onetrack

The Americans have slowly woken up to the massive cost to their economy, of their ever-more-expensive weaponry. https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-using-repurposed-iranian-drone-technology-to-attack-iran-a-military-expert-explains-why-277397

All the Iranians here, that I have ever dealt with, are pleasant people to deal with, hard workers - and all despair at the state of the country they left. The original Iranian Farsi (Persian) culture was held in high esteem for its civilised level, and the Farsi's reached high levels of sophistication in arts, poetry, mathematics, and numerous other fields. They treated others in a civil manner, and social etiquette was well developed, and they were admired for centuries for their cultivated outlook. But somewhere along the way, the cultured Farsi allowed other cultures to infiltrate their nation, and those cultures were Islamist fundamentalist rock apes, who worked on religious violence, religious repression, and subordination by devious means - and the artistic and highly educated Farsi's were overwhelmed, and their ability to deal with poor leadership was constantly beaten down. One would hope, that soon, the cultured and educated Farsi's who believe in religious tolerance, and who formerly had good governmental processes, will gain the upper hand. But I cannot see that happening unless there is much more major bloodshed to come, as the Islamist religious rock apes are still in too high a number, to allow that to happen. They extend throughout many Islamic countries, and support religious repression and extreme murderous violence, at every attempt to remove them from power.

The 1.7M barrels of oil purchased in 2020 as part of Australia's storage reserves, and stored in a Texas salt cavern, was severely criticised by opponents after it was purchased, with opponents claiming it would be of little use to us in the event of a war, because of the time lag in accessing/shipping it (2 to 3 weeks), and the risk of loss via enemy attack in shipping channels, when on its way here. The message must have been heeded, because that oil reserve was sold off in 2022. I have no idea whether a financial loss or gain was incurred in the sale - but it may been sold at a profit, as oil prices spiked in 2022, thanks to the Ukraine invasion by Russia. Regardless, the simple fact remains, we still do not have the stipulated 90 days of oil reserves in hand, as required by the IEA. Our fuel reserves are currently around 34 to 36 days, and that should be of great concern to every politician with more than one functioning brain cell. Unfortunately, we have quite a number of politicians who seem to lack any functioning brain cells.

No, that's an incorrect assumption. The article says "$700M worth of agricultural exports". That amount would be comprised largely of agricultural machinery. We have no tractor industry left in Australia, so we import American-built tractors, harvesters and tillage equipment by the shipload. And they are all big-ticket items. Some of the headers and tractors are now approaching the $1M mark for purchase price. The amount of American beef shipped to Australia can barely be measured, they can't supply enough beef to Americans, so they ship in ... wait for it ... AU$5.2B worth of Australian beef each year! The level of American shipments of beef to Australia is estimated to be around US$1M to US$2M at a maximum - a drop in the ocean compared to the AU$19.5B worth of beef that Australia exported in total in 2024. https://globalaginvesting.com/australia-opens-market-to-u-s-beef-imports-after-two-decades/

Iran is already nearly out of water, thanks to bungling Islamic Fundamentalist leadership. They have only just very recently opened a desalination plant to provide them with water - I guess this may be the one hit? The water situation was previously so dire, the Ayatollahs were discussing moving Tehran to some place where there was adequate water. Where that place was, is anyones guess. There's going to be a lot of thirsty Iranian war refugees flooding into other countries soon. https://e360.yale.edu/features/iran-water-drought-dams-qanats https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-launches-key-water-transfer-project-from-gulf-of-oman-t (Ignore the news articles on Al Mayadeen, showing massive American losses. Al Mayadeen is a Beirut-based, Lebanese pan-Arabist satellite news channel, a propaganda mouthpiece for Hezbollah).

Yes, diesel did go down to around $1.00 a litre during the worst period of COVID, but it didn't stay there for very long, only a few weeks. The price gougers love major disruptions - any chance to give a reason for a substantial price increase. Spare a thought for a mate, he's driving his Landcruiser Troop Carrier from Esperance back to Victoria this coming week. Diesel is currently $2.29 L at Norseman and $2.99 a litre at Nullarbor Roadhouse. But I paid $2.79 a litre for diesel at Mundrabilla on the Nullarbor, when I drove from Echuca to W.A. in May 2024, so maybe not such a big percentage increase in remote areas, as in the cities. Diesel at Mundrabilla was the cheapest across all the Nullarbor roadhouses, back in May 2024. Nullarbor Roadhouse is always the dearest, you avoid the place like the plague. I wouldn't fancy being a caravanner tripping around the country at present, the massive increase in fuel prices is going to see a lot of people curtail their caravanning holidays.

Oh, jolly good show! Has Nev ever pranged a kite? Did he really know Pilot Officer Percy Prune? What about RAF and RAAF bumf? 😄

It's all about the F-word - and as to its quality as a linguistic presentation, it's pretty f***ed. 😄

The price per barrel of oil has gone up 12.5%. That equates to 21c a litre at the bowser. Anything more than that, is simple price gouging.

Here's an interesting site where official tests of fuel consumption and EV battery range are measured accurately, and checked against the manufacturers claims. Unsurprisingly, many of the ICE models used more fuel than advertised, and a lot of the EV's battery range claims fell well short of the manufacturers claimed range. The worst offender amongst the EV's was the MG4, which recorded a shortfall of 31% in battery range, against the manufacturers claimed range. The MG company claimed a range of 405kms, but accurate/real life testing revealed a range of only 281kms. That's a world of difference, and I can't understand how MG hasn't been hauled over the coals for making false claims. https://realworld.org.au/

I just found out Katherine has a "River Cam", pointing at the old rail bridge. The river is lapping the underside of both road and rail bridges at present. https://www.katherine.nt.gov.au/about-katherine/living-in-katherine/river-cam.aspx Some of the lower Katherine suburbs are getting wet feet, right about now. The main bridge is now closed to all traffic. It appears that they have a levee bank with removable gates. The "dry side" of the gates doesn't look too dry, to me!

Katherine is suffering from major flooding, with the Katherine River expected to exceed 19.2M depth tonight - with more rain coming. This flood event is expected to exceed the 2006 flood river height, at 19M. This photo was taken when the Katherine river was at 17.6M. At 19.2M the water is close to lapping the underside of the rail bridge. However, even at 19.2M, the river level is still well below the disastrous 1998 Katherine flood, where the Katherine River reached 20.4 metres and flooded the entire town, including the main street (the Stuart Hwy) with chest-deep floodwaters. Here's a photo of the river level gauge. This was the scene yesterday afternoon (6th Mar). This is the current Flood Watch Area for the NT. It's interesting that the area extends well into W.A. and encompasses a sizeable area S and W of Kununnura.

The media are having a wonderful time spreading fear and anxiety, claiming that petrol will be $2.50 a litre within a couple of days. There is zero reason why petrol should go from around $1.50 on Monday to $2.50 next week, we live in a global economy with oil sourced from dozens of sources, and a small jump in the price of oil per barrel, doesn't translate to a $1 a litre increase within 10 days. It's simply motorist-gouging at its finest, and I hope it sends EV sales through the roof.

O.K., that's good info - but if you don't have a flight number, tail number, airline, or any of those details, how do you just find a mystery aircraft that flew overhead last night?

The Welsh wording actually says, "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work for translation".

I can't see where to acquire that free search for past flights on FlightAware. I can only find a button that says "buy data" (for big $$$).

Your not correct on Toyota's position, they are still going gangbusters, and it's largely due to hybrids. They picked that EV's uptake would be slow, and that hybrids could fill in in the meantime, and that's where they're winning. https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyota-breaks-global-sales-record-tops-2025-charts-for-sixth-year-running/

But no flight tracking website give you historical data without you paying for it, anyway? So it's a waste of time trying to find out what flew overhead last night, as I'd still have to pay, to acquire the info. I can see flights moving on the site, but it's only current information. If I click off the ad-blocker warning overlay, the site defaults to the paid subscription page that rgmwa just gave a screenshot of.

But the site hates me! I can't even register! And it continues to warn me in big overlays, that I'm using an ad-blocker - when I've already turned it off!! Even when I try to go to just www.flightradar.com as the URL, it redirects me to FR24 lodged on Perth airport in the URL.

Oh, they've got a plan, alright - and it all centres around our ol' mate Donny, and the ever-increasing level of his personal financial gains - from any worldly conquests, Presidential decisions, and trade deals jockeying. I must say, I'm surprised he hasn't managed to score a deal with the U.S. military, to use Trump-branded armaments. I bet he's seen the profits of the U.S. military-industrial complex, and is itching to get his major share of them.

I can't even register for a free account on the site. I click the "register an account" button and nothing happens - even though I turned my ad blocker off and refreshed the page. I can only register for a "free 7 day trial" involving a subscription. It looks like you guys got in on the ground floor - I get the FR24 concierge who tells me I can't get in, unless I pay! Is it something to do with my looks, or something I said about them somewhere on social media?? Is the TCA running FR24, and checking my Social Australia postings as I type??? 🥹

Yeah, I was surprised to find out recently that diesel use has gone up substantially in recent years, primarily due to diesel delivery van sales booming - primarily due to the boom in online shopping. I'd have to opine that petrol sales have dropped, largely because many petrol cars are being traded on EV's. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-02/diesel-sales-surge-but-lpg-and-e10-plunge-fuel-prices/106367856

Yeah Willie, I've always been puzzled why QLD has high fuel prices, bit of an oil company rort, I would think. I can recall when QLD had the cheapest fuel in Australia, about 5c or 6c L cheaper than anywhere else, when fuel was less than a $1 L. I think it was because QLD had no state tax on fuel, unlike the other States?

FR24 tells me I have to register to get free use, for just 7 days, then I have to pay a regular monthly fee??

Yeah Willie, I've always been puzzled why QLD has high fuel prices, bit of an oil company rort, I would think. I can recall when QLD had the cheapest fuel in Australia, about 5c or 6c a L cheaper than anywhere else, when fuel was less than a $1 a L. I think it was because QLD had no state tax on fuel, unlike the other States?