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First time we've had honey from our bees! Despite neither of us really knowing what we were doing, we managed to get about 3.4kg from our one hive.

Hmmm. Sounds like something OME would write. It has his style, but is it really OME, or is it Chatgpt sounding like OME?

, Blame the rotten Newspapers for a lot of that. Your Country forced you to go to war. To treat returnees as was done to you is a disgrace but the People themselves who turned out to throw red paint and other reprehensible acts were NOT forced to do it and should not have. I completely understand you for being thoroughly pissed off and even the rotten RSL wouldn't acknowledge you.. You Got a $#!t deal. .I know quite a few people in your position who are far from amused.. Justifiably so. Nev

Government ministers often meet with leaders from other countries even if they find them objectionable, this is part of their job, The reality is that Trump won and as a country we have to suck it up and deal with it the best we can. It would be absurd if politicians only met with those they admire. Trump seems to loathe Trudeau but met with him and vica versa. It would be a bad politician who did not attempt to further the interests of our country.

All "left wingism" is, is having a social conscience and not deserting the less fortunate and not futher EXPLOITING them like the RW nuts want to do. Trickle down is the BIG LIE.. Changes everywhere ARE to MORE wealth (AND Power) in the hands of FEWER people who were already so rich that they LIVE IN another world ., Unfortunately sufficient is never enough for them. Power corrupts and ALWAYS has. A self enriching Kleptocracy is being created and will be supported by FORCE as in Russia Belarus, Brazil and China. America will be the most extreme of all, IF it goes the way it looks prepared to go. It only Needs a small number of dedicated people in KEY positions to overthrow any Democracy from within because the Nations resources change hands LEAVING IT DEFENCELESS. No one else will intervene to correct it but some might see an opportunity to take advantage of a country FOOLISHLY divided unto itself. Trump already attempted an Insurrection ONCE. That should have been a warning. Now he has motivated many others and having shown them what is possible, THEY will use him at first and then dispense with him once their aim is achieved. (as Trump has done so far with the Inept Republican Party.). excluding Liz Cheney who is at great risk.. Nev

Well... In the interests of the population of our country, I'd like to see political action on the following:- 1. Transparency by all political and business players. 2. Accountability - a transparent Anticorruption watchdog that has teeth & allows public scrutiny. 3. A stop to foreign ownership of domestic property. 4. A better system of making big business pay their taxes. 5. A future fund similar to Norway's. 6. A ban on political parties. Democracy can be served better if each elected member is permitted a conscience vote. 7. Cease using taxpayers money for political advertising. 8. Bring back old fashioned boring but factual reporting and investigative journalism by our ABC. Am I sounding grumpy enough yet?

A good rule there and it's a difficult situation as you say. My reaction at the time was disappointment. Their discomfort is of far less a degree than My Predicament. There was one exception who came a long distance to drop in and talk, and .not related or particularly close to me either. I was very DOWN at the time because if you have a hint of Cancer CASA (AVMED) just cancel your licence and did it to Me at the commencement of a Perth trip. No warning given. They got it WRONG anyhow. I'm STILL HERE No chemo or radiation ever carried out.. Nev

Americans ELECTED Trump so you Must acknowledge and RESPECT their right to choose who they want. That's the accepted process and the ONLY one to follow. Nev

Make no mistake about it, MAGA is a CULT, and Donald Trump is the Jim Jones of the 21st century. Trumps desire and entire lifes aim, is to be WORSHIPPED as a GOD - not just a "God-like figure", but as a real God, who brooks no interference with his plans or aims, to rule with dictator strength, and to ignore laws designed around fairness, and to punish illegal acts. Trump is the most DIVISIVE leader the Western world has seen in the last 100 years. He wants Americans divided into two distinct camps - US (MAGA supporters) and THEM (Democrats, Lefties, Woke people, illegal immigrants, Blacks, anyone with different sexual or gender desires. Trumps record as a landlord is ill-treatment of black tenants, constantly rejecting them in favour of white tenants). Jim Jones did exactly the same thing, he told his followers to reject out of hand, those who didn't join his cult. Jones would set all the rules, belief structures and laws - just as Donald Trump wants to do. Trump wants all MAGA supporters to be promoted over and above any other group or party, and for them to be above the law. He wants to twist the current Justice system to suit his own plans and desires - which involves ignoring any criminal acts done by Donald Trump or MAGA followers, and criminalising any act that tries to apply the law to Trump and his supporters, when they have done wrong. All Trumps appointees to major and crucial positions are based on two criteria, and nothing else. 1. Loyalty to Donald Trump - and 2. The appointees ability to defend Trump and even die for him, regardless of any truth or facts presented to the contrary. 2025 will go down as the year where truth, facts, the rule of law and democracy faltered, and was repressed at every turn. Trump wants to turn his vision of America into his own Jonestown, where all under him are acolytes who dare not question his utterings. Donald Trump makes unbelievable promises, and breaks them with breathtaking speed. He promised to be faithful to three wives and those promises meant nothing to him. He's found you can get people to do what you want, whenever you make great promises. The ability to carry through on those promises means nothing to him, once he's achieved his aim of getting support from those he promised great things. I would not be in the least surprised to see Trump descend into paranoia, and even more erratic and dangerous behaviour, as he ages, exactly as Jim Jones did. The veneer of civilisation and democracy has never been so thin in America, as it is now. https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=34297 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html

What Biden did was within the current law. Taking advantage of current law whilst admitting that it should be changed may be less than perfect but better than nothing. As far as I am concerned I think it would be fair to prosecute and punish Hunter to the level of any other citizen having committed the same offences. Likewise, I do not believe that being elected president should shield anyone from prosecution. The P***y grabber-in-chief was convicted by a jury of his peers but has so far been spared the punishment that an ordinary person would suffer. This seems to be a far bigger injustice. Pardoning the worst January 6 is also more hideous.

Two ladies of the night were driving around with a sign on their car saying "Ladies of the night $50". A cop pulls them over and said, "you can't have a sign like that on your car." Just then, a car goes past with a sign saying, "Repent your sins. Jesus will forgive." The ladies said, "What about that sign?" The cop says' "That's OK. It's a religious sign." Next night, the cop spots the ladies car again. He follows them, and sees their sign, "Two fallen angels looking for Peter."

That's the rub, isn't it. If Angus Taylor or Dutton himself comes on ABC Breakfast and pushes an idea paid for by the fossil fuel companies, and they get questioned on it by the presenter because it IS at odds with scientific fact, then you get complaints about bias. If politicians stuck to facts, I'd agree with you 100%. My thesis is that the LNP sticks to facts less often than the ALP, and that's where the perceived bias comes in. I'm not saying that the ALP are perfect. I'm disgusted with a lot of things they do including the total failure to implement a complete ban of gambling advertising. This despite one of their own members having led the review which recommended it. I WANT the ABC to hold all politicians to account. I want the reporters, editors and presenters to be highly intelligent and knowledgeable people, which for the most part, they are - and I want them to ask the hard questions and not back off whether it be the PM or the leader of the opposition. If they do that then they're doing a public service and worth every dollar we all pay for their existence.

Welcome back Octave. We missed you. Thanks for your input.

Ya wooden want to park around termite-infested areas with Henry Fords 1904 race car! In 1912, Francis Birtles and his driver, Syd Ferguson, made the first trans-Australia trip from Perth to Sydney in a 1911 Brush car (which arrived in Sydney in early 1912). The Brush featured a wooden chassis. On their Trans-Australia trip, 73 miles out of Broken Hill, the LHS chassis rail broke in half! In a most fortunate event, Birtles and Syd Ferguson had just passed a bloke sawing wood! They drove back and acquired a length of freshly-sawn 4" x 2" timber (102mm x 51mm for the inch-measure challenged). Birtles and Ferguson jacked up the broken chassis rail until it was straight again, hand-drilled two holes in the chassis rail, and using fencing wire they carried, they wired the 4 x 2 timber in place, and continued on merrily to the completion of their trip in Sydney! Here is a photo of the Brush on the trip, driver Sid Ferguson is in the drivers seat. Interestingly, Birtles couldn't drive a car! He took all the photos and navigated the route, as he'd previously done the trip by bicycle! Surprisingly, the car is LHD.

Did you know? Sir Edmund Hillary led the New Zealand component of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) in 1955-58, under the overall command of the British explorer Dr Vivian Fuchs. The Christchurch Star had to recall its first edition due to its front page banner headline…. “Hillary, Fuchs, off to the Pole” Those were the days…..

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

This one? It helped to spread agent orange. We've gone off topic, better cease now. Hope you had a good Xmas and Boxing Day. I live alone but that didn't stop me from rustling up a scrumptious Christmas dinner and downing a few beers.

Merry Christmas to everyone from this appreciative newby. Are you all pilots? I wanted to be one but never made it. Over the years, I've been a passenger in a DeHavilland Dragonfly, a Canadian Caribou (Very exciting when landing on a short dusty runway, tighten your seatbelts!), a Lockheed Hercules (for the sole purpose of a low altitude joy ride over Sydney Harbor, still vividly imprinted in my aging memory bank, Opera house and all ), a Boeing 727, and a high wing Cessna type flying through picturesque valleys on my way to connect with a commercial jet for a final destination flight. All of these flying events were a Christmas to me. Thank heavens we have the ability to remember the good things in life.

And may 2025 be kind to everyone.

In the far-flung regional areas of W.A., the rural powerlines to outlying areas were becoming a major cost burden to Western Power, the local energy supplier and maintainer of the grid. Quite a number of marginal farms suffered from excessive amounts of blackouts due to powerline damage by storms and long waits for crews to arrive to fix the damage. So Western Power decided to pull down those remote powerlines and replace them with on-site, stand-alone power generation facilities. The setup is solar panels, batteries and a backup diesel generator. The arrangement has vastly improved the amount of power available to the farms, and reduced blackouts to a bare minimum for them. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-02/thousands-of-renewable-standalone-power-systems-to-be-rolled-out/101479136

If I'm driving at night and there's no traffic and clear sight lines, on the straight stretches I drive in the middle of the road. Simple reason being it's the furthest point away from wallabies on both sides so more of a chance to avoid them if they decide to get suicidal.

"Niche" and "integrated activities" huh? Would your target clientele be high court judges and senior conservatives?? 😜

Funny you should say that, in itself it's a terrible affliction. My Aunty, a hundred miles away, had inoperable cancer and neither my Mum or I knew what to say or do. I plucked up the courage to call her and just started engaging in typical conversation, talking about anything but the topic of cancer - big mistake! I should have talked about it and at least comforted her by letting her know we had her in our hearts. She was 66 only. Mum joined in, at my urging, she was her sister after all, but neither of us felt adequately equipped to say the right things to a dying person. I guess it's whatever we feel we would like to be said to ourselves.

Having botched the COVID response Trump now seeks to appoint a rabid anti-vaxxer to head the Department of Health and Human Services. He seeks to appoint someone with little experience running a huge department such as Defence, even though he seems to have many serious character flaws. I find it hard to understand how anyone can listen to Trump and not think he is deluded. Remember this Trump suggests 'injection' of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and 'clean' the lungs Whilst many politicians over-promise and under-deliver Trump excels at this "going to build a big beautiful wall and the Mexicans are going to pay for it" Of course this never happened. This from his last term so maybe be we should consider current promises. End the war in Ukraine within 24 hours? End inflation although he is now walking that one back. Make Canada the 51st state? Take over Greenland? He even refused to rule out economic OR military means. He thinks windmills kill whales. He thinks that tariffs are a tax on other countries. He claims he will deport millions of undocumented workers without taking into account those businesses that rely on these people to do jobs that Americans won't do. Business owners warn Trump’s deportation plan could shut them down Turning back the clock regarding a woman's right to choose. He wants to bring back prayer to school and remove drugs but doesn't seem to give a sh1t about the proliferation of guns. To me, a great leader needs many qualities but an important one is humility. The man literally cannot say anything without telling how wonderful Trump is. "My last inauguration, the biggest crowd ever, everyone says that, there has never been a crowd bigger" He can't even accept that in 2020 he lost. If you search out concession speeches from past presidents Dem or GOP they are magnanimous in accepting the result. In my opinion, he does not have the character for the job.

Ain't that the truth . . .

Any photography course will tell you, never centre the subject. Use the rule.of thirds. Divide the screen into 3 and centre the subject over either of the divisions. Horizon 1/3 up, tree 1/3 in. Can mean the difference in winning a photo competition.

They should have hired a better photographer - subject off-centre, poor lighting, cluttered background and Trump's eye is half closed unless it's supposed to be a leering wink. If I was Trump I'd sue for incompetence.

Can I get a triple groan, anyone?

Those who Oppose paying taxes still want to be helped when things go bad They are the freeloaders. Nev

Having seen the footage of the fire, and speaking as a fire fighter, no amount of fire department funding could have done anything to stop that fire. You can't blame the mayor for the outcome. Wild fire with that high wind behind it - is unstoppable.

My first thought.... Did Spacey do this?

The ABC is funded with public money but in no way is a mouthpiece for the government, no matter who is in. In fact you generally find that both the Government and the opposition are usually annoyed at the ABC, which must mean it's doing something right.

Victor Hemery aboard the unapologetically spartan 200hp V8 Darracq at Arles-Salon, 1905, raised the LSR to 109.65mph. Note it was RHD. Braking and cornering would have been a challenge. Records were made to be broken.

Taken just now. Beautiful London winters morning waiting for a train. -2.5 degrees.. nary a cloud in the sky and a plane on finals for Heathrow

Let's get back to the basic problem. Islam is a form of Cancer. Radical Islam is the worst form of Cancer. Radical Islam believes it is O.K. to kidnap innocent civilians, hold them hostage, torture them, and even murder them - all in the name of advancing the Islamic religion. Remember Islam is politics and religion rolled up into one, and constant murder of innocents is their forte. The radical Islamics will utilise any ideology to advance Islam, including Marxism, Leninism, and any other radical, anti-establishment grouping that supports terrorism to overthrow established civilisations. The Islamic God, Allah, is a murderer, he tells them to kill people in the name of advancing Islam. They even kill other Islamic adherents when they consider they're being heretical, by starting a new division of Islam. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was a warmongerer and a murder. Muhammad was involved in no less than 86 warmongering campaigns. We can perhaps more accurately pronounce the name Muhammad, by accenting the last three letters of his name. Doctors try their best to cure patients with Cancer. They cut out tumours and treat Cancer patients with highly dangerous drugs to try and save their lives. Despite their best efforts, the Doctors often kill good cells, good tissues - and even sometimes kill the patients trying to cure the Cancer. This happens because the Cancer is ingrained in the body, in the cells, and despite the best and cleverest medical research and innovation, Cancer continues to persist and return on a regular basis. Benjamin Netanyahu believes Islam is a Cancer. He lost his brother Yonatan at Entebbe, where Yonatan led Israeli Special Forces that rescued civilian hostages on a hijacked civilian aircraft, from Islamic militants. The Sayeret Matkal saved 102 civilian hostages lives from Islamic murderers, with 4 hostages killed. The greatest number of hijacked aircraft have been hijacked by Islamic militants. Benjamin Netanyahu is a crusader against terrorism - and especially Islamic terrorism. He is a Cancer Doctor, trying to destroy as much of the Islamic Cancer as he can. Unfortunately, innocents are being killed in his attempt to root out that Cancer. I believe Benjamin Netanyahu should be supported and encouraged to continue his drive to root out the Cancer of Islam, because it is rearing its ugly head again, in many places on this planet, and 2025 is already starting off as a year of increased Islamic terrorism. https://answering-islam.org/BehindVeil/btv2.html

One to lighten the mood

Looks like it wasn't an accident after all, but is being treated as a terrorist incident. It seems that the contents of the cabin were ignited by a remote device. Musk was quick to Tweet that the fire had nothing to do with the battery. I'll accept that, given my interpretation of the flames and the after incident photos of the material in the cabin. OMG! I agreed with Elon. I think I'd better have a Bex and a good lay down.

Well, my 2025 has got off to a great start! My bike has been sitting, unused, since last July when I rode it in after getting it pink slip. I was afraid to ride it because over the years I have had breakdowns that left me in the poo. So there it sat, covered up to protect it from the elements. For the past week or so, I have been telling myself that I have to get it started. But I kept making excuses. This morning, I procrastinated a while, then dragged my sorry arse out to it. I had to refill the oil since what had been in it had drained out because a check valve wasn't seated properly. I was amazed that the battery had held a charge for so long. I drained the remnants of the old fuel out of the tank. I pulled the spark plugs out and squirted some RP-7 into the cylinders. Then, with the plugs out so that there was no compression, I kicked the engine over about 20 times to get the oil circulating. Then I put some fuel in and refitted the spark plugs. I looked to the heavens and made my plea to my late wife to remove her curse from the bike. I went through the sacred starting ritual, known only to owners of WLA Harleys, and designed to prevent the uninitiated from starting the bile and riding off. To my great joy, and amazement, the engine fired at the first kick. I was expecting to see clouds of white smoke coming from the exhaust as any oil film burned off, but there was none. Encouraged by the situation, I mounted the bike and rode from my place the couple of hundred yards to my sister's place where she was able to share my happiness. I've parked the bike now, and will wait until things cool towards evening when I will get the hose out and wash the dust and spider webs from it. Tomorrow morning, early, I'll take it for a few short runs, back and forth on the highway for a km or so to settle things in and to see if there are any gremlins lurking within.

I had to get that extra comma in. because I don't wish to see Jerry painted. Nev

The simple fact remains, that the engineers who designed the Comet fuselage had no knowledge or experience of the stresses produced on the hull by pressurising an aircraft. Fracture mechanics were a field yet to be developed in the early 1950's. It was the constant flexing from pressurisation and de-pressurisation that fractured the Comet fuselage - and it took 1,825 cycles of pressurisation and de-pressurisation in the water-filled pressure test tank, using G-ALYU, before the hull fractured, and gave the testers the clues. The knowledge gained in the pressure test tank was reinforced, when the British Navy recovered the fuselage of G-ALYP from the Mediterranean Sea, and the fuselage fractures of G-ALYP were examined. It was determined that the hull fractures around the windows propagated from tiny cracks in manufactured components used around the windows - less than 100 microns in size. The cracks all propagated from bolt and rivet holes, and the tiny cracks around the holes were there when the Comet was manufactured. In previously-manufactured aircraft, the tiny cracks were of no concern - but in the pressurised Comet, they were deadly. As Nev says, the frame of the Comet was of inadequate strength - but the design strength would've been quite adequate for an unpressurised aircraft. De Havilland did do a lot of testing on the Comet, but the testing was disorganised, as regards the order of the testing. The sad part is the Comet could've been a winner for Britain once the problems were sorted - but the Americans at Boeing were studying the Comet problem closely, and made sure the Boeing 707 didn't suffer from the same problem - thus ensuring the Boeing 707 dominated the start of the passenger jet aircraft age. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/de-havilland-comets

It's interesting how everything in our world is dual. This jells with the numerous religions that tell us there's good and evil, sacred and profane, ying and yang, etc. The Asian religions reckon it's all about balance, and this balance is rooted in Nature, and in physics - Newtons Third Law of Motion. Dualism is a theme from the earliest ages of our Universe, and the general belief is that when one force increases, the opposing force will eventually respond. I'm fascinated by the fact that dualism extends to every facet of our existence. We see and read about good and evil at work in physical terms every day - but dualism extends further than that. We have a visible financial system - and a hidden financial system. None of us have any idea of the size of our hidden financial system, nor how it affects our everyday living. It has an effect, I'm convinced of that, and it's not a beneficial effect. The hidden financial system is aided by banking secrecy and powerful, rich people. We have dualism in our information systems. We have truth, and we have the mistruths and misinformation systems, some simply pathetic and see-through - but numerous ones that are carefully crafted and controlled by the rich and powerful. Murdoch and Putin come to mind. The Internet is the home of dualism. It thrives on secrecy and anonymity. It provides us with great and immediate communication and useful knowledge, but it also carries a lot of evil intent, misinformation, criminal activity, and attempts to control. We have leaders who tell us what they can do, and what they will do - but the duality is, they lie to their subjects/constituents constantly, while their decision making is continually corrupted by powerful, secret forces, who don't want to be exposed, and who are out to further their own interests only - at the expense of everyone else. We are facing an age when power and wealth will become even more concentrated than it is now, and with this comes more corruption of decision-making, and poorer outcomes for the average person. Strangely enough, a substantial number of people know that so many of our systems are wrong and perverted, but don't know what to do about it. They seek major change, and vote for people that present themselves as leaders and agents of chance - but as we know, nothing changes, regardless of who is leading the country. I expect at some stage, there will be a gathering of like-minded people who are totally fed up with our systems of leadership and decision-making, and they will join up to carry out major revolutionary change. I believe this gathering of like-minded people is the "stone cut without hands" mentioned in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel in the Bible. I don't know what it will take to generate such a powerful gathering, but increasing distrust and hatred of many countrys deceitful leaders, and the perverting power of the super-rich, will surely gather pace in coming years to create major changes. The starting point must be a fairer taxation system, which is so perverted in favour of the rich today, it's a joke.

Back on line (obviously). Fire risk reduced but NOT gone away. Thanks for the good wishes all. I moved temporarily to a place near Geelong but the Dogs weren't happy and that's a story in itself GON I taught at Liverpool Boys High for a while and had kids from these two Army places in my classes. Never had a problem with anyone at THAT School despite it's reputation I was sent there because teachers would not stay. I was also involved with Open Wheeler's (Tasman formula) as well as flying out of Bankstown to complete a Commercial + Instructor rating. and UNI at Night 3 times a week on a teaching related degree. Nev

Well, thank the Good Lord for small mercies, Marty didn't supply photos, or even worse - dash cam video! 😞

No, unless it's a major emergency, and lives and peoples safety are at stake. As the old saying goes, "Lack of planning on your behalf, doesn't make for an emergency on my behalf".

Based on his prior history, one could conclude that Dutton's nuclear policy is simply smoke and mirrors aimed at trying to convince the electorate that his mob have any sort of policies to handle what a government should handle, as well as a way to divert the attention of any other Party or Independent from working towards good government.

The hardest part is getting vegetables into yourself. My son has been going to a nutritionist because he's got some issues with weight and eating. She recommends 5 cups of vegetables a day. That's a lot of vegetables, especially since you don't want the dodgy ones like potatoes. Protein is important too, especially as you get older. Basically a balanced diet and exercise is what you want. Heard a scientist talking about the ideal amount of sitting per day - 6 hours or less. While that sounds like a lot, many jobs including office workers, drivers, even pilots - have an awful lot of sitting included, then there's meals and Netflix. The ideal balance is apparently a bit over 8 hours sleep, over 4 hours light exercise (stuff we do every day - walking around, making dinner etc), and over 4 hours moderate exercise (fast walking etc) - which I thought was an awful lot! I would add here that although I know what the right thing to do is, I don't do it. Usually the only exercise I get is karate once a week and PT once a week - I really need to walk more.

QUEENSLAND'S pumped storage was commissioned circa 1980 and is still running and unlikely to shut down any time soon. There is no hazardous products nor expensive maintenance coming from a couple of big flywheels spinning on greased bushes. Peak output 600Mw with cut in time measured in milliseconds. Like a big battery without all the chemicals. The entire construction is achieved with simple well proven local engineering. I am dumbfounded by the absence of such a simple, relatively quick solution to storage has not been built. Other than the Qld one.