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Australia is 18th on the list of safest countries and well within the "low risk level" category. This is nothing to catastrofise over

Well , thankfully does depend on what you look at and we all know that though but that chart was a chart so. We don't look too damn good on those either though Christ we're way above Canada , yet half their population. And well above many others with far more.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/safest-countries-in-the-world https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/crime-rate-by-country

Yeah l dunno octave, l'd be more than happy if actual stats were far different and interested to hear what anyone else finds. As far as who he is, he's a pretty smart dude and pretty rich bc of it no silver spoons there but at the end of the day- doesn't matter who it is he didn't make a the chart but a charts a chart and if we put all those same countries into A1 , l'd assume we'd get the same chart. l know l've actually done searches myself bc of the crazy increase in violence last 5-6yrs and our safety here has dropped a shytload we're damn near on par with the US from what l saw, not quite but not far below either considering how mad that bloody place is and their population. l use the US bc it's one of the maddest countries in the world imo as far as western countries or wth ever goes so to be even anywhere near that place at our population compared, says a lot. Those in the West Aus and other areas might not even be aware of it but crikey , just watch the Melb or Sydney news nightly for a few mths , it's bad. Bris to actually, the violence happening up there these days is bad.

Just another consequence: I work in an OP Shop which gets a lot of its income from sales to caravaners. Last year we distributed $40,000 to local organisations. A lot of that money came from caravaners. If the fuel dries up, they won't be coming in to buy, so our ability to support the community will be less.

I watched the video. Before he presents the chart, he says, and I quote precisely, "I don't claim this sheet to be correct. I just ask the AI models to get an outside view" I notice that for violence, he quotes Rapes and assaults but not murders. The thing with murders is they are just about always reported, whereas rape and theft figures depend on the likelihood of those incidents being reported. Some countries, such as Sweden, have high rape statistics but also have a broader definition of what constitutes rape, therefore higher figures. In some countries, reporting rape is probably pointless and therefore not reported as often. As an example: "Rape in Afghanistan is legally a crime, but prosecutions are extremely rare due to social stigma, fear of retaliation, and deeply flawed legal processes." I imagine the number of rape prosecutions in Australia is much higher than in Afghanistan, but this does not mean Afghanistan is safer. Likewise, theft is under-reported in all countries to varying degrees. Another omission from this table could be gun deaths, especially when comparing Australia to the US (perhaps cherry picking data to suit the argument?) The thrust of the video is that you should go and live in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Dubai or Cyprus. I am open-minded, but the evidence he presents is pretty shoddy.

Yes, today's weapons are much better, but the logic remains. Thrown enough shit at a wall and some will stick. Swarms of cheap drones can overwhelm limited numbers of expensive rockets. What is needed are Australian designed anti-drone weapons. But Trump just insulted us, so why should we sell the US any of them?

All I've got is 10/10 cloud and wind. I wouldn't mind if that cloud gave up its moisture.

There is no defined path for high and low pressure systems, just a general Eastwards movement at lower latitudes and Easterly at higher latitudes. Cyclone Narelle isn't unusual in its path, many cyclone before it have hit Qld, gone through the N.T., crossed W.A., then reformed in the Indian Ocean off the Kimberly coast, and then travelled South. Narelle has clobbered Onslow, Exmouth and Learmonth and it look like Coral Bay is going to take a hammering. Learmonth and Dampier radar systems have gone down, Learmonth recorded 200kmh winds, Barrow and Thevenard Islands recorded 160-170kmh winds and a lot of places have had 150kmh winds. Plenty of rain with it, Learmonth has had over 200mm and Karratha over 100mm. We're getting a bit of light rain in Perth, as the Indian Ocean is producing a lot of moisture from the cyclones warmth, and it's coming down from the N and NW. The W.A. wheatbelt has had more rain than Perth, and the inland areas NE of the Wheatbelt, the Murchison and Goldfields have had some decent rain. There's more to come over the next 3 days.

There's a huge difference between armaments in 1945 and armaments in 2026. His comparison is meaningless. The Iranians are not the Japanese and the Americans control airspace right throught to all the satellites they own. The bulk of Iranian rockets and drones are shot down. That's an expensive drain on their economy. They may inflict some damage on American equipment, but nothing like Okinawa.

First off, I'd like to know who "CTO Larsson" is, and does he have any credibility as regards accurate reporting? From what I see, he doesn't. He's a Swedish engineer, pissed off at immigrants.

Bloody sad stuff- Aus, one of the unsafest countries in the world. Based on early 2026 reports, the Netherlands, Australia, Iceland, Canada, and Switzerland are consistently ranked among the safest countries for travelers, often recognized for low crime, high stability, and excellent healthcare. Other top contenders include Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, and the UAE, while Canada has been noted as a top destination in some specific 2026 safety reports.

What?????

Do you think the US Navy can open the Strait of Hormuz? Histroy might be repeated. NB: This video is not AI. WQell known and long time creator of some good military stuff.

Yep. Even far above CA or Florida and other US parts. Thankfully, well sort of, we do get beaten, just, by the UK, Sweden and France surprisingly to well to me anyway, the chart is complicated to take in but fairly simply laid out none the less,you'd have to look at it. Buttttt, how sad is that. For all our nanny stating, over the mountain regulation and rules on rules on rules, that's where it's gotten us. l can't post the charts here bc they were on a "CTO Larsson" vid- "My top three underrated countries to move to " But if interested you could watch that or just do an AI stat search , he said that's all his charts were. He also said some countries lower stats would also be from under reported crime but still- we tripled most of them. Soooo, if you don't even watch our news last few yrs any more or you watch world news instead like l do just to avoid the horror every night on ours, or you have thought 1000 times lately this is too much, there's something seriously wrong in our country- you weren't imagining it. And just to make it even sadder and shameful , you know what one of our highest crimes is, rape ! over 18,000 rapes per yr and l think it was saying that is only by 1 million scale so you could x that x 27. Triple and even much more than most other countries. l knew we were disgustingly high in crime and so much is wrong about the way we're raised/brain fed and tackle things here these days, but those stats were just sickening.

Well, I'm celebrating a weekend without the family at an airshow (if my flight ever leaves, was originally scheduled for 8:35 and is now estimated to be 10:05). I rode in this morning and left the bike at an off-site parking area near the airport. Half the price of a car, so works out cheaper than catching the skybus. Fairly cold but nothing like Jerry puts up with - I haven't got heated grips though! Hopefully will catch up with Nev there - if you're reading this Nev, you have my number. Looking forward to it - sad to hear of the Spitfire doing a wheels-up landing there, hope pilot is ok and the bird doesn't have too much damage.

Trump had a shot at Australia for not supporting his unlawful war against Iran. I wonder how much Intelligence information is being collected at Pine Gap. Also, what US operations are being conducted from Tindall? Is Albo doing the right thing by keeping our noses out of that mess?

I'm not a bearing expert, but I have been watching a few videos of a bloke who fixes electric hand tools. That often requires replacing bearings. He often comments that while bearings are often made in China, to quality depends on whioch company they are made for. In other words, they are manufactured to specification. If the spec is good, then the company name is imprinted on them as well as the Made in China mark. If they are El Cheapo, they are marked simply with China. One thing that I have learned from those videos is that the cheaper tools from names like DeWalt and Milwauke use the cheap bearings. That means that it is often not worth the labour to replace them so the tools are throw away.

The usual paths of the pressure systems really seem to have been out of whack this year. Also the strength of the winds has been incredible. It seems that every morning the news reports lots of storm damage in places that never seemed to get it before. Victoria is coping it and Sydney has been plastered. Even the most recent tropical cyclone moved in a direction contrary to the usual. I wonder what winter will be like.

Authorities have revealed Neil Sedaka’s official cause of death. ( See OT's post 28 Feb) According to his death certificate, obtained by the New York Post and published Wednesday, the legendary songwriter died from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Kidney failure was also listed as a contributing factor in his death. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries, potentially leading to serious complications such as blood clots, strokes, and kidney failure, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Was it a 'blade job'? https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/jesse-ventura-piers-morgan-trump-assassination-attempt-fake-765416-20260325?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook

Well, I have a great piece of positive news. My Hilux is suffering from noisy rear wheel bearings, so I thought I'd get a couple of new ones. I started looking around, and you have to buy a kit with seals and collar, as well as the bearing. The best price I could find was around $104 each. Now, I'm a bit fussy with bearings, and I much prefer to buy German, American, Japanese or even Taiwanese bearings, as I consider them superior bearings to Chinese, and even Thai-made bearings. As my Hilux was built in Thailand, I suspect it has Thai, or even Chinese bearings. I think that's the reason they haven't performed as well as I'd expected (the Hilux has done 190,000kms and has done a lot of heavy hauling). So I kept looking around, and I was amazed to find a website throwing out Timken bearing kits to fit my Hilux - on "clearance" - at - wait for it - $4.89 each!! The company is in Doncaster in Vic, so I ordered them last night - and blow me down, they were delivered this afternoon!! The two bearing kits cost me a grand total of $25.79 including delivery!! The company is Precision International, and I reckon they must have packaged them at first light, and run them out to the airport to catch the early morning flight to Perth!! What is even better - I opened one of the packets and the bearings are actually Made in Japan!! Bonus! So this little exercise has made my day!! Thank you muchly, Precision International!

We have been blown inside out here on the left coast for the last 4 days. It seems a very large and very intense high pressure system in the Bight is responsible for it. I can't recall such vicious and constant SE/E winds for so many days, in a long time. But this afternoon, the wind died away to virtually nothing, and it is a total relief to be able to do something outside without getting turned inside out.

I told you it was dry! I copped a dust storm today. This afternoon a fast moving front passed over. The winds were very strong and had picked up dust from far away. I went outside and could feel the grit in the air. The sky was darkened, as if a thunderstorm as about to hit. I looked up into the dust cloud and was sure that I saw a bolt of lightning. I felt sorry for the horses in the paddock next door as they stood with their rumps to the wind and their tails blowing about. As relief, after the dust cloud had passed it began to rain. Not torrentially, but enough to wet the top of the soil. That little bit will further help the feed in the paddock grow a bit more. At least there is some green where there has been brown for so long.