Brazilian striker Neymar has become a global joke, a somersaulting clown, a diver and a prima donna.
In a sport where being in the vertical should be a distinct advantage, Neymar, sometimes Neymar Junior (full name, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior), has accumulated a reported 14 minutes in the World Cup competition thus far, writhing about on the deck in horrible pain, before getting lightly to his feet, sprinting off and scoring yet another goal.
Certainly, if Neymar, was an AFL player, he’d be dragged, forced to sit on the pine and think about what he did. In rugby, he’d be stomped mercilessly at the breakdown. In NRL, he’d almost certainly be killed. In soccer, or football at the insistence of my editor, he’s a gun and may one day become the greatest of all time.
SBS commentator, Craig Foster, declared him “a genius”, albeit a flawed one. Mozart was a genius. Michelangelo, too. No doubt. Unless Neymar is scribbling down a piano concerto in A Major or resolving the intrinsic paradox of transcendental bijection in the spacetime continuum before banging the ball into the back of the net, I suspect he comes up short in the genius stakes.
Full column here.
Of course many Australians would be aware that a significant number of our senior citizens round off their retirement, after many years of contribution and endeavor, by spending a period of their twilight years, independently and in groups, exploring the highways and byways, villages and towns of our great country using their cars, caravans, motor-homes and trailers. Its become an Aussie tradition. An undertaking that for the most part has been thoughtfully and thoroughly planned and executed in all its aspects. A time of joy and excitement to seek out and experience those parts of the countryside and outback that were hitherto a simple entry on a bucket list
Those who would attempt to cast such senior citizens as an irritant and/or a danger to other read users by blithely denigrating, besmirching and stigmatising their motoring skills and techniques is erroneous in the extreme.
cotc having come across many ill prepared grey nomads in the past on the back block roads in Nthn SA and QLD most of these people are a hazard to themselves firstly then everyone else. The RAA Plus in SA has people working full time rescuing these ill prepared grey nomads and elderly tourists who then complain that they want airline tickets home provided free of charge rather than have to catch the next greyhound bus when their soft roader vehicles breakdown. Lack of spare’s tyres, water and most other things is a common occurrence or even having any sort of travel management plan. It is strange how actualities seem to differ so much from your grumpy old guy comments. their is no “blithely denigrating, besmirching and stigmatizing” going on here except for those denying Truck drivers a safer workplace.
Bollocks. Most of the cranky old gas bags are only doing it as an excuse to get on the turps every night with new found friends at caravan parks. Then they move on before inevitably the new found friends start to irritate the s**t out of them. And one suspects they also do it to deliberately annoy the bejesus out of people accessing their facebook page.
Your use of the word “skill” in regard to their “techniques” is deliciously sarcastic. They are a menace greater than rabbits ever were and each of their rigs should be preceded by a man carrying a red flag and firing a red flare into the sky every one hundred metres.
Carl,
This is exactly what we do for the six months of the year we aren’t in Penang. We do indeed travel the highways and byways of this great country. And Carl, not all of these travelers are senior citizens either. Having said that I have seen some terrible driving by caravanners, motor home drivers and people who drive cars. That’s why everyone on the roads needs to co-operate with each other. Truckies have a job to do and the best thing these people can do is wave the truck driver through either by UHF or indicating it is safe to pass. Don’t travel at 80k and then speed up when they’re in an overtaking lane, don’t camp overnight in the truck bays on the side of the road which has signs indicating it is a truck bay only etc. etc. Just the other day we saw a caravan burst into flames because the elderly couple had a leaking gas canister inside their vehicle. Most caravanners and RVers and that does include senior citizens as well are good, but there are quite a few who aren’ t and they are a danger to not only the truck drivers, but to other road users. Go and find someone else to defend Carl or go out there and see for yourself….even talk to other people who drive caravans and you will realize that your outrage is misplaced.
Well said Carl. Another aspect not considered is the economic benefit to the regions. The tiny fly-spot town of Richmond thrives on tourism, and most of the tourists are ‘grey nomads’ on long journeys. Richmond is the capital of the ‘dinosaur industry’ and it is the long distance travellers that help keep the local economy ticking over. I drove to Hughenden today from Cloncurry, and the Winnebagos and caravans outnumbered the road trains. I couldn’t get a room in Hughenden, due to the QRL’s Country Week footy game on Sunday, so had to drive back to Maxwellton. Always a cheery wave from passing travellers, and stopping for a brew-up can often result in a roadside gathering. The Cape York Development Road was full of retired folks, the M1 of the north. Not expecting much traffic on the next leg though.
Dinosaur’s for dinosaur’s, Wiss?
I spent a week in Hughenden one lunchtime but the Winton festival was good fun. The local girls who work in the pubs out in those parts are gorgeous. It speaks volumes (ok, pun intended) for our education system that most of them are also fluent in German and sometimes Oirish.
What can I say about Hughenden Milton….except the longest week I have ever spent in my life was in Hughenden for one day. God it’s awful. Wiss, Richmond?…meh. Longreach and Winton, yes please….
Penny – The paddle steamer trip, dinner and show just outside Longreach was for mine a great aussie experience. I hope to do it again and recommend to all. south from there are some of the most amazing sights in the natural world (but I’ve forgotten the name of the place), though rough walking and a bit of healthy involved. Its location may save it from the worst horrors of capitalism.
Sounds like Carnarvon Gorge
What’s wrong with Hughenden? Not the young lady serving at the BP, that’s for sure.
And you’ve spent how much time out there Carl?
This used to be the case until the Councils bought up all the caravan parks and charge more than a motel to pitch a bloody tent. My mate and his family were charged $150 for an UNPOWERED tent site at Nambucca Heads!
BELLA:
https://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/127123/China_Engagement_Report.pdf
If you’re interested, a story of Tasmania’s love affair with China!
Page 9 actually mentions the Cambria Green development – its ramifications have evolved a bit since this was written. So it has been in the pipeline for some time – under the radar it seems.
Another concern for locals is the amount of water this will take from the area – which has drought problems.
Matthew Groome resigned unexpectedly since this – he was then Minister for State Growth
Of course it’s been hidden cos no thinking Tasmanian would want such a gross eyesore. As for the water, Adani comes to mind so once again, locals would be up in arms that foreign owners are given everything they want over the interests of Australians.
What happened to ‘Don’t destroy what you came to enjoy’?
This is horrendous stuff mate so get loud & keep fighting cos people power can do amazing things.
I’d bet the BBF will be onto this too. Go Bob Brown!
BELLA:
This is a motion on that development that the Greens raised in parliament.
O’Connor’s preamble is quite right
https://tasmps.greens.org.au/content/matter-public-importance-cambria-green-development
The imbecility that a rezoning application of this size be passed by 7 councillors, one of whom admits that they would have preferred to have had a chance to read the 100 page submission before a decision (but didn’t) transcends incredulity really.
Unbelievable that at least one didn’t bother to read it but passed it anyway. How old are these councillors Boa & how can it be that such a major change in a must-see wilderness destination was in the hands of so few? Wreaks of brown paper bags to my mind.
If your Premier is worth a damn thing he’s got to stop this proposal.
Thanks for the updates mate.
JTI just deleted JackSprats email details on my tablet. ☺
unions want to destroy industry, states Workplace relations Minister Laundy who earlier this week stated he is not concerned if he is voted out he will just return to his Grandfather and Fathers business. the coalition and its supporters actually believe working people want their jobs shut down. the coalition is a disgrace and nothing more than a misinformation machine. No surprises. It is not possible to make such ridiculous crap up but the coalition daily spew this rubbish.
Workplace Minister Craig Laundy has stated that to guarantee labour-hire workers the same pay and conditions as people directly employed by businesses will cripple the industry. there you have it right there. the coalition admitting they want to continue to depress wages and create divisions in society. No surprises.
So many people are trying to OPT out of the My Health scam the Looters are inflicting upon us, the site has crashed and for some there is a 2 hour fone wait. Hey this mob cannot even look after their own cabinet documents that were found on a dump. Whenever ANY govt wants more about you be VERY suspicious Bald.
When hackers and even many Drs say OPT OUT it is time to do it-especially the young who may have 70 yrs of data collection in front of them. If insurance companies got hold of this you may not get travel insurance, you might get higher health premiums. Already there is evidence of medical records being sold. If you have had certain ailments that may even now be cured, U could miss out on a job; some countries may not grant U a visa if they do not like the look of your medical profile (e.g. SD’s, HIV);women who have been raped may not want everybody to know about it. You may not get that ‘special’ licence you need to do your job;you may be refused entrance to certain venues if they have access to your health records I have every podcast and every piece written on this going back to 2017 and nearly ALL say OPT OUT-get Jack to give U my email if U want it all. Hey the govts own spokesperson last nite said he cannot guarantee your data. And don’t forget ANYTHING can be hacked-even the Pentagon! I am an old fart but I really feel for young kids handing over all this for the rest of their lives.
Electronic health records were Nicola Roxon’s idea. From memory she was Labor but don’t let facts get in the way of a good rant Bassy.
Roxon went Yonks ago-Labor is not in govt. or are you still back in 2011? Like you said it was an idea-not a policy. These are the facts. Nobody know if Labor would have even gone ahead with it given the rampant opposition to it-stop making excuses son.
I don’t remember when I signed up (2013) but it was long enough ago that Labor had to have initiated it, not just talked about it. These things don’t come out of thin air.
It was certainly a Labor initiative.
It was and announced in a budget – I’m going to say 2011-12. The spend ran a couple of hundred million at least. The mechanics of it now are down to the current government. I haven’t read a lot about the issue but I gather the opposition to it lies on data security. I’ve seen my medical file and it runs a neat two large volumes. Personally, I don’t have too many problems with almost anyone seeing it but I understand others might not be so blase.
I had no trouble, less than ten minutes.
Oh and today SA continue to Export power to the NEM due to Renewables as it has done for over 70% of the year. Well done Mr Weatherald.
Thanks Bassy I’ve been trying to opt out since Boa informed me the other day but no luck so far. I’ll get it done today if it kills me! 😘
This dodgy government is becoming scarier by the day.
JW was a progressive champion Dismayed.
Well done indeed. Now watch SA go backwards.
Even with the biggest drop in investment in research in the nations history under this coalition the CSIRO reports that “Australia’s rapidly growing uptake of electric vehicles and home energy storage could help deliver a lithium-ion battery recycling industry worth upwards of $3 billion a year by the mid-2030s. The value for Australia is three-fold. We can draw additional value from existing materials, minimise impact on our environment, and also catalyse a new industry in lithium-ion re-use/recycling” No surprises.
Less than 5% of lithium batteries are recycled. Australia, the “we can do it but we don’t” country.
So the LNP candidate for Longman should go to jail for misrepresenting his “service” record according to the Defence act. Just as turnbull defends and deliberately repeats xenophobic incitement he defends his candidate who knowingly misrepresented his service record. This is the worst government in this Nations history.
Coal need not apply. No surprises.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/aemo-cheapest-way-replace-coal-solar-wind-storage-58961/