This Sunday at Carlton at 1610. The Meat Pies have beaten us the last two times we played them, while we've been very much down. We badly need to start the year positively.
It will be interesting to see how our forward line functions without Tayla Harris. I still see a number of other structural issues, so I'll be very interested to see how we line up.

https://twitter.com/darcyvee/status/1476103768059957251

Looks like Jordan Mailata is entrenched now at the Philadelphia Eagles at Left Tackle. And the Philly Eagles, after a poor start, are now in the hunt for a wild card spot for the playoffs. At least 1 poster on this site won't want them to succeed. To make the playoffs, Philly needs to take the spot currently occupied by Minnesota Vikings. The stats site 538 crunched the numbers and gives Philly a 38% chance of doing just that.

Jordan Mailata is a former Rugby player from Sydney who participated in the NFL's International Player Pathway (which entailed being on a TV documentary following around the contenders). He ended up being drafted in the 7th round of the 2018 draft by Philly. At 203 cm and 165 kg, he was at least the right size for the job. Injuries and a lack of experience meant he didn't get much of a look-in until last year but he showed enough that Philly gave him an $US80m contract just before the start of this season,  $US40.25m of which was guaranteed. They also gave him the LT spot (made famous by the movie "The Blind Side") instead of their 2019 1st round pick Andre Dillard. His performances have driven some commentators to say that Philly got a steal, saying they'd have to pay twice as much if they hadn't signed him up early. As 1 guy put it:

Quote:The 24-year-old Mailata was a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft who now routinely dominates first-round defensive ends, linebackers and edge rushers. His overall PFF grade of 82.8 puts him in the top 10 among offensive tackles this season.

Over 719 snaps in 2021 (a Week 15 game not yet included), Mailata has surrendered just two sacks and one QB hit. He has surrendered 18 pressures but seven of those came during an off-game in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders (he also surrendered a sack and a QB hit in that game).

A smaller leadership group, one might say a traditional leadership group

Captain - Kez Harrington (Going solo after Loynes' departure)
Vescio and O'Dea the only other members.

Vescio and O'Dea are best mates are very much jokers, so could be ganging up on Kez who is much more on the serious side.

Now Voss and the boys have to make the most of it and really capitalise.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-fix...17de387cc5

I am a Science Fiction fanatic and have been for most of my life. I am also trying to become a Science Fiction author, as I transition out of teaching. But I am getting quite frustrated about how little the laws of the Universe as we know them get into Science Fiction films. I am wondering, in fact, if many deserve the label 'Science Fiction' at all.

Plenty of things in recent times have annoyed me, from Carlton's drafting policies to the incredible stupidity of some of our former top politicians, but this one hurts me where I live, if you will. As my teaching career is slowing down and I head towards 'retirement', I have felt the urge to air some of my frustrations. Whether that is good or not, I can't really tell, but my feelings are heart-felt and they are supported by by knowledge as a teacher of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
When it comes to recruiting, I am an amateur who is not privy to all the information available. In this topic, I am a professional with 38 years experience.

What got a bee in my bonnet? After many years, I finally watched the remake of 'Total Recall' in full. I am not quite sure how I managed to watch it all, to be honest. It was that bad.
It wasn't the special effects: they've come a long way since Arnie's version of 'Total Recall'. It wasn't the acting, although I have read some complaints about that over the years. It was the plot. The plot to the original was not its strong point, but this version was a shocker.
Taking the colony on Mars out of the picture was a serious error. Having a society that is so technically advanced not being able to detoxify the planet, but able to travel through the core regularly is laughable. There was no obvious protective barrier between the 'no-zone' and the inhabitable parts of the planet. That was a shocker. The behaviour of the their gadget that goes through the core was laughable. A year 11 Physics student could tell them about the mistakes they made. That a pressure similar to that on the surface of our sun didn't squish them defies belief.
The basic premise is too stupid to work. It lacks the ability to believe it.
There were other plot elements that didn't make sense. For example, I cannot recall any time the the chief executive of a nation would physically lead an invasion on another state. Generals haven't done that for centuries, Presidents or PM's never have.

Honestly, had I plotted a story so ridiculous, it would deserve every rejection it got.

The original film used material from Phil Dick, an author who died in the 1960's. He was never good at Physics: he was a writer of the 'New Wave' where scientific accuracy was not as important as literary style. Even so, he produced a story that was reasonable, a story of a state seeking independence from another which was repressing it.
The Arnold Schwarzeneggar vehicle of 1990, directed by Paul Verhoeven, had its problems, but it wasn't the Physics so much. In fact, it had the best Mars effects of any film to that time. The only real problem it had on that level was the gravity: they couldn't afford or didn't think it important enough to worry about the way people moved and, especially, fall in 37% gravity.
The end was also a major problem: creating an atmosphere for Mars in a couple of minutes of screen time would have come close to shattering the planet. The force of the atmosphere escaping would have been like a jet engine, moving the entire planet out of orbit. Every person on the planet would have died in the shock wave, not use the breaking of a few windows.
Also, Arnie should die: once his body has experienced as much damage due to the lack of pressure on the surface of Mars, he would be in real trouble. He would, at least, need serious hospitalization.

I find I simply cannot list all of the Physics errors in the 2012 version. But the gadget to take people through the core was the Pièce de Résistance. The technology required to build such a thing would be incredible. It's behaviour while it is travelling through the planet, is mindboggling. There simply was nothing remotely believable about any of it

Now, I know I am picking on some of the worst cases here, but there is so much about modern SF that appears to be ignoring simple Newtonian Physics.
For example, one of my favourites of the recent SF is 'the Expanse'. It is a 6 season long saga based on a series of books, and it covers them a lot more closely than 'Game of Thrones' did after that 1st season. (For the record, I also loved Game of Throne and did before it came to TV). The characters feel their ships accelerating, for example. But even that plays fast and loose with something as simple as how long it takes to get from one planet to another. At least, it makes an attempt to address orbital mechanics. So many don't.
The last couple of Alien films, for example,  don't even try. About the only thing they get right is the heat of entering the atmosphere.

Probably my all time favourite for getting the Physics right is '2001: A Space Odyssey'. I still show the scene where Dave enters the ship without his space helmet in class. It is brilliant. (I don't have to say that not taking his helmet is one of the stupidest things I can imagine. No sane astronaut would consider such a thing.) Since 1968, when 2001 was made, there has never been a scene that shows better the effect of being in vacuum for a short time.
So why has basic Physics being ignored so badly in film, where the film makers must know better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ckIKhuZ...rTrevalgen

Ancestry DNA test (or others)…. Anyone done one. I had some interesting results from mine done a few years ago. Every now and then they update it as more tests are done and more information comes in.
Currently mine is…

40% Ireland
39% England and North Western Europe
9% Scotland
6% Wales
4% European Jewish
2% Swedish and Danish

Through the test I’ve made contact with the son of my grandfather (my uncle). He was born after my grandparents separated… and my own father had no idea of his existence. They never met but lived for 30 years in adjoining suburbs.

I was not surprised with most of the results but the European Jewish is an interesting factor.
Given the spread of the Jewish people through Europe, and specifically Germany, through history... I wonder how a certain Austrian painter and his circle of friends would have gone on an Ancestry DNA test. I suspect we may have had a very different history if they’d been available in the 1930s.

Hello everyone, if this exists, please merge it where it should be.

The 16th to the 18th of November 2021 will be remembered as a historic moment in time for the people of Victoria.  The people of Victoria have been living in a “State of emergency “ under the health and well-being Act going back a few years. This state of emergency finally expires on the 15th of December 2021. The Victorian government has been working on an amended plan to take over after the 15th of December. It is known as the Pandemic Management bill. It has been worked on since April 2021. A one hundred plus page bill. On how the Victorian government can manage the Covid pandemic in our state. To apparently manage the safety of the people. Through settings that were part of the previous health and well-being Act.

This new Act has many problems with how it can be applied. Issues stated by the President of Victorian Bar Council. Issues stated by Liberty Victoria. Issues stated by at least a dozen recognised QC’s of which have all written mail to the current government to make major changes to this bill. To avoid imposing on human rights regulations, employment rights under fair work, and issues that will effect the judicial rights of all Victorians. This new bill has been voted in with the lower house of government in Victoria. It is now in serious discussion in the upper house. With little doubt it will be passed, and be a new standard to how we all are going to experience what will be called Pandemic Management.

It has the power once activated to be our new State of emergency, and allow many settings, restrictions of movement and penalties to fall in place. Something we have never seen before anywhere in the world. The Premier of the state and the Health minister have full powers to enforce any settings they feel are required to execute pandemic management. The Chief Health Officer is now just an advisory role. Playing a role that states facts and recommendations but the end result is what the Premier and Health minister decide to act on in our new settings. Not up for vote amongst other parliamentary members. Their concerns will be heard. However they can be rejected. They can offer further concerns to a committee which will review all concerns and act. A committee which is independent. One selected by the Premier and Health minister. Wow. How independent is that.

A settings or restriction can be placed on the community based on individual “attributes and characteristics “. Something we all have. We are all either black, white, male, female, gay, lesbian, fat, skinny, rich, poor, tall, short, and many more of these attributes and characteristics. Including the most important one of all. Political views. You could see a setting, restriction or a penalty applied to you based on your political view. Does any of this concern one person only here? Now I get to the hard nuts. We all know the first attribute will be unvaccinated. Sounds like a logical target. I don’t think speculation by me is anything less than what everyone expected. Why wasn’t this in the bill? Why does it allow such a grey area to target anyone? Is this about health and well-being of all Victorians. We were told by Dan Andrews that once we get to 80% fully vaccinated population we need to live with the virus.

Why do we now have a new bill? Why have we been given a glimmer of hope to see our families and friends for Christmas? Why have we been promised a chance to live under a covid way of life?  Why is there going to be a huge super spread issue going to happen day one of the Boxing Day test? Do I sit here and say nothing or tell you money talks and bullsh1t walks. 80 to 85 thousand people. I know it is in the open. They sit on top of each other. No 1.5m social distancing.  $150 per ticket average cost. Some more some less. Get on the beers Victoria. It might be our last moment of freedom for a while. Obviously add food and drinks to the total and we have a huge tax back to the government of the state.

Now for the hard items to digest. The penalties to those that don’t conform to the settings and restrictions that could be in place. No more $200 or $400 no face masks. The new penalties to minor breaches will be as high as $20,909. Not scanning in with your QR code could be as high as $90,000. Sorry but I forgot could be a very expensive result. Don’t ignore paying the penalty. It could cost you two years behind bars. Don’t bother getting a highly rated solicitor or barrister. The judicial system will have no standing against the new emergency state. It will over rule standard human rights laws. Appeals will be heard by the independent committee selected by the Premier. How do you think that will go?

Have you all heard about the new police rights regarding warrants and access to your property? You will have no rights. The police will be allowed access to your property for any suspicion regarding the new Pandemic Management ruling. Whether you have posted anything on a media site, phone calls, or public comments caught on CCTV. If there is anything that follows any trend against the political views of the current government, you can be detained and have all of your items removed from your house. Phone, tablets and computers. They can enter on a feeling you might be against the current government views huge or small. No warrants required. If you place a hand on any Officer of the law or a member of the department of health services you can be arrested and be jailed for at least 2 years. They can justify your reaction as assaults on an officer. Stand back or go to jail.

I am not an anti-vaxer. I have my first jab. I just fear what is yet to come. Sure come at me. I am considered anti Labor. Wrong. It is ant communism. Anti government because I was promised so much and delivered so little. Vote them out at the next election people say. That is November 2022. Andrews government could extend that election. They will. The new bill will allow them to do so indefinitely. As long as the virus exists anywhere in the world they can select restrictions to go along pandemic management . They can void elections. They can do as they choose. They can shut down businesses indefinitely. Call the committee as the judges in the courts will have no say. We Victorians are screwed. Remember my words in the first month of 2022. I hope I am wrong but in this case I know I am not.

An interesting question that rolls up after many an election is what next for the former PM. Some move into relative anonymity, some become something akin to statesmen (not that anyone could have predicted that while those persons were in office) and other appear regularly to embarrass us.
Malcolm Turnbull is an excellent example. He didn't wait for the Opposition to kick him out at an election, he lost the plot in his own party room. Instead of sinking into anonymity, he regularly reappears to take pot shots at those who replaced him. Much of what he says is truly embarrassing.
Mr K. Rudd also comes back to haunt us regularly, as he demonstrates why his party turned on him to the general public.
But the worst of the lot, in my humble opinion, is the man who gave us 'the recession we had to have', Paul Keating. Yes, Paul Keating of the Banana Republic.
I do not warm easily to politicians of any stripe, but Mr. Keating is probably the one that I have least time for, both as PM and afterwards. He always looked like Bram Stoker's version of Count Dracula for starters. Then there was that voice that made Julia Gillard's look promising. And, last but far from least, what what he actually says.
He may be getting older, but his mouth still makes me cringe every time Mr. Keating opens it.

His latest effort was one of his most remarkable: a defence for the policies of totalitarian China. My God, has he hit a new low. He may have wished for the power that China's President Xi has and misuses daily; to remain in office until death, to use the secret police to remove political opponents, to use economic muscle to bully other polities, to remake society in his image (and that always gave me nightmares) and to take over and ruin perfectly good democratic states (Hong Kong and what he wants for Taiwan).
I mind none of these to my liking, yet Mr. Keating seems to think they are good things.
Paul Keating  said Taiwan was “not a vital Australian interest” and labelled it a “civil matter” for China. The conquest of a free people by a totalitarian state is a 'civil matter'? I'm sorry, but I find such talk truly nauseous. It reminds me of Britain selling out Czechoslovakia in the days leading to World War II.
And if Mr. Keating cannot remember what happened after that, he is even stupider than I ever thought he was.