All Activity

Trump is promoting the Melania movie "....Selling out, fast" One the opening night, a number of theatres reported not a single ticket sold. Others reported less than ten. And it's getting rave reviews on social media... I'd rather poke my eyes out with a burnt stick. If they showed this on a plane, people would walk out. As someone said, "It's all about ME."

Those big players go/set up wherever the best grift/taxdodge is offered by a government.

I want to make the distnction between governments making trade arrangements - government to government - and the actions of corporate giants like Nestle, the motor industries, the oil companies. Those entities have no respect for what governments do. They just go on their machiavellian way enhancing their bottom lines.

High temperature Combustion Promotes NOX. in Diesels. EGR Valves lower the temps but putting exhaust back through an engine reduces Efficiency and more CO2 and also causes Engine Problems (Crud filled Inlet Ports, and extra wear, Dirtier oil.). etc therefore even less efficiency. Non turbo'd diesels can Make More BLACK smoke ( Over fuelling) when you get to Higher Altitudes. They are pretty much Obsolete these days. Nev

Interestingly, the levels of Govt debt are excessive in many developed countries (as well as the well-known undeveloped ones). America's debt level, measured by debt-to-GDP ratio is 125%. The U.K. stands at 115%, while France stands at 101%. However, Japans debt-to-GDP ratio is 230% It is the most indebted country in the world. But .... drilling down into the figures, the debt owed by America, the U.K. and France, is to many and varied global lenders - including other countries. However, the largest proportion of Japans debt is to its own banks. They don't owe a huge amount to overseas investors. So the problem is, when global investors start withdrawing support for your country and your Govt, by moving their funds elsewhere, the amount of overseas debt your country owes is going to be the major item affecting whether your countrys economy goes into a slump - or into the sh****r. Japan can conveniently ignore a lot of its debt because their lenders are their own people and institutions. At worst, in Japan, when debt repayments fail to be made, the worst that can happen is few Japanese banks go bust, or are forced to amalgamate - and their economy slows down. That's what happened in the 1997 Japanese/Asian recession, which was largely caused by excessive property price increases - a property bubble - however poor Japanese Govt decisions also led to the economic collapse.

And I thought I was grumpy.

And have LESS Whacky People at the Helm. Trump takes the cake for Ignorance and vanity. He's becoming a Joke in the eyes of the World, but the damage he's doing is NO JOKE. Nev.

And those countries are busily creating new (more trustworthy) trade arrangements amongst themselves - to replace the unreliable USA.

The problem is that the US debt is owed to the rest of the global economy. If the US goes bust, then the global economy goes bust. While corporate America is a major player in the global economy, don't forget the corporate giants of the EU and Asia.

USA has a HUGE debt. Nev

A World Recession Probably. Like the Others Wall St Started. Who gets hurt Most in Those? The Poor. Nev

No surprise there. One of his big promises (trumpet promise = lies) was that he would fix their debt problem. If the rest of the world asks US to settle the debt, what happens? Bankruptcy? The orange clown has some experience with that kind of policy.

The clever thing about this study is that it was able to analyse NO2 levels on a suburban basis. "The researchers also confirmed that neighborhoods that added more gas-powered cars saw the expected rise in pollution. Finally, they replicated their results using updated data from ground-level monitors from 2012 to 2023. “We tested our analysis in many different ways, and the results consistently support our main finding,” Whilst improved emission standards feed into the overall results they do not account for local differences. "

The air quality improvement wasn't due to a virus. We got a similar result the week after the twin towers attack in US. Anyway, just you wait 'till the next pandemic! Or maybe we should ban all those nasty airplanes! (American aircraft) Or at least ban air travel by attendees to climate crisis conferences? They can all arrive by EV.

Major global investors are fleeing from investing in the U.S. dollar, thanks to Trumps erratic and inflation-causing trade policies. Those major global investors are countries as well as financial institutions. They are all concerned that Trumps policies will lead to the U.S. dollar losing its place as the premium financial investment choice. Trump is doing nothing to address America's constantly-ballooning Govt debt level - as with all U.S. Presidents and senators, they continue to keep kicking the can down the road. Sooner, rather than later, they will run out of road to kick the can down.

It is good that NO2 have decreased, and EV's are certainly playing their part. However, constantly tightening emissions regulations for IC engines must also be adding to the effect. Electric trains and electric buses and a huge upsurge in solar panel and wind turbine power generation can also be added to the picture, all of which are eliminating NO2 emissions. There has been a substantial decrease in the demand for fossil fuels, which is making the oil producers scramble for market share. This will place downwards pressure on oil prices and slow down the uptake of EV's.

I think that I have found an indication that Trump's policies are starting to effect the strength of the US dollar. For quite some time, the Australian dollar was buying about 65 to 66 US cents. Over the past month or so, I have noticed that the AUD has been buying more US cents. Today, 29/1/26, I heard the AUD quoted at 70 US cents. The increase in value of the AUD is not likely to be the result of a strengthening Australian economy. Is it a sign of a weakening US economy? I throw the discussion over to Jerry.

COVID also produced measurable decreases in atomospheric pollutants.

Yes, diesel plus AdBlue still produces more NO2 than comparable petrol engines. The point of what I posted was that the introduction of EVs has made a measurable difference in NO2 pollution. I thought this was interesting....isnt it?

No it's not. Diesels are the main source of NO2, that's why AdBlue was introduced.

Marty, I used to be able to pull wheelstands on that Suzuki 50 stepthrough before I put the sidecar on it. It didn't have it's own power to do it, so you had to stand up on the pegs and start bouncing the weight over the bars a couple of times and on the right bounce, heave back on the handlebars while you gave it a handful. Once up on the back wheel, it was all balance.

Very adaptable people. It's quite a sight in Indonesia and Malaysia to see the Muslim female pillion passengers riding sidesaddle on the back of a bike. Amazing sense of balance when you see them swaying back and forth as hubby weaves in and out of the traffic. They've been doing it since they were kids so I guess it comes natural after a while. I've seen a family of five on a bike; hubby riding with a toddler on the tank, wife behind holding a baby and a little kid hanging on behind her, but I've heard stories of bigger numbers on bikes over there.

You should see what they do with a scooter here in Vietnam. Not unusual to see 2 blokes on a tiny ancient single cylinder rustbucket, with the guy on the back holding on to a homemade trailer with a load of bricks or 6m lengths of steel. Lucky it's so flat. I don't think they'd make it up a hill.

I have some experience; I once built a sidecar using an upside down tin bathtub for the body and connected it to a Suzuki 50 stepthrough. It was slightly underpowered.

Who knows; the start of a rat bike maybe. I've got plenty of rusty steel and heaps of weird and wonderful bits and pieces. I just don't have the starting point of a motor.