features were even darker and facial features almost Indian. Back to my teacher friend, he is now making statements that the whole pronoun thing is part of a conspiracy to turn western societies into socialist dictatorships.

Very true. Thanks to internet and social fragmentation, stupidity and ignorance are becoming espoused as legitimate view points by people who should know better.

True but you'd expect a bit more logical thinking.

That cover is total crap indeed! Death Angel - Killing Season Not a thrash album but a superb album indeed. Combo's up Death Angel circa 1991's superb Act III with some more modern leanings (think Bush era Anthrax) and hits hard in terms of both performance and song writing.

True that any character can be resurrected. But in this instance they actively destroyed the concept of the whole character. Even when Professor X get killed for all of 5 minutes, they didn't make him into a racist ultranationalist pedophile. I am not aware of any other time Marvel has done this. In fact what they did here was mainly character assassination ie destroyed the essence of the character because they don't like what he represents and they don't like his fanbase. And before I get accused of being a white MAGA type, I am just having a heated debate with a teacher I know. He thinks trans people are undermining democracy and part of a Chinese/Russian conspiracy to undermine traditional family values. And him a teacher at that! Oh and I am not white