the NSW government is a joke

 Surely we are looking at a change of government in March when we have the NSW election.

The government is fighting among themselves, a sure sign they have been in too long. The decision to have trade officers in various countries when the NSW budget needs serious repair was simply breath taking and a total waste of money.

The Premier now looks indecisive and out of his depth. you have one minister so out of touch he says he will take the treasurer's job if he becomes deputy leader. The same person who lacked the guts to contest the federal seat of Parramatta. You have another accused of leaking against the Premier. You have another forced to resign because things occurred that he said that didn't occur.

THEN you have a whole bunch of them who thought that it was okay if Barilaro got the trade role in New York. Salary of over $400k plus expense account of $100k. No-one thought of this being viewd as a job for the boys. Then we find out the person who became the Agent General in the UK wanted to double the salary as well as taking care of a number of expenses such as removals, school education etc. Then when the minister goes to London to attempt to get the F1 to Sydney he has nothing to do with him!

All this simply heightens my argument of voting against any government after two terms.

I should two things.

Barilaro has always been a poor politician. Remember his party lost two SAFE seats last election.

Politicians can make good diplomats. The trade position was not about diplomacy but about getting business for NSW. Barilaro has bugger all skills or background for the job.

Carbon tax on wheels

A great article from renew economy about changing fuel economy standards.

As Mr Spock would say very interesting

Cold Chisel

 I was never a great fan of Cold Chisel mainly because I did not like Jimmy Barnes but they could produce some great rockers such as this one Rising Sun.  Enjoy

Around the Traps 5/8/22

 It is time again for Around the Traps.

Aussie,Aussie,Aussie,Oy,Oy,Oy

• Dennis Muller on albanese-wants-to-change-the-way-politics-is-done-this-means-the-way-politics-is-reported-will-have-to-change-too
• Anne Twomey on creating-a-constitutional-voice-the-words-that-could-change-australia
• Neal Hughes on after-floods-will-come-droughts-again-better-indicators-will-help-us-respond
• Umair Ghori on hey-minister-leave-that-gas-trigger-alone-it-may-fire-up-a-fight-with-foreign-investors
• Marie-Claire Seeley on long-covid-should-make-us-rethink-disability-and-the-way-we-offer-support-to-those-with-invisible-conditions
• Paul Kildea on what-can-history-teach-us-to-ensure-a-successful-referendum-for-a-first-nations-voice-to-parliament
• Marianne Hanson on can-we-please-have-real-debate-nuclear-submarines
• Ross Gittins on were-struggling-with-inflation-because-we-misread-the-pandemic
• renew economy on two-cheers-for-the-tightening-of-the-safeguard-mechanism, big-spinning-machines-remove-constraints-on-wind-and-solar, aemo-urges-accelerated-shift-to-renewables-amid-coal-failures-and-soaring-fossil-fuel-costs, held-to-ransom-damning-report-shows-gas-cartel-throwing-away-social-licence, what-will-a-storage-target-cost-electricity-consumers, there-is-no-shortage-of-gas-or-fossil-fuel-cartels-in-australia, solar-is-the-cheapest-power-a-lightbulb-moment-showed-we-can-cut-costs-even-further, how-australia-created-its-own-gas-price-mess
• Vu Lam on can-australia-recapture-the-spirit-of-middle-power-diplomacy
• croaking cassandra on reviewing-covid-monetary-policy-part-1, reviewing-covid-monetary-policy-part-2, of-primary-interest-to-former-reserve-bank-staff
• Christopher Davey on the-chemical-imbalance-theory-of-depression-is-dead-but-that-doesnt-mean-antidepressants-dont-work
• Samantha Hepburn on the-gas-trigger-wont-be-enough-to-stop-our-energy-crisis-escalating-we-need-a-domestic-reservation-policy
• Peter Martin on why-does-the-rba-keep-hiking-interest-rates-its-scared-it-cant-contain-inflation
• Ross Gittins on a-damaged-environment-leads-to-an-unlivable-economy
• Elise Klein on has-labor-learnt-from-the-failure-of-the-cashless-debit-card
• Ben Phillips on inflation-isnt-the-6-1-they-say-it-is-for-many-of-us-it-is-much-lower
• Richard Kingsford on its-official-the-murray-darling-basin-plan-hasnt-met-its-promise-to-our-precious-rivers-so-where-to-now
• Kate Crowley on the-greens-have-backed-labors-43-target-but-dont-think-australias-climate-wars-are-over
• Greg Jericho on australias-economy-is-set-to-grow-slower-than-it-ever-has-outside-of-recession-this-is-bad-news-for-our-standard-of-living
• Phillip Laird on more-than-ever-its-time-to-upgrade-the-sydney-melbourne-railway
• Rachel Wilson et al on this-is-like-banging-our-heads-against-the-wall-why-a-move-to-outsource-lesson-planning-has-nsw-teachers-hopping-mad

Northern America

• Menzie Chinn on in-these-times-advance-to-3rd-gdp-growth-rates
• Dahlia Lithick and Mark Stern on alito-rome-religious-liberty-foreign-leaders-secularism
• noahopinion on the-us-education-system-gets-decent-value-for-money, industrial-policy-starts-with-semiconductors, could-we-sanction-china-if-we-had-to
• new deal democrat on long-leading-indicators-embedded-in-q2-gdp-suggest-a-recession-is-near-at-hand
• the conversable economist on the-invention-of-peaches-and-pimentos
• the grumpy economist on inflation-explainer
• Brad De Long on biden-chips-ira-climate-legislation
• Very Serious on the-big-question-about-the-inflation Thanks Brad
• slow boring on how-the-green-new-deal-became-the-inflation-reduction-act thanks Brad
• Ian Millhiser on supreme-court-roe-wade-substantive-due-process-samuel-alito
• Institutional Economics on recession-is-as-recession-does
• Rebecca Leber on heat-wave-ac-energy-bill-utilities
• Rani Molla on kansas-abortion-referendum-primary-turnout-charts
• Dylan Mathews on shark-attack-1916-woodrow-wilson-political-science-achen-bartels-fowler-hall
• Zack Beauchamp on trump-gop-control-august-gop-primary-2022
• Jeremy Stahl on donald-trump-2024-presidency-rnc-desantis

Europe

• Grant Wyeth on water-matters-fate-baltic-ferries-tell-global-order
• Tory Lysik on the-attack-on-a-prison-holding-ukraine-pows-explained-russia
• stumbling and mumbling on energy-bills-rentiers-vs-entrepreneurs
• Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Stephen Tian on russia-economy-sanctions-myths-ruble-business Thanks Brad
• global inequality on on-import-substitution-fukuyama-eternal Thanks Brad
• Ian Hill on russia-and-turkey-sometimes-strongmen-need-get-along
• Mainly Macro on brexit-supporters-constantly-deny-that-any-problems-of-brexit-have-anything-to-do-with-brexit
• Unpopular Front on orban-the-toe Thanks Brad
• Miriam Ronzoni on the-upcoming-elections-in-italy

Asia

• Mercedes Page on unpacking-china-s-global-development-initiative
• Ferdouse Asefi on afghanistan-a-year-after-the-taliban-occupation-an-ongoing-war-on-human-rights
• Adam Lockyer on will-pelosi-s-trip-trigger-next-taiwan-crisis
• Tony Walker on pelosis-visit-to-taiwan-raises-temperatures-but-its-in-everyones-interest-to-cool-them-down-again

Wonk

• Tim Harford on how-to-save-more-lives-and-avoid-a-privacy-apocalypse
• Uneasy Money on lucas-and-sargent-on-optimization-and-equilibrium-in-macroeconomics
• Ingrid Robeyn on paying-lipservice-ticking-boxes-and-doing-what-it-takes
• noahopinion on the-war-economy-sizing-up-the-new-axis
• the warning on do-we-want-democracy-too Thanks Brad
• Haroro Ingram et al on who-was-ayman-al-zawahri-where-does-his-death-leave-al-qaida-and-what-does-it-say-about-us-counterterrorism
• Syed Haider on killing-al-qaeda-chief-leaves-endless-questions
• the conversable economist on when-civilizations-collide-economists-and-politicians
• Haroro Ingram et al on who-was-ayman-al-zawahri-where-does-his-death-leave-al-qaida-and-what-does-it-say-about-us-counterterrorism
• David Kenner on yemen-power-ambition-humanitarian-catastrophe
• Fintan O'Toole on the-irish-lesson
• Coppolla comment on where-has-all-money-gone
• Kruggers on russia-ukraine-war-embargo-gas Thanks Nick

General

• Christopher Risely and Tessa Vernstrom on we-found-some-strange-radio-sources-in-a-distant-galaxy-cluster-theyre-making-us-rethink-what-we-thought-we-knew
• Michael Brown on is-the-james-webb-space-telescope-finding-the-furthest-oldest-youngest-or-first-galaxies-an-astronomer-explains

Climate

• Open Mind on not-even-wrong, french-heat
• and Then Theres Physics on fail-better
• moyhu on claim-new-bombshell-report
• Laura Borreguerro et al on troubling-new-research-shows-warm-waters-rushing-towards-the-worlds-biggest-ice-sheet-in-antarctica
• Skeptical Science on how likely would britains heatwave be without climate change
• Davis Schissell on carbon-captures-methane-problem-new-report-shows-technology-doesnt-live-hype

Andrew Gelman ( mainly stats)

• if-the-outcome-is-that-rare-then-theres-nothing-much-can-be-learned-from-pure-statistics
  
• this-journal-is-commissioning-a-sequel-to-one-of-my-smash-hits-how-much-will-they-pay-me-for-it-you-can-share-negotiation-strategies-in-the-comments-section
  
• heres-a-little-problem-to-test-your-probability-intuitions
  
• can-some-major-media-outlet-please-give-david-weakliem-a-regular-column-as-soon-as-possible
  
• solution-to-that-little-problem-to-test-your-probability-intuitions-and-why-i-think-its-poorly-stated
  
• still-more-on-the-heckman-curve
  
• does-having-kids-really-protect-you-from-serious-covid%e2%80%9119-symptoms
  
• the-scandal-isnt-whats-illegal-the-scandal-is-whats-legal-application-of-kinsleys-rule-to-science
  
• Kaiser Fung on data-flows-behind-secure-debit-cards

Econometrics

• Marc Bellamare on why not insure prices

Dianne Coyle ( quirky + book reviews)

• noahopinion on underrated-sci-fi-and-fantasy-books

Vox Wonk

• macroeconomic-costs-conflict-impact-gdp-and-refugee-flows
  
• transatlantic-economy-policy-responses-pandemic-and-road-recovery
  
• russia-ukraine-war-european-financial-integration-and-crises
  
• role-venture-capital-and-governments-clean-energy
  
• mainstream-media-and-electoral-outcomes
  
• deciphering-monetary-policy-shocks
  
• adapting-flood-risk-evidence-global-cities
  
• executive-compensation-tied-esg-performance
  
• temperature-shocks-and-monetary-policy-us
  
• executive-compensation-tied-esg-performance
  
• tracking-us-inequality-real-time
  
• central-bank-communication-times-high-inflation
  
• top-income-inequality-and-tax-policy
  
• tracking-us-inequality-real-time
  
• central-bank-communication-times-high-inflation
  

Exciting news on solar power

 READ all about it.

We have plenty of gas

 There is talk of a gas shortage of gas in Australia. Not TRUE.

The goose who essentially created this mess was Marn Ferguason. The champion of the ALP  member who  never ever had to worry about a pre-selection ballot told all and sundry way back when Australia did not need a reservation policy. I wonder where he is now

I am not happy with Kia

 We bought a Kia Cerato some 7 years ago. Thus far we were happy with the car.

About a month ago we had the last 'capped price' service done. ( It turns out it isn't capped at all. you do pay more if something needs to be done like say the brakes!)

Imagine my surprise when we put the car in to the garage to find out what the noise around the engine was. metal chunks were found in the oil and i am told the car needs a new engine. 

Surely this is the problem of the car . So a decision has to be made as well as a stern letter writtern to Kia about this.

Grrrr