onetrack

Bamboo.

And how many thousand years before that happens, Spacey? I'm not sure if I've got that amount of lifespan left!

I just hate it, when you wonder where that last 10 days went!

Getting back to the Universe, we like to think our Milky Way Galaxy is pretty big and impressive. But the boffins have estimated that the Milky Way is only ONE of TWO TRILLION Galaxies (some smaller, and many larger than the Milky Way) in the OBSERVABLE Universe (to us mere mortals). We can only "see" (observe) about 46.5 million Light Years into the Universe (that is, the Observable Universe is 93 million Light Years in diameter) - because of the finite speed of light, and because the Universe is still expanding at a colossal rate. And it's ALL made up out of those myriads of tiny and unmeasurable particles, described and spoken about, in Nomadpete's video. Kind of puts your daily importance into the right perspective, doesn't it?

You could just never get the show up, if you had ED.

So .... the Universe is not eternally expanding, it's actually a tetracontadigon? 🤔

My gripe today is the slackness of tradies and the poor design of a lot of domestic equipment. My 94-yr-old Italian neighbour Barney rings my doorbell at 8:30 AM this morning, just as I had planned an easy day. He told me in his broken English, his "air conditioner bracket was broken". I do all his running repairs, because he's childless, and his wife died about 10 years ago, and he's totally computer illiterate and he can't find any tradies any more, because there's no more telephone book or yellow pages book. I told him I'd be over in an hour to look at it. I get over there and find his stove rangehood had completely fallen off the wall, and landed on his stove! You should've seen the bodgie setup these installers had put in, to hold the rangehood up. It was an old rangehood, at least 40 or 50 years old (Barney's been in the house since 1994, and he said it was installed long before he got there). Fortunately, that made it a pretty simple and basic setup - but the installers had used screws that were too short and too small, and they'd simply pulled out of the wall. There were large wooden dowels (about broomhandle diameter) installed in the wall and they'd hammered plastic rawlplugs into the dowels, but the rawlplugs hadn't gone in far enough - and there appeared to be previous repairs as well, because someone had spread plaster or filler around the dowels, which plaster had fallen out as well. I decided the dowels were still quite useable, we just needed to dig up some larger and much longer screws. The rangehood was covered in thick grease, which all needed to be cleaned off before I could do anything, as the grease was getting everywhere. I took the rangehood out onto the back lawn and scrubbed it thoroughly with hot soapy water, until it was nice and clean. Then we set out on a hunt for some big screws. Barney went through all his tins of screws and could only come up with some big countersunk head woodscrews. I told him we needed regular button head screws, and I thought I might have something. As luck would have it, I had a few 14G x 65mm type 17 concrete screws that looked ideal for the job. There were only two screws holding the rangehood up. I drilled out the dowels to take long rawlplugs and ensured the concrete screws would go in without any problems. They did. Then came the fun of re-installing this prick of a thing. It was heavy, and awkward, and the screw holes were right up inside the rangehood housing, with tight access - and no lighting, of course. Add in, trying to stand on a wooden chair to get enough height, and lean over the stove at the same time, as you're trying to get the screws to start in the correct spot - all the while you have to look over the back of the rangehood to see where the screw is pointing, and turn the screw from the underside of the rangehood housing! Barney's not much help of course, he's pretty wobbly on his pins, and he uses a walker fairly regularly - although he get around the house without it. He couldn't even hold my phone with the light on in the right position to put light on the screw heads, as he'd have to stand on a chair, too! Fortunately, I managed to get the rangehood to hold in position by resting it on the top edge of the tiles under it, while I managed to get the screws started. Barney helped by holding pressure on the rangehood, to prevent it from dropping. I managed to get both screws started, and then spun them in with an 8mm socket on my battery drill. One jammed 2/3rds of the way in, but after backing it out, then screwing it in again a couple of times, it went right in and got an excellent grip. I was sweating like a horse with the effort, and with the effort of getting up and down constantly, and also having to kneel on the chair as well, which my knees protest about greatly now. Both screws got a great hold on the wall, and the rangehood was fully secured. I went and got my Silastic gun and squirted wet area silicone all around the edges of it to finish it off. Barney came out with some home grown Italian garlic and $50 for my trouble. Not exactly tradies rates, it took me two hours in total! - but I'd be happy enough to fix it for him for free, he's a good neighbour, and has been for nearly 30 years. So it all ended up a positive type of morning!

Nomadpete, you can click on the image to enlarge it. Let me know if your answer to the equation, is the same as mine.

I think I'm having most difficulty with the equation on the centre line......

My mind seized up after the first two minutes of the video. But when they came to Wittens M-theory, my eyes glazed over as well. "As an example of Witten's work in pure mathematics, Atiyah cites his application of techniques from quantum field theory to the mathematical subject of low-dimensional topology. In the late 1980s, Witten coined the term topological quantum field theory for a certain type of physical theory in which the expectation values of observable quantities encode information about the topology of spacetime. In particular, Witten realized that a physical theory now called Chern–Simons theory could provide a framework for understanding the mathematical theory of knots and 3-manifolds. Although Witten's work was based on the mathematically ill-defined notion of a Feynman path integral and therefore not mathematically rigorous, mathematicians were able to systematically develop Witten's ideas, leading to the theory of Reshetikhin–Turaev invariants."

It's not only too coherent, it lacks the 150 words in capitals, that are normally a big part of Trumps tweets.

In another kick in the nuts for Trumps almighty dollar, BHP Billiton has struck a groundbreaking agreement with Chinese buyers to settle 30% of its iron ore spot trading in Chinese yuan (RMB), instead of US dollars. This is the Chinese responding to Trumps anti-China and tariff stance - it will weaken the amount of global trading in US Dollars, and has projected the yuan onto the global trading currency stage. It's not something that can be taken lightly. Since the end of WW2, the American dollar has ruled as the currency that has dominated global trading. Not so much now - the Chinese now want to see the yuan on that global stage, and its use in transactions effectively ending the US Dollar stranglehold on international trading. https://discoveryalert.com.au/news/currency-shift-global-iron-ore-markets-2025/

If this Vans a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'.

I see dead people.

Yes, it seems odd that the ATO has mentioned this 30 year retrospective investigation, when 7 years is generally regarded as the limit for records and claims - unless criminality is involved, of course - which means investigations can be carried out 50, 60 or 70 years later. I would imagine the ATO is talking about Trust agreements that were set up from 1998 - which is when Section 100A came into force - and those Trust agreements are still in force, and all the documentation relating to them is still readily available. The ATO is apparently also seeking out high value "generational wealth transfer" deals via Trusts, whereby those Trusts are not actively complying with the general rules for Trusts, and are simply convoluted tax avoidance measures.

This should be in the "positives" thread, but I'm posting it here, because we've been talking about general injustices, and the warping of the tax system to favour low tax levels for the rich. In an alarming scenario for many wealthy people who have set up trusts - basically only for substantial tax avoidance reasons - the ATO is cracking down on these people. Specifically, the ATO is setting out to enforce Section 100A of the Tax Assessment Act, which is specifically targeted at tax avoidance, via utilising Trusts outside ordinarily accepted methods. In short, anyone who has set up a simple family Trust to share income between a husband and wife has nothing to be unduly concerned about. But the ATO is looking at "excessively complex structures" which go far beyond what is needed for simple family arrangements; trusts where income is distributed to adult children and the income then ends up in the hands of the original taxpayer, anyway; and unnecessary transactional arrangements that go far beyond simple income splitting between husband and wife. The people the ATO is targeting are "high net wealth" people, mostly professionals (the usual suspects - doctors, lawyers, accountants), high income tradies and FIFO workers, and those who are operating businesses utilising complex trust arrangements, that essentially amount to tax avoidance schemes. This move is long overdue, and the ATO is talking about going back over 30 years, which may make some "clever" individuals become a little disturbed, that they could end up getting a rather sizeable tax bill - to make up for all the correct taxing that they have so far avoided, with their "ingenious" Trust structures. One can only hope that corporations and companies are included in this crackdown, but I'll wager the ATO is looking for the low-hanging fruit first - as the corporations and companies would be happy to pay their lawyers to fight "unfair" and "retrospective" tax bills, whereas individuals may not be so inclined to take on the ATO in court. https://williambuck.com/news/in/general/ato-clamp-down-on-trusts-is-income-splitting-dead/

Robina shopping centre inland from the Gold Coast is the worst shopping centre I've been in, for gigantic size. It's a rabbit warren, and you get lost in it because of its dreadful layout, full of angled sections, twists and turns, and curves. It's like the architects were having fun time designing a maze disguised as a shopping centre.

He's been dead for 25 years! No wonder I didn't recognise him!

Trump has really spat the dummy, now he didn't get the NPP. I think what has made it worse, is that a Venezuelan got it - because Venezuelans are the enemy of the U.S. Trump has declared war on Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S.

That sounds like something GON wrote up! Or an American Sovereign Citizen. I don't know where war veterans go homeless and hungry, either in the U.S. or here. America does treat its veterans reasonably well, Australia treats its war veterans even better than the U.S., from what I've found out. The veterans who are hungry and homeless usually have major mental health problems, but refuse to accept help ("the Govt is not going to control my life!"). I don't know where people with terminal illness are deemed fit for work, that sounds like a furphy to me. In my experience, the vast percentage of youngsters today are polite, helpful, and well-behaved. There's only a small percentage that are not, and they've always been with us. I do agree, Political Correctness is a problem in todays world, it's a good job we've got a few people who are straight shooters and who are not so diplomatic. The retirement age had to go up, because people are living much longer, and are healthier in their old age. The former retirement age produced an unsustainable system, and we have a low birth rate, which means there is going to be less employed workers in the future to provide the wealth to cover pensions. The greatest single problem with our Western countries at present is the unjust enrichment of the already wealthy and of the corporate set. The tax system needs to change so the rich pay more tax, not less and less constantly, as has been the case. In America in 1955, when the U.S. was at its economic peak, the top income tax rate was 91% - and U.S. companies didn't employ double degree accountant/lawyers to find tax havens, and tax loopholes, and devise "innovative corporate structures".

How did you come to that figure? The only place you get a gold watch and a Fijian holiday after a lifetime of work, is when you work for a large global corporation for 40 years.

It's typical of their flawed logic, that they think that they can utilise the laws of an "illegal and tyrannical Govt", to bring down that Govt. Their biggest single problem is they are all firearms worshippers, no getting away from that, they believe in the Power of the Gun, nothing else. Well, maybe God, too, but he comes a distant second to firearms.

Grays Auctions, the huge online auction house, that sells anything and everything from table decorations through to cars and massive earthmovers, has been placed into administration, after being fined a record $10M - after the ACCC found Grays had sold at least 750 cars to auction buyers with false and misleading descriptions. In addition, Grays are obliged to offer redress to the affected car buyers. Grays Auctions was founded in 1922 as a family business by the Gray family, and ran onsite auctions, up until around 2000, when it commenced an online auction website. Grays entered the big time when Geoff K. Gray sold 25% of the company to a fund management company, Caledonia (Private) Investments, in 2011. In 2014, Caledonia purchased the remaining 75% of Grays Auctions, and backdoor listed the company on the ASX. However, in 2017, a Fleet Management company named Eclipx purchased the whole of Grays Auctions from Caledonia, and Grays was delisted. Then, in a quick turnaround, in 2019, Eclipx sold Grays again, to another private venture capitalist, Quadrant Private Equity. Eclipx took a major haircut in the deal, buying Grays for $179M, and then selling it to Quadrant for $60M. Eclipx claimed Grays was an "underperforming asset", but a large part of the problem would have been people with no auction skills, trying to run an auction house. Quadrant tried to relist Grays on the ASX again in 2021, but pulled the float deal before it was all finalised. I'll wager there was an inadequate level of monies forthcoming to support the float, as rumours persisted of Grays under-performance. Then the ACCC dropped a bomb on Grays, with the $10M fine, and the orders to redress the buyers losses. Quadrant took a massive haircut on Grays this week, selling Grays to Slatterys Auctions for just $2M. So much for good corporate management. Part of the sale deal was that Slatterys Auctions would pay Grays $10M fine. I don't know if that is actually going to happen. Slatterys is only a modest-sized family auction business - but apparently a fairly successful one. Slatterys have undergone a lot of expansion in recent years, expanding into divisions in nearly every State, from their home town of Newcastle, NSW. Slatterys have promptly placed Grays into administration straight after the sale, as the company is effectively insolvent. That means a lot of Grays creditors are now going to take a massive haircut. Those creditors must range across a wide spectrum, from suppliers to contractors to financiers. It appears Quadrant still have an outstanding debt to financiers from the Grays purchase deal, which debt apparently runs to $145M. Westpac is their major financier. All in all, this whole sorry saga can only be sheeted home to mismanagement by the corporate whizz-kids. Grays charge sellers anything up to 30% commission to sell items through them, and charge buyers up to 25% buyers premium - meaning Grays make a motza, coming and going. I can't really see how they could lose so much money over such a long period of time, especially with the level of trading that Grays do. They sell thousands of cars a month and also sell virtually shiploads of Chinese-sourced products, from household items to a range of industrial products. Grays also operate auctions for a Qld-based company called Excavation Equipment, who import shiploads of Chinese industrial equipment. I don't know how Grays insolvency is going to affect Excavation Equipment, only time will tell, of course. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/grays-to-redress-consumers-and-pay-10-million-in-penalties-for-misleading-descriptions-of-cars-for-sale-by-auction https://www.itnews.com.au/news/axe-swings-after-179m-grays-online-buy-blows-up-525037 https://www.drive.com.au/news/grays-online-enters-administration-days-after-sale-to-slattery-auctions/

Do you get Hexham Greys in your neck of the woods? I've heard they're responsible for carrying people off!

Not much fear of Julian Knight being incorrectly identified as the Hoddle St murderer, the evidence was overwhelming, He was caught with the firearms in his hands, and pleaded guilty. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/inside-the-mind-of-hoddle-street-killer-julian-knight-20170803-gxodxc.html