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G'day all! Just sticking my head in the door to let you know I'm upright and breathing. The main reason that I haven't been around is that I was spending hours here, and when I put a lot of effort into researching a topic and creating a post, there was no reasonable discussion, simply personal attack. At the same time the early restrictions due to COVID in Sydney and the frustrations of dealing with a GP who thought that the piece of paper on the wall proved that she knew more than everyone else, were impacting on me. So what did I do? Well, the wife's condition got worse and worse, and it was only when the pain reached 9.5 on a scale of 0 to 10 that I got her into hospital and found out that she had a massive cancer on her lady bits. That was about three weeks ago. She came home after a pain control programme was developed, but that didn't work. We got her back into hospital last Saturday where the current cause of the pain was determine (the cancer doesn't cause the pain). She'll remain in hospital until 11th August when she will be operated upon, then spend a further fortnight there recovering. Due to COVID, no visitors are allowed, so she's isolated from family. It's hard, but I look on the bright side in that while in hospital she is getting the social contact with women that her being confined at home has prevented. And what about me? Well I've turned my hand to woodwork. I found a supply of good hardwood from a demolished house and turned this: into this I'm also making the tools and accessories to go with it. I follow this bloke: https://www.youtube.com/c/RexKrueger/channels That takes care of my daytime activities - along with the housework. At night, I watch a bit on the History channel, then retire to the office to study Calculus under the tutelage of this wonderful Young Australian of the Year https://www.youtube.com/c/misterwootube/channels I still do some surfing of aviation-related videos. Joining the woodworking and aviation bits together is where I found the video on making a propeller that Jerry Attrick poste on the other site. So I'll say "hooroo!", and go off to make wood shavings, or dig some compost into the garden to get ready for Spring planting. Keep you masks on! Old Man Emu

The British Press British Press.mp4

I saw a short clip of a bloke in England being interviewed on the street. His comments were amusing: "Being British is all about driving a German car to an Irish themed pub with Belgian beer and then going home buying an Indian takeaway to sit on a Swedish sofa in front of a Japanese television to watch American shows and all the while being suspicious of anything foreign".

Well Said William Shatner!✨🇨🇦🚀💫🪐 🌎 “Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe. I thought I would experience a deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration. "I was absolutely wrong. The strongest feeling, that dominated everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced. "I understood, in the clearest possible way, that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting so starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet. "This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I did my share in popularizing the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will stay our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable." -- William Shatner, actor❤️🇨🇦❤️

A Russian man dies and goes to Hell. There he finds that each country has a separate Hell, and one may opt to sign up for any of them. He goes first to the German Hell and asks St Peter, 'What do they do here?' St Peter says, "First, they put you in an electric chair for 4 hours, and burn you extensively. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another 4 hours, and place weights on you, while you're there. Then the German Devil comes in, and whips you viciously for the rest of the day." The Russian doesn't like the sound of the German Hell at all, so he goes to the American Hell. There, he's told of the exact same routine happening; "First, they put you in an electric chair for 4 hours and burn you extensively. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another 4 hours and place weights on you while you're there. Then the American Devil comes in, and whips you viciously for the rest of the day." He then tries a few other countries Hells, and gets the same answer each time. Then finally he comes to the Russian Hell, and finds a very long queue of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks St Peter, "What do they do here?" And to his great surprise, once again he receives the same answer as his previous inquiries revealed. He exclaims, "So, what's going on? That's exactly the same as all the other Hells - so what's the long queue for?" And St Peter replies; "Because the Russians are running this Hell, there's no power, the electric chair doesn't work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed, and the Devil is a former Russian bureaucrat - so he comes in, signs the register, and then goes off to the casino for the rest of the day..."

Had all the family over for Christmas, and everybody is asking how I got the frypans so sparkly? I boiled 10L of water and added 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, two cups of Coke and half cup of lemon juice, and then stirred well. I waited 3 minutes before placing the frypans in the solution for 45 minutes, then added a quarter cup of chlorine bleach to the mixture. Then I brushed them with a small wire brush, and put them back into the liquid for another 25 minutes. I took them out, rinsed them, and they looked exactly the same - so I threw them away, and went out and bought new ones.

It gets even better. We have a company here (Cleve SA) that has just started a pilot project producing a cattle food supplement from a particular species of seaweed. If we feed a golf ball size of the product to a cow every day it stops a particular process in the cow's rumen and reduces their methane output by up to 90 percent. With a world population of 150B animals the potential of this is enormous. Look up a company called CH4 Global or go to the link below. Cheers https://www.ch4global.com

The things we take for granted. The Russians have been pushed back from around Kharkiv city, and in the north, Ukrainian troops have reached the border and planted a symbolic border marker post. So for the time being, the air raid sirens have gone silent in the city. Alexander K. spent three hours in the kitchen at 2.00am this morning cooking soup; the first chance to slow cook since the war began. Until now, it's been come up out of the basement, cook a quick meal, then take it back down to the basement. He's not fighting on the front line and is doing volunteer work around town, feeding the elderly, running shuttles for people evacuating and a million other things. A lot of the younger people (women and children) have evacuated to the west, but a lot of the elderly have been left behind. Many are too infirm to travel, some are isolated and have no relatives, and others simply don't have the money to go anywhere else. That's where people like Alexander and his friends come into the picture. He's used what he could of his own money to buy food and medicines for the old people, and now relies on donations from people through social media networks. During the day, he has been running the gauntlet driving around to the old people. When the shelling started in Kharkiv, Alexander and his wife were hosting several families in their basement come air raid shelter. High morale and strong spirit has got them through it so far. I was pleased to hear that his wife and little daughter were recently able to evacuate to the west, as they were there through a lot of the hostilities. I'll think of them next time I make soup in my very peaceful kitchen. We are so lucky to live in a country like Australia. P.S. it's mushroom and barley soup with goat cheese on top. It looks good; I'll have to get his recipe.

As a Moderator I had to look into a complaint arising from a bit of back 'n' forth between two members on a topic. As a result of looking into that, and from what I have experienced here and elsewhere, I have formed the opinion that, although these forums allow people to express their deeply felt opinions in writing, the method fails to replace face-to-face discussion where tone of voice, and physical expression play a large part in carrying meaning. It is easy to get very strong in presenting one's opinions, to the extent that, in written format, they nearly reach the stage of throwing down the gauntlet. So, please consider how your posts will be read by others, especially if the post is part of a two-way debate. Remember that a good debater attacks the content of the opposition's statements, not the deliverer. Not matter how hot under the collar you get, please don't get involved in personal attacks. If you do, your audience will go away and you will be the ultimate loser.

First time we've had honey from our bees! Despite neither of us really knowing what we were doing, we managed to get about 3.4kg from our one hive.

I suppose that will make it a cruise missile?

One good thing about getting old, we watched a disaster movie tonight for the second time and didn’t know how it ends.

Ok, here's one that frightened me a bit. I was talking to a colleague today and he said that yesterday he had a scam call from someone purporting to be his wife. IN HER VOICE. She said she'd broken down and the tow truck had arrived, and she needed to pay the driver but didn't have enough cash so could he send some money to her account. So somewhere the scammers have got a sample of his wife's voice (apparently 6 seconds is all it takes) along with his mobile number and were using AI to talk to him, in real time, with her voice. He said tone, inflection, everything was perfect. It was live chat, he was asking questions and she was responding. He knew it wasn't his wife as he could see her in the kitchen preparing dinner while he was talking on the phone with "her".

I went up to my block in the Central Midlands of the Wheatbelt today to do a bit more repair work. It was nice and quiet, any businesses in town are closed, and a lot of townspeople are holidaying on the coast. The big school oval is directly opposite my commercial block, and it's always full of pink and grey galahs, hundreds of constantly bloody screeching corellas, a few Carnabys black cockatoos, and an assortment of other birds such as a few ravens, magpies, and honeyeaters. The galahs and cockatoos rule the place, just by sheer numbers and constant noise. Anyway, I'm working away, and next thing, I can hear this distant "ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta - the sound of an air impact gun or jack hammer. It stops, then starts again a little while later. Then stops, then starts again. I'm looking around, thinking someone is changing a full set of wheels on a road train? But there's no-one working in town, no businesses doing anything - but there is a few grain trucks moving around. I'm thinking, "well, maybe it's a truckie down by the wheat bin, changing a couple of flats?" But the noise keeps up, on an "on and off" basis. "Ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta ... stop. Silence for 5 mins, then "ratta, tatta, tatta ......" again. I'm looking around, totally puzzled by now. The rail line through town runs past, just down from my block, about 400 metres away. They've been tamping the ballast on regular occasions over the grain hauling period. The rail tamper wagon goes, "Ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, as the automated jackhammers pound the ballast. I think, "Well the rail tamper must be working the line downtown". But I watch for it to go by, but nary a sign of it. The "ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta starts up again. I look carefully over the road where the Whitegums are full of corellas and pink and greys (they seem to hang out together a lot, in the same flock) - and next thing, I realise - its the BLOODY PARROTS making the "ratta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta, tatta" sound!!! Not sure if it's the pink and greys or the corellas, but I suspect it's those bloody annoying corellas!! They've obviously been listening to the tamper, and to people using air ratchet guns to change truck wheels - and they've decided to copy the sound!! I know a lot of birds are copy artists and mimics, and the parrots will repeat a lot of sounds and voices - but this is the first time I've ever heard them pick up and repeat the sound of a rattle gun or rail tamper. I used to get caught out by the squeakers (grey currawongs) when I lived in the Southern wheatbelt - they're excellent mimics, and they would mimic the sound of our phone, which had a call speaker in the shed. You'd drop everything and run to pick up the phone - then suddenly realise you'd been had, by a currawong mimicking the phone.

Well, I finally made the decision and bought my first Electric Car. I have been looking at the particular car since it was released in the UK a year ago so I put my name down for a test drive when they arrived in Australia in August. So far the car has won 15 major awards including Car of the Year 2023 in the UK where it beat every other entrant including ICE & hybrids. I was a bit dubious about the brand but after looking at the multitude of Youtube reviews and the test drive I was convinced. It is a MG 4 Essence 64. One motoring reviewer found the dramatic change from all of the revived MG brand cars difficult to work out. His experience found that while they were generally cheap the dynamic driving experience ranged from below average to positively woeful. The MG4 was so dramatically different it was as if it was a totally different brand. Designed by the Royal Academy of Arts in London and engineered by SAIC (ex MG) Engineering at Longbridge UK it is a ground up EV design with rear wheel drive and 50-50 weight distribution with what they have called a "modular scalable platform" meaning the battery is scalable for different size vehicles and can be changed quickly. I planned to buy the sub 40k bottom of the range version but ended up with the top of the range mid size battery version. Build quality and features better than many luxury brands including Mercedes Benz according to some motoring journalists. My experience so far is I can't get over how good it is. So many features that I am still learning about, fantastic handling and great range. I installed a 7.4 kW charger in my garage and it charges from near empty to full at the off peak rate overnight easily. Running cost is the equivalent of paying about 14 cents a litre for petrol. It also has power to load so I have an adaptor and it will deliver up to 32 Amps of power for any 230 volt appliance or mutitude of appliances. I'll use this during power cuts and also camping or picnics etc. I'll never go back to ICE.

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It's a shame our government has dropped the ball because if we were to do the right and honourable thing now, we could forge a really good long term relationship with Ukraine. They see us now as a good friend but the potential is there to be an even better one. I can visualise a future of expanded military cooperation with exchange programs, joint training, and who knows, maybe one day we'll be buying Ukrainian and Polish military equipment. Both countries certainly have a good track record of design and production of good quality military hardware. Before too long, Poland will be the strongest non-nuclear European member of NATO in terms of forces and equipment, and one day Ukraine will be right there with them if they can win this war. Now is the time for the government to pick up the ball and run again. All they need is some long term vision. A lot of people have been lobbying and petitioning Albo, Richard Marles and Penny Wong to get off their backsides and do something. Lets hope they get shamed into it because it will be bad politics if they don't. If they wimp out on Ukraine now, it will follow them around like a bad smell for years to come.

For those in Melbourne who felt the 3.8 earthquake last night:

We lived on a large bush block for 21 years. The bush came up pretty close to the house so we were treated to many "visitors". We were not particularly fearful of critters although the first time we encountered a scorpion (small) walking across the lounge floor was a little concerning. We had 2 close encounters with huntsmen spiders. One encounter occurred at the dinning table. a huntsman on the underside of the table dropped into my wifes lap. Being summer and living in the middle of nowhere, clothes were somewhat optional. The other notable occasion was when I was getting dressed to go out. I put my sock on and felt something in the toe of my sock. I assumed that it was a ball of lint. I initially wasn't going to investigate but decided it might annoy me during the day, I took off the sock and plunged my hand into it and grasped the "object". On pulling it out, I opened my hand to reveal a somewhat worse for wear huntsman. I stared at this creature in my hand for a short time (seemed like a long time) before throwing the creature in the air and backing off. My wife says I emitted a girlish shriek, but I deny it. The amazing thing was that it did not bite me. Living in the bush we used to get what we initially thought were rats in our house. These were actually Antechinus, an Australian native animal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antechinus These animals are I think protected. On a summers night we would watch them through our lounge window. Moths would be attracted to the light and every so often one of these creatures would appear and leap into the air and catch a moth. On many occasions they would get into the house, which was annoying however it was the price we paid for living in a bush environment. On one occasion we had heard munching noises for several nights in a row. I got up and cornered one of these critters on the kitchen bench. This Antechinus had backed itself into a corner and when I turned the light on it made eye contact with me. They don't have beady rat eyes but large eyes. I was armed with something to beat it to death with. It was in the corner uncontrollably shaking with fear. I put down the weapon and due to the fact that it was paralyzed with fear, I was able to scoop it into a Tupperware container, I drove it a few kms away and released it. Fun fact the male Antechinus literally f**ks itself to death during the mating season.

Mark Latham is certifiable. I wouldn't employ him in any profession. As for the idea of one nation doing any good for anyone, that's a complete joke. I'm sorry for people in mining towns and they need support to exit the industry. But we don't have whalers, switchboard operators or typing pools any more either, there was no point propping up those jobs when they became obsolete and coal will go the same way.

Ain't gunna bother me none. Haven't had money to put into super for 13 years (retired in 2010). Drew the last of my super seven years later. Never been rich, never will (unless I win the Powerball jackpot). Correction: I have been rich, but not with money. Always had food to eat, always had a roof over my head, never been really sick except for the bladder cancer. Incidently, today is the 9th anniversary of my op which removed it. I have known a number of bladder cancer sufferers who didn't make it past five years, so I have nothing to complain about. Oh....and I learnt to fly. Rich beyond money.

It’s alright Bruce- I’m richer than most of humanity! The pension I worked a lifetime to earn arrives each fortnight. The food and beer is always in the shop. The electricity (almost) never goes off. The servo always has diesel. The sun comes up each morning. Ian’s forums are always open.

As a Kiwi married to an Aussie & having lived here for 18 years now my observations are these Australians in general are racist. Aboriginals are seen as not equal to Europeans and cause problems. There is a culture of Us and Them. No government has ever done anything effective to deal with what they see as an Aboriginal problem. Politicians have their public opinion and their personal opinion (which is never admitted) but influences their decisions. Historically the treatment of aboriginal people has been absolutely appalling. Obviously these are generalisations and do not apply to everyone. Everything done to date with apologies for past injustices, Closing the Gap, providing handouts, etc has been an abject failure. How could it be anything else with current Aboriginal incarceration rates and the Alice Springs current issues among the hundreds of other things. Some recognition in the constitution and providing a Voice to Parliament may not be perfect but I think it is a good first step. The aboriginal Tribes and Mobs need to become masters of their own destiny and current processes don't provide this. Maybe the Voice will enable them to get together and get some consensus on issues that confront them. Maybe it won't. Trying to modify a many thousands of years old culture in 200 years is far to big an ask. The No campaigners seem to want something more in a sort of Treaty. How can you have a treaty 200 years after conquering these people? I'll be voting yes not because it will make anything perfect but because everything else done in the past has failed, and failed miserably.

I agree that consciousness must reside in the squishy stuff, as Octave said. I have the same proof.... Often people lose their sentient awareness after a brain injury, so it must be a computational result arising within the organic brain computer. So I rationalise that our awareness is a temporary, transient phenomonon. A mere flash in the geologically big timeframe of the universe. I am not psychologically threatened by the prospect that our present life and awareness might not be eternal. (I'll never know for sure). Every day I find exciting, awesome things to admire around me. Life on Earth fills me with wonder. I try to make the most of it........ we pass this way but once.

"Faith" It IS the latest plague on the human race.

The most common mythical creature is the perfect husband. You know, the one your wife should have married. Nev

The Great Myth perpetuated by conservative media is that the Liberal National COALition are better managers of our economy. The LNP have been the worst at selling off our assets, increasing our national debt and allowing foreign corporations to rape our land without paying taxes.

Why? The Labor Party, for all its faults otherwise, has been the Party that has introduced more legislation that has been of benefit to Joe Blow than the Conservatives ever have. The Conservatives would have us still working 48 hours per week, paying through the nose for health insurance and having no superannuation and a host of other social security benefits. 1908: Introduction of old age and invalid pensions - Andrew Fisher (Labor) 1912: introduction of a maternity allowance - Andrew Fisher (Labor) 1927: Family Endowment Act (NSW) - Jack Lang (Labor) 1941: Family endowment was replaced by the Commonwealth child endowment system. 1945: introduction of unemployment and sickness benefits - Curtin/Chifley (Labor) Universal Health Insurance 1975: The first iteration of Medicare was called Medibank, and it was introduced by the Whitlam government early in its second term. The federal opposition under Malcolm Fraser had rejected Bills relating to its financing, which is why it took the government so long to get it established. Medibank began on 1 July 1975 after the passing of legislation by a joint sitting of Parliament on 7 August 1974. It had only a short period of operation before the Whitlam government was dismissed. The incoming Fraser government modified Medibank, establishing a levy of 2.5% on income to fund it. Interestingly, the levy was higher than that proposed by the Whitlam government and which the Coalition had blocked while in opposition. Superannuation 1992: The Superannuation Guarantee (SG) is introduced by the Keating Labor Government, with a mandatory 3 per cent contribution rate (or 4 per cent for employers with an annual payroll above $1 million), requiring employers to make a contribution into a super fund on their employees’ behalf. Superannuation assets at the time are estimated to be $148bn. 1993: The World Bank endorses Australia’s ‘three pillar’ system: compulsory superannuation, the age pension, and voluntary retirement savings, as world’s best practice for the provision of retirement income. Much is made by the Conservatives of the spending of money by Labor governments. This forms the basis of their attacks on Labor's economic management ability. Labor might spend money on sun shades for school children everywhere, but doesn't allocate it to car parks for non-existent commuter hubs. The people might have killed off the idea of a bunyip aristocracy in 1853, but the robber barons still rule.

I have a sour taste in my mouth. Today, a member facetiously told me to go ahead and ban him. So I did. Initially, I had informed him (I assume the gender) that complaints had been made about his tone in posts and that they lacked the decorum which, over the years, the members have established as their norm. Not more than an hour or so later he posted again in the same vein. What was a Moderator to do? The softly-softly approach clearly didn't work. The response to that was clearly contemptuous. So, in compliance with his childish comeback, I banned him from the site for a couple of months. I am prepared to accept strongly debated points. I am prepared to accept ribbing of the kind that goes on between mates. If a person wants to post that kind of thing, then before hitting the <SUBMIT> button, consider if you would say the same thing, face-to-face and within arm's reach. But I am not prepared to accept contempt, and I doubt if there is anyone amongst you who would not agree.

Let me join the chorus and say sorry you feel you need a break. OME felt the same, but came back after a break, hope you do the same. Your wise input will be missed.

Fliteright you are getting hysterical. The very essence of this case is that an employer had a duty of care to other employees and the residents in the aged care centre. That's the core of WH&S legislation, and that legislation, in my opinion, overrides privacy matters and Fair Work.

Yay, Lachlan and I received our Covid test results back and we are both negative...the anxiety the whole family have been enduring from the moment Lachlan was notified as being a close contact has been enormous but after a big sigh of relief we can all rest...a huge thank you to all for your well wishes and especially to my cousin's daughter Rebecca for making us some really comfortable masks plus my cousin Ron for kindly dropping them off at our front door. We were down to our last litre of milk

The wife & I had a very quiet 63rd wedding anniversary. spacesailor

My 93 yr old Italian neighbour, Barney, has a Rheem instantaneous (natural) gas HWS. It stopped working, so he came over to see what could be done about fixing it. His English isn't good, and he has zero knowledge of the "computer world" - and he's deaf as a post, too - so it's all hard work for him. I told him he could call Rheem, they have their own plumbers and repair vans, but it would most likely cost between $400 and $500, even if it was a simple part. If it needed more repair, it might be cheaper to replace it (it's a 2012 model), which he understood pretty well. I told him Rheem take $200 deposit out of your credit card just to initiate a callout - and their minimum charge is $260. Of course, he doesn't have a credit card, he only uses cash at all times! - and when I said they would send him messages via his phone, he decided that wasn't the way he wanted to go (he has a cheap mobile, but hardly knows how to use it, and he only keeps it "for emergency"). So he said he had a plumber mate down at the Italian club, and he'd ask him if he could fix it. A week later, I asked how he was getting on with it. He said his mate looked at the unit, figured out it was "an electric part" that needed replacing, and it would take 2 weeks to get the part, and install it. I was surprised, I told him Rheem parts were easy to get, and Rheem will repair it in a day or two. He said, "I don't think my mate wants to repair it, would it be easier and quicker to get a new one?" (a new replacement gas HWS is $1350 for a basic installation here, and it goes up if any difficulties are encountered). I said, "Rheem will repair it for you quickly, and as I said, it will probably be $400-500, do you want me to organise it?" He looked relieved and said "Yes, I'll pay you what it costs, and pay you as well!" I said, "I don't need any payment Barney, but I'll get it organised for you". I rang Rheem and inquired about parts supply, and they said they can supply almost any part needed for nearly all Rheem HWS's in use, and the worst wait would be 2-3 days. So I got them to put me through to Rheem service, where the (older) lady was very good. She took all my details down carefully and read them back, and advised the $260 minimum and $198 up-front charge (which I knew about), and initiated a call-out. I got a text with the job allocation number within minutes, and the next text was advising the job would be done the following day. The following day I got a couple of texts advising the repairers timing of arrival, and he arrived pretty much on time, in the early afternoon. He quickly diagnosed the problem as a U/S igniter (about a $40 part) and he had one in his van - but the model of HWS Barney had was a bugger to work on, because it was older and the igniter was buried deep in the HWS. He set to, and had to undo about 50 screws and pull off part after part, panel after panel and bracket after bracket. After about 45 minutes, he had the igniter out. He said the current models were a doddle to repair the igniter, and he would've had it done in 10 mins, if it was a current model. When I asked him about the life of a gas HWS, he bluntly stated. "10 years!". So he reckoned this one was past its use-by date! - but it still looked O.K. and didn't show any signs of corrosion. He pulled a new igniter out of his van and had it in and finished about an hour and 15 mins after starting the job. He signed it off and left, and the HWS was working spot-on. I went to my computer and there was the bill! - $339.13 in total - and the money was already gone from my credit card! I went and told a grateful Barney, gave him the invoice (the job was booked in his name and he would need the invoice for any claims), and he insisted on giving me $340 plus $50 for my trouble - despite me insisting I didn't need any payment, I just wanted to make sure he could have a hot shower! I think he got out of it pretty lightly, cost-wise, and he would've almost certainly have been ripped off by private plumbers.

I'll try again. Today's positive is.... Waking up and looking out across the valley. It's peaceful, quiet, not too hot, not raining, the tanks are full, the grass is short, there is food in the fridge. The car, tractor and mower all run sweetly and the wife made me breakfast before she went to work. Life is great.

Instead of trying to emulate the US, Australia should have (for its citizens) as a starting point - - Free health care including dental - Free child care - Free education (perhaps limited to 1 university degree) - Inflation-linked social welfare at a reasonable rate - Available stock of rent-capped affordable housing And see how we go from there. Giving everyone a good chance at life and taxing the wealthier with a continuing progressive tax rate (no maximum %) would probably result in far better societal outcomes than having a society with the super rich on one end and people who have to make a choice between paying rent, eating or being warm on the other.

This is a good photo bomb.

A young man with his pants hanging half off his bum, two gold front teeth, and a half inch thick gold chain around his neck walked into the local welfare office to pick up his cheque . He marched up to the counter and said, "Hi! You know, I just hate drawing welfare. I'd really rather have a job. I don't like taking advantage of the system, getting something for nothing." The social worker behind the counter said "Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter. You will have to drive her around in his New Mercedes-Benz SEL, and he will supply your clothes." "Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas travels. This is rather awkward to say, but you will also have, as part of your job, the assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20's and has a rather strong sex drive." The guy, just plain wide-eyed, said, "You're bull-shittin' me!" The social worker said, "Yeah, well . . . you started it."

Sister Agatha and Sister Edna are outside their convent, sneaking a quick cigarette, when it starts to rain. Sister Agatha pulls out a condom, cuts off the end, puts it over her cigarette, and continues smoking. Edna asks, "What in the dickens is that?" Agatha says, "It's a condom. This way, my cigarette doesn't get wet." Edna says, "Really? - where did you get it?" Sister Agatha tells her, "You can get them at any pharmacy." The next day Sister Edna walks into the local pharmacy and announces to the pharmacist, that she wants a box of condoms. The pharmacist, quite embarrassed, looks at the 80 year old nun, and delicately asks, what size, texture and brand of condom, she prefers? Sister Edna says, "Doesn't matter Sonny! - just make sure it's big enough to fit on a Camel!!"

I don't think one can be comfortable with the current position as we IMPORT virtually ALL of our hydrocarbon fuels and we've had shortages before. We will never import wind or solar and Pump hydro can be on call as well as batteries etc. We just have to cut the BS and get organised. Outback isolated solar done properly could power mini cities at rock bottom cost, Grids COST and can fail. Nev

On the first day, God created the first dog and said: “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?” So God agreed. On the second day, God created the first monkey and said, “Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.” The monkey said, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?” And God agreed. On the third day, God created the first cow and said, “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a lifespan of sixty years.” The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?’” And God agreed again. On the fourth day, God created man and said: “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.” But man said, “Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?” “Okay,” said God, “you asked for it.” So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone. Life has now been explained to you.

Recycling of wind turbine blades is now starting to happen. Most industry in the past have created items that ended up in landfill. If I think back to when I was a child when our tv or radio died it would end up in land fill. Now theses items are recycled as recycling techniques have improved. The technology for recycling tends to lag behind. In earlier times my first PC ended up in landfill because recycling did not become economic until there were enough used PCs around economically justify it. This article does not do a comparison with the waste from coal fired plants Coal ash has become one of Australia's biggest waste problems It is interesting that the article talks about the end life of composite materials but only considers turbine blades and not other sources. We could apply the same criticism to the composites used increasingly in the aircraft industry as well as marine applications and other areas where composites are being used or introduced. These bike shelters are made from wind turbines Here is an interesting and I would suggest more balanced article Adding Perspective to the Wind Turbine Waste Debate Electricity from coal produces 200 times as much solid waste as electricity from wind It is entirely reasonable to question the life cycle of all products we create but it is easy to not see or think about the waste from the products that we are already producing.

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The "Lucky Country" or a the Land of the Lotus Eaters? The Lucky Country is a 1964 book by Donald Horne. Horne's intent in writing the book was to portray Australia's climb to power and wealth based almost entirely on luck rather than the strength of its political or economic system, which Horne believed was "second rate". In addition to political and economic weaknesses, he also lamented on the lack of innovation and ambition. The title of Horne's book comes from the opening words of the book's last chapter: Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise. Horne's statement was an indictment of 1960s Australia. His intent was to comment that, while other industrialised nations created wealth using clever means such as technology and other innovations, Australia did not. Rather, Australia's economic prosperity was largely derived from its rich natural resources and immigration. Horne observed that Australia "showed less enterprise than almost any other prosperous industrial society." In the decades following his book's publication, Horne became critical of the "lucky country" phrase being used as a term of endearment for Australia. He commented, "I have had to sit through the most appalling rubbish as successive generations misapplied this phrase". The original irony was lost on the newspaper reporters of the day. That was sixty years ago. What has changed? Well, nothing in the way of improvement. We don't ride on the sheep's back so much, but in the back of monster mining dump trucks. We don't make much at all these days. You can't call the construction industry a maker of things. All it does is assemble components. We have no support for developing ideas, unless that involves working out how to get one over the rest of the mob. We buy and we buy and we buy. We are economically exploited by every other major manufacturing countries. What occupations were hardest hit by COVID restrictions? Coffee shops and restaurants. What "industry" was hardest hit? Tourism. We have become a nation of lotus eaters - a nation which who spends its time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns.

The advice should have been this all along. 1. We strongly recommend ALL people over 18 receive a TGA-approved Covid vaccine as soon as possible. 2. Be aware that if you get the Astra Zeneca jab there is a very small chance of a serious side effect. In most cases this side effect can be quickly and effectively treated in hospital. The risk of this is in the order of 1.2 cases per 100,000 up to 3 cases per 100,000 depending on age. 3. If you decide not to get the vaccine because of the risk of a side effect, be aware that we could suffer serious outbreaks at any time, and then your risk of serious illness requiring hospitalisation goes from 30 cases per 100,000 up to 260 cases per 100,000 depending on age. Do the math. 4. This is not a buffet. We're in a pandemic and we have at least two effective vaccines. Once we vaccinate 90% of the population you won't have to suffer any more lockdowns. Just get the damn jab. Your chances of serious side effects are about the same as winning a mansion on the Gold Coast, and you've never won that yet, have you?