onetrack

Many of the original media articles are totally wrong, misleading, and alarmist. There are no "Chinese solar panels with kill switches", it's a huge beat up. The truth of the matter is, some Chinese inverters have been discovered to have electronic components in them, that are not listed on the bill of materials in the components list. This was only discovered when communication security checks were being done on Govt installations that had installed the Chinese inverters. No-one has yet produced any evidence that the devices found were nefarious, had inbuilt shut-down abilities, or were even installed by the manufacturers. They could have been installed by anyone, anywhere, along the manufacturing, transport, or installation trail. The electronics experts are still trying to figure out the purpose and operational abilities of the devices. They may simply be wi-fi devices that send back equipment usage information to the manufacturer to enable the manufacturer to determine usage methods, styles, modes, etc, that enables the manufacturer to gain insight into how the device is used, and to enable the manufacturer to improve performance, or to add desirable features to a new improved model. I have a Canon printer that does just that. Canon ask you when you set the printer up, if you will allow the printer to send aggregated usage information and other data back to Canon occasionally, so Canon can identify methods of usage and modes, that will improve their knowledge of how the printer is used. Every now and then, when I'm using the printer, a pop-up message appears saying the printer is sending information to Canon. All printer operation stops while this is being done (about 5-8 seconds), and then the the pop-up window disappears and printing operations can then be resumed. Canon stress that no identifiable personal information is being sent to Canon - and really, I don't care too much if it is, anyway - what is Canon going to do with a small amount of information about me, that only relates to how I use my printer? It's not like it contains my licence or banking details. If there are unspecified wi-fi devices in the inverters, that are used in critical infrastructure, then that certainly raises questions as to why they're not listed, and what they're capable of. I'm sure the electronics and communication security people will be right onto it. I'd have to say its simply a possible lapse in documentation - after all, the operations manuals will be in Chinglish!

If the F.R. Simms Motor Scout had a 1.5HP petrol engine, why did it have pedals?

The letter "R" - "Contract".

Spacey, the truth is a little more nuanced. Not all conscripts in the AMF (Australian Military Forces) were "forced to fight in Vietnam". Conscripts placed with Infantry Battalions were sent to Vietnam, when their Battalion was sent there, without them being personally asked if they wanted to go - all other conscripts had to volunteer to serve in Vietnam. If they were placed in Infantry when conscripted, they would have known this fact. All conscripts were given a choice of Corps they preferred to be allocated to, and most got their choice of Corps. Most conscripts who had trade skills or other qualifications, were placed with Corps that could use their skills. Only those with low skills levels, or skills that had no application in the Army, were allocated to the Infantry Corps. I was a conscript and went into the RAE (Royal Australian Engineers), and I volunteered to go to Vietnam, and was sent there accordingly, as a reinforcement. I think GON is basing his argument on the 2013 SMH article below, written by a conscript who believes he was mistreated, and who does raise some points as regards conscripts entitlements, that should be addressed. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/conscription-was-an-abuse-20130118-2cz0x.html As to 200 conscripts losing their lives on the roads whilst in the Army, I think this figure may be overstated. 200 conscripts were killed in Vietnam service - but no figures on conscripts deaths on the roads in Australia during the conscription period can be found, because they're lumped in with the total road toll. I must admit I was somewhat amazed to find the National Road Toll hung around 3,500 deaths annually in the late 1960's and early 1970's. In the same vein, I personally know of several Vietnam Veterans who were killed in road crashes AFTER they came home from the Vietnam War. https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/migrated/roads/safety/publications/1998/pdf/Stats_Aust_8.pdf

It is possible the house is under the control of a Trustee who is looking after the affairs of either a Trust, or someone who is incapacitated, and unable to attend to their affairs. I have seen both cars and houses left seemingly abandoned for years, but they have been under the control of the Public Trustee during all that time, as estates are settled or run by the Trustee, as the owner is either deceased and the will is being disputed, or they're suffering from dementia, in a coma, or something similar.

Looks like a spoof ad from MAD magazine or something similar. A little overdone.

GON makes the point continually, that it's conscripts he wants a Govt apology made to - not Veterans. He's aggrieved that conscripts who stayed in Australia are ignored to a large degree, while Veterans receive preferential treatment, in GON's eyes. But he fails to understand that Veterans who served in a War zone, placed their lives on the line daily, whereas conscripts who stayed in Australia, stayed safe, and faced virtually no threat to their lives. The conscripts who stayed in Australia had enjoyable weekends spent in civilian life, partying and finding girlfriends and partners - the servicemen in Vietnam in bases, only got Sunday afternoons off, with no time outside the camp or secure compound, and they got one day a month off for R&R in places such as the Badcoe Club in Vung Tau. Every 6 mths, they got a break for a week, when they could return to Australia, or go to friendly countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. And the servicemen in the combat patrols got no rest at all, every minute of every hour of the day and night, the enemy was planning to kill or maim them. They went out on patrol for 3 weeks at a time and wore the same clothes day in and day out, and the only body washing you did was out of a water bottle, or a reasonably-clean-looking creek - and it was the old infantry "ABC wash" - slather a tiny amount of water around (under) Arm, Bum and Crotch. It was mostly to stop the enemy from smelling you. At the end of the 3 weeks, on return to base, the greens (clothing) that were worn on patrol, were thrown in the bin. They were essentially rotten. Even those of us who weren't in combat units still had to do jobs such as night piquetting of the compound, and carrying out Standing Patrols. On a Standing Patrol, you go outside the "wire" (the secure compound fencing) with a 3 man patrol, and set up a Listening Post, watching for enemy movement, and reporting by radio on anything you see that rates as suspicious. You only have your rifle, no other armament. With 3 men in a Patrol, you get 4 hrs on watch, and 8 hrs sleep, over a 12 hr Patrol period. Naturally, you have no protection if you just happen to be overrun by enemy while on a Standing Patrol, you're just told to "make your way back to the compound as best you can". The Govts approach, differentiating between civilian service, and overseas service in a War zone, is the attitude and policy towards Veterans, that has been in place ever since Australia sent servicemen overseas to War zones, and nothing is going to change it. https://www.au104.org/Veteran_Stories/vetstory89.html And I might add, I worked and camped on Courtenay Hill, so the above Vets story resonates with me. I had a day job as a Military Engineer, doing construction work, and at all times, you could be caught up in unexpected combat. If GON had spent some time in a War zone, he might have a different appreciation of how easy conscripts in Australia had it.

Kevin, how long does it take to charge the MG4 on the granny charger? I presume that charger simply uses a standard 10A, 240V socket? Is the 7kW wall charger a 3 phase unit? What did the installation of that charger cost? I'm surprised they're measured in kW, I would've thought the charger would be measured in amperage capacity. Do you get lower charging costs late at night, or in the wee small hours, when power demand is normally much lower?

Trumpet of Patriots was formed in 2021, but was unable to be registered in time for the 2022 election. As a result, many ToP candidates who had intended to contest for ToP, ran instead for the Australian Federation Party. So the "previous election voting percentage" refers to the votes the AFP received in the 2022 election. In that election, the AFP received 0.39% of the votes for the Lower House and 0.22% of the votes for the Upper House. It's a total schemozzle (to quote Borat) of Party organisation, typical of Palmers inability to get anything right. I can only give thanks to the Almighty (and Palmers constant transparent BS), for sparing us the prospect of Palmer gaining any form of political clout. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpet_of_Patriots

Drum-attic-lee. Grrooaann.....

I think GMH used the Borg-Warner Super T-10 with a cast iron housing and nickel alloy gears. The Super T-10 gears were of serious strength with heavier tooth roots than the regular B-W T-10. Even at that, 650HP must have been approaching the Super T-10's power capability limit. Notice the clutchless gear changes, he uses his left foot to brace himself against the centrifugal forces. At 283kmh down Conrod Straight, you wouldn't want anything to let go, would you? The stamina required to keep up this driving effort over hours, is amazing.

The process is quite detailed through every stage, and much effort is taken to ensure postal vote integrity and correct counting. I can't find Federal or NSW State procedures, but here's the QLD postal voting processes, and I presume all the other States, and the Federal count are carried out in a similar manner. https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/67464/Procedures-for-counting-of-absentee-votes-for-state-elections-and-referendums.pdf

The postal votes can make a big difference to the eventual numbers, and the postal votes usually favour the conservative politicians. Plus, the AEC has 13 days to allow for all postal votes to arrive, before they can call the result.

Well, that bone-pointing certainly worked on Peter Dutton! I really want to see/hear what GON uses for installing a curse on someone/some party. I could cheerfully use that on some a***holes who've robbed me blind. 😄

Don't forget the impact of constant advertising that constantly tells you how inadequate you are, unless you have the latest consumer item/beauty treatment/advanced job/biggest house/latest electronic gizmo/etc, etc.........

The deal to buy the Qatari 747 hasn't actually been put in place. The biggest problem (for the Big Orange Baby Tantrum Thrower), is that by the time the selected company modifies the Qatari 747 to meet the Presidential aircraft requirements, the new one being built by Boeing will be ready. Of course, the simple answer for Donny is to ensure he gets a 3rd term, so he can take delivery of his new Presidential transport - that probably is being held up, because of the constant Presidential demands for more and more gold plating. https://simpleflying.com/qatari-boeing-747-new-trump-air-force-one/

That reminds me of the old joke. An old bull and young bull were by themselves in a paddock, and in the distance was a fairly large hill. The young bull said to the old bull. "Do you know what's on the other side of that hill? "Nope, never been up there", came the reply. "Well, let's go and find out!" said the youngster. So they tramped up this long sloping hill, and as they crested it, a paddock full of heifers came in view. Hundreds of them. "Gee, would ya look at that!!", exclaimed the youngster. "Let's run down there, and f*** a few of them!! "Nope", said the old bull. "Let's walk down there, and f*** the lot!!"

Yeah, I'd really like to see my own death certificate, so I can take steps to avoid the problem that caused my demise.

Hi Ric, it appears the Australian Venue Co do a pretty good job of making sure their venues keep up an acceptable standard of food and drinks. As with all businesses though, there is a variation between venues, with the venues that have had recent upgrades seeming to provide better service and food and drinks. However, even these vary, as it all comes back to the staff employed, and the staff turnover is pretty high in many of these places as a lot of workers in the hospitality industry are relatively transient, and often see the job as a "fill-in" to something better. We found that when nearly all the backpackers disappeared during COVID, the service levels for food and drink venues fell right away for around 3 years, and even staffing levels went down, as it was obvious employees became harder to find. Since the pandemic has been declared over though, it seems things are returning to normal, and the backpackers (who make up a lot of the hospitality staff) are starting to return - resulting in an improvement in service and staff levels.

Paul Keating wasn't in any political power position in 1981, although he was an elected Labor Party politician at that date. He didn't become Treasurer in the Hawke Govt until March 1983. I doubt whether Keating had any control over interest rates in the world-wide major recession that occurred from 1980 to 1983. The reason for that recession was the massive, nearly four-fold increase in global oil prices that started with a reduction in Iran's oil output in 1979. The massive increase in fuel prices led to world-wide high inflation, and official interest rates were increased to try and control the runaway inflation. That period was a terrible economic period for most people, and most businesses. As to the "recession we had to have", that was Keatings famous saying in response to the mild recession we endured in 1993-1994, as a result of inflation and major current account deficits. He simply remarked it was something that had to happen, due to multiple global factors.

This is the Wikipedia photo of Michael Landon, taken in Sept 1990, just 10 mths before he died.

I love the way Trump didn't even know there was a Federal election being held in Australia. I bet he knows what golf tournaments were on here, though.

It's not Michael Brandon or Michael Landon, it's an internet con photo. Michael Landon died aged 54 from pancreatic cancer, he never became an old man. 90% of internet "truth" is pure BS, produced by scammers.

GON seems to relish harbouring and feeding longstanding bitterness and grudges, turning them into his sole reason for living. A wise old Auntie told me once - "As you age, you can Better, or get Bitter". GON is obviously a bitter old man, concentrating all his energies into pursuing grudges and hatreds, and I'll wager he lives alone and has few friends. What a sad case he is. He also has a very selective memory. He seems to forget that official inflation rocketed to 17% under the "leadership" of Gough Whitlam. It was a terrible time, the mid-1970's, as everyone kept raising prices as fast as you could blink. I can recall a meal were having with a business associate, and he remarked, just looking at the condiments and food items on the table, as to how much they had inflated in price in such a short time. A new, basic Holden Belmont sedan cost just over $2000 in 1972. By 1977 the cost of that sedan had gone to $3,200 - an increase of 60% in just 5 years.