Jerry_Atrick

One of the real issues with the media today, and I include the ABC in this on certain issues (see some of their Question Times, where the panels are stacked on one side of the issue), is the lack of providing a balanced viewpoints against the facts. They tend to run a story or show where the facts are presented in the context of one partisan viewpoint, with scant, if any coverage of the other side (whether it is politics or some other issue). Fro some media organisations, this is expected, but how good would it be to have two authorative or knowledgable people presenting their take on an issue in an objective context. Although this has been the case for a long time, thee was a modicum of differing views in the MSM, until I guess social media made them realise click bait and echo chambers bring in more eyeballs.. I guess.

F! Me.. Those bank fees over there are expensive.. Over here, the only fee I have to take my money is (as opposed to borrowing whether intention or not)... well.. there are none. It's illegal.. I think maybe there is a fee for terminating a term deposit, but it is not huge and can only be on the basis of reasonable cost. Also, over here, we have things called ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts). For adults it allows you to deposit up to £20K/year in cash and equities on permitted markets (European, US, Canada - not sure about Aus), and any returns are tax free. OK nothing to do with the banks per se, and they are sneaky as the returns are lower than fully taxed accounts (something I have personally taken up with the regulator as there is no cost difference to the banks), but shows what can happen if a government wants things to work for the consumer and betterment of the economy (yes, typically lower income people can't afford to deposit as much as higher income people). I haven't checked the Aussie retail banking scene lately, but would have thought with all the fintech around, someone would work out that you could make a killing by going techhie and not charging all those fees. But, there is consumer intertia - too hard or too lazy to change banks, which the oldies rely on. I think at the retail and small commercial level, it seems from the above, the Aussie banking sector is amongst the biggest scammers in the world - and governments of both stripes don't do much to curtail it. I am definitely keeping my UK accounts when I move to Aus. Geez, with all those charges, I am surprised cash is still not king, take what you need for the month out on payday and don't incur any other fees.. Of course, it shows what people are willing to pay for convenience when there is no real competition (I would almost assert a cartel). @octave - ISTR you use your credit cards to pay for everything and clear them monthly.. What charges, if any do you pay as a result (I know the CC gives you something like 30 or 55 days interest free)? With respect to HSBC, look up HSBC deferred prosecution agreements on the internet and you will see a few. But, alas, they are not the only ones; any of the bug European and US players have them.. as no doubt many others. I subscribe to various regulators' news feeds, and there is nary a day where there isn't an announcement of one of the major global players being fined for something. Some of it is genuine incompetence or the result of failing to control an organisation with too many tentacles; Some of it is malicous. Oddly, Aussie regulators are still not high on the number of enforecement stories that I receive.

Agreed.. This site desperately needs someone to keep the likes of me in check! Happy new year, @octave

I think that is a little out of context. Like all organisations, you will get the occasional rogue for genuine mistake for whatever reason. Ignroing the sensationalism of Sky and the Daily Wail, the ABC are announcing an independent inquiry into what went wrong: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/sep/17/abc-australion-troops-afghanistan-helicopter-footage-editing-ntwnfb I have not found anything subsequent. How often is the ABC embroiled in this sort of shennanigans compared to, I dunno, a record payout for continually and knowingly pedalling untruths about certain votyin machines in the 2020 US elections, and the other voting machine company are just getting started, too? And how much does that and other private press organisations get themselves into hot water, or are clearly manipulating stories? And how many even abisde by the guidance issued by the Aussie Press Council, as they have no teeth, let alone appoint an independent inquiry. You can think the ABC arre tainted, and they may be.. but if they are, they are miles behind the others..

A couple more including the view from my office but could not get the reflection of the interior lighting out of the shot

Taken just now. Beautiful London winters morning waiting for a train. -2.5 degrees.. nary a cloud in the sky and a plane on finals for Heathrow

Of course it's not anti-semetic to criticise the IDF< Israel, or Netanyahu. What is anti-semetic is when a Jewish state seems to be singled out to have to hold a higher form of morality than an islamic or Christian state. And that is what I am trying to call out. Where was the mass civilian outrage and open prejudice against Russian diaspora when Russia, unprovoked invaded Ukraine and targeted civilians (scorched earth policy) and continues today - just last week didn't they strike a hospital? Hardly hear anything from the pollies these days, let alone the civilians. At least there was some political outrage, but not enough to actually properly sanction their war machine for , what, about a year or so... And even then the known circumvention's around the sanctions are yet to be plugged. Where was the mass civilian and political outrage and the Yemeni/Saudi wars claimed over 500,000 civilian casualties of war each (including famine for Syria).. wars that seem to be about ethnic or tribal cleansing than a territorial gain.. I don't recall pollies saying too much other than it should stop. I certainly don't recall universities shutting down or Saudi/Yemeni/Syrian diaspora being openly discriminated. And each of these countries clearly delineate their civilian and military infrastructure.. Yes, Syria was a civil war, and this was therefore not as cut and dry. but still the numbers were well over the current conflict. Fun fact.. each of the other wars claimed over 100K civilian lives per year. The Iran and Iraq war, which lasted 20 years and only finished when the US invaded Iraq and Iran hated the US more than Iraq.. how many civilians did that take with it.. As I recall over 1m, but it could have just been under 1m.. either way, if its 50K per year.. and yes, both countries clearly delineated their military and civilian population.. Even this war has fewer than any of those casualties. outright and per year, but if you go back to 1948, And not long before 1948, the allies in WWII killed how many German civilians to get the job done? Oh, and not to mention the killing of how many citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with WMDs being dropped after, yes, after the Japanese emperor communicated willingness to surrender or at least a cease fire. That is all OK, right? And, I can go on.. Oh but the Jews evicted the Palestinians and this is different? Not quite, but again, even in Australia, we just voted down that didn't even guarantee a displaced population, having a bigger and in no way definitive voice in how the government runs their affairs.. Yet, I don't recall Aboriginals willingly saying, Hey, whities, have our land... (that was my point in the posts above). Oh, but that was all years ago and Israel is much more recent.. Tell that to the displaced Christian Kosovans. And how much noise is made about that? None.. things change, people move on. I could go on. Yet, when a sovereign and democratic country has had war declared against it, by a militia that decided to target civilians at a civilian festival and the last remnants of the socialist structures of a kibbutz, where there have been alleged recordings of these combatants calling their mother and boasting about killing jews; where they were alleged to be atrocious and brutal about it (decapitating, sodomising, etc). and that attacked country responds like this: Informs the world and Gazans they are going to invade to get Hamas.. Amass outside the gates to Gaza for a long time, I recall about 7 days, warning civilians to move to safer areas Enter Gaza and seek out Hamas who bunker where? Well, where the Civilians are (or at least where they forced them to stay, or as is being more commonly alleged, though I don't necessarily believe, civilians are willingly participating in. That before an operation they allegedly generally give a 10 minute warning of where they are going to strike to give civilians a chance to get out (what other country or fighting force does that?) They target where their intelligence says Hamas is hiding out, but Hamas make the decision to not delineate themselves from their civilian population and are alleged to force the civilians to remain as human shields, knowing full well they have engaged in a war with Israel.. Yet, despite all this, Israel still cops mass political and civilian process and their diaspora are openly targeted, including the Rippon Lea synagogue in Melbourne.. you know the one firebombed. Everyone who is calling for a ceasefire is really calling for Israel to stop. They have persistently said they are happy to stop withthe release of the hostages and the disarming of a world recognised terrorist organisation. How often do you hear of public pressure being brought against Hamas to do that? And you are telling me that is not some form of collective, if not individual double standards, discrimination, and for Jews, antisemitism? That is my point. Enough is enough.. It's time Hamas stopped targeting its own citizens knowing full well an internationally recognised and legal sovereign country has the duty to defend and protect from further threat its citizens. But people seem to he holding Israel to some higher moral standards..or some greater level of expected capitulation..

I was expecting that response.. countries are changing all the time.. why is the establishment if a Jewish stare different to the establishment of, oh, I dunno, Australia or the USA or Canada or New Zealand.. Yet, apart from the fringes of society, I don't see anyone in a mad rush to hand back the land lock stock and barrell to the indigenous populations... anything to do with it being a Jewish state that makes it different? Look at Kosovo.. previously a Christian enclave only changed to a Muslim state in the 90s if you want to use the passage of time as an argument.. no one is out there saying hand it back to the Christians.. I'll tell you one difference.. the Jews legitimately purchased a lot of the land they were to later lay claim to their country- and started in the 1800s.. so to quote all Palestinian land as people think.. or are told.. isn't quite accurate, either..but I don't recall evidence of the other occupations I listed resulting from purchasing land legitimately, either.. and while we're at it, how many are calling for California to be returned to Mexico? The Nakbah? Well the narrative is Arabs we're forced off their land.. and they were.. but different sides will tell different stories - the Arabs us it was the Jews; the Jews say they were happy for the Arabs to stay if they laid down their weapons but chose not to; then I hear Mossab Youssef (I think that's his name), the son of a Hamas founder say the Arab armies told or ordered Arabs off the land and they could return when the Arab armies defeated the Jews. Which didn't happen. Who to believe? I don't know . But I agree the root cause is institutionalised religion; get rid of that and a lot of the worlds problems go away.. But that isn't going to happen any time soon In terms of the current problem, like it or not Israel is a sovereign country, recognised internationally, and is by no means the youngest. So the root cause, has now moved.. sort that out and you will have peace. Not sure what oil has to do with this one.

I agree.. enough is enough.. but what has to happen to stop it. As usual everyone is piling it on Israel.. Who took the action to target 100% civilians in a country that clearly delineate civilian and military populations? And knowing (and arguably desiring) the response that was to come- not a response that targets civilians, but targets the combatants who do what? Hide behind civilians. Don't forget, Palestinians we're given in today's money billions to build a country and they chose tunnels and enriching their PLO and then Hamas elite.. and allegedly hide behind their civilian populations waging a war of terror. And what do you think will happen if Israel move out and allow Hamas to re-arm? My guess is this will never end. As far as I am aware there have Been quite a few ceasefire demands on the table... and Israel's conditions are generally two: return the hostages and Hamas to disarm.. Yes.. it has to stop.. but tell me any country in the same position that would react differently.. So when saying something has to be done, look at the root cause. Also 500,000 Yemenis, 300,000 Syrians, and how many Africans and what does the world do or say about it? De Nada. I can't help but think Strip out religion and a lot of problems would go away

Walking with my daughter to the pub for NYE, she came up with this out of the blue: How do Elon Musk's robots procreate? SpaceX (Normally that would be a dad joke!)

I can't remember the exact dates, but I think it went in on something like the August or October before COVID lockdown for what should have been a month, but apparently there were some issues with the build quality and someone used a lot of bog on the skin, so they cut things out and reparied them, but at this stage other work was backing up. It came out of the shop I think in March 2020, literally 2 days before lockdown. Thanks to a government tax change and a slow down in the work I was doing at the time, coupled with a long lockdown, I had all but shut my consultancy down as figured I wouldn't be working in London anymore. As the aircraft was based at Blackbushe, in Eastern Hampshire, I figured that keeping ownership of the share was not practical. Also, I was looking for work in Aus,, because thanks to the banking royal commission, the work I was doing at the time was starting to see demand in Aus. However, in the end, family would prevent me from moving on it. To give an idea of the distance from my place to the airport the Shareoplane is based (Blackbushe: EGLK): But one Saturday I took my son for a flight, the drive was three hours (I hadn't been able to fly from London and base it at my closer airport in Dunkeswell for the weekend). In late 2020, a friend of another shareholder was asking if anyone wanted to sell their share. I didn't want to, however, with little money coming in and them wanting to update an already advanced avionics set (the shareholders were serious buffs with one having over 10,000 PPL hours and most having a share in a twin as well). With little money coming in and the prospect of having to hand over £8K in a cash call for the avionics upgrade, as well as the fact this syndicate didn;t charge an add on per hour flying to generate a maintenance fund, reluctantly, I sold the share. However, I did make about 2K on the purchase price, which covered the call for the paint and most of the monthly subs I was not able to fly it. But, emotionally, I do regret it even though, at the time, it was the right thing to do financially, Of course, having come out the other side in OK, but not as good shape, I do now regret it. But, it has meant I have been able to push through the refurb, despite us not estimating the windows in the original plans, and that adding the cost of a decent early 80s Piper Warrior to the cost of the refurb. And while the shareoplane was a TB20, there is a tidy TB21 for sale in Aus at the moment, that if it doesn't sell, will look at when I get there, and if I can nab it, will syndicate out to three or four others. In the mean time, as I suspected, the new member would be turfed out, and he was. They invited me to buy his share back, but I wasn't really in a position to, so for a while, paid a bit extra on the monthly and hourly rate - which was about the commercial rate for hiring a clapped out spam can Warrior, and flew it until a new syndicate member bought in. It is a darned good aircraft though.. Can not understand why the (I think they are referred to as) Bermudan series of aircraft didn't have more commercial success, at least in Europe. The aircraft is here: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n20tb In lieu of a TB series (have also flown the TB10 - equivalent of an Archer, I guess, but soooo much better), maybe a Commander 114, or a PA32 (Lance II probably).. Mooney's cabins are too small in the rear as I tend to take pax (never share costs though) and so use (not need) more load carrying capability than most LSAs have. Otherwise, for Aus, would definitely go LSA.

Slower than I want.. but hadn't originally planned to do the windows

Well, time for an update. More of the floor above has been done (on the other side of the room). My partner is fastidious about filling the gaps in the flkoor boards (because anything that gets between them shows up like a sore thumb against the dark stain). The welcome side effect is the room is a lot warmer now. A lot of the new windows have been fitted.. Long post: Upstairs Dunny window as it was: and for some reason, don't have an outside shot of it. Upstairs Dunny new window: (Hmm No outside version) Upstairs Shower Room Window as it was (note, the area around the sill was previously tiled - this was taken while work needed to be completed). (Again, for some reason, no outside version) New upstairs shower room Upstairs Main Bathroom that was (the top one) Upstairs bathroom that is: Upstairs single bedroom as was: No Outside Shot for some reason Upstairs Single Bedroom Now Upstairs - First Larget Bedroom as it was As it is Middle Large Bedroom as it was Middle Large Bedroom as is (the top one - the bottom one is the formal dining room...) Main Bedroom as was As is: 2nd smaller bedroom as was Don't have an outside one for some reason As is: Formal Dining Room as it was And now as it is: (Bottom one) And here are the ones to go, apart from the kitchen door replacement and the new bifolds which will replace the formal living room windows in the Bat, This is for this kitchen/diner window: The three verticles replace three of these on the flank wall of the kitcheN: The panes to the left of these are for the kitchen/diner window above, I think. The below, I can't get rid of, for some reason... But labelled Formal dining room - new Basemint windos -to be painted and taking the bars down to the concrete. Basement window to the boiler room. Original - can't touch them - just a slight restore to be done. Study window to be replaced by another window maker who specialises in curved windows. You don't want to know how much that is costing me. Kitchen door - to be replaced with wood (it is PVC, as are a few of the others) First of the larger bedrroms Dining room again. The bay window to the formal living room. Will be replaced with bi-fold doors to the garden. Inside of the Bay with an undecorated xmas tree. Inside of the study window. Used to be the private chapel room for the rector. PVC informal dining room - kitchen diner to be replaced from the inside. Study again Kitchen door from the inside. Kitchen door again from the inside showing the gap tha we will be remediating with the new doors. It is PVC. New one will be wood.

Happy new year, everyone! Nev, unless I have missed something, glad your house is safe and hope it stays that way. I am somewhat sanguine re Trump. There's not a lot we can do to change things, so, I will keep abreast of developments, try and work out the outcomes, and adjust accordingly. There are some things I agree about what he wants to achieve - just not sure about the execution. For example, the US debt to GDP ratio of the US is 1.23:1; in other words, US debt is 123% of GDP. When Italy's was this, they were an economic basklet case of Europe (beathenm I think, only by Greece). That is a debt level that cannot be sustained by any country longer term without somethign eventually giving - tax the hell out of the population, inflate your way out (which is a tax when you think about it), or default. Hope it's a good year... Reolution report from lat year was not too bad.. Reduced energy drink consumption marlkedly.. lost a little weight... Sadly, house wasn't completed, so one resolution ties over to next year. Although not in my new year's resolution for last year, I havee now been 7 days alcohol free... thanks to the anitbiotics I am currently on. And I don't miss the wine nor beer.. The only things I miss is Campbell's Rutherglen Muscat, but haven't had much of that lately anyway, and some French stuff, Grand Mariner and Cointreu.. So, one of my new year's resolutions is to drop the alocohol consumption markedly.. 1 good Aussie, Kiwi, or Italian red or white a month (oh, and the odd good Beaujolais), and a single GM or C after a dinner once per week.

An interesting vid comparing the Spit v BF.109:

There are many countries, the USA included that formed the foundations of their money from foreign capital. However, many governments of those economies implemented positive policies to ensure that the wealth from their land, and others, was used to grow domestic ownership and wealth. If you look at the US, one it's state and then federal economies grew to a critical mass, it would, as a government, prefer to buy American, and it continues today: https://www.madeinamerica.gov/ In most middle eastern countries, you cannot have completely foreign owned firms - they have to have a minimum amount of domestic ownership. When I worked in Abu Dhabi (thankfully only for two weeks), it was 50% domestic ownership. It was a license for the domestic population to print money. This was changed in 2020: https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2020/12/uae-to-allow-full-foreign-ownership-of-companies The Albanese government promised a Buy Australian policy, but apart from some vague reference to it in the ALP website, I cannot find anything official in guidance or law from any state or federal government sites, or any reference to it in procurement guides for suppliers. I find it crazy how we have (or had) some of the best ertiary engineering and science courses, an abundance of materials, yet our culture is not one of drive and entrepreneurship beyonf getting a flesging company mature enough to sell to the highest foreign bidder. There are many countries with similar or more challenging profiles to ours that have home grown manufacturing, and properly ensure foreign multinationals pay their share of taxes and royalties, for things like primary resources, etc, that we seem to give away with gay abandon. Once someone fixes that, we should be in for a better collective ride.

You can go to https://www.recreationalflying.com/ and become a gold member.. this site is what the old off topic forum was on that site. But Ian may not count that revenue as attributable to this site. I now spend much more time here than recreationalflying.com, but still am a gold member or recreationalflying.com

🤮

One of the things I am looking forward to when returning to Aus is to utilise the many cycling lanes. No, I am not one of the crazy commie cyclists that thinks all road users owe them the ultimate right of way through red lights, give way/stop signs, etc. Nor do I wear lycra (at the risk of being done for indecent exposure).. But what better way to get around for shorter trips when you don't have to lug lots of cargo around.

Christmas day here was good The weather was glorious - about 12 degrees C and sunny. Would you believe it? Ended up in Accident and Emergency, well after the revellers had gone and before the kids were coming in with broken limbs from their new bikes (yes, parents still give their kids activity based gifts around here). Put a rusty nail )not the drink) through my foot - not too deep, but deep enough, and since I haven't had a tetanus shot for about 15 years, decided it was an opportune time to get one. Was in and out of hospital within two hours after an X-Ray, shot, and a bunch of antibiotics, just in case, meant I couldn't have a drink.. which I think is a good thing. Silver cloud, etc. We had the in laws, whom I get on very well with, and a local couple over for the dinner, then friends came over for the ever where 15 of us ended up playing cards against humanity until about midnight. Excellent day all round. Hope yours was a good one.

Merry Christmas all.. hope it is a good one. @facthunter hoping the fire changes track and conditions improve

They're now called fugitive emissions

Yeah, .. I would wait for the long term effects of Ozempic

The market not buying into nuclear power is not, in itself, an argument that nuclear power is inefficient or expensive. I don't know about the other states, but when I was a kid and yo0ung adult, all pwoer in Vic was, as I recall, owned by the SEC and privatised, I think by Kennett, do retire some debt. I haven't double checked my memory, but the point is, often in countries like Australia, it takes the government to do the big investments, and then they sell to private enterprise to continue. However, the market is investing in renewables, so I would say that, despite the status quo being the easiest way to make money, the private sector sees more value in renewables than seeing keeping the status quo. For example, Origin, does not even mention nuclear here: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/case-studies/origin-energy But here is an excerpt: What steps are you taking to implement the target now it is set? Origin has a five-pillar approach to progressively decarbonise our business: Exit coal-fired power generation by 2032 Significantly grow renewables in our portfolio Utilise our strong gas position as a lower-emissions firming fuel in the medium term Empower customers with cleaner, smarter energy solutions Demonstrate leadership in climate change advocacy. While Nuclear is "low emissions" (I would argue not quite in whole of life calculations), they are not featuring it. Nucelar is sort of technically renewable thanks to fuel reprocessing, but the problem with fuel reporcessing is not the residual uranium or plutonium.. it is the radioactive organic fluid (can't remember the composition). That is still and issue, and is concentrated now. It does, however, mean a much smaller volume of radioactive mateirals to store, but they are for more radioactive. There is no such thing as a free lunch in physics, I am afraid. I am not familiar with the power generation history of Denmark, but one coal power plant to power a nation is not a bad thing.. They plan to stop using coal in 2028, though.. Germany's nuclear shutdown was another disaterous decision by Merkel in the wake of the Fukashiima plant failure after the tsunami that hit the Japanese coast. I can honestly say, it was one of the dumbest knee-jerk reactions I have seen. Fukashima outperformed its safety design parameters. Germany's nukes aren't really subject to the same geological risks, and I can only think there may have been some very heavy lobbying by fossil fuel lobyistsm, because a quantum chemist (of which she has a PhD) would know the risks reasonably well compared to taking her country to, at the time, mostly fossil fuel. Quite frankly, I am surprised it has taken Germany so long to try and pull some of the facilities out from the mothballs. Australia, however, doesn't have existing nuclear power infrastructure. Renewables are getting better and better, and as technology progresses, cheaper and cheaper. Nuclear is about technologically peaked, though there is a Japanese reactor technology that is emerging that could be postivie for the induswtry (though I have to look it up again.. ). 20 Years ago, I wouldh happily say nuclear is right for Aus.. Time have moved on.. We can do what we mormally do and embrace yesterday's technology, or we can embrace tomorrow, and for once, get ahead of th curve. We've missed the boat for becoming world leading manufacturers of it.. at least we should benefit by using it.