onetrack

SKIBIDIE.

So, what about all the photos of Aboriginal cultural places taken 100 or 150 years ago? They've been widely distributed for decades, does that mean they all need to be taken down now? What a crock of sh** and PC wokie-ness his stuff has become. I love the way things that are prohibited under Aboriginal culture can be approved once payment is made to Aboriginal corporations. I think I need to make my local Christian church a no-go sacred place, and start making rules and regulations about who can take photos of it, or not.

Strength. All the other words contain all the vowels.

The problem is, we speak English in Australia, and it's our primary language - and it's the primary language of all the technological sections of our Western society and institutions. It's the language of Computer Technology, it's the language of the Construction Industry, it's the language of Engineering, Science, Chemistry, Maths, and even of the Airways. Are we going to try and start introducing unpronounceable Aboriginal words into all these Sciences, too? Make everyone learn a new language? The problem is, there are several hundred unpronounceable Aboriginal dialects, and many of those dialects have even died out. We expect immigrants to pass English skills tests - then we give them unpronounceable names in Aboriginal dialects for place names!! We've already had an exercise here in the West where a tourist fell down a local waterfall. The tourists (Asians) called 000 looking for help, and when asked for the name of the recently-(Aboriginal)-renamed waterfall, they couldn't pronounce it! - thus leading to a substantial delay in getting medical assistance to them, while the 000 operator tried to figure out where they were. We already have a large number of place names in W.A., from the 1800's - and they are Anglicised Aboriginal place names, or what the Aboriginal name sounded like to an English speaker. The original settlers were happy enough to ask the local Indigenes what their name was for the area, and the settlers and colonial authorities were generally obliging enough to call the area or place by its Aboriginal reference name. In many areas, the Aboriginals didn't have place names for locations, although they knew where they were, and they were often just referred to, as something like "the place of yams", or some other general description name, that referred to whatever they acquired in that area.

No problem for me, about three quarters of my equipment is still imperial measure, and I can still buy small diameter nuts and bolts with unthreaded shank. For the uninitiated, a set screw has the thread all the way to the underside of the head, a bolt has an unthreaded portion left on the shank. The unthreaded portion is called "the grip length". https://www.bolts.co.uk/guides-and-tips/nuts-and-bolts/the-difference-between-bolts-and-set-screws/?srsltid=AfmBOorz9uoAZzWGYlnyzAjahbC9_I393ZObZqVf-KhImEWr_2_RS3H5 Bunnings Aerospace have them. https://www.bunnings.com.au/pinnacle-5-16-x-1-yellow-zinc-hi-tensile-hex-bolt-nut-6-pack_p0054207?srsltid=AfmBOooMq-k1EoIb4wdKeohacwYrC4igOX30ri5pRdDa6AT60qHjJrJ_ Most automotive parts suppliers have small Champion packs of nuts and bolts on a rotating stand. https://championfasteners.com.au/product-category/blister-packs/bolts-nuts-packs-blister-packs/ Bolt and Nut Australia still call them nuts and bolts. https://www.boltandnut.com.au/5-16-x-24-tpi-unf-fine-zinc-hex-bolts-high-tensile-grade-8?srsltid=AfmBOopblKy_pW6MFl1VWtNb8bYa5YUkQlvwOM2sRQQ0tkCPnt8QBObz I buy a few bolts and nuts from AIMS Industrial or Blackwoods, but Caterpillar are the best for high grade fasteners, and for giving you the fastener specifications. But you do have to have the Caterpillar "One Safe Source" book for the bolt and nut part numbers. It's readily available online in PDF format.

Well, it's still wet, and getter wetter - and now it's COLD, too! Perth had a maximum temperature of just 11.4° today, the coldest Winter day here for 50 years. It was bitter outside, and it was also raining in squalls, and dark and gloomy as well. We have already exceeded our total average Winter rainfall (June, July, August), and our August rainfall is already 50mm over the monthly average for August - and another 16mm will send us into new rainfall record territory for the August average. The best part is the rain for the last 2 months has spread widely into the State and the crops are looking fantastic. From a very dry Summer and Spring, and a sowing season where grain was largely scratched into very dry soil, and the crops struggled to make headway in May and June - the turnaround from the end of the first week in July has been nothing short of amazing. The GIWA has already boosted the States total grain crop estimate, to be well above average, at 21.9M tonnes - but since they released their August report a couple of weeks ago, we've had a lot more rain, and the crop tonnage can only go up from here on in. Personally, I'm looking forward to a break in the Winter weather and some nice sunny Spring days. We're off to the Dowerin Machinery Field Days on Wednesday, the rain will have eased, but it's not going to be a warm day, by any measure. The forecast for Dowerin is 1° to 15° with occasional showers - and the wind will be cold, too!

No, that's an ancient WW2 furphy. Plenty of soldiers in Vietnam got "the jack" (VD), some a lot more than once - thus proving they didn't have any problems with libido. I really don't understand how you could "lose everything you had", simply by being conscripted. How did that occur? I came home with $3500 in the bank, enough to buy a new Holden sedan. We had nothing much to spend our money on.

I was never fearful of being conscripted, it was just another challenging life adventure to be faced, as far as I was concerned. I've faced nearly every major life challenge that one can face - poverty as a child, bullying at school, mistreatment by teachers, conscription, car crashes that weren't my fault (I was 5 and an innocent passenger when that first happened), plenty of close brushes with death via machinery, and also being in a combat zone, lost my house and virtually all I owned in a fire that was no fault of mine, had a bank destroy my business and all my assets after 30 years of asset building, endured deaths of close family members, some at a young age, and suffered from severe stuttering from childhood until around age 40. I was never involved in any traumatic treatment in the Australian Army, but I was on the receiving end of extreme dislike, that bordered on abusive treatment, by some of the Army regulars, who often viewed conscripts as unworthy trash who diluted Army morale. I was called "reo shit" a few times in Vietnam by a couple of hardened Army regulars who were essentially drunken deadbeats, anyway. "Reo" was the slang for "reinforcement", as troops rotated into Vietnam were deemed "reinforcements" in official-speak. I shrugged off their abusive comments and ensured I associated with them as little as possible. The situation wasn't helped by the fact I wasn't a drinker (and about 20% of the troops didn't drink alcohol, or drank very little, which may come as a surprise to some), so I wasn't part of their "boozing" group, which made up a large part of the regular Army culture. There are stories of supposedly legendary regular Army NCO's, who made their platoon members drink beer from their (NCO) boots, supposedly to bring about cohesion and mateship in platoons. IMO, this is the height of Army dickhead thinking and outlook, and I certainly wouldn't take part in any BS moves such as that, which moves I would consider divisive, rather than uniting. But there were a lot of Regular Army dickheads one had to work with - it was no secret that a lot of Army Regulars were in the Army because they couldn't hold down a job outside the Army, or fit in with civilian life. Despite all that, I was still promoted and given NCO rank, which was extremely rare as a "nasho", because the Army normally saw giving rank to nashos as a useless move, thanks to the fact they were only there for 2 years. Regulars had to sign up for 6 years and nearly always got priority in promotions.

It's got nothing to do with survival of the fittest - the treatment of Australian veterans, and their entitlements (in your case), are in place under our countrys laws, in the form of the "Veterans Entitlements Act, 1986". The VEA 1986 comprises two large volumes, and every decision in those two volumes has been tested in an Australian Court of Law by complainants alleging they were owed compensation or entitlements, and the ensuing decisions as to whether they were owed compensation or entitlements, or not, is set in stone in the judgments from those cases. It's not reasonable to expect some form of compensation or entitlement simply because you were conscripted. The compensations and entitlements are for service in a defined War Zone, or for "Service related injuries" (regardless of where they were incurred). As a Vietnam Veteran who did qualifying service in a recognised War Zone, and who incurred disabilities as a result of that service, I get the exact entitlements as laid down in the VEA 1986, and nothing else. I get a Service Pension, which is essentially the same as an Age Pension, except it is awarded at an earlier age than the allotted retirement age. I also get a disability payment based on my disabilities assessment. The basic Service Pension is the same amount of money as the Age Pension, and eligibility is tested using the same Means Test as the Age Pension. In some cases a small extra allowance is paid to War Veterans, depending on their circumstances. The only other difference is that the Dept of Veterans Affairs pays my pension, not Centrelink. I might add I'm extremely grateful to the Australian Govt and the DVA for the support they give to Australian War Veterans, we certainly get far better treatment than U.K. Veterans.

And the system is a complete failure, as evidenced by the childcare victims and the number of schoolteachers, police, and people of "high standing", who are now being caught on a regular and seemingly increasing basis, for deviant activities.

As always, it's a research prototype, and putting the product into commercial production, economically, is where a lot of these "breakthroughs" fail to gain traction. But I have no doubt if anyone is dedicated enough to produce a world-beating battery, and manufacture it on a colossal scale, then it's going to be the Chinese. The Americans are too fat, rich, dumb, and lack drive, to produce any technological major advance in battery design. They're all too used to the Chinese doing all the groundwork for them.

They must have been excellent value, they're all gone!

I had a BIL who had his first heart attack at 40. He had about another 4 or 5 heart attacks, until he finally keeled over at 70. He actually died several times, and was revived each time. He told me once how he felt unwell, and asked his wife to take him to hospital. As he walked into the lobby, he keeled over with a heart attack. He told me he remembered exactly what it was like. He said he was going fine, just walking in, when his vision suddenly narrowed in from the edges, like someone closing shutters on him. He said his eyesight simply went to a pinpoint, straight ahead, and at that point was where he obviously keeled over. He said he remembered nothing after his eyesight closed in on him, until he woke up, recovering from the heart attack, in the hospital bed. He had numerous operations and was on constant blood thinners, but he was obviously a walking heart attack looking for a place to happen. I was quite surprised that he actually made 70.

I've got a couple of bottles of Late Harvest Riesling, left over from about a dozen that I bought around 1990, that I never opened. We both went off drinking wine many years ago. I was quite amazed when I opened one of the bottles recently to find it had essentially turned into something resembling a nice light Port. It's quite thick in consistency, and still quite sweet. I know it can't actually be Port, because Port is fortified with Brandy, but I'm still wondering how the Riesling developed into this Port-style of alcohol.

Yeah, but you're looking at a different type of butt, Marty! 😄

I believe the medical experts have refined calcium tests to gain better information about heart and circulation health. Specifically, they measure the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, because this measures the amount of calcified plaque in the hearts arteries, and therefore is a better indicator of looming heart problems than a cardiovascular ECG test.

I reckon they're a bloody sight smarter than a 7 yr old. I can fool a 7 yr old, I can't fool a raven or a crow. They can very quickly figure out the range of your choice of weaponry, and the instant you poke a rifle barrel out of an opening such as a window, they're gone! The old man told us a story from the early 1930's, when he was with a group, fencing on a station in the Murchison (W.A.) region - about how the ravens would wait until all the blokes left the camp, then they'd fly down, and lift the lid off the camp oven (grabbing the lid handle with their beak), and scoff the contents. So they decided to leave one bloke in the camp, lying quiet and doggo with a rifle, to knock off at least one of the cheeky buggers. But the ravens never came near the place, all day! - he reckoned they counted the number of blokes leaving, and knew there was one still there!! They always amuse me, they way they scheme things out. You can watch them planning their moves to investigate a food source. I was watching one recently, he landed on the roof of the shed behind my block, looking a little bit obvious, because they never land there. But he was scouting the territory. I watched him checking everything out, the lay of the land, the whereabouts of the humans - and more importantly, the dog. When he reckoned all the cards were lined up, he flew off the roof and glided down to a patch of vegetation between our properties. More checking out the surroundings, checking out the sky (repeatedly - birds are always scanning the sky) - then he walked a few metres across the yard to the dog bowl and the dog biscuits, where he grabbed a quick snack - very quietly, not making a sound (they're excellent at that) - and once he was satisfied, and assured that nothing threatening was coming, he was off, to find another snack.

Tingling with excitement. He's obviously never experienced any real excitement in his life.

I'd like to know how long it took to train the crow, to do that bucket trick. I'll wager there was quite a bit of training involved. If you have food, you immediately have crows for friends. I'm intrigued by how the local ravens have figured out where the cars and trucks drive on the roads. They know the vehicles follow the lanes pretty precisely. They will walk off the lane when they're picking at something on the road, and a vehicle is coming, and then stand by the edge of the bitumen seal waiting for the vehicle to pass, then return to their spot. I spotted a raven on a dual carriageway the other day, I was travelling at 110kmh in the left hand lane, approaching him, and he had landed on the RHS of the RH lane - and had started jaywalking across that lane towards me. He quite confidently walked across the width of that lane, aiming at something he'd spotted in my lane. I whizzed past him with probably less than couple of metres to spare, as he confidently strode towards his selected spot, towards my oncoming vehicle, fully assured that I was going to stay in the lane I was in, and not hit him. It takes confidence to do that, as an adult human! - let alone when you're a bird!

And he STILL hasn't ended the Russia-Ukraine war IN ONE DAY, as he promised repeatedly! This President simply runs on pure, unadulterated BS. And he has the hide to constantly hassle the Europeans to give him a Nobel Peace Prize. They should give the clown a prize for the worlds greatest con artist. Trump chases Nobel Peace Prize - https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/he-wanted-the-nobel-trump-cold-calls-norwegian-minister-about-peace-prize-20250815-p5mn5c.html

I always heard the lyrics as, "North to Alaska, you know it's Russia's own". By the way, how does Trump know he's meeting the REAL Putin? Maybe Putin is so sh**-scared of getting shot out of the sky in an aeroplane, he's sending a double?

10.

David Stratton, the well known Australian film critic, has passed away at the age of 85. He and his on-screen partner, Margaret Pomeranz, starred in film review shows for 28 years. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-14/david-stratton-english-australian-film-critic-obituary/105654394

We all copped beatings as school children, all in the name of "discipline". My primary school headmaster was a properly vicious little bastard, he'd be charged with child abuse today - yet he's lauded, and a suburb is named after him.

I read an authoritative article recently, about aged drivers, whereby a medical professional stated that any driver over 80, will be suffering from, on average, 5 long-term physical ailments, any one of which affects driving ability to some extent. Take your choice .... 1. High blood pressure 2. Deteriorated eyesight 3. Hearing loss 4. Chronic joint pain 5. Diabetes 6. Obesity 7. Arthritis 8. Heart disease 9. Joint stiffness 10. Depression 11. Mental acuity 12. Recent medical/surgical operations 13. Excessive Hair loss..... no, sorry, that one's made up... 😄 Overall, it's a gloomy picture, especially when you know you're being counted in that group..... 😞