old man emu

In 1938, Dr. John Bradfield, of Sydney Harbour and Brisbane's Story bridges, proposed water diversion scheme that was designed to irrigate and drought-proof much of the western Queensland interior, as well as large areas of South Australia. It involved diverting water from the upper reaches of the Tully, Herbert and Burdekin rivers in Far North Queensland which are fed by the monsoon, and flow east to the Coral Sea. It was proposed that the water would enter the Thomson River on the western side of the Great Dividing Range and eventually flow south west to Lake Eyre. In 1944, author Ion Idriess wrote The Great Boomerang. In it, he added to Bradfield's idea by pointing out that Nature had already created the drainage system that would carry water from the western side of the Great Dividing Range through to Lake Eyre in South Australia. That this system works is currently being amply displayed as water from recent cyclones has reached Lake Eyre after flooding vast areas of the Channel Country. Bradfield, Idriess and others of that era were not to know of the coming climate change which, this year (2025) /appears to be responsible for the massive rainfall that is now filling Lake Eyre. Also, they were not to know of the advances in mechanisation that now allow us to carry out massive civil engineering projects. In those years, the idea for Snowy Mountains Scheme was probably not much more than embryonic. The reasons for the failure of Bradfield's to get the green light in his time was most likely political, or more correctly the ability of the Queensland Government to allocate the, even then, substantial money needed to complete the engineering works. However over the years, the Bradfield Scheme has been recycled every few years in the form of feasibility schemes, revisions and hybrids, only to be dismissed or rejected once more. Often the rejections have been based on inaccurate or insufficient data. It appears that while the idea to move water to where it could be useful to agriculture, various industries, population dispersion and maybe even climate improvement is most often stymied by the money needed to carry out the diversions. However, as with most things which call for taxpayer money, costs are considered in the here and now. It is extremely rare that approval is given to spend now for the benefit of future generations. It has been said that an old man will never sit in the shade of the tree he planted in his youth. Perhaps it might be good this time to think of our grandchildren picnicking in the shade of a tree we planted.

Can you see this woman being able to take legal action? The only winners, once again, would be the legal eagles.

My understanding is that several years ago, before AI took off, she did a job for a Swedish company in which her voice was recorded reading books or some such. In recent times, that company sold the recordings to an AI mob who used it to fulfil the Scottish Rail job. So her voice comes from something that was done before the current application of AI was even thought about. Who knows what future technology will do when entering a contract today?

Here's a definite abuse of AI. But I hope that Sky news can be trusted with this one. I suppose you would have to be in the UK to recognise the woman's voice.

Trump has directed his Secretary of the Treasury to order the cessation of the production of one cent coins. For once, that is a financially sound decision as it costs the US Mint 3.6 cents to make a one cent coin. If they don't mint them they will save something in the order of $80 million per year. It is said that there are about 250 million one cent coins sitting in jars and piggy banks. The problem that the Yanks will face is that now the price at the cash register will have to be rounded to the nearest five cents, as we have been doing for ages. The need for one cent coins is a result of the weird way they apply sales taxes. There are local government sales taxes, State sales taxes and Federal sales taxes. Of course your average Yank won't understand that overall they will lose nothing (swings and roundabouts), but I bet you can already hear the cries of loss of liberty and erosion of Rights.

Then there's Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter in the Cotswolds.

The ABC is going to rebroadcast that series "Walking with Dinosaurs", starting on 3rd June. The advertising blurb talks about the monstrous beasts that ruled the planet. But what about the little dinosaurs? We all know about the leviathan dinosaurs, but surely there must have been heaps more little ones running around under the feet of the big ones. Just think of the plains of Africa and North America in present times. There are hundreds of big animals, but do we ever hear of the little ones? The have to be there. And back in the Age of Dinosaurs, there had to be little ones. I bet that mammals didn't evolve from 50 tonne behemoths. Those big animals were at the end of their evolutionary development. Let's give our support to Compsognathus, a "chicken-sized" dinosaur. Compsognathus longipes is one of the few dinosaur species whose diet is known with certainty: the remains of small, agile lizards are preserved in the bellies of both specimens so far discovered.

Well, they did ban two stroke lawn mowers.

The problem for all our governments at the three levels is that things cost a lot of money and there is not a large enough population to create an economy that will generate the income needed. Left, Right or Centre, the story is the same for any government. The other problem is that out culture has become one that expects the government to provide all. I guess we haven't got over the concept of drawing from the Government Stores that began with the first meal after the First Fleeters stepped ashore.

At the risk of being labelled with something I'm not, I have to ask, "Is there a link between the use of machetes and the country of origin of the users?" Not many years ago, machetes were virtually unknown as weapons in urban areas. I hope that if a law is created regarding the possession of machetes, then it includes the words "without reasonable excuse". Those words permit the possession of these things if they are to be used for, say, making a path through long grass or scrubby bushes. It would definitely prohibit their possession in urban areas.

Apparently, if the difference in numbers of votes, after distribution of preferences, is less than 100, a recount is automatically begun by the AEC. That's happening in another electorate.

I'm still amazed how bright it is away from city lights. It's only around the time of the New Moon when it really gets dark. If there is any part of the Moon showing, you don't need a light.

I watched a video about the causes of WWI. At one part it was talking about Kaiser Wilhelm. It said that he was bombastic. Liked pomp and circumstance and getting about in lavish uniforms. He would make a proclamation today and rescind it tomorrow. As I was hearing this I could only think of Trump.

Getting back to celebrating positives. I told you that I had located a source of Styrofoam insulation so that I could complete the renovation of another room. Well, knowing that I could get enough to finish the job was stimulus enough to get me back to work. So today I completed 2/3 of the installation. Styrofoam is easy to work with. You only need a hand saw to cut it to size, and the frame of my wall has spaces of many sizes. You do end up with a lot of little balls of Styrofoam, but if you go gently with the broom, you can get it all together and vacuum it up. I feel really good that I have started back at the reno after a hiatus of several months. That the job went along easily was another good thing. And for you lovers of words, 'hiatus' is the short word that means "bone idleness".

Callipygian - A slang word, completely avoided in epic poetry and higher literature. Modern translation: "nice arse" kallipygos, the name of a statue of Aphrodite at Syracuse.

Here's my theory. Initially we began to be spoon-fed our entertainment by television. Before 1956 our entertainment came from reading or listening to the radio. These were the sources of many sayings. Who now can readily pull quotes from the Classics, or even the Bible? After 1956 the television replaced these former sources of entertainment. We didn't have the production experience of the USA or Britain, so we were swamped by their cultures. Even now, the theatrical culture of the British in both drama and comedy is rarely seen on free-to-air TV. As time has passed and new forms for delivering entertainment have been developed, the input from our own culture has diminished. "That's not a knife. "That's a knife" might have been uttered by a supposedly Australian character, but the words are American. When was the last time told you that a certainty was "London to a brick on". Put down your glasses. It's all over bar the shouting. Bluey and Curley have passed on. Ginger Meggs ceased to appear in Australian newspapers in 2023. Anthony Albanese called the decision “...just another step in the decline of modern media. The only light sputtering in the television literary window is Bluey. At least her popularity in the USA is firing back Australian words to American children.

I think that the creation of witty sayings is something that has been lost from the Australian culture. Say one in the presence of younger people and you'll see displays of bafflement. Are they heard being used by the Younger Generation? All I hear are Americanisms.

If I had brought it home today, I would have to use it this weekend. I've got a lot of prep work to do in the wall this weekend. I'll pick up the insulation, next week and will have something to keep me going over the Long Weekend.

I've had a ripper of a day today. First I went to Woolies to get some groceries. Several of the things I wanted were on really great specials - better that 50% off. Then I went to Officeworks to buy a new desk chair. I got one on Clearance that was originally priced at $449 for $149, which was the amount I had intended spending on a chair. On the way home I popped into a hardware store to see if they had the type of insulation I want to put into a wall. I've been chasing this stuff at Bunnings outlets all over the place without success. The hardware store I went to has enough for my needs and they say it's a slow mover. I couldn't get a pack because the back of my car was filled with the new desk chair.

Continuing the sentence: but no Juans ...knows how to tune them.

I don't have a flight bag. I have a barf bag.

Well, the drier air is definitely warm. Warm in the sense that the temperature is around 20C during the day, which is warm for late May.

Looking at the radar, it seems that the Great Divide is doing just that - dividing the flooded east from the dry west. I'm glad in a way that the heavy rain has passed my place by. There's been enough to freshen the ground and maybe give the recently planted wheat a sprouting boost. But the area is not immune from very serious flooding if it rains heavily in the headwaters of the Castlereagh River.

The description of the Napier Nomad brought to my mind the ditty: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck would chuck wood?"

Correct, Jerry. From Red's reference: As a result of her defection, together with the severe drop in Liberal Party vote in New South Wales, from 1 July 2025 The Nationals will hold only four seats in the Senate. “This is below what is required to maintain party status in the Senate as a party that is ‘part of the Government or the Opposition’ under the Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017.