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I was reading an article about "Libyan desert glass" today, and how the scientists are totally perplexed on how it formed. It is primarily silicon, but it contains microscopic zircon crystals - and it has been fused at temperatures unlike anything ever found on Earth - even in molten magma. The general opinion is that it formed in a meteorite burst over Libya in antiquity - but the scientists still say that doesn't fully explain the intricate atomic patterns found inside the glass. More recent scientific studies say the Libyan desert glass was formed via a massive asteroid impact. But the problem with that line of investigation is - there is no impact crater anywhere near the Libyan desert, capable of supporting that story. The experts claim the crater is depply buried under the desert sands and needs more investigative work to find it. In the article, they showed the Winged Scarab Pendant found in King Tut's tomb. It contains Libyan Desert Glass amongst the inlaid gemstones. Now, just looking at the close up of the pendant, I'm blown away by the skills, the complexity and the workmanship in this pendant. The experts say the ancient Egyptians were a race of primitive idol-worshippers who somehow managed some impressive building feats such as the Pyramids, using primitive transport methods. They had no electricity, no high-tech steels, only wood-fired furnaces, no modern grinding equipment, and supposedly just primitive hand tools. I call BS on those suppositions - these people were an advanced race with skills and equipment equalling modern techniques. It takes over 1000°C to melt gold, and intricate, high-tech tools to work it - to cut gemstones - and it takes artisans of exceptional skill to cut and shape those stones and fabricate the precious metals into shape. Take a close look at this pendant, you can expand the photo substantially to see the detail. https://egypt-museum.com/winged-scarab-pendant-of-tutankhamun/

It is, but it's a very tight and strict alliance normally. Stray from the party line and you get the boot is how a lot of them operate.

BYD has a dedicated RHD assembly line in one of their factories. It churns out a new RHD BYD car, every 52 seconds. Trump has handed ownership of the car market to the Chinese. https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/an-enormous-ship-docked-in-melbourne-today-its-cargo-could-permanently-change-australian-motoring-20260531-p602f6.html

That's because the U.S. oil companies take advantage of high world oil prices to make extra levels of profit, and the Americans pay accordingly.

Isn't a politcal party an alliance of like-minded persons?

Yes, I think they are far better off on their own. As a party they could end up being neither here nor there. Some of them of a similar persuasion could be loosely alligned but I doubt a party would work.

BYD is currently executing a massive logistics surge to Australia, having committed to tripling shipment volumes to 30,000 vehicles for May and June 2026 to address record demand driven by high fuel prices. The first special shipment of nearly 5,000 vehicles has already departed Shanghai aboard BYD’s proprietary carrier, the BYD Zhengzhou, and is scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on June 2, 2026, before proceeding to Sydney and Brisbane.

Today, Australia's population clicked over 28,000,000 today.

Just HOW can you have a "Party of Independents"? Nev

700 Quid built a good House. Mind you It wasn't nearly as grandiose as what we want now. NO air conditioning or Insulation. A fireplace was it.. No garages. Maybe we expect too Much these days? Nev

Their Gasoline seems to have gone up about the same as Ours Has. Nev

The US education system doesn't cover much that happens outside of America. Their right wing media tells them they are doing well everywhere with Trump at the helm but most are completely insulated from the rest of the world. These are the MAGA nutters. You tube is full of clips showing their complete ignorance. Trump needs them to bolster his own ego and to relieve the complete insecurity of his pathetic existence. The problem is that the reality of inflation from his crazy tariffs and cost of petrol etc affects them as it does everyone and they are starting to run out of reasons to explain it all away. The mid term elections could change everything.

Nev, that would have been a license to print money when you think of the relative value of a pound (currency) back then.

I nearly died when I was 16 working on building concrete wheat silos. I'd put my age up, you were supposed to be 18 minimum to get a job there. They were four silos joined together and the working platform raised up as the concrete walls grew in height, a bit like a big extrusion machine. Concrete trucks would dump into a hopper which went up an elevator to the top where labourers with wheelbarrows would wheel it to the formwork rim. There wasn't much in the way of concrete pumps back then. It gives me the shivers when I think of the workplace safety standard back then. The only thing to stop you falling off the scaffold was a handrail made of tomato stakes cobb and co.'d together with tie wire. Pure luck it held up when I fell against it; it was about an 80 foot drop to the bottom at that stage. On the thread topic of positives, I made a lot of money for a 16 year old, had a big adventure and got to keep the hard hat at the end of the job.

Back on topic. Regarding recent talk of a possible Teal party forming, I was wondering what views are on that. Personally I don't think it will go far. At this point there's not enough interest among independents; a lot of them are very mindful they were elected as independents and probably also thinking they could lose their seat to a true independant if they joined a party. There's talk among journalists about the possibility of them filling a centre right void.

The coldest official temperatures we get in Qld. are always at Stanthorpe on the border and Oakey on the Darling Downs. They record winter lows of -4 to -6 on average. A big difference between official recordings and private recordings though. A mate who had a small crop farm at Stanthorpe has recorded up to -15 at rare times. I get why Stanthorpe is cold; it's a thousand feet higher than the Toowoomba range but Oakey has always baffled me. I think it must be the shape of the land around it trapping the cold air or something like that.

Australia doesn't "Know" Cold, even in the Alps. Melbourne is only 36 Degrees of Lat. South of the equator.. Nev

40c below is the coldest I've experienced, at Grand Prairie in Alberta. 30 below was quite ok with the right gear but 40 was a point where it was like being in an industrial freezer. 20 below at Calgary was quite pleasant if the wind wasn't blowing and was about equivalent in coldness to two or three above in western Qld. A different cold over there in Canada, as long as you could block the outside air you'd be quite warm. Australian cold is more insidious and can creep into your bones no matter how much clothing you have on. A bit like the difference between dry and humid heat.

A pound a Lb it was for Merino fleece. Rolls Royces abounded in Places like Tamworth and Cocky's all had Planes to fly around in. I flew some Blokes out to Burren Junction to Set up the Wheat silos there in the 60's from Rutherford. ( West Maitland). They were of Concrete and probably still there. Nev

Our place had a mix of self mulching black soil and areas of red soil. It was probably about 80% black, 20% red. You could always get a strike on the red soil with limited rain, but it was a gamble as it needed follow up rain to keep going. The black soil needed more rain to get a seed strike but usually held the moisture well. It's changed a lot these days with zero/minimal till and tramtracking. Seems to a lot wider row spacing as well.

Too Lazy to think abut what their idol is up to, and the consequences to others and the reputation of the USA around the World which is TRASHED by this dumb, totally out of control, Egomaniac. Nev

Those were the days when we still rode on the sheep's back as the saying goes. My main memories of that town were the steam trains and the yellow Western Transport B-model Mack semis hauling wool bales in from the west. That and being able to consume as many free lemonade spiders as I could handle as my mates parents owned the local cafe.

Thanks octave, that brings back a lot of childhood memories. As a kid I had mates who lived in the local small town and I sometimes stayed with them on weekends and got to do town kid stuff. A few of our activities involved the steam trains that were the common train back then. The rail bridge had a small nook in the concrete abutment directly below the train line, so two or three of us could squeeze in there and watch the trains go over our heads only inches way. It was exciting stuff, a lot of anticipation when we heard the noise and vibration of the train coming, and then totally cacking ourselves as it passed overhead. Sometimes we got burnt a bit but that was ok, it was all good fun until we eventually got busted. When the train drivers were shunting wagons on the spur line they would let us ride up with them in the loco and work the brake lever and stuff like that.

It's astonishing how many of those who support him still can't see what he's doing to their country and the world. I can understand that people may be on side with his policies, such as they are since he doesn't seem to have any idea of what his job is supposed to be, but how they can accept his corruption, lying, incompetence, racism, bullying and general nastiness is beyond me. I think a lot of his supporters don't follow politics and don't know much about what's going on in general.

In my thirties I used to dream I was flying a light plane from Paris to London then realise that my licence had expired, I would wake up in a panic. When I got my licence back the dream went away. If Freud is about sex, you know what to do.