[As has been explained several times, changing User Names and Email addresses causes a problem in blog moderation. Please use the same name and email address for all comments on this blog. – Admin]
If it’s not bad enough that Australians have had their retail habits monitored via the (ethically questionable) government Vaccine Passport system, or that Silicon Valley apps hide their stalking habits in the fine print – an investigation has alleged that Kmart, Bunnings, and The Good Guys are using facial recognition on customers without their knowledge or consent.
While yes, Kmart, Bunnings, and The Good Guys have signs up at the front of their stores telling customers that this practice is being performed, it is akin to the fine print on phone contracts where consumers are not realistically being informed (nor do they require active consent before entering), especially given the value and private nature of what is being used.
Noticed that new feature the other day in Big wuh and woolworths. Instinctively moved out of shot and put my hand over the camera. Bunch of low life jerks
I might grab a free hard copy of the Oz to read this one:
Costello blasts Reserve Bank’s ‘failure’ to rein in inflation
Former treasurer Peter Costello says the Reserve Bank “completely missed” the surge in inflation, heightening the risk of a recession with its worst monetary policy failure in three decades.
Worst hit to superannuation since the GFC
Workers face losses on their super funds for only the fifth time in three decades, as the market sheds $270bn since June 7 rate hike.
***
Not those who switched to cash at the start of 2022.
And then there were the 1400 health staff who resigned in nine months to March 31
1400 in 9 months! In my time up there I just thought NT Health was a massive employer of unemployable people with a few essentials thrown into the mix and the essentials I worked with were almost all absolutely excellent. Would be interesting to see who refused the jab.
‘World swimming will be the first international sporting organisation to vote on banning transgender athletes from elite competition.
In the wake of an outcry from Australia’s pool stars, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) will confront one of the biggest issues in a decision that could change top level sport forever.’
A couple of things. Whilst the vote is to be applauded, why did FINA, which I imagine covers every swimming competition under the sun, allow Will Thomas to compete against the young collegiate women in the United States?
And for the stars here, did their ‘outcry’ finally force FINA’s hand? Find that claim to be laughable at best, considering Thomas and his work has been a talking point for months.
Kudos to the bloke have saved the kittens at 16:53. He thinks he was saving one and then…meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. What would you do? Drive away and leave them. If I did that it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
I have no kind words for the prick who dumped them.
‘It’s a long way since January. Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley was star of the show at Thursday’s Road To Pride event.
After being booed at the Australian open for the Novak Djokovic saga and dodging media, Tiley was in his element at the Osborne Rooftop.
The event was postponed due to the omicron outbreak in January.
Tiley was warmly received after recently winning the Pride In Sport executive of the year award.
A panel on the night featured Carlton’s Darcy Vescio, Australian gymnast Dominic Clarke and athlete Hannah Mouncey.’
This #PrideMonth, Audubon partnered with drag queen and intersectional environmentalist Pattie Gonia to bring you #BirdsTellUs: The Song of the Meadowlark, a message of hope for the future of our planet as we face climate change—if we choose to listen:
“Tens of millions of older children across the globe have already been vaccinated with our COVID-19 vaccine, helping to prevent symptomatic, severe disease and hospitalization. We know many parents in the U.S. have been eagerly awaiting an authorized vaccine for their children under 5 and we are proud to now offer them a vaccine option with a favorable safety profile,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.
They’re fast rolling out 10 million vaccines for U.S toddlers. There is NO science to support this. NONE. Parents, protect your babies from this Pharma campaign. I am begging you. I don’t want more patients, am drowning in the care of vax-injured as it is.
Former treasurer Peter Costello says the Reserve Bank “completely missed” the surge in inflation, heightening the risk of a recession with its worst monetary policy failure in three decades.
The Future Fund chairman’s intervention comes as Jim Chalmers finalises the structure and terms of reference for an independent review of the RBA, the first since the 1980s.
The review is expected to concentrate mainly on the future, avoiding investigating past controversies such as poor inflation forecasting and the abandonment of an RBA policy last October to hold medium-term bonds at an ultra-low interest rate.
READ NEXT
Lord Howe Island, a hiker’s paradise
PENNY DURHAM
While the leader of the review is yet to be finalised, the Treasurer is considered likely to appoint an outsider to ensure the review’s independence. One potential candidate understood to have been discussed is Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. An appointment of Sir Paul’s calibre could address concerns that the review could be dominated by the RBA and Treasury, which is represented on the board by departmental secretary Steven Kennedy.
But RBA director Ian Harper, who stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity and not as an RBA representative, defended the central bank’s policy record, saying it was aligned with the responses of peer institutions.
“Those people who say we should have been faster on the way down (with the cash rate) are the same people who now want us to be faster on the way up,” Mr Harper said. “These things are a matter of judgment, remembering that the pandemic was going to cause the biggest downturn since the Great Depression.
READ MORE:Costello dashes hopes for smooth RBA review
“The markets clearly have a view, market economists have a view and the RBA has a view – people should observe that these views are not always the same.”
Mr Costello said he had believed as far back as the March quarter that inflation was an emerging problem, unlike a lot of the “Johnny-come-latelies” who only recently became RBA critics.
“The RBA completely missed the takeoff point in the March quarter and now it’s behind the curve,” he told The Weekend Australian in an interview.
“Its primary duty is to manage the (2-3 per cent) inflation target and it failed in that duty.
“It’s the worst failure in monetary policy since the 1990s, and the consequences are that the RBA now has to raise interest rates faster and further than would otherwise be the case.”
The risk of a recession, he said, was therefore higher.
While monetary policy was ultimately the preserve of the RBA, Mr Costello said that, as Treasurer, he would have tried to persuade the central bank that its inflation outlook was wrong.
But ultimately the policy decision was for the RBA.
Global central banks in recent months have been desperately pulling the rates lever to try and put the inflation genie back in the bottle. Just this week, the US Federal Reserve increased rates by 75 basis points to a target range of 1.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent – the biggest increase since 1994.
Fed Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the next moves were expected to be 75 basis points or 50 basis points, with the former less common.
Overnight on Thursday, the Bank of England hiked by 25 basis points to 1.25 per cent – the highest level since 2009, with the BoE forecasting that inflation would surge to 11 per cent.
The RBA surprised the market last week by lifting the cash rate 50 basis points to 0.85 per cent.
It was the first such increase since February 2000, as RBA governor Phil Lowe upgraded the inflation forecast to seven per cent by the end of the year. “That’s a very high number, and we need to be able to chart a course back to 2-3 per cent inflation,” Dr Lowe told the ABC on Monday. “I’m confident that we can do that but it’s going to take time.”
On the cash rate’s likely peak, Dr Lowe said it was reasonable to think that the rate would get to 2.5 per cent “at some point”, because the midpoint of the RBA’s inflation target was 2.5 per cent.
This would equate to a real interest rate of zero, which was very low in historical terms.
Former RBA director Warwick McKibbin was more specific, saying the cash rate was likely to top out at about 4.5 per cent.
“It’s not a precise science, because it depends on what’s happening with productivity growth and actual inflation,” Professor McKibbin said. “But that’s what you’d be thinking about as a midpoint, and it’s what I’d be using in terms of a plan for next year. So 2.5 per cent could be after you’ve gone through 3.5 per cent or 4 per cent – (Dr Lowe) didn’t say that but he didn’t not say it either.”
In contrast to Mr Costello, former RBA governor Bernie Fraser’s assessment was that the RBA “is on the job”.
The 75 basis-point increase in the cash rate in two months demonstrated that the central bank was “starting to reinforce its credibility as an inflation-fighter”.
Mr Fraser said the more aggressive approach of the Fed was tailored for the US environment, where inflation was a bigger problem. “The precise timing of changes in policy rates will vary according to circumstances, so one central bank going a month or two earlier than another is not such a big issue,” he said.
The ex-governor was critical, however, of Dr Lowe’s now-discarded forecast that the cash rate would not be lifted until 2024. “Noone can forecast that far ahead – it was an unnecessary risk to take and potentially damaging because it could have encouraged people to borrow more,” he said.
Mr Costello argued strongly that the RBA’s performance in combating inflation had to be at the forefront of any review, particularly its preoccupation with wages growth when its mandate was to control inflation.
“So why did it go wrong and what should we do to ensure it won’t happen again?” the former treasurer said on Friday.
This #PrideMonth, Audubon partnered with drag queen and intersectional environmentalist Pattie Gonia to bring you #BirdsTellUs: The Song of the Meadowlark, a message of hope for the future of our planet as we face climate change—if we choose to listen:
For the past few weeks, there has been this ad/promo on the radio reminding us about National Tree Day. The person speaking in the ad sounds like a kiddie just out of her cradle and barely able to pronounce the words “Planet Ark”.
She has already been brainwashed by her Planet Arking parents and is being used to entice more kiddies into saving the globe.
SOME of America’s leading billionaires have met secretly to consider how their wealth could be used to slow the growth of the world’s population and speed up improvements in health and education.
Australia… Year 7 school assignment which asks students to make a Boucher [Brochure] about COVID-19. To include compulsory vaccination, offshore quarantine, border closures, penalties for protesters and travel bans…
Interested observer says:
June 18, 2022 at 3:24 pm
Thanks.
Not a lot of encouragement there.
The RBA review will be Keynesians investigating Keynesians.
As the economic disaster unfolds, Jim Chalmers will say repeatedly ‘That’s why I called for a review’.
Mr Costello said he had believed as far back as the March quarter that inflation was an emerging problem, unlike a lot of the “Johnny-come-latelies” who only recently became RBA critics.
So Costello worked out three months ago that there could be an inflation problem.
I think Connery was the best Bond. He has a grandson who hasn’t inherited the unmovable hair. The name’sh Bond, Jane Bond
It’s Satdy night and I was only looking for WIP for some absurdities, but
Bunnings is born again alright by me.
After years of mostly Chinese made shite on offer, Sidchrome and Stanley tools on the shelves there are now mainly Taiwan in origin.
I picked up a Taiwanese made Sidchrome socket set for $99 last week to complement the Japanese Ko-ken.
A lot, I mean A LOT of Made in the USA tools now available too.
Bought a new claw hammer, square and other bits and pieces with prominent Made in USA stickers from the local Bunnings.
The hard thing is power tools. All the 18 volt battery crap seems to just be different coloured brandings from the same China mega factories, the traditional branding just the Cheshire Cat smile remaining, to fool old geezers that some continuity remains, the last thing to fade away.
I’m getting around that by buying second hand shite from Cash Converters, old 240 volt tools with cords, often good quality European or Jap made.
Looking at generators, there were these:
Which are made in Illinois.
If our Lords and Masters could get their brains wrapped around the energy security side of the equation we might even be on the right track.
Eventually.
These guys make a good effort to remain neutral, apolitical, whatever you think of the “science” of body language, their take is interesting:
Hunter Biden, The Behaviour Panel… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKw7CuLzwhU
Bitcoin dropped below the $20,000 mark on Saturday, extending a brutal slide in cryptocurrencies.
The price of bitcoin fell 9% in 24 hours to $19,217.81, according to Coin Metrics data. The last time bitcoin fell below that level was December 2020.
Ether, the second-largest token, plunged 10% to $997.75, its lowest level since January 2021.
Crypto investors are grappling with aggressive interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a worsening liquidity crunch that has pushed major players into financial difficulty.
If you’re still awake, do not make the error of clicking on ‘Serena v The Umpire’. Details her meltdown against Osaka in the final of the US Open. To listen to the American commentators defend her is just rage inducing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0WvXpyufT8
[As has been explained several times, changing User Names and Email addresses causes a problem in blog moderation. Please use the same name and email address for all comments on this blog. – Admin]
Report comment
Oneth!
Report comment
Worth a read.
https://spectator.com.au/2022/06/australians-are-being-watched/
Report comment
Noticed that new feature the other day in Big wuh and woolworths. Instinctively moved out of shot and put my hand over the camera. Bunch of low life jerks
Report comment
Assange is one step closer to being a permanent resident of the USA.
Report comment
I might grab a free hard copy of the Oz to read this one:
Report comment
Also at the Paywallian:
LOSSES MOUNT
Worst hit to superannuation since the GFC
Workers face losses on their super funds for only the fifth time in three decades, as the market sheds $270bn since June 7 rate hike.
***
Not those who switched to cash at the start of 2022.
Report comment
Interesting article from the NT Independent with this line –
1400 in 9 months! In my time up there I just thought NT Health was a massive employer of unemployable people with a few essentials thrown into the mix and the essentials I worked with were almost all absolutely excellent. Would be interesting to see who refused the jab.
Report comment
Secret video of the head of the energy market in Oz
Even the kids are waking up
Report comment
You’re never too old to learn
Best headstone ever
Report comment
Dead tree version of the Hun:
‘World swimming will be the first international sporting organisation to vote on banning transgender athletes from elite competition.
In the wake of an outcry from Australia’s pool stars, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) will confront one of the biggest issues in a decision that could change top level sport forever.’
A couple of things. Whilst the vote is to be applauded, why did FINA, which I imagine covers every swimming competition under the sun, allow Will Thomas to compete against the young collegiate women in the United States?
And for the stars here, did their ‘outcry’ finally force FINA’s hand? Find that claim to be laughable at best, considering Thomas and his work has been a talking point for months.
Report comment
Kudos to the bloke have saved the kittens at 16:53. He thinks he was saving one and then…meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. What would you do? Drive away and leave them. If I did that it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
I have no kind words for the prick who dumped them.
Watching the two sisters and brother at 16:13.😀
*******
Fleccas Talks:
THIS WEEK IN CULTURE #101
Report comment
No doubt it will adorn his mantelpiece:
‘It’s a long way since January. Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley was star of the show at Thursday’s Road To Pride event.
After being booed at the Australian open for the Novak Djokovic saga and dodging media, Tiley was in his element at the Osborne Rooftop.
The event was postponed due to the omicron outbreak in January.
Tiley was warmly received after recently winning the Pride In Sport executive of the year award.
A panel on the night featured Carlton’s Darcy Vescio, Australian gymnast Dominic Clarke and athlete Hannah Mouncey.’
Report comment
Tony Heller:
This #PrideMonth, Audubon partnered with drag queen and intersectional environmentalist Pattie Gonia to bring you #BirdsTellUs: The Song of the Meadowlark, a message of hope for the future of our planet as we face climate change—if we choose to listen:
Audubon Society Offers A Solution To Climate Change
Report comment
Crypto winter comes to Miami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QVNp4zQRg
Report comment
Keep in mind this channel is shadowed banned.
********
Tony Heller:
“Extraordinary Global Heating In The Arctic”
Report comment
Doc Coleman:
Passing Observations 112
Report comment
Project Veritas
#TwitterAllHands with Elon Musk
.
The full video:
FULL CALL: Twitter All Hands with Elon Musk 6/16/22
Report comment
How evil can they get? FDA approves the vaxx for children from the age of 6 months. And parents will be lining up for these dangerous shots.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization
for Children 6 Months through 4 Years of Age
.
from Dr Pierre Kory
Report comment
ᵔᴥᵔ
Un
.
Deux
.
Trois
.
Report comment
Matt Walsh’s interview (with a tranny ???)
Truth is transphobic
Report comment
mh
With my compliments
Former treasurer Peter Costello says the Reserve Bank “completely missed” the surge in inflation, heightening the risk of a recession with its worst monetary policy failure in three decades.
The Future Fund chairman’s intervention comes as Jim Chalmers finalises the structure and terms of reference for an independent review of the RBA, the first since the 1980s.
The review is expected to concentrate mainly on the future, avoiding investigating past controversies such as poor inflation forecasting and the abandonment of an RBA policy last October to hold medium-term bonds at an ultra-low interest rate.
READ NEXT
Lord Howe Island, a hiker’s paradise
PENNY DURHAM
While the leader of the review is yet to be finalised, the Treasurer is considered likely to appoint an outsider to ensure the review’s independence. One potential candidate understood to have been discussed is Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. An appointment of Sir Paul’s calibre could address concerns that the review could be dominated by the RBA and Treasury, which is represented on the board by departmental secretary Steven Kennedy.
But RBA director Ian Harper, who stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity and not as an RBA representative, defended the central bank’s policy record, saying it was aligned with the responses of peer institutions.
“Those people who say we should have been faster on the way down (with the cash rate) are the same people who now want us to be faster on the way up,” Mr Harper said. “These things are a matter of judgment, remembering that the pandemic was going to cause the biggest downturn since the Great Depression.
READ MORE:Costello dashes hopes for smooth RBA review
“The markets clearly have a view, market economists have a view and the RBA has a view – people should observe that these views are not always the same.”
Mr Costello said he had believed as far back as the March quarter that inflation was an emerging problem, unlike a lot of the “Johnny-come-latelies” who only recently became RBA critics.
“The RBA completely missed the takeoff point in the March quarter and now it’s behind the curve,” he told The Weekend Australian in an interview.
“Its primary duty is to manage the (2-3 per cent) inflation target and it failed in that duty.
“It’s the worst failure in monetary policy since the 1990s, and the consequences are that the RBA now has to raise interest rates faster and further than would otherwise be the case.”
The risk of a recession, he said, was therefore higher.
While monetary policy was ultimately the preserve of the RBA, Mr Costello said that, as Treasurer, he would have tried to persuade the central bank that its inflation outlook was wrong.
But ultimately the policy decision was for the RBA.
Global central banks in recent months have been desperately pulling the rates lever to try and put the inflation genie back in the bottle. Just this week, the US Federal Reserve increased rates by 75 basis points to a target range of 1.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent – the biggest increase since 1994.
Fed Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the next moves were expected to be 75 basis points or 50 basis points, with the former less common.
Overnight on Thursday, the Bank of England hiked by 25 basis points to 1.25 per cent – the highest level since 2009, with the BoE forecasting that inflation would surge to 11 per cent.
The RBA surprised the market last week by lifting the cash rate 50 basis points to 0.85 per cent.
It was the first such increase since February 2000, as RBA governor Phil Lowe upgraded the inflation forecast to seven per cent by the end of the year. “That’s a very high number, and we need to be able to chart a course back to 2-3 per cent inflation,” Dr Lowe told the ABC on Monday. “I’m confident that we can do that but it’s going to take time.”
On the cash rate’s likely peak, Dr Lowe said it was reasonable to think that the rate would get to 2.5 per cent “at some point”, because the midpoint of the RBA’s inflation target was 2.5 per cent.
This would equate to a real interest rate of zero, which was very low in historical terms.
Former RBA director Warwick McKibbin was more specific, saying the cash rate was likely to top out at about 4.5 per cent.
“It’s not a precise science, because it depends on what’s happening with productivity growth and actual inflation,” Professor McKibbin said. “But that’s what you’d be thinking about as a midpoint, and it’s what I’d be using in terms of a plan for next year. So 2.5 per cent could be after you’ve gone through 3.5 per cent or 4 per cent – (Dr Lowe) didn’t say that but he didn’t not say it either.”
In contrast to Mr Costello, former RBA governor Bernie Fraser’s assessment was that the RBA “is on the job”.
The 75 basis-point increase in the cash rate in two months demonstrated that the central bank was “starting to reinforce its credibility as an inflation-fighter”.
Mr Fraser said the more aggressive approach of the Fed was tailored for the US environment, where inflation was a bigger problem. “The precise timing of changes in policy rates will vary according to circumstances, so one central bank going a month or two earlier than another is not such a big issue,” he said.
The ex-governor was critical, however, of Dr Lowe’s now-discarded forecast that the cash rate would not be lifted until 2024. “Noone can forecast that far ahead – it was an unnecessary risk to take and potentially damaging because it could have encouraged people to borrow more,” he said.
Mr Costello argued strongly that the RBA’s performance in combating inflation had to be at the forefront of any review, particularly its preoccupation with wages growth when its mandate was to control inflation.
“So why did it go wrong and what should we do to ensure it won’t happen again?” the former treasurer said on Friday.
Report comment
For the past few weeks, there has been this ad/promo on the radio reminding us about National Tree Day. The person speaking in the ad sounds like a kiddie just out of her cradle and barely able to pronounce the words “Planet Ark”.
She has already been brainwashed by her Planet Arking parents and is being used to entice more kiddies into saving the globe.
Report comment
Hello, Lori.
*********
McCall Schools A Class Of Thugs | THE EQUALIZER
Report comment
The gift of sight
Report comment
Going back in time.
Sunday May 24 2009
Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation
Report comment
Thanks, kaysee.
I suspect everyone has a teary moment watching these precious children seeing and hearing for the first time. And what about their wonderful families!
Makes me grateful for God’s mercies for me and my family.
Report comment
I had.
It is a reminder to be grateful for the many gifts we take for granted.
Report comment
Dems won’t like this.
Mayra Flores
Report comment
School assignment
Report comment
˘◡˘
Break time
1/
No One Could Catch this Giant Stray Great Pyrenees Until…
Report comment
Thanks.
Not a lot of encouragement there.
The RBA review will be Keynesians investigating Keynesians.
As the economic disaster unfolds, Jim Chalmers will say repeatedly ‘That’s why I called for a review’.
So Costello worked out three months ago that there could be an inflation problem.
Marvellous.
h/t Clint.
Report comment
2/
Photo shopping
to remove an Ex from the photo
🙂
Report comment
I think Connery was the best Bond. He has a grandson who hasn’t inherited the unmovable hair. The name’sh Bond, Jane Bond
It’s Satdy night and I was only looking for WIP for some absurdities, but
Report comment
Bergo:
Two Steps From Hell – Myth (Official Music Video)
Report comment
Cash:
Cash 2.0 Great Dane at the Calabasas Commons 5
Report comment
Powerline’s WiP is up: the Liberal Exhaustion Edition.
Report comment
Bunnings is born again alright by me.
After years of mostly Chinese made shite on offer, Sidchrome and Stanley tools on the shelves there are now mainly Taiwan in origin.
I picked up a Taiwanese made Sidchrome socket set for $99 last week to complement the Japanese Ko-ken.
A lot, I mean A LOT of Made in the USA tools now available too.
Bought a new claw hammer, square and other bits and pieces with prominent Made in USA stickers from the local Bunnings.
The hard thing is power tools. All the 18 volt battery crap seems to just be different coloured brandings from the same China mega factories, the traditional branding just the Cheshire Cat smile remaining, to fool old geezers that some continuity remains, the last thing to fade away.
I’m getting around that by buying second hand shite from Cash Converters, old 240 volt tools with cords, often good quality European or Jap made.
Looking at generators, there were these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/dewalt-2200w-inverter-generator_p0116145
Which are made in Illinois.
If our Lords and Masters could get their brains wrapped around the energy security side of the equation we might even be on the right track.
Eventually.
Report comment
These guys make a good effort to remain neutral, apolitical, whatever you think of the “science” of body language, their take is interesting:
Hunter Biden, The Behaviour Panel…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKw7CuLzwhU
Report comment
Dice:
This Is What They Don’t Want
Report comment
Report comment
Austin vs MSFS.
Report comment
If you’re still awake, do not make the error of clicking on ‘Serena v The Umpire’. Details her meltdown against Osaka in the final of the US Open. To listen to the American commentators defend her is just rage inducing.
Report comment
Vladimir Putin jokes ‘They even named their inflation after me’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tI0VmcMG64
Report comment
Black Ball, you might enjoy the last night of Royal Ascot.
Report comment
Latest podcast
In the Interests of the People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0esqZGIpu8
Report comment
China Fact Chasers:
Shanghai is a Ghost Town!
Report comment
It’s a quickie. 1:52.
Two Steps From Hell Live – Aftermovie – European Tour 2022
Report comment
US President Joe Biden falls off bike during the beach ride, says ‘I’m good’ | English News | WION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHJsdL-A6JU
Report comment
Trump responds to news of Biden falling off his bike: https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1538244937153753088
Report comment