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Alternative Energy and a islanded microgrid. Lord Howe Island put in a $12 million dollar solar + battery, 3 years ago. So far they saved 360,000 litres of imported diesel ($2.6 million). That makes it pay for itself in about 5 years. https://arena.gov.au/assets/2024/09/Lord-Howe-Island-Hybrid-Renewable-Project-Public-KS-Report.pdf

I have fond memories of Lord Howe Island. When I was a musician in the RAAF, we made many visits there. The landings and takeoffs in a C-130 were always exciting. These trips were in the 80s, and from memory, we used to perform at "Founders Day" events. Back then it was a big deal, and we seemed to have some celebrity status. We would be put up by the locals and shown a good time with boat trips, etc. On one occasion, I was able to get my wife on the RAAF flight. On another occasion, after takeoff, the crew put a cargo strap across the rear of the aircraft, and they opened the back ramp as we flew past Balls Pyramid.

He's been here before. He's in the process of bankrupting the biggest casino he's been able to get his hands on. Unfortunately the unwitting players and spectators are the American public.

Random Thought re: Australian manufacturing. This ABC article mentions a problem restarting manufacturing..... apart from trying to be competetive on price....there is a shortage of tradesmen with experience required for industry. They are literally a dying breed. I have long believed that our only hope is to initiate a group called Dinosaur Engineering. Gather up the remaining skilled old farts to work voluntarily to do the design, training and setup of each manufacturing project. There are many competent 'older' people languishing in a sea of retirement boredom, who would love to get their teeth into the challenge. Like Mens Sheds on steroids. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-28/tools-engineering-pattern-making-manufacturing-industry/105134026

My ungripe of the day..... I am sitting in Sydney domestic terminal awaiting a call to board a short Dash-8 to Lord Howe. A rare place of NO MOBILE PHONE COVERAGE.... AT ALL! I will enjoy a break from all the gloom & doom of constant news.

My wife & I posted off our votes today. 33 spots on the Senate paper, both of us marked 1-33. I see that the LNP have done a preference swap deal with Pauline Hanson now - so just consider where your preferences are going! It's why I always mark every spot. I don't want the political parties to decide where my preference is going - I'll choose that myself, thanks very much.

I'm not a gun nut. I don't own a gun, and see no reason to do so. I do, however, like guns as examples of ingenuity of design. I cannot wait to get my daily dose of https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenWeapons The presenter is not some red-necked Second Amendment twit, but a person who has a deep love of the history of firearms. His access to many firearms museums and manufacturers worldwide is an indication of the esteem with which he is held in the field of firearms history. His presentations have a serious background, but are given with an air of a friendly chat. I have never heard him sprout any of that rabid Second Amendment stuff. At times he takes a firearm to a shooting range to demonstrate its action, and sometimes he will use a subject firearm in competitions. It is unfortunate that the rules for posting on YouTube prevent him from demonstrating firearms that can operate in fully automatic mode but, in his videos, that does not materially detract from what he is presenting.

Poor Ukraine. Having to put up with Trump's stupidity after being invaded by Putin is just adding insult to injury.

One can only imagine the hell sufferers of this abuse go through.. As I recall, the Queen ended up paying her £12m to stop a civil case from going to court to protect her son. Although this was hailed as a victory to Giuffre, it probably shows any of these compensatory vcitories, which includes a tacit admssion from the Queen that her alleged favourtie sone was more likely than not to have lost the case, are very hollow to the victims. May she rest in peace.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

They sure did, my second partners dad had the "luck" of been hit three different times by German subs. First time he escaped the engine room just in time. The second was on deck, the third in the wheel house. He was very lucky, each time he was rescued and only minor burns at worst. Most never had a chance or drowned. He was one extremely lucky engineer. They called him " hard to kill Bill" The British merchant navy was a far more deadly job then a war ship posting.

Gerard Kennedy. actor best known for his roles in early television series, in particular the espionage series including Hunter and the police procedural Division 4. Kennedy also appeared in film roles during a career that spanned 50 years in the industry, has passed away at the age of 93.

Well, it's not a surprise to anyone with more than 1 brain cell.

I received this from a guy I met online through The Shed Online a few years ago, the web-based version of the Men's Shed which no longer exists. He sends me lots of releases from the Sydney Morning Herald. It relates to AUKUS and our involvement that not many know about. https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/04/aukus-is-more-than-nuclear-submarines-and-thats-a-problem/

Scary, the oligarchy and political capture seem sure to head us to destruction. Imagine if Stephen Fry was president how different the world would be. The world our children inherit is nothing like any human has ever seen or could imagine in all but the most catastrophic sci-fi. We are running half blind to extinction.

Elon is working on it for you Spacey. Just imagine, targeted advertising straight to your visual cortex, 24 hours a day.

There's no Money in it and people who think are a threat to the establishment. Nev

This captures the essence of the shift in direction of the USA, but also highlights the dependency of the rest of the world on it.

Crash of a Consolidated PB2B-2 Catalina on Lord Howe Island: 7 killed

Flew over it on the way to Norfolk Island a few times. Never landed there. Was serviced by Seaplanes for a long time. Nev

Well, we voted this morning. We were discussing the popularity of early voting, which a large percentage of the population seems to like. At the polling booth, there are signs listing the acceptable reasons for voting early. At no point were we asked if we were eligible. It seems to me that in practice, it doesn't matter. I think the days of having 1 day in which to vote are outdated. Given that many more people work on weekends these days, a voting window of one day seems a little restrictive. Rather than maintaining the fiction that voting early is only for people who would be overseas or otherwise unavailable to vote, perhaps the voting window could be one or two weeks, and political campaigns could cease before this voting period. I get the idea that significant announcements in this present campaign might be made after my vote, however, I don't tend to vote on individual promises that may or may not be kept anyway. I tend to vote on a candidate's philosophy. I am, and have always been, progressive, therefore, I am unlikely to vote for a party whose values are conservative.

Posted our votes in yesterday. I made sure of my preferences by voting Under The Line - as I have strong political opinions.

It's a shame that America's display of manufacturing might is now simply museum exhibits. Recall, also that England has very many abandoned factories now.

Makes you wonder whether the US today would have any hope of matching the organisation and determination needed to repeat that performance if we ended up in another world war. Obviously a war today would be fought differently using different technology but I don’t think they would have any chance.

I watched an interview with Musk, as regards the performance of DOGE, and he was claiming that they were saving $4B a day in Federal expenditure. However, that claim is rubbery, because so much of their claimed "savings" were from processes that were already in place when Trump took over as President. To add to that, the interest bill on the U.S. National Debt is running at $3B a day, and what Trump and Musk are doing, is actually doing very little to address that debt level. What they ARE doing is causing increased U.S. unemployment, reducing Americas ability to keep tabs on what is happening in the world outside the continental U.S., damaging Americas standing in the global arena as a reliable and trusted partner - and as the bloke in the video above clearly points out, there is no statesman-like vision in Trumps and Musks agendas for Americas future, it's all about money, chaotic decision-making that takes abrupt reversals, promotes bitter divisiveness, chases retribution and vicious revenge, and which concentrates on belittling people who oppose their agenda. And the very worst part of Trump and Musks beliefs is that Putin is a good bloke, and his vision for Russia is worthy of support, and that Ukraine is just a corrupt failed state. To top it all, anyone who thinks that American industry can return to low-cost manufacturing, and beat China at their low-production-cost game, is living in La-La Land.

Has Chump inadvertently increased Aussie beef exports:

Grid stability (& instability) is a complex system. All grid operators put a lot of effort into prevdnting cascading shutdowns. And all grid operators have the ability to shut down generators to prevent over generation. No, I don't believe it was caused by renewables. The anti renewable lobby used to say renewables won't work. Now they are whingeing that renewables make too much electricity.

Quite agree, OME. With only one caveat..... We really need Australian ownership of raw material extraction AND the value adding processing.

It would not surprise me. I had a car accident in Dallas way back in the late '90s. The policeman and I were talking and I explained that the show, Cops, had not long been running in Australia, and asked if it were an over-dramatisation of what it was like in the USA. His response, in a southern drawl was, "No sir. It's very accurate... Just today, the state legislature passed a law allowing people to carry concealed handguns in shopping centres." I asked him what he thought about it, and he was clear the police hated it.. and could not understand why anyone would need to carry guns in that situation. He also said most police are all for proper gun control. So, yeah, I would not be surprised if it were legit in Texas. Although I don't think it is.

I would proffer that so did Macron and other world leaders - and it was the same subject. Thanks OT.. I am taking a break from catching up on some study I have to do. However, it is pretty clear that the 5th Amendment prohibits denial of liberty without due process and this has been upheld for a lot less than what Chump is currently getting away with. At the moment, a complicity executive (because the president can arbitrarily appoint the executive - a flaw in their system) and congress means the courts are the only check and balance on the other two organs of government. Even though they can appoint a special counsel to prosecute contempt, who would enforce it? As I have always said to my kids, many of the autocratic countries in the world have constitutions that would be aspirational to most democracies, but the propaganda machines and the keys to the military and other executive agencies - and the general culture of the country - determine whether or not the constitution is effective or just a propaganda piece. This article, if accurate is a cause of deep concern: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-27/how-us-voters-feel-about-donald-trump-100-days/105215796 Chump's supporters are defending thei continued support basically because he is implementing his promises at breakneck speed. There is no discussion on whether those promises are the right thing to do, or whether the execution of those promises are lawful. We have cases where people who are documented or have lawful abode in the USA being rounded up and. upon a court order not being brought back. Why? And we have many situations where there hasn't been due process, as required by the 5th amendment where the courts have ruled against the government being flagrantly ignored. Also, we have someone saying Grandpa Joe worked at a glacial pace. Yeah, I agree with that criticism. But in terms of domestic affairs, he managed to turn an incredibly large ship around in a very tight circle of time without causing extra undue duress to his people. Chump is simply wiggling the rudder backwards and forwards, and the bolts holing it on seem to be wobbling loose. Yet, because he is implementing his promises at breakneck speed, all is OK, apparently. Farmers are losing their farms, unemployment is rising, civil unrest is spreading.. flagrant breaches of the law are continuing, and the real economy - not just the stock markets is starting to tank.. But that is OK, as long as he implements his policies at break neck speed, when a more measured approach will probably reach the outcomes, some of which are fair, with less disruption and faster. But worryingly, this is looking more and more like the 1930s. The dangerous rhetoric being whipped up, the governments attempts and controlling academic political discourse. Not only the weakening, but attacks on the judiciary that are upholding the rule of law even when it doesn't meet the government's agenda. A Wisconsin (I think) judge has been arrested so far without representation for abetting an illegal immigrant - whom, after hearing the case said there was none and told the immigrant where the door was. The arbitrary detainment of visitors - allegedly because they may have some messages on their phones criticising Chump. And who on earth would have thought in our lifetime, western European countries would be issuing travel advisories urging care when visiting the USA due to such flagrant violations of human rights because those visitors could be subject to them? Unless someone straightens up this ship, this has the potential to have much longer term negative ramifications than are evident. Of course, the possibility of an outright autocracy is very high as the American people have, and seem happy to allow the executive to gram more and more power than they are allowed to. And why would they want to do that? However, despite America's current economic strength, the volatility that is being introduced and the lack of respect of the rule of law makes conducting business with the USA precarious. And most business people will have consistency, even if they don't give a poop about human rights.. Because without consistency, they can't plan confidently to make profits year on year. If the US$ keeps falling, the international value of the US economy will fall with it, and that may open doors to places like China or Europe, although admittedly the latter has other structural economic and political issues to deal with.

I would trust them less than Huwaei equipment.

Better than forgetting " who is that weirdo " . spacesailor

Save you having to watch SKY. Nev

Trump once told Bob Woodward, “Real power is, I don’t even want to use the word, fear”.

https://vt.co/news/world/zelensky-slams-trumps-ukraine-peace-plan-with-four-blistering-words?utm_source=vt&utm_medium=picturepost

China has cancelled orders fpr 12,000 metric tonnes of US pork, US soybeans and returned 2 Boeing aircraft. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/u-s-farmers-face-steep-drop-in-china-s-soybean-and-pork-buying/ar-AA1Dz2Zt https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2025/04/21/second-boeing-jet-starts-return-from-china-tracker-shows

There's a revealing article in the link below, showing how much Trump has stuffed the American economy with his moronic and chaotic decision-making. What is interesting is the chaos he's creating in shipping, with the container trade about to revert to COVID-19 chaos, whereby empty shipping containers piled up in the wrong ports, and ships sailed with only part cargoes. Coupled with American businesses inability to do any forward planning, while Trump bounces off the walls, and the end result will be nothing surer than goods shortages on American store shelves (which drives up prices), increased prices as a result of tariff impositions, and American ports withering, as cargoes diminish. The thing is, it's not just imports being affected, the Chinese are effectively embargoing American goods and produce, so the number of containers leaving American ports will reduce substantially. Boeing are getting a pile of new aircraft returned, that the Chinese were going to buy, so another kick in the nuts for Americas largest export earner. It just makes one wonder how much longer Americans will put up with his idiocy, as regards his pathetic economic decision-making, that is going to make life harder for a lot of Americans. https://prospect.org/economy/2025-04-24-permanent-tariff-damage/

Seems that little credit was ever given to the merchant marines. Yet they were serving in the same wars as 'servicemen'. And doing it on unarmed, slower vessels. My uncle served in merchant marine in both big wars as a radio operator. Never sunk but was attacked. I still have an old hand drawn map of a course in the Med, with notes of sightings of subs that were stalking them but torpedoes missing them.

For all those who have had chips stolen by seagulls...... You have been warned! (A sign at cafe in Hyde Park Sydney)

Do what is normally "undecided" people vote early. I suspect some do. I think some just like to have it "out of the Way" so they can think of other things. I'm probably more concerned with politics than most as I've even from a very young age been aware of the Dangers of BAD government having been born at the beginning of 1940 into a World War situation. Nev

That tells us all you certainly are not a sausage man 🙂 I obviously can't vote in this election (Son was disappointed not to be there to vote), but I would like to leave it to polling day unless impossible. The reason is because, sort of like the QLD election, it would give me time for some crap to be uncovered, which may sway my vote. Although, there are elections wherer my mind woudl be made up well in advance (this is one of them) and it would take an awful lot of crap to come out before I would change my vote.

Nah, not offered but I am not particularly a "sausage man" In and out as quickly as possible. Another observation is that it seems to me that most people don't take "how to vote" material from the party people outside the booth. I haven't done this for many, many years. I used to take a brochure from the party or candidate I wanted to vote for and then one from all the others so as not to signal my vote. We did our research before we went, and I suspect this is what many people are doing.

It Illustrates the Disortions of the Mercator Projection which get worse near each pole. The more common and useful one is Lamberts Conformal Orthomorphic projection based on 2 selected parallels of Latitude The only true representation is on a Globe, Nev

It is just the sizes that have been corrected. Of course the image of each region is no longer the proportionate distance from its neighbours. The main message for me is that Russia is not all that big compared to Australia.