Well slap me on the arse and call me Mary. You two agree. My take is a bit different - although I don't disagree with the sentiment, and I'm not convinced, but I offer.... There are intelligence/military/geo-political strategist minds that are the selected advisers at the top levels of the US Government (no matter the party in power) - that you'd like to think contribe views and options that are not dogmatic, not partisan, just facts and viewpoints considered, and evaluated by leaders. They do their job in delivering their expertise for others to consider along with other views. So one respectable/arguable position is to say NATO is valuable in that while the USSR has ceased to exist, Russia and its current President and outlook, for right or wrong, should be considered a potential threat to NATO, and non-NATO democracies. So while I am interested in the position that NATO has indeed outlived it's usefulness as it makes perfect sense, I believe there is a valid, if not strong counter to that. So you make a good case John and I largely agree with it, but I can't help but think NATO may be a good counter balance to Russia's view of itself, history, and what Putin might consider as "righting past wrongs" from his perspective. The dog that the US has in the fight is simply a matter of promoting (preserving?) Democratic values and systems of Government over Autocratic - or less desirable (and demonstratably LESS efficient/advanced) systems of Government. I don't think that is in and of itself a bad "thing" - but how far should the US go? If the US are not the "police of the world" - someone else will be. Better it be the superpower that has liberty and people as central to power at it's core than authoritarians. I would go so far as to say it is more dangerous to let authoritarian systems expand unchecked in the world than to actively engage and counter them. Diplomatically first and foremost, but also as if it means something to you. Joe Rogans DMT experiences, which he has gone into in depth with while interviewing interesting guests who took similar journeys at the least speaks to other dimensions or potential planes of existence that - at least for those who take that journey - is very, very real. Our 5 senses are great. What of the alien life form that has 8, or 12, or 50 senses? What of the lifeform that cuts through what we basically lack through our own biological limitations???? To think the human experience is the "height" of biological possibility is the absolute extreme of over confidence. But then again, Humans produced the music of Led Zeppelin. Cheers my friends!

Exact same here but with seasons reversed.

Companies that pay workers 2 bucks an hour, then rely on a forced "Social welfare" of the customers to bring the pay up to something resembling reasonable, naturally allowing for shit cunt bosses to stiff their lowly workers by keeping tips, is just insane. It's a baked in "small business welfare scheme". Complete bullshit that is akin to a form of bastardised socialism. I tip at restaurants here when the service is good - which it almost always is. I think equal to tipping (here - since wages are much less of an issue) is I make sure to say good evening and a big thank you to the waiters/servers. But that's just good manners.

So once again my missus wins tickets in a competition. Two tics to the David Bowie tribute show down on the Goldie. Thanks Rebel FM. Can't wait to meet Davo, second best DJ I've ever heard. (Alice takes the #1 spot)

maaaate, even up here (Ipswich) it's another mid-20's day that has not stopped raining. We have dead set had about 4 days of summer in total so far.

When we stream Nights with Alice Cooper of a weekend here, it is from Friday night's show and streamed from an American radio broadcast so we get to hear American ads. We (missus and I) are constantly amazed and laughing at how insane US advertisers are. The Ads there are crazy different in the approach to "selling". Liberty ads are annoying, always some short irrelevant story that makes us cringe/laugh followed by the jingle. Then there is that "Oh, your a Dad, be a good Dad!" ad. "Brought to you by the Ad Council" - whatever the fuck that is. It is always entertaining as we don't really get used to them. There is also an anti-bullying jingle that we still can't figure out who it's actually aimed at. The jingle is so funny we do a little dance to it now. It's always fun listening to those kooky ads.

^that was a great watch.

the cooler and very wet "summer" continues... Haven't seen the sun for a week now.

JPJ and Bonzo are highlights on St Louis NQ. Jimmy and Robert are by no means left behind, but man, Bonzo especially (for me) just kills it. Jones and Page also combine in sublime ways. the middle breakdown is so, so good.

Feeling good again after a week of feeling like absolute shit. Non-stop headache and just drained. Don't think it's the Covid, even took a RAT - which was neg. it's good to feel good again in time for my birthday and a 5 day weekend. And I have garden fresh herbs to boot!

yeah, I'll take it! The older I get, the less tolerant of the heat I get. Seems summer is a younger man's game unfortunately. Still hoping to get up to the sunny coast one more time for a swim, but man, this summer is MIA.

Mildish and WET summer continues here my friend. Non stop rain - which is set to continue all weekend. So much for riding to Mt Tambourine markets with the cheese and kisses....

Bonkers

Pissing down rain.

That was outstanding, thanks for posting it. If RockWiz ever returns, I really hope they try hard to get Percy on. Gary Glitter next week, well that didn't age well... LOL.

Check your messages.

Magnificent summer day after a midnight storm watered the garden. GREAT lazy Sunday.

This site is "just the facts, mam..." - not political slant either way, just DATA. https://www.covid19data.com.au/ Is there a similar site that compiles official data from the US, EU and GB I wonder....?

beautiful sunny, cloudy day - but too much wind for a lazy backyard fire. Hoping the weather continues to grow into actual summer - but not too much....

Afterlife Season 3 dropped, watched the first ep, was great - as was expected. Will resist as much as possible the impulse to binge it then stew on how there is no more. Like the Witcher.... Fucks sake.

Not yet, last run around was (I think) 3 am last week or so - but that's why i love this site, sooner or leter it will pass over at a good time on a good (cloud free) night. I have however seen a couple of the older satellites that tumble in such a way they appear to "blink" - on for a second or so, then off, and repeat. They are also pretty cool. I have seen the ISS a few times with the kids which was exciting as well.

Seeing Bob Lazar on Rogan cemented for me that he was not a con-artist just full of shit. Does not fit the facts at all. (him knowing about the element that was confirmed publicly 10 years later - even by name/number!, the fact they tried to wipe his entire life/existence which is largely now known/proven). So given his experience, yeah, I think the Gov't (probably other Gov'ts as well) have things they could well "disclose". Problem is, imagine the US Government admitting they had lied about, and kept hidden from the public, the most important discovery in human history for decades! I reckon they have painted themselves into a corner because of this. Distrust of Govt is already a nightmare, this could well be catastrophic in that respect. Not only that, there is a genuine national security case to keep things on the down low. If such advanced technology is in the hands of the Govt, it is a potential game changer in that if successfully reverse engineered and understood, it is nothing short of world domination for the society first past that post. That is why I genuinely think we are not ready in terms of disclosure, but it is a great pity.

For those that love to see satellites lazily pass by, or show the kids a bit of a thrill, I find this a great resource. https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

Exactly the same here, and it was fairly recently (within the last 5 years) I saw the rings. Just blew me away.