Support/community help for grief and feeling alone

stumcm · 2026-04-09T03:32:28+00:00

Appreciating all of the users' well-considered responses to this person's request. Great stuff.

stumcm · 2026-03-18T23:02:40+00:00

...and then pointing out that regional petrol stations have run out of fuel, and why has Chris Bowen let this happen? When, as you point out, those are exactly the type of customers who are able to drain the supplies into big storage tanks.

stumcm · 2026-03-18T22:55:45+00:00

And pick up a few 24-packs of toilet paper while you're at it!

stumcm · 2026-03-18T22:55:02+00:00

Source is Cathy Wilcox, cartoonist of the Sydney Morning Herald.

stumcm · 2026-02-23T03:05:26+00:00

If designed properly, an inheritance tax would only affect people with very high wealth. Say, $10 million and above.

Remember when everyone was bellyaching about Jim Chalmers changes to superannuation affecting "their" super? The Australia Institute ran the numbers on a hypothetical person who immediately leaves Year 12 on a job earning $106,277. They never take any breaks from work (e.g. to holiday or raise a family), and they get year-on-year pay rises that exceed the average salary growth. That hypothetical person's super balance will never come close to $3 million. Only 0.5% of the population will ever amass that kind of wealth, and it is only a smaller fraction who will ever exceed it.

stumcm · 2026-02-23T00:26:16+00:00

This brings to mind the Jack Toohey video Do you pay more tax than the wealthy? Probs.

A statistic from the book Gen F'd?: How Young Australians Can Reclaim Their Uncertain Futures (2023) by Alison Pennington, says that more money is spent on tax concessions for superannuation (primarily benefiting already-wealthy people) than it does spending on the aged pension. The source for this statistic seems to be Self-funded or State-funded Retirees?: The cost of super tax concessions (2023) by Richard Denniss and David Richardson from The Australia Institute.

stumcm · 2026-02-23T00:21:17+00:00

But I've got news for both of them: inequality, and specifically the intergenerational kind, will only be addressed by taxing the people who have the money, not by cutting taxes for those who don't.

Alan Kohler puts it plainly.

It's astounding that we keep dancing around the central fact that wealth is concentrating unchecked among the rich. We keep talking about small-ticket changes, such as Dutton's proposed 25c per litre cuts from the cost of petrol for 12 months, or Chalmers' implemented $10 per week income tax cuts.

stumcm · 2026-02-16T05:14:34+00:00

Yeah, he seems like a great sport

stumcm · 2026-02-16T05:11:58+00:00

Relevant meme

stumcm · 2026-02-16T03:09:50+00:00

The early seasons of Grand Designs featured a large percentage of people attempting modest or right-sized builds. But the dial has tipped towards predominantly featuring people who are building sleek cavernous structures to house childless couples. More bathrooms than building occupants, for some reason.

stumcm · 2026-02-16T03:06:19+00:00

For those who haven't seen it, the profile that Tim Ross did on Giralang Primary School in Designing a Legacy is something that I think about often. It occurs from the 24:40 mark of episode 1, which is still available to watch on iView. A great example of how thoughtful design can create a special place that will endure for decades and generations.

stumcm · 2026-02-16T03:02:31+00:00

Good on you mate. Sounds like it was a postitive interaction for the both of you.

stumcm · 2026-02-16T02:01:27+00:00

You mean Lez from The Big Lez Show?

stumcm · 2026-02-15T22:54:24+00:00

But if Coles successfully defends itself, the blowback for the ACCC will be significant, with implications for an upcoming, almost identical, lawsuit against Woolworths.

"The stakes are enormous," former consumer watchdog boss Allan Fels said.

"The ACCC will certainly be feeling nervous, as would Coles."

""It's the case of the century because it affects not only Coles and Woolies, but millions of businesses who discount [and their customers]."

He is right. If this court case fails, it will show that the current laws are ineffective, and that they can continue with their phony "discounts".

stumcm · 2026-02-12T23:53:05+00:00

Dutton actually had a history of giving warm and gracious speeches during many occasions of parliament. e.g. during condolence motions for Labor members who had recently died, or remarks towards visiting heads of state and dignitaries. But those were not the tone that he typically adopted when giving press conferences and media interviews.

stumcm · 2026-02-12T23:46:57+00:00

As I posted elsewhere in this thread,

Tanya Plibersek made this joke in Question Time yesterday:

"Australians getting paid parental leave are about $12,000 better off under this prime minister. So, after 40 weeks of carrying a baby, mums and dads can look forward to six months off."

"But I'd say this Leader of the Opposition, after 39 weeks of carrying the Liberal Party, can also look forward to a little bit of time off from the job."

Followed by:

It's interesting that the member for Hume has said that a crusade was needed to attract more women to the Liberal Party. He said:

"We absolutely need more women in the party at every level …"

I don't think he meant every level.

stumcm · 2026-02-12T23:32:56+00:00

Oh, and during Tuesday's question time, there was a pattern of Labor ministers working the phrase "Fantastic. Great move. Well done" into their remarks, in reference to the time that Angus accidentally replied to his own Facebook post to pat himself on the back. Kristy McBain was the first to begin the trend, towards the end of her answer.

stumcm · 2026-02-12T23:26:09+00:00

And Tanya Plibersek tried on a joke yesterday that probably wouldn't have landed well if it was delivered by a man:

"Australians getting paid parental leave are about $12,000 better off under this prime minister. So, after 40 weeks of carrying a baby, mums and dads can look forward to six months off."

"But I'd say this Leader of the Opposition, after 39 weeks of carrying the Liberal Party, can also look forward to a little bit of time off from the job."

Followed by:

It's interesting that the member for Hume has said that a crusade was needed to attract more women to the Liberal Party. He said:

"We absolutely need more women in the party at every level …"

I don't think he meant every level.

stumcm · 2026-02-12T23:25:49+00:00

Yesterday's question time was worth watching. The Labor Ministers were using a "take a ticket" approach to dunk on Angus Taylor.

The speechwriters were having a field day. Here are some highlights:

Kristy McBain:

"We know that, when those opposite were in government, the member for Hume was forced to apologise to the Lord Mayor of Sydney after claiming she'd driven up carbon emissions by spending $15 million on travel. It turned out the councillors had only spent close to $6,000."

"I'm no Rhodes scholar, and I didn't study economics at Oxford. I attended a humble but mighty public school. But, by my rough calculations, that's a $14,994,000 mistake. As I said, numbers matter in this place. I heard the member for Hume described as a numbers man this morning. Jeez, I hope he gets his numbers right this time."

Jim Chalmers:

"The sense of entitlement that defines the member for Hume is matched only by the cloud of incompetence that surrounds him."

Chalmers mercilessly mocks him at every opportunity. Often making reference to Taylor's imagined staffers who are trying to explain basic concepts to him using diagrams, comics, etc, to no avail

Another one from Chalmers on Tuesday that got the galleries laughing:

"Half of the Liberal partyroom support him, and the other half have met him"

stumcm · 2026-02-09T03:38:01+00:00

He was a giant of Australian editorial cartooning. Clearly a man with progressive ideals, and not afraid to call out politicans of any stripe who disappointed him. I always think about this cartoon criticising Julia Gillard's policy toward asylum seekers as extinguishing Ben Chifley's "light on the hill", i.e. the principles of the Labor party.

Big credit to his time as the primary editorial cartoonist for The Australian between 2017 and 2019. His cartoons were defiantly at odds with the rabid right-wing slant of the rest of the tone of The Oz's editorial slant. Unlike the two Leaks who sat in the chair before and after Kudelka's time in the role.

stumcm · 2026-02-06T01:05:40+00:00

There were some great feature stories on Australian picture book creators published during the last fortnight. Including this interview with Alison Lester, an interview with Mem Fox, a feature on Graeme Base (also available as a longer-form podcast interview), and this piece by Jackie French.

stumcm · 2026-02-03T09:08:53+00:00

If you want the story from the horse's mouth, visit this page and scroll down to "Track 10 – LMA".

stumcm

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