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Hold that thought. I am having a disagreement with my fund at the moment. I will withhold comment until it is resolved.

Fully taxpayer funded health and education would be the sign of a civilized country.

Yes, times have changed. My bike learner's permit cost (I think) $15, filled out a form - address, name, DOB. Off you go. Three months later, if you survived, you return to the office, an assessor watches you ride away and return. Licence granted. For all motorcycles. Life was simpler then. Darwin's theory of evolution worked. We lived or died based upon our fast learning from mistakes, and luck. Some of us made our own luck with the aid of common sense.

You have a sick mind.

Hard to find out.... besides, it is increasing so fast that any value you could find would be immediately out of date

Well, no. It always costs somebody. In your case, it cost the taxpayers. Don't get me wrong, I believe we should get rid of health insurance companies and make all medical care into a universal government funded health care programme.

Are you aware that every coal seam gas hole does this (there are around 30,000 of these.) They simply burn off the dirty gas until the well produces "cleaner" gas. Note that methane is many times worse than CO2. Coal is so much nicer than alternative energy sources, just look at this lovely coal mine. Compared to the ugly wind turbines in the distance.

Yeah, a bit more than the normal flaring. Geelong TV tpnSrdoseofuhf9hhim6g46g10h0663885163ch46u15i7uhlcllg9g79g2i · POWER FAULT SPARKS LARGE FLARE AND FIRE RESPONSE AT GEELONG REFINERY A major alarm sounded at the Geelong Refinery today after a brief power disruption triggered a visible, smoky flare and a small grass fire on site. Viva Energy’s internal emergency response team quickly attended the scene and extinguished the fire. The company says the flare, which was noticeable from outside the refinery, is a standard pressure-relief safety device used globally to safely burn off excess materials when systems are disrupted. Fire Rescue Victoria has been notified and is supporting Viva Energy’s response. Officials stress the alarm was intended for on-site personnel only and there is no risk to the surrounding community.

Flaring methane, You'd think they could make less soot than that. Nev

The oil refinery near me is putting on a bit of a show.

Gee, couldn't you imagine giving a public machinery demonstration of farm equipment today, standing unrestrained, on the drawbar of a moving disc plough! The Worksafe inspectors would have kittens, and you'd be fined thousands!! One slip off that drawbar, and you'd be mincemeat in seconds. The farmer I rented a farmhouse off when I first started in agricultural contracting in 1964, had 5 dogs of various mongrel history, and they were always fighting amongst themselves. One day he was out ploughing with his trusty old Inter tractor and disc plough, with the dogs all running around the tractor and plough, as they always did. A couple of dogs started fighting, and one fell under the plough, as he tried to get away from the other dog! He came out the back of the plough, sliced up like pieces of ham! The farmer was a little bit upset, but he seemed to think most dogs were disposable, anyway. He was possibly upset because it meant more work for him rounding up sheep, next time he did it.

BREAKING: New Ukraine “peace plan” leaks — and it reads like Putin dictated it directly to Trump. If you ever wanted to see what happens when the United States and Russia sit down and sketch out the future of Ukraine without Ukraine — and without Europe — the leaked 28-point “peace plan” making the rounds in Kyiv is your answer. And buckle up, because this document isn’t a peace plan. It’s a hostage negotiation written by the hostage-taker. According to Ukrainian media, this Frankenstein treaty was drafted by top U.S. officials with Russian input and approved by Donald Trump — and it reads like the Kremlin’s Amazon wish list wrapped in an American flag. Ukraine’s input? Europe’s input? Apparently optional! Democracy is so 2012. The plan opens with polite diplomatic wallpaper — “Ukraine’s sovereignty will be confirmed” — before immediately carving Ukraine’s sovereignty up like a Thanksgiving turkey. It hands Russia Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk on a silver platter and freezes two more regions in place like they’re leftover pierogi. Ukraine doesn’t just lose territory; it gets told to amend its Constitution to promise it will never join NATO again. NATO, in turn, has to amend its own founding documents to slam the door shut forever. Oh — and Russia promises it probably won’t invade anyone else. “It is expected” they will behave. Expected! As if Putin is a toddler who “is expected” not to color on the walls again. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military — currently fighting for its survival — gets capped at 600,000 troops, because nothing says “peace” like forcing the invaded nation to disarm while the invader keeps the keys to three stolen provinces. But don’t worry — the U.S. will give Ukraine a “security guarantee” as long as Kyiv promises not to invade Russia or launch missiles at Moscow “without cause.” Yes, you read that correctly: Ukraine is warned not to invade the country that invaded Ukraine. In exchange for swallowing all this, Ukraine gets dangled $200 billion in reconstruction money — half of which the U.S. literally profits from. America gets 50% of the profits from rebuilding the cities Putin bombed to rubble. It’s like an insurance scam, except the arsonist gets invited to the ribbon-cutting. And the cherry on top? Russia gets complete amnesty. Everyone. Every war criminal. Every torturer. Every kidnapper. Everyone. All forgiven, all protected, all welcomed back into the “global economy.” They even get a ticket back into the G8 as if nothing happened. It is a peace plan written with the moral clarity of a money-launderer’s tax return. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant? Split 50/50. Frozen Russian assets? Partly handed back through a U.S.–Russia investment fund. Education policies? Ukraine must teach “tolerance,” because apparently the country invaded by its neighbor is the one with the empathy problem. Ukraine must hold elections — in 100 days — while fighting a war, hosting displaced families, and surrendering territory. Because what could possibly go wrong? And at the end of this geopolitical circus? Donald J. Trump chairs the “Peace Council.” Yes, the man who cannot mediate an argument between his own lawyers gets put in charge of enforcing a continent-wide peace agreement between nuclear states. This isn’t a peace plan. It’s not even a surrender. It’s a clearance sale where Ukraine pays the bill, Russia gets the merchandise, and the U.S. gets a corporate partnership out of it. The only accurate title for this document is the one Ukrainian commentators already suggested: “The Aristocrats.” Because only a truly deranged diplomatic performance could end with Russia rewarded, Ukraine disarmed, Europe blindsided, American companies cashing in, war crimes erased, and Donald Trump sitting on a golden throne labeled “Peacekeeper.” If this is the plan, then the world doesn’t need negotiators. It needs a fire alarm.

Tiffany — the only child of Trump and his second wife, Marla Maples — received her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, her father's alma mater, before attending Georgetown, where she graduated in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020. Because of this, the graduation ceremony was canceled— and despite acknowledging the Covid pandemic, Trump bizarrely claimed in his speech that the cancellation had something to do with the fact that she is his daughter. "Her graduation got canceled because of Covid, but I say if her name was something else, they probably wouldn't have canceled it," the president claimed.

Further to the donation to Kushner's business: Addressing an audience of business leaders during the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center, Trump announced Prince Mohammed has vowed to invest $1 trillion in America — an increase from his original $600 billion pledge he suggested in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Bi t B oro m=ng O ME Means Bit boring OME Nev

Just snapped this in Hobart in front of a sweets shop. Not sure why Esmeralda has balls, and the Tassie Map is usually a short distance away from the freckle...

Nev, the cooling system is in quite satisfactory condition, and yes - that area is one of the first things I look at, it can be a very expensive repair trying to fix major cooling system damage. Copper/soldered radiators are priced like gold plate today, and you're struggling to find anyone to repair them, the Workplace Health authorities have deemed soldering to be a major workplace health risk. Yes, Chamberlains started off with their own 2 cylinder horizontally-opposed kerosine engine, then they converted the design to diesel, and it wasn't reliable, due to regular engine failures. So Chamberlain then decided to employ outside engine manufacturers. They went over to GM 2 stroke diesels, which were a roaring success, but GM diesels became expensive to buy in AU dollars, so Chamberlain then went to Meadows, an English engine manufacturer. The Meadows engines were just O.K., but their performance was lacking, and the engines had various problems. So Chamberlain then went over to Perkins and never looked back. Perkins engines were so popular and reliable and produced in large numbers, so Caterpillar decided to buy the company, which they did in 1997, and it has been owned by Cat ever since, and Cat-Perkins engines power a lot of the smaller Caterpillar equipment.

You'll RUE the day you hit a ROO. (or any animal when it comes to that). Go real fast and you'll likely end up as Chutney, If something goes AWARY. I've done some fool things in the Past. Going serious OFF road helps you all round with your skills. Been Knocked OFF a Bike near Paramatta about 1961 but that's the Only ROAD Bingle I've HAD . Riding in the Bush doesn't count. .You have to drop the Bike on Purpose some times. Anyhow I've seen a lot of Places that I wouldn't have otherwise. Met many good friends. Been Lucky a few times. You are More (IN the WORLD ) than you are in a Tin Top. People who look down on you wouldn't know $#!t from clay anyhow... Nev

Start Ya Bastard saves Batteries at altitude and frosty Mornings. Used at the right rate it's a soft start. I thought they Made their OWN motor I've seen one with 20K hours on it. That's too much for Most Crankshafts. Tractor Parts CAN be Quite Cheap. The gearbox will tell you how much work it Has done. How much corrosion in the cooling system?. Nev

I just bought another tractor to add to my collection of restoration projects. A Chamberlain C6100, complete with a Gason cab and front end loader - and all for $1100. I'm positive it will make my retirement even busier. Oh, it does have a buggered engine, the venerable old Perkins 6-354, so that's not such a positive thing. The previous idiot owner/s left it out in the weather for years, and rainwater rotted out the muffler, and water ran through it into the engine, and it's locked up. However, at $1100, one has to expect a few downsides. Another downside appears to be the number of empty Aerostart cans I found on the floor when I was cleaning out the 40 or 50 years of accumulated dirt, general trash, rags, dog bones, etc. I guess this is an indicator that the engine wasn't in too good a shape, prior to it being abandoned. Poor old girl, these were great tractors, but some people should never be allowed to own machinery.

When I got my bike licence, the local copper came up to my workshop yard, asked me to do a few figure-eights on my 250cc Honda CM250, and after watching me for about 30 seconds, he said, "Come up to the station, and I'll write out your endorsement"! That was 1982, and I got a totally unlimited motorcycle licence from that! So I rode bikes up to 1100cc with that licence all through the 1980's, then I gave up bike riding when I met SWMBO in 1990, because she hated them, and had been previously told by some psychic, that someone close to her would be badly injured in a motorbike crash. However, the psychic was wrong - at least for the last 40 years. Then, sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's, the local licencing authority split bike licences into under 250cc and over 250cc (with a need for intensive testing for a bigger cc licence), and my licence was downgraded! - despite the fact I rode bigger bikes for years! Some bureaucrat obviously decided I was still a learner, and I'd have to sit the big bike course and testing!! I haven't bothered to, I'm well past my "motorbike stage" of life. They are bloody dangerous things, and the greatest risk is from car and truck drivers who treat you like a second-class road user. And animals on the loose are a real threat to you on a bike. I hit a 'roo at about 80 kays on the Honda, but I managed to stay upright, while I cartwheeled the 'roo!

It depends on where you align

I remember the day I got My Licence. The Policeman said" ride up to the corner and come back".. I said Aren't you coming with Me?. He replied "Not Likely. You would NOT GET Me on one of those DEATH Machines". I've ridden, worked on restored & owned a lot of bikes since then. You DO have to watch what you are doing when you're on them. Nev

He's as subtle as the Worst MAFIA BOSS. A Vengeful Lying Bully with a very disturbed Mind. A Big RISK to the entire World and becoming More so. Nev