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Good article. Let’s hope the US and Israel don’t start hitting Iran’s water supplies and hospitals. I don’t think the US would go that far because Trump couldn’t afford the political consequences, but I wouldn’t put it past Israel.

I think this will go on for weeks and months if not longer. Trump has lost control of the war and despite all the destruction in Iran, the regime is now in the driving seat. The US knows roughly how much enriched uranium Iran has but not where it is, so that’s a big problem. Khamenei had issued two fatwahs in the past stating that having a nuclear weapon was not compatible with their religious beliefs, so it’s a moot point as to whether Iran would ever have developed a bomb. Iran achieved its goal with the threat alone, which was enough to get the West’s attention. Now however, with a new leader all bets are off. They apparently have enough uranium for between 11 and 16 Hiroshima type weapons, although not the long range delivery systems. That doesn’t really matter because they just have to set off one or two underground to prove the point. Trump could likely have got a deal had he continued negotiating instead of going to war. Contrary to their ambitions the US and Israel have not wiped out all Iran’s drones and rockets, and they can make more. They don’t have to import them. They have a couple of thousand sea mines and a fleet of fishing boats and midget submarines that can lay them. They have already attacked the neighbouring countries aiming to get them to pressure the Americans to abandon their bases, which may happen as it’s now clear the bases are putting them at risk rather than being a deterrent. The US and Israel are also at risk of running short of expensive missiles themselves pretty soon too. In the meantime Russia has stepped in to help the Iranians giving Putin a bargaining chip to use on Trump - “We’ll stop helping Iran if you stop helping Ukraine”. Iran has successfully bottled up the Strait with severe consequences for world energy supplies and other products such as fertiliser. The US and Israeli attacks on infrastructure and historically important sites is turning the population against the US and Trump in particular. Trump and Hegseth have got most of the US population offside as well. Trump has no off-ramp here and it’s his nature to just make a bad situation worse by never wanting to be seen to be a loser, but he’s already lost this war. All that remains is to go through the process of losing.

Scomo and Abbot were a lot worse.

The Washington Post and other sources have reported that two ships owned by an Iranian company that the US has accused of supplying material to Iran's missile program left a Chinese chemical-storage port during the week and appeared to be headed towards Iran, according to a Washington Post analysis of ship-tracking data, satellite imagery and Treasury Department records. They are known to have transported perchlorate in the past to make rocket fuel. I wonder how far they'll get.

The ceremony would have been a lot more respectful if he hadn't shown up at all.

She obviously doesn't like him much.

An even bigger irony is that the US manufactures it’s own version of a Shahed 136 drone called LUCAS. They reverse engineered a Shahed.

So it wasn't invented by Biggles then?

I wonder if he factored in the cost of the jerrycans. He may not be saving much.

There were three Australians in the submarine crew who basically stayed in their bunks so we could say that Australia took no part in the attack.

It’s been reported that the Russians are supplying Iran with targeting information for their missiles. Donald might have to give his friend Vladimir a call.

I tapped the history icon on the screen menu, entered the date and time (4 March, 17:20Z) and it replayed the flights around that time. If you tap on the aircraft symbol on the map it brings up all the aircraft details. One flight left Perth and headed to Singapore and passed the incoming aircraft which I assume was the one you heard.

The free version only limits historical data retrieval to 7 days, which is pretty reasonable. I have an adblocker on the PC so I only use FR24 on my phone.

This is from the website. It doesn't like an Adblocker for the free version, but it is free. The 7 day trial is for the paid versions which makes sense..

This is what AI said when I asked if the free version was time-limited: Yes, the free version of Flightradar24 is time-limited. Specifically, the website times out after 30 minutes of continuous use. Additionally, free users are limited to 7 days of historical flight data and only 3 sessions in the 3D view, along with having advertisements displayed throughout the app and website. Flightradar24 +1 Key limitations for the free tier include: Session Timeout: Website sessions time out after 30 minutes. Historical Data: Limited to 7 days of past flight data. 3D View: Restricted to 3 sessions. Functionality: Ads are present, and access to advanced features like weather layers, ATC boundaries, and detailed airport data is restricted. Usage: The free version is intended for personal use only. Flightradar24 +1 To remove these restrictions, users can upgrade to a Silver, Gold, or Business subscription. Flightradar24

I use the free version which I've had on my phone for years.

Looks a like a Malaysian Airlines A330 coming in from the west and looping around to the north before landing.

Interesting analysis of the tax situation in the US if you've got 25 minutes. Probably pretty relevant to Australia too.

Doesn't seem like much of a prophet. He allows himself plenty of wriggle room to adjust his prophesies to match what actually happens.

Typical house and land prices in Perth have gone through the roof. Up around 40-50% in just the last 2-3 years. I was talking to a real estate agent last week. He sold a house near mine for $1.1m about 18 months ago. He said he would list it today at $1.5m. One of my daughters is renting and there’s no way she can afford to buy now. Three years ago she could probably have managed a mortgage but not now. Our other kids are reasonably secure but I worry about her. Once a parent, always a parent!

You mean banks are lawless rogues. I'm shocked!

I'm more curious about the black bits.

Gavin Newsome was being interviewed recently by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. He recounted being in a meeting with Trump and Jarrad Kushner when Trump said Ivanka should have married Tom Brady. It was an interesting interview, worth watching:

Leave your ex in Sydney, stay where you are, extend your place and get a dog. 😊

You can be just as lonely renting somewhere else. If everything is pretty good where you are now, apart from the distance to a larger town, maybe it's being on your own too much that's the main problem?