Old Koreelah

This Australian engineer explains how DC cables are being laid all over the world.

Not just foreign names; Australian names of indigenous origin often get mangled, especially by our media. Even Auntie ABC, once a bastion of correct pronunciation, sometimes gets it wrong. When phoning city-based office workers, I have to teach them how to pronounce Aboriginal place names. It’s appalling how many born and raised Aussies don’t realise words ending “i” sound like the letter. Boggabri, Murrurundi, Goondiwindi, etc.

- and motorcyclists! There is a bad one east of Tenterfield on the Bruxner Highway, which caused me a near-death experience in 1971. My first time riding that road, I entered this downhill RH curve at speed, but it got progressively tighter. My crappy old Triumph Thunderbird scraped its solid footpeg but hung on, probably because the hot tar was so sticky.

When we were young and indestructible, the standard approach speed was to read Km/h as mph.

How long should we maintain the rage about Robodebts? Our model might be the vicious campaign against Rudd’s well-intentioned and quite effective home insulation scheme. That went on for years; so many dumb voters swallowed the training and every reference to Peter Garrett had to be couched in terms of “the pinkbatts fiasco”.

Not so much a disconnection as a yawning gulf between their sworn duty and their actual attitude to the poor they we sworn to assist.

…so, being guilty of electing these ghouls, according to Fiona, the currently unemployed Bettong, you deserve to be jeered in the streets, banned from public office and forced to live in a drain near a chemical factory, till the end of time? Meanwhile, the bastards who caused so much misery to poor people seem to be still (as Fionas says) in cushy government jobs.

For those of us suffering Robodebt Fatigue, this short summary from today’s Guardian seems about right:

Great music that shook loose much of the world from the clutches of the damned churches. Some of those early Rockers fell by the wayside but others survived the tumult:

Why has this speech impediment been give an name unpronouncible to the sufferer? lisp.

They sure tried! US military leaders wanted to clobber their Soviet Allies to ensure America dominated the post-war world. One story has the Generals asking for 192 A-bombs to wipe out every major Soviet target. Scientists who were aware of this insanity and tried to share nuclear secrets with America’s Soviet Allies came to a sticky end.

Putin is not beaten yet. He might be hoping to hold out till the accursed Republicans regain the White House. He knows that America has a short concentration span when it comes to war; the US has been defeated by peasant armies from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Lots can happen before Ukraine evicts the Russians. As Western allies concentrate on Ukraine, they have good reason to not run down their strategic reserves of missiles and ammunition. China is becoming more assertive over areas it claims were former former territories. Taiwan and the SC Sea are known flash points, but don’t be surprised if Zi takes back a huge slice of land around Vladivostok. https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2022/10/24/as-russia-gets-weaker-xi-jinping-may-forgo-taiwan-to-grab-eastern-russia/?sh=204dc6886

Tewwible wythp u have there OME!

I once used to think it a good thing that armies would run out of ammunition, but the world cannot afford any win for Putin. South Korea is under pressure to send some of its huge stockpile of ammo; with a neighbour like theirs, I understand their reluctance.

- in addition to the countless people maimed each year. Yet for decades after that war, all we heard from the US was outrage at their former enemy about a few GIs being MIA. No mention of the carnage that had inflicted. Has America ever paid reparations to Vietnam? I believe the Quakers, despite never participating because of their pacifist beliefs, provided lots of post-war aid to Vietnamese farmers, including heaps of shovels, which are less likely to set off mines than the traditional hoes. These insidious weapons are designed not to kill, but to maim; military planners know it’s more economical to injure rather than kill an enemy. An injured solder needs care, which takes several out of action. I suspect that’s one reason for the switch from 7.62mm ammo to 556. There should be a special place in Hell for some people in the weapons industry; during that war I read American accounts of their planes dropping millions of small, plastic booby traps. Brightly coloured, even moulded to resemble fruit or toys, they were designed to appeal to the young kids carrying munitions down the Ho Chi Mihn Trail.

You lucky bugger, Spacey! Too many older people never see their kids. I know several who haven’t seen their grandies ever.

Another Thin End of the Wedge: be careful when communicating, your flippant reply might be legally binding! https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/canadian-court-give-thumbs-up-to-claim-emoji-counts-as-contract-agreement-20230708-p5dmph.html

We’ll tell ‘em where you went!

A decade ago I was a regular at our local men’s shed and it was heartening to see old blokes learning new skills; One old dairy farmer was using a wood lathe for the first time and a retired Senator was making quite passable wooden trinkets.

Seems this is a good place share good advice about a life well lived. Here’s a start:

Jerry you have been accepted, despite being from south of the border and following that strange jumping-up-in-the-air game!

Early adopters pay for the priviledge of being first with new technology; as well as a high purchase price, they are often used as Beta Testers and risk faults and failures that may not be covered if the company folds. Those of us who wait a few years for the product to be refined benefit from much lower prices.

Back to topic, just been listening to Dr.Karl on JJJ. This morning they had a fascinating discussion about Indigenous science, with an Astrophysicist who explained the astonishing discovery of yet another Aboriginal myth that has preserved observations made eons ago. We already know that traditional stories about volcanic eruptions and sea level changes have survived many thousands of years. Only recently, with the aid of telescopes, has science verified that Aboriginal myths have been passing on accurate descriptions of the constellation Pleiades as it would have appeared to the naked eye 100,000 years ago. https://careerswithstem.com.au/aboriginal-astronomy-about-the-seven-sisters-worlds-oldest-story/#:~:text=In many Australian Aboriginal cultures,marks the start of winter.