Interesting stuff

I was invited to a function at Randwick, everything laid on in one of the sponsored Marquees. Top shelf spirits, French champagne, primo beers.

As the day wore on, things got pretty loose I can tell you. One of Australia's top swimmers was there, olympic medallist, totally up himself made a complete muppet of himself trying to snaffle another blokes lady.

Come to think of it, it wasn't a bad day.

One of the members of the Mean Machine?

Nope.

I don't think it would be appropriate to say who. Bit of a fallen star I'm afraid.

hmmmm exponent of the Butterfly?

I'd say more so Freestyle..

Dad was a keen punter and had a system. He loved horses, having been taught to ride in the Scottish highlands as a boy. Before he passed, he passed the system on to my bro and self. He would regularly, in winnings alone, pay for the trip to the Melbourne Cup from Perth, or even Goodwood or Royal Ascot. $10 bets. Discipline.

I've used it a couple of times, not being a horsey or TAB person, and I love the maths and qualitative vetting of it, turning into Rain Man when it's on.. Most glorious result was a track about 20 or 40 miles south of London, we had no idea of the conditions or form or personalities - but decided to give it a shot anyway. Early on, and eating lunch we were down. Then it began to work, and by the last race we were in front of the bookies stands on the finish line high 5-ing as we cleaned up a few hundred pounds. Onya Dad!

I’m friends with a lady who used to date an Australian cricket player, a decade or two ago in their glory days. She told me a story about a night at the Alan Border Medal, how during the night she took a moment to leave the presentation and relieve herself. While she was in the cubicle, alone, she heard some noises which was obviously a man and a woman entering the bathroom and proceeding to get all hot n heavy with each other in the adjacent cubicle, seemingly oblivious that she was there. She pretty much froze as you’d expect, but listened to the hot sex that was obviously happening, and then after a short time, attempted to quietly leave her cubicle. The couple finished their moment at the same time and hurriedly opened their cubicle door to leave, at this point the 3 of them all met facing each other. Embarrassed, the male cricketer put his finger to his lips as if to say shush, as the girl he was with was not his wife, she was out at the dinner table still enjoying the night.
I won’t name names but I’m talking a very big name here. Huge in fact, and no not Warnie.

Zen, last seen in Crown Casino wearing his singlet as underwear?

Can't say Goof, in fairness to him.

Let’s face it most elite sportsmen and women spend so much time training and very little else you would expect more social mishaps when it comes to drinking.

isn't alcohol is the significant element here, rather than being a professional sporting person? we have all played one of those three roles in a toilet somewhere at least once, if not many times.

A couple of pretty fair points re. the cup...

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219374264883081&id=1105232365&se...

https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_permalink/?graphql_id=UzpfSTIzMTk3M...

An interesting article in a similar vein to what johhno posted a couple of days ago...

"In the conventional view of American politics, Joe Biden is a moderate, while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are on the left and Donald Trump is on the right.

This conventional view is rubbish. The most powerful force in American politics today is anti-establishment fury at a rigged system. There are no longer "moderates." There's no longer a "center." Today's great divide is not between left and right. It's between democracy and oligarchy."

"...Politicoreports that Democratic-leaning executives on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley and across the corporate world are watching her with an increasing panic. "Ninety-seven percent of the people I know in my world are really, really fearful of her," billionaire Michael Novogratz told Bloomberg.

These Democratic oligarchs hope Biden, or perhaps Pete Buttigieg or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, can still take Warren out. In just the third quarter, Buttigieg raised around $25,000 from executives at finance firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and hedge fund giants like Bridgewater, Renaissance Technologies and Elliott Management. And another $150,000 from donors who described their occupation as "investor."

If Biden implodes and neither Buttigieg nor Klobuchar takes the lead away from Warren, Wall Street and corporate Democrats hope former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will ride into the Democratic primary at the last minute."

https://www.newsweek.com/establishment-oligarchy-democracy-2020-election...

It's going to be a funny old election in 2020 if warren gets the nomination and the big money folk from the doomacrats cannot bring themselves to vote for warren. self interest will probably override any of the false morality we've heard spieled out over the last four years and trump will get over the line...

more than funny, it's going to be fucking hilarious

...speaking of funny...

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/04/the-stakes-are-enormous-...

bbahahahahahahaha

Just to lighten the mood, how cool is this photo...

https://m.facebook.com/TheEntranceWaterfront/photos/a.809513362441030/26..."414352755290428"%3A%7B"page_id"%3A414352755290428%2C"actor_id"%3A902435143%2C"attached_story"%3A%7B"page_id"%3A414352755290428%2C"actor_id"%3A414352755290428%2C"dm"%3A%7B"isShare"%3A0%2C"originalPostOwnerID"%3A0%7D%2C"psn"%3A"EntStatusCreationStory"%2C"post_context"%3A%7B"object_fbtype"%3A266%2C"publish_time"%3A1572994901%2C"story_name"%3A"EntStatusCreationStory"%2C"story_fbid"%3A%5B2637937226265292%5D%7D%2C"role"%3A1%2C"sl"%3A5%7D%2C"dm"%3A%7B"isShare"%3A0%2C"originalPostOwnerID"%3A0%7D%2C"psn"%3A"EntStatusCreationStory"%2C"role"%3A1%2C"sl"%3A5%2C"targets"%3A%5B%7B"actor_id"%3A902435143%2C"page_id"%3A414352755290428%2C"post_id"%3A2637937226265292%2C"role"%3A1%2C"share_id"%3A0%7D%5D%7D%7D&__tn__=EHH-R

I couldn't resist after your little labrador discussion

WTF? Sypkan's posting pet photos?

As I always say, everybody loves a happy dog.

Speaking of happiness, here's something to get stuck into, maybe more than once.

https://aeon.co/essays/how-did-being-happy-become-a-matter-of-relentless...

Of course there are a lot of different facets to this topic but my fundamental thoughts are as follows:

Your thought processes tend to be self-fulfilling - if you are told, and if you tell yourself that you're "depressed" etc etc and you wallow in that little pigeonhole, it's going to become your reality. Hence the danger of a frivolous diagnosis and the resulting label.

The issues with following the U.S. with regards to self-diagnosis, self-treatment and then onto the massive growth of the "wellness" industry is self evident. And once Pandora's Box has been opened up, I don't think you can close it, especially with the internet, social media and vested business interests.

This is in a loop with extreme individual liberalism/libertarianism ("I can think/do/believe whatever I want") and encourages people to disappear up there own proverbial.

For me, the key points are to let no-one tell you/dictate to you/demand of you that you MUST be happy.
In my opinion, merely being "content" is just fine, you just can't compare yourself to T.V., advertising etc, that stuff is incredibly toxic.

"Compared with, say, the French, who are generally content to live outside of happiness – happiness being unsophisticated, not the marker of a life well lived"

I think this statement is quite profound - to follow the American-Style happy-clapper delusion is infantile. It is crucial to acknowledge both the positive and the negative, anything else is a lie.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I favour Australia becoming a Republic however over the last two weeks on ABC TV I have watched a program called Prince Charles Inside The Dutchy of Cornwall. I did so to see the glorious English countryside and gardens (I watch Escape to the Country for the same reason). As much as I love the bush here there is something very beautiful about the English countryside.

Anyway the thing I wasn't expecting was how important the Prince and the farmers featured in the program place on caring for the land and handing it down in better shape for the next generation. Some of these farms go back 700 years! Now that also is talked about here but drought, climate and mining is mostly kicking that for six.

In the hard world we now live in its a quiet, low key, good news story if you can get over the monarchy angle. Recommended.

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/prince-charles-inside-the-duchy-of-cornwall

..... that picture of the lab body surfing posted by sypkan, that's exactly how my labs have done it, they loved shoreys.

Well, it does have a wave in it too...

Three of my favourite things, a dog, a wave, and surfing.

A crazy ball dog body surfing a wave, life doesn't get much better, for me or the dog...

Couldn't agree more andym re. hapiness and contentment

The wellness industry, advertising, media, social media and psychologists have much to answer for in the over diagnosis of depression.

A lot to be said for what appears to be the miserable contentment ways of the french

the miserable fuckers seem much more 'balanced' than other western societies

Meanwhile in oz - arguably one of the best countries in the world - we have one of the highest rates of females taking anti-depressents in the world, ...even amongst the overly privelaged, 'mindful' yoga godesses...

Maybe because Australia is one of the most consumerist, materialistic countries.

Blame advertising, media, and doctors prescribing bloody antidepressants, not psychologists.

Police strip searching children in train stations over minor offences - Australia is the land of stupid fascist laws!

I blame all of the above island bay ray.

I just wish the goddesses would embrace a bit of that 'mindfulness' and ''hollistic' thinking they claim to practice, and stop being such victims to the system. and stop buying (and buying into) so much self indulgent bullshit

all psychologists may not bear responsibility, but a certain stream of thinking amongst them does. or at least their academic gurus that peddle that certain stream of self help rubbish.

I hate to go all Jordan Peterson, and I don't know if he's a psychologist or psychiatrist (so no facto, not a full blown fanboy) but his lectures tend to say life is tough, it's not a bed of roses. so you better prepare yourself for when shit falls apart, because it will.

You re going to face a full blown catastrophe at some stage of your life, if not you, someone in your family will, so you better be prepared. He also says he's amazed how well stuff works in the modern world - cars, electricity grids, governments cough cough, institutions, water, the whole kit and kaboodle - and it's only a matter of time before the western world faces a full blown disaster to the infrastructure. The modern thinking and education system just doesn't prepare kids for this shit, it's a fundamental failure of the modern system, and we need to prepare people, need to do better...

Good advice I reckon.

The current thinking has raised a generation of pussies for want of a better term...

"...You can text until your fingers bleed, but that won’t neutralize the incentive structure leading younger workers to avoid difficult or awkward conversations with their potential bosses. The factors that have contributed to a culture of conflict avoidance among young adults were identified by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in their landmark 2015 Atlantic essay “The Coddling of the American Mind” (which later became a book by the same name). In it, the authors cite an article published in Inside Higher Ed, which explores the psychological orientation among students and their educators that led to the widespread adoption of “trigger warnings” appended onto the introduction of literary works that explore challenging or uncomfortable themes. These notices serve “as a guarantee that students will not experience unexpected discomfort and implies that if they do, a contract has been broken.

Lukianoff and Haidt elaborate on this “contract” in their book’s exploration of the phenomenon of “safetyism,” an ideological obsession with avoiding all forms of trauma and distress—even the emotional sort—which is in vogue on college campuses. The generation that incubated in these unnaturally pleasant conditions is now coming of age.

It only stands to reason that a cultural aversion for interactions that cause discomfort would include the relationship between an employer and the employed, especially in the adversarial stages of that relationship when both parties are engaged in negotiations over compensation and work-life balance. Discontinuing that relationship altogether, particularly for entirely personal reasons, can be uncomfortable. The path of least resistance is to avoid potentially conflictual interpersonal engagements. Compulsive conflict avoidance is, however, not only rude but unproductive and unhealthy. “Ghosting” isn’t just ignoring a problem in the hope that it will go away or changing the subject; it’s a complete cognitive and emotional shutdown."

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/ghosting-conflict-av...

I'd go a step or two further back. we've recently had a school system that tries to fill kids up with false self esteem, telling them they're all 'special', all 'amazing', all the most significant thing in the world, and given them a participation trophy just for getting out of bed in the morning. against all their own theory and logic, the educators endeavoured to fill the kids up with self esteem like an 'empty vessel'. Most people realise self esteem comes from hard work and moderate success, yet the system tried to do otherwise.

As the article above states, that generation is now coming to fruition, coming into the real world, with all it's harsh realities. most would argue that generation is totally ill equipped thanks to that practice.

Thankfully that thinking is now changing. Now the system tries to build resilience in children, teaching them to be independent and tougher, rather than topping them up with hollow self esteem.

A much better strategy I would argue. but possibly too little too late...

Yeah but got any labrador photos?

not on hand

I'm sure guysmiley has...

While we wait for the lab pics, here's a Vizsla:

Awesome. Shiny coat. Well fed. Good fella.

Just in case anyone is worried about all the pressure to be happy:

One of my favourites. "No hope, no harm, just another false alarm..."

Stu/Ben used tinypic to load photos, they’re out of business now, what’s your preferred way again?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/07/johnny-marr-morriseey-smit...

Oh no!
Well, he was bloody good when he was good.

Just trying out blowins image hosting link with a picture of a castle in Scotland I took last week. Hope it works.....

10/10/19: The IMF tells countries, including Australia, that carbon taxes are the most efficient way of reducing carbon emissions while achieving economic growth.

07/11/19: At his farewell dinner, Tony Abbott was praised by Liberal party colleagues for policy achievements such as abolishing the carbon tax and the mining tax.

Didn't the Greens vote against the carbon tax when Rudd was in?..or was that something different?

ID, yeah they did.

Point being here, from Bretton Woods on down the IMF has been the ideological beacon for parties subscribing to the neolib agenda. The LNP wholeheartedly subscribe to said agenda....except when they play "retail politics" and tear down economic tools championed by ideological bedfellows. But there's no way, not even in hindsight, can those cynical actions be called a "policy achievement".

Abbott's farewell dinner sounds like a delusional daisy chain of epic proportions.

"his intelligence and depth of thought that wasn't properly appreciated by many of the modern-day journalists" - Peter Dutton

"you are genuinely a man for others" - Joe Hockey

Liars and sycophants all.

So if it's his farewell dinner is that the last we will hear publlcly from this tool?? One can only hope.

"I took a full load to the face this morning."

Gary G, paging Mr Gary G...

Haha, that's one pic we don't want to see....or think about really....

Met a bloke last weekend who works for the AFP who proudly boasted that he thought Abbott was the best PM we've ever had. When asked why, his response was because he was the only PM that ever came to one of their meetings!

For some reason Joe hockey always reminded me of baron von greenback from danger mouse...

Then there's this bloke...

November spawned a monster.