As a boy in the uk - we alwayas had a shotgun standing in the corner of the kitchen - not loaded - but there were always 4 cartridges rattling about in “the kitchen drawer” - my mum often used to bag a couple of pigeons or a pheasant which strayed into the garden ! 
Good wholesome food - from before “Ancell Keys” and his High Carb indoctrination of our Governments!
Surely you Aussies used to nail a few rabbits or a Kangaroo in those days too ?
1996 was halcyon times when Governments were still trusted… Australia had a Gun Amesty, so all weapons, unregistered, unlicensed could be handed in without prosecution. Over 650k Firearms were handed in or bought back by the Liberal (Right Leaning) Government of the day.
Ouch! @Falstaff I believe brewing one’s own Beer has never been illegal in the land of drought and flooding rains…A spirit making still… They might have a word in your ear…
Growing Tobacco, Chop Chop will definitely get you a tussle with law enforcement… The real issue… If you are caught selling it in largeish quantities, hell hath no fury like the Taxman missing out on his share.
Penalties for manufacturing or producing illicit tobacco include: criminal penalty – this is a criminal conviction with a prison sentence of up to 10 years or at least a $333,000 fine or both .
Licensed Tabacco hasn’t been grown in Australia since 2006…
As a kid (late 70’s), Dad always had .22 shells and Shotgun Cartridges hidden in the Pantry… We had an Air Rifle… Which a laughing Kangaroo was more likely to rip from your arms and Rifle Butt you with…
There are some people who say that UK abortion laws are good
Under the 1967 Abortion Act, women can have an abortion up to 24 weeks after approval from two doctors who “must agree having the baby would pose a greater risk to the physical or mental health of the woman than a termination,” per BBC. According to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), an abortion can legally be carried out if there is a “substantial risk” to the baby if it were to “suffer from physical or mental abnormalities.” It is also legal to terminate a pregnancy because of social or financial circumstances.
Abortions can be carried out after 24 weeks, but only if a woman’s life is in danger or if they are "at risk of grave physical and mental injury,” as well as a "severe foetal abnormality,” as reported by BBC. Abortion is available under the NHS in England, Scotland, and Wales. However, women living in Scotland and Wales may face limited services.
Despite women being allowed abortion access in England, Scotland, and Wales, it’s still a criminal offence for one to self-induce a pregnancy termination. Under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA), a woman can be charged a maximum life sentence if termination is self-induced by “procuring abortion medication and inducing an abortion by any means,” according to Novara Media.
Look like abortion is only a major issue in america
Abortion in Australia is legal. It has been fully decriminalised in all jurisdictions, starting with Western Australia in 1998 and lastly in South Australia in 2022.
Since at least the 1980s, opinion polls have shown a majority of Australians support abortion rights, and that support for abortion is increasing. While anti-abortion violence is rare in Australia, anti-abortion activists have used tactics including “verbal abuse, threats and impeding entry” outside abortion clinics.[1] In response, all jurisdictions have enacted laws prohibiting protesters from harassing visitors and staff within a certain radius of abortion clinics, starting with Tasmania in 2013 and lastly with Western Australia in 2021.
Man does it to himself and then blames others for his stupid behavior…
Notorious white supremacist and Holocaust denying right-wing political extremist Nick Fuentes weighed in on his shocking Mar-a-Lago dinner with his “hero” Donald Trump, a man he said he “loves.”
“We had a very interesting dinner, which I’m sure you’ve all read about,” Fuentes said Friday on his podcast about the get-together Tuesday with his pal Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and Trump.
Fuentes’ podcast was introduced on YouTube by Ye, whose antisemitic messages were blocked on Twitter earlier this year.
“I have to say about the events of the last week, I’m a little bit embarrassed in a certain sense because, you know, this has become a little bit of a scandal for President Trump,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes said he told Trump at the dinner: “Mr. President, you are one of the greatest Americans that has ever lived … I love you. I supported you all these years.”
The main problem is the easy availability of firearms in retail stores. If the procurement of firearms can be made more difficult, then mass shootings at schools or shopping malls may see a decline. Yes, there are illegal ways to obtain firearms, but it needs to start from somewhere, and I think the OTC sale of firearms should stop.
And yes, those who are glorifying the shooters and justifying their actions should keep in mind that their kids can also be in the firing line next time. One should be very careful while taking sides because it shows what type of America they want to build.
So true! Just like in the late 80’s president Reagan gave amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in exchange for the dems agreeing to secure our boarders, guess how that ended
With so much miss trust in government and a divided nation, stopping firearms sales is not going to happen.
Here is another suggestion, how about Hollywood ban guns from their movies, Most Hollywood movies are nothing but a 90-minute infomercial for gun violence. Think about it, you cannot light a cigarette on camera without getting an R rating slapped on the movie, so why not apply that standard to guns
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best
Wow! Bill Maher and I agree on something, I would consider this an excellent first step in addressing gun violence, and the great thing about it, it does not require Washington to vote on anything or spend a dime.
Why cannot the “Climate models” predict winters ?
Because they ignore the Sun !
Link is Green writing
"Studying the Role of the Sun on Climate - Willie Soon - YouTube
Do video games play a role?
Well - Here is a bit of something !
"
"Place your bets Ladies and Gentlemen "
I
How F-up is American healthcare, here is the cheapest plan offered on what the democrats call “The affordable care act” If you don’t qualify for a tax credit you will be charged $9261 a year in premiums ( this is for one person) , add that $7,000 deductible and you are looking at $16,261 before the insurance company pays a dime.
Solution; get the insurance companies and government out of our healthcare system, go back to the days of paying the doctor directly at the time of service
Having waited 8 years for a plan from the Republicans, what happened?
When his party fails to repeal and come up with a better health care plan, the man complains about the Democrats. 
Mr. independent for you
The Republicans don’t yet have a health care plan less than a year before the 2020 elections.
But based upon their 2017 Obamacare repeal and replace efforts, as well as a major document recently issued by the House Republican Study Committee, what might a Republican plan look like?
First, let’s review the plan House Republicans passed in 2017 during their failed repeal and replace efforts.
So much for the health for Americans! That’s total BS****
I agree with you man, let’s get back to old ways and start paying doctors, it’s better that way. This healthcare thing is nothing but a scam, which is run by none other than the government itself. Every scam is being portrayed as if it is so good for the countrymen, but in reality, it’s just another way to burn a hole in our already shrunk pockets.
As with everything in America, there is a third party involved.
When President Joe Biden outlined his legislative priorities during his first address to Congress last month, notably absent was a major campaign promise: a public health insurance option. Instead, his current health reform proposal will funnel $200 billion more to private insurance companies to subsidize premiums, without any requirement that they cap out-of-pocket costs or eliminate them altogether.
As a result of Biden’s approach, states have been left to introduce public option legislation themselves, in the process taking on some of the nation’s largest and most politically organized businesses. From coast to coast, health insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies are using every tactic at their disposal to block states from passing public option legislation.
Such efforts show how determined the industry is to block any sort of reform that threatens its massive profits.
It is impossible for Congress to pass a bill without the approval of lobbyists
When President Barack Obama meets with Congressional leadership on Thursday to jumpstart stalled health reform efforts, industry lobbyists will not be in the room. But if the successful 2009 lobbying effort to influence health reform legislation is any indication, special interests will be well represented.
A Center for Public Integrity analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms shows that more than 1,750 companies and organizations hired about 4,525 lobbyists – eight for each member of Congress – to influence health reform bills in 2009.
Among industries, 207 hospitals lined up to lobby, followed by 105 insurance companies and 85 manufacturing companies. Trade, advocacy, and professional organizations trumped them all with 745 registered groups that lobbied on health reform bills, illustrating the common Washington strategy of special interests banding together to pool money and increase their influence.
You are 100% correct, government-run healthcare in America is one big scam, and it all started with the introduction of Medicare, with obamacare being the cherry on top
We do not need a Republican plan either, the solution is to get government and insurance companies out of our healthcare and let the free market dictate price. Another thing that will reduce costs is more doctors, we do not have enough doctors, and to become a doctor in the US requires about $200,000 in student loan debt. The whole system is a cluster-f-ck
This picture tells you everything you need to know, Global Warming or climate change is not an environmental movement, it is a political movement. It is all about money and power. If you doubt this then look at how much Al Gore’s net worth has increased, up about 3,000% since his VP days. On a percentage basis, that is better than Buffet, Gates, and Bezos. The only one to do better is Musk and he builds electric cars,
This sounds good, but it goes deeper than that. We have to take power away from these people. Congress won’t do that, they have too much power.
As with many industries in America, it is controlled by outside forces
While most people believe that our healthcare industry is one comprised of free markets, it is anything but. The industry is completely distorted by government manipulation.[1]
To start with, the American Medical Association (AMA) has had a government-granted monopoly on the healthcare system for over 100 years. It has intentionally restricted the number of doctors allowed to practice medicine so as to raise physician incomes artificially. The primary way it does this is by using the coercive power of the state to restrict the number of approved medical schools in operation. After the AMA created its Council on Medical Education in 1904, state medical boards complied with the AMA’s recommendation to close down medical schools.
Within three years, 25 schools had been shut down, and the number of students at remaining schools was reduced by 50 percent. After three more years, 10 more schools were closed. Since that time, the US population has increased by 284 percent, while the number of medical schools has declined by 26 percent to 123.[2] In 1996, the peak year for applications, only 16,500 candidates were accepted out of 47,000. While high rejection rates can be common in many schools, applicants to medical schools are usually among the brightest and highest-quality students and have put themselves through a very costly admissions process.
High rejection rates are why so many aspiring doctors attend medical schools in the Caribbean, where they are prepared to be American doctors. The medical monopoly also marginalizes or outlaws alternative or slightly alternative (i.e., competing) medical practices, along with nurses and midwives, who could perform many of the tasks doctors do today.
The AMA also has monopoly power over the state boards, which issue licenses. A physician can practice only by having a state license (licenses in general exist primarily to prevent competition). Each state has licensing boards consisting of AMA members who decide which applicants, according to them, are competent and morally fit. The boards also have police and enforcement powers to monitor their own kind and keep as many nasty incidents as possible out of the public eye.
The state medical boards masquerade as consumer-protection agencies. Instead of revealing competition to the public as something that lowers doctors’ incomes, the AMA and medical boards present it as something that must be stopped in the name of keeping patients safe.
We need to educate ourselves and stop being useful idiots
