old man emu

Zelensky has just signed a deal with Britain for the manufacture of Ukrainian designed drones. One thing that we are ignorant of is how smart in the area of industrial design the Ukranians are. I think we have the impression that they are just farmers and miners, but they are industrially powerful.

Because of the costs of managing the distribution infrastructure. How much does it cost to have crews available to restore power when the infrastructure is damaged by storm and tempest? How much does it cost to ensure that transmission lines are not in danger of damage from vegetation? Transformers wear out. It is no doubt true that the cost of generating electricity using renewables is very low. The costs are really those of putting the smoke into the wires and keeping it there.

The problem with corporate taxation is that so many things can be deducted from gross income as business expenses to reduce taxable income. However, consider the deduction ACME Industries receives from the cost of employing a person. That money is not really lost to Treasury because the emplyees pays income tax before getting money in the hand. Then from that money, a further 10% is paid because the person purchased goods and services. If the employee squirrels some away it will most likely earn a tad of interest, which jacks up the employee's taxable income. The deduction ACME gets is not really lost to the whole Economy. They say that money is made round to go round, and that is what it does.

It would be great if we could go back to the days when Trade Unions worked towards the betterment of their members. Luckily the Unions wrested a lot of benefits from Big Business which remain in place today. If anyone wants to bag Unions to me, I'll simply ask them if they would be prepared to go back to a 48 hour week, bugger-all holiday leave, no paid sick leave etc. It amazes me that the people in business and politics who always scream that any improvement in the conditions of people who work will destroy the economy, are quite happy to avail themselves of those Union-won benefits. Would you really like to live in a system where there is no job security; no liveable basic wage and no economic protection in the event of illness or injury? If you would like that, then there is a number of flights from Australia to the USA each day.

You have to feel sorry for the Yanks. Their fuel price is now about $US 4.00 per US gallon. There are 3.78541 litres per US gallon. That puts their price at $US 1.06 per litre. Currently $US 1.06 = $AUD 1.50.

If there is a country in the World that needs a regime change, it's the USA. Unfortunately, replacng the Republicans with the Democrats will not change the American culture which is the source of the problem.

My daughter is a CPA. She'll protect her dear ol' dad.

Somehow or other I seem to have shares in IAG, the insurance company. I can't remember how I got them. As I was looking at my bank statement the other day, I noticed a deposit of a bit over $20.00 from IAG. It's not a massive amount, but as my Dad used to say, 'small fish are sweet'.

The AI company, Anthropic, which owns Claude, is suing the US Government. It says that as part of its contract details bans the use of its AI for the deploying weapons unless the go ahead to fire was given by a human. Of course, Trump and Hegseth are ignoring that contract detail. In response to Anthropic's lawsuit, which still has to be dealt with in Court, Trump has decreed that Anthropic cna no longer be granted government contracts.

The actions of the Party through its Gestapo have been compared to the recent actions of ICE agents in the Land of the Free. The USA has been doing things that towrads the end of the 20th Century came to be defined as terrorism since the late 19th Century. Remember the Spanish-American War when the USA attacked the Spanish territory of Cuba and at the end gained control of the Phillipines. Not to forget, either, the interference of the USA in just about every South American country as each gained independence from its colonial rulers.

Is it the servos or is it the oil companies? The servo is the retailer - the link between the oil company, local distributor and the customer. It is the oil companies which set the wholesale price of fuel. If they raise the wholesale price, then that rise passes down the chain. The oil companies also set the price at their own sites and their franchised sites. Have you ever noticed that the price changes at competing oil company sites rise and fall in unison? It is the independents who can control their price more closely. I suppose the idea of servos price gouging comes from the independents going from being cheaper than the oil company sites to matching those sites in the same area. So, perhaps the action taken by the ACCC, or Fair Trading would be appreciated by the oil companies as it might drive an independent out of the local market.

If you think about it, you could almost say that terrorism in modern times started with the first raid by German Zeppelins in WWI. However, I suppose a deeper look would find examples of attacks on non-combatants throughout human history.

A terrorist organization is a group that uses violence, intimidation, or coercion, often against civilians, to achieve ideological, political, or religious goals. Does the Adminsitration of the USA fit that definition?

Before the start of the "war", petrol at my place was $1.70 for 91 octane. It is now $2.25. That's and increase of 55 cents. Since GST is 10% the current price returns Treasury an extra 5.5 cents per litre. As well as calling out the oil companies for gouging, we should also call out the Government. Notice that I said that GST generates money going into Treasury. At the moment the Government is Labor, but if the LNP was the Government, then I reckon they would accept the windfall as well. I'm not trying to say that Labor is being nasty and the LNP wouldn't be. I'm saying that both would not deny the exra money coming into Treasury. Apparently, the voters are "unhappy" about rising food prices, layoff, inflation, etc., but they are totally pissed off, furious and more than somewhat upset that the price of petrol is sky-rocketed. I suppose those who drive ICE vehicle are also annoyed with the drivers of EVs.

But how much input did you have on the Party's national platform? You role seems to have been to select the person who was most closely aligned to that platform.

The USA has been screwing up Iran since 1953. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of Iran, from the Mosaddegh coup of 1953 to the present day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Iran

Yep! He's a slimy bastard. And I'm not saying that simply because of teh Party he is in. He's puolled some pretty shonky deals in his life.

Not only that sort of person. Anyone with with the ability to do something that a lot of people need done from time to time will have work thrust on them. Have you ever tried to get a plumber or electrician at short notice?

Theer are visionaries who join Parties with teh hope of making a difference, but the first thing that they learn is that politics is a game of compromise.A person might have the idea to brighten a room by turning on the light with a switch, but then has to compromise on wiring, switch design, lumen output and positioning.

Use too much of that repellant and the minge will dry up and die. Then you will have to engage https://mingefunerals.com.au/

Just when you thought that letting your kids spend hours playing X-Box games with a handheld controller would get them a cozy job in the military operating remotely controlled weapons, it looks like AI will take over that task and leave the kids unemployed. Redmember when we thought as parents that we must get our kids involved with computer programming and such? We forgot that there would always be a need for people who knew how to plug a connector into a server unit to connect it to to the outside world, or knew how to diagnose a dead board and replace it. If you surf YouTube you will find that some of teh most popular sites del with fixing things, like clogged drains or broken tools. Like the line in the song 'I shot the Sheriff' says, "You've gotta get a little dirt on your hands, boy".

No. What I meant was that a strong Opposition makes for a strong government. You can see that at the moment in the USA. The Democrats are not a strong opposition, so the Republicans are running riot. With the LNP in Australia having a lessened presence in the House, Labor is getting a pretty easy run. Consider that a football Grand Final is not played by the two teams on the bottom of the ladder.

Nev, was that 'you' refer to anyone in particular, or is it the indeterminate 'you'?

What about that little sera of surf music? It sort of wedged itself between Elvis and the Beatles for a summer or two. There was some great instumental music produced in that format, as well there was a tincture of hot-rod music with similar rythyms. The surf and hot-rod music were very Californian, but it also reflected the surf scene in Australia.

That's what is happening with the current major opposition. I might not like their policies, but I feel that their united presence as Opposition bolsters the quality of the Government. A united Labor Party in opposition should do the same thing. Independents and small parties don't have the capacity for research and skill in creating policies that the big parties have. I do think that it is ridiculous that the two major Conservative parties want to form coalitions, but don't just come together as a single Party to represent all Conservative-minded people. Surely such a new conservative party could work out a platform that addresses both Urban and Rural/Regional issues.