old man emu

He quotes from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism

The only BBC show I can recall that might be the one is Keeping up Appearances whose character was Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge), who insists that her surname is pronounced "Bouquet", although her husband Richard has said, "It was always 'Bucket' until I met you!"

Hoy! Wathchit mate! That mob has two "D's in the name. The original and best family only requires one.

On a more serious note, we talk about how much rain falls on our blocks, but we never talk about the other water factor that really stifles plant growth - evaporation. Just think about the weather at your place today. It's hot. Humidity is low. The Sun is belting down through cloudless skies, and there's a bit of a breeze. Excellent weather for the missus to get the washing dry, but think of the amount of water being drawn out of the ground. The rate of evaporation depends on factors such as cloudiness, air temperature and wind speed. The evapotranspiration rate is the amount of water which evaporates from an open pan called a Class A evaporation pan. A standard pan is 121 centimeters in diameter and 24 centimeters deep. It is set on a wooden platform close to the ground as shown below. Measurements are made by the addition or subtraction of a known amount of water, which then tells us how much water has evaporated from the pan. Here is a link to the evapotranspiration data for March 2025 at an agricultural research station abut 65 km from my place. http://www.bom.gov.au/watl/eto/tables/nsw/trangie_research_station/trangie_research_station.shtml The data shows that there was only 1.8 mm of rain, but 78.9 mm of evaporation. The amount of evaporation is calculated using this formula where: Emass = Evaporation rate (mm day−1) m = Slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve (kPa K−1) Rn = Net irradiance (MJ m−2 day−1) γ = psychrometric constant = 0.0016286∗PkPaλv (kPa K−1) U2 = wind speed (m s−1) δe = vapor pressure deficit (kPa) λv = latent heat of vaporization (MJ kg−1) And no. You can't borrow my calculator.

Can I return the empty bottles and get ten cents? I'm an ardent recycler.

36C 18% humidity. Probability of rain: Nunn & Buckley's. I heard that the summer of 2025 in New South Wales was the driest since 1980, with area-averaged rainfall 21% below the 1961-1990 average at 132.7 mm. Rain that did fall on the State did not get west of the Great Dividing Range.

I'm with you. I was going to post something similar to your comment in "What has Trump done now". I'm thinking that that thread shuld be closed for the mental health protection of members.

Absolvo te.

I think there is a cause and effect in Trump's psyche. His over-riding personality is that of a narcissist. His reaction to those who do not pander to his narcissism leads to sociopathy. Psychology selfishness, involving a sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy, and a need for admiration, as characterizing a personality type. Psychoanalysis self-centredness arising from failure to distinguish the self from external objects, either in very young babies or as a feature of mental disorder. "Sociopathy," describes a mental health condition characterized by a pattern of antisocial behaviors, including manipulation, deceit, aggression, and a lack of empathy or remorse

And not a caravan full of grey nomads to be seen within it.

I often claim to be widely read, but although I am familiar with The Magic Pudding, I don't have the detailed knowledge of the characters. I will say that I bought a copy of this book, and Blinky Bill for my grandson, but as I started to read it, I formed the opinion that the style and language was too late-Victorian to be comprehended by 21st Century children. That is a shame for Australian literature, but I suppose the style and language of Dickens, or Wodehouse, are very much dated as well.

Randolph Scott?

But he's driving us crazy.

Blame Spacey for drifting off thread. I just followed.

Definitely NO to a blanket import duty, but maybe selective import duties. "Tariff" is another word for "Import Tax". Such taxes are recouped by the imported by adding them to the price charged to the purchaser. And don't forget that the price the purchaser pays will include 10% GST. The imposition of tariffs is a means of encouraging a local economy to develop by making locally produced goods and services compete on price with imported goods. Unfortunately, for a long time Australia has let its agricultural and manufacturing move off shore. In the case of foodstuffs, next time you are in the supermarket, look for the country of origin of the the foodstuffs you want to buy. 'Buy Australian" is more like "By Australian". Australia imports from United States amounted to US$34.72 Billion during 2024. Here is a link to a table which shows what Australia imported from the USA and the value of each class of import. https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/imports/united-states From that list, it is clear that there are some goods that could have an import duty applied to them, and some it would be wise to give free entry. Perhaps we could whack tariffs on alcohol and confectionery. But that might hike the price of "Rum & Raison" beyond the reach of some people.

Jeezuz! I'm agreeing with GON! Australia exported $640 million worth of steel and $440 million of aluminium last year to the United States. In the scheme of things that's not much. However, what about the agricultural exports? That'd be where we will be hit if the tariff is 25% on everything.

Dutton has just announced that if his mob win the election, he'll get a deal on tariffs with Trump. How? Here is the Australian Government's current position on this topic.

All the talk is about aluminium and steel is one thing, but what about agriculture products? In 2023-24, exports from Australia climbed $1.2 billion (+21.2 per cent) to $6.8 billion in value, moving them above Japan to be the second largest market. Growth was mostly driven by a lift in beef exports which jumped $1.4 billion (+70.5 per cent). Lamb, dairy and wine export values also recorded year-on-year increases to offer support. The problem with Trump's tariffs is not their quantum, but Trump's inconsistency of implementation. He's already held off for nearly two months on what he said he said he would do on Day 1. What is he going to do with them next week? Nobody can make stable plans in a chaotic environment.

You really don't expect us to believe that the photograph depicts reality, do you?

You missed the point of my original post. I said "he asked wryly". Couldn't you see that I was being ironic? Left or Right, both sides have prostituted journalism. Therein lies the problem. What is one to believe? If one side says black, and the other say white, do we take it that the correct thing is grey?

If someone includes a link in a post to their source of information, then it behooves the reader to follow the link. I did, and that is how I found the words that I quoted. Haven't we been arguing that if one makes a statement in a post that it might need to be supported by a reference?

Shock! Horror! Am I gong mad? Trump wants to do something that I am in agreement with, as it applies to Australia. I'd love to see Daylight Saving Time abandoned in Australia, but I think it would be more sensible, given our low population, to only have one time zone, based on 135 degrees East, which is GMT +9.5 hours.

A quote from the Daily Mail article: according to a new report by an arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, "Isn't the Heritage Foundation the staunchest supporter of Joe Biden and the Democrats?", he asked wryly.

While it would be wrong of me to deny paranormal happenings, as I have no evidence to prove that my denial was correct, it would be as equally wrong to accept them without experiencing them myself. I think that is what is called a Doubting Thomas approach.

Didn't Malcolm voice exactly what we have been saying in this forum? It just so happens that Malcolm is more widely known than any one of us here, and, for the most part, would be more knowledgeable about international economics. Therefore he would be a better interview subject than any one of us. While it is quite true that Malcolm now only has the same political power that each of us has, since he is a private citizen using his right to free speech, is that any reason for Trump to attack him in 'print'?