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Takes a grubby type to destroy the only worldly possessions of people with nothing.

She was/is exceptionally good at her job of defending the indefensible and attacking the press. You have to admire her talent and confidence. She's only 28.

Trump goes to his doctor and takes off his hat to reveal a huge toad on the top of his head. “When did you notice that?” asked the doctor. And the toad answers: “It began as a boil on my ass.”

Nowadays I am forced to use the only tool that reduces that pain. It's called a debit card.

If you have solar, smart meters are essential as standard meters are unable to deal with feed in tariffs. I am a VPP (virtual power plant) & buy sell electricity on the wholesale market. My monthly average buy price at the moment is 18.3 cents/kWh & my average FIT is 20.3c/kWh. I have a 18.64kWh battery & sell power to the grid usually from 5pm to 7pm when the price is high. This is all managed by my system provider as the spot price is checked every 5 minutes and my system is told what to do. It even curtails my solar production when the battery is full and the spot FIT goes negative so I do not pay for exporting to the grid.

Creating a questionnaire in order to get the correct sort of information it aims to get is a very difficult thing. Questions have to be carefully worded so that they cannot be misinterpreted. That is one of the problems of the written word. How many time here amongst ourselves has someone posted what appears to be a very clear comment or statment and it has been taken the wrong way by someone? That is the cause of most of the arguments here, or the missing of jokes.

A guy hears a noise outside at his shed. He looks out the window and sees a burglar trying to break into the shed. He quickly calls 000 and explains the situation. The operator says "Sorry sir, we have no resources to send." The guy looks out again, and says, "You have to come. He's stealing my mower." The operator again says," I told you sir, we have no resources to send." Then the guy says, "Oh, don't worry about it, I just shot the twat. He's dead on the lawn.' Within five minutes, there were two helicopters, six police cars and fourteen police swarming around his house. There was no body on the lawn. The police said, "Sir, you lied to us. You didn't shoot anyone." The guy said, "You started it by saying you had no resources."

I know the feeling. Arthritis in the knees means normal knee propulsion to get up off the ground is long gone. I end up like a beetle on my back, then have to roll over on all fours and get up that way.

That's absolute rubbish. The ABC is far less biased than any other news service in Australia. It's widely recognised that Sky News or whatever they call themselves now are among the most biased. So surely Hanson refused entry to them too? The reason Hanson doesn't want the ABC around is because they ask difficult questions. Guess what? That's their job. They do it to all sides of politics. And as a politician, if you haven't got answers to difficult questions, then what are you doing there? As a reporter said this morning, it's dangerous for democracy when politicians exclude segments of the media from their announcements. Look how many criminal investigations leading to charges have been initiated by investigative journalism, especially by the ABC. Without proper media scrutiny, corruption flourishes.

It seems to be the elephant in the room when it comes to politics. It's only my opinion, but in our three tiered system of government I consider local government the weak link in the chain. There are good local governments (unfortunately mine has never been in that category), but there are are lot of bad ones. They can be either corrupt, wasteful, inefficient, incompetent, arrogant, bullying or a combination of any or all of those things. My state over time has handed local government too much autonomy in my opinion, and I'd like to see more oversight by the state local government department. I don't have statistics on hand, but I've read in the past that other states have retained more control over local government than ours has. There was always a problem with some councils, but the amalgation several years ago led to super councils and made the whole issue a lot worse. Inconsistencies between councils is another issue. As an example, on the news today the Moreton Bay council announced they are dedicating a local park to rough sleepers and homeless people and letting them use the council toilet and shower facilities there. Their idea is to have the homeless in a more manageable situation regarding facilities and support services. On the other hand, the Gold Coast council is issuing heavy fines to rough sleepers, and confiscating and destroying their gear.

That is her problem. She is a Trump Yes woman, though everyone who works for him has to be that or they are fired. Getting out before that happens is pretty rare. Anyone with a conscience wouldn't work for the orange man but her salary would have been better than she would ever get anywhere else I imagine, plus of course being in the limelight is something very attractive to some people.

A lot of truth in that. Smaller rural councils generally are a lot more in touch with the community and there's only a few bad eggs among those councils. A lot of the bigger councils have totally lost the concept of being there to serve the community and a lot think they are our masters rather than our servants. I've never been one for party politics in councils like they have in the city councils, but taking into account the inept rabble we have posing as our local council, it makes me wonder whether party alligned councilors would make it easier to turf the lot out at an election. As it stands, some councillors lose their jobs at election time and some major offenders remain, so things don't get any better. If it was party based, would it make them perform any better. Maybe it would if they thought the whole bunch was at risk or at least a majority of them. Another factor is that it's not only the elected councillors that are the problem. The council bureaucrats have a lot to answer for as well. My advice to anyone who has a good, well performing and honest council is to appreciate what you have because a lot of people don't have that.

Today I rang Red Energy and arranged swapping to them after my next Origin bill due in a couple of weeks. It was very refreshing to talk to Australian based customer support. Everything worked well and went great just like it used to with Origin before they outsourced their customer support overseas. Sub standard customer support is the number one reason I'm leaving Origin; the data breach incident is just another contributing factor. At the end of this month it's good riddance Origin. Price wise, they're fairly close. Based on my useage, Red Energy is about $100 per year cheaper than Origin. When I get settled in to Red Energy, the next step is to get a smart meter installed and that will remove the problem of the contract meter readers who don't like going off the bitumen on to rural properties. I could deal with estimated bills if the meter readers were honest about their reasons given for not accessing the property but they're not. It's another case of good service going to the pack when things get contracted out. When Energex (the primary supplier/wholesaler) employed their own people to read the meters they quite happily accessed the property for 30+ years without a problem. I think the roll out date here for smart meters ends in 2030, so sometime in the next couple of years I would be compelled to swap to a smart meter anyway.

What's the diffeence between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted.

I worked on that project in the 1990s. It takes a while to get mines going.

You might have heard about USA's critical shortage of Air Traffic Controllers. Fret not, the problem is solved. (Air traffic controllers who are easily bored and seek instant gratification, and have a game over - restart button, yeah that'll work.)

Yes they are. That would provide perhaps 10% of what they need, same as Australia.

You would have thought these countries would be perfect fits for solar + batteries?

"roads were made for horse and cart, but now you want to ditch them for these newfangled automobiles... It'll never work..."

Logic dictates that we should move with the times. A long time ago, burning coal was a great step forward. Times change and new less toxic methods of making energy are developed. No need to stay locked into the old era of the industrial revolution, powered by burning fossil fuels. Every system has its drawbacks, and its solutions. Let go of the old. Move on.

IF Nuclear is so good More of it would be being ordered. It NEEDS lots of Water and with the Climate changing that water cannot be guaranteed. Things that Need cooling are adding heat to the equation. The heat energy that solar uses comes here anyhow reliably,safely and free.. OF all Places on earth, Australia Has to be one of the best Places for it. Nev

We used to have empires, run by emporers. Then we had kingdoms, run by kings. Now we just have countries, .........

He can have the Largest most Gaudy Cript and Buildings and airports etc named after him. He's doing that Now. He wants to be remembered " More than any person in History". See HE has this Superiority Complex and Giant EGO problem. He WILL be remembered but not the way HE wishes. Nev

I helped a friend pull the engine out of his car yesterday. The problem for both of us was getting up again after we got down underneath to undo bolts.

Annoying, isn't it!

Yeah but then has to pay them $130k to keep it quiet. Guess they don't call it the "money shot" for nothing.

I don't think HE gets too Near HIS missus..Nev

He seems to come across a lot of them..

My rates went up 30% this year, out here in the bush would you believe. Nearly a thousand dollars a year and we're still driving on dusty dirt roads in my village. And kangaroos are in plague proportions. Cockatoos gnaw the wooden parts of my house. I'm charged for sewage, but I don't have sewage - go figure. My land is zoned Commercial and Residential at the same time - go figure again.

Cannot work . There is no perpetual motion machine possible let alone one with spare power. Nev

Is he a Stand up Comedian? Nev

Very often they are hamstrung by regulations generated by the two higher levels of government. For example, our housing industry at the moment has to comply with a Standards document of 200 pages in order to have ahouse approved for habitation. The council staff can't ignore all those reulations without placing the Council into a legal liability trap. As for Councils being composed of people with Party alignments, that just gets you into the same stalemates as the upper levels of government. In many cases geting onto the local coucil is a first step in a political career in the higher levels of government. Self interest overrides the idea of helping the community.

I call BS on that. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

So far, Victoria is the only state that's achieved almost 100% roll out of smart meters. Here's the state figures for smart meter roll out completion: Victoria 99%, W.A. 90%, Tasmania 78%, N.T. 50%, S.A. 46%, Qld. 42%, ACT 40%, NSW 39%. I think there's a lot of factors in the mix. It's the retailers who are doing it, so depending how many customers they have and where they're located, it's a staged roll out. If the roll out becomes available in your district, it's free for the consumer. If you apply for one before that, I think there's a fee involved.

I have used red for a long time now, all of the comparison people who ring up always come back with the same result when they check and agree that they have the best deal. since 2008 I have only had ducted AC in the old house and the new one. Found less dust, less work than wood heating, and the house is even throughout, not boiling in the fire room and freeing everywhere else. costs a lot less than bought firewood to run also.

Do it .The system is designed for it.. I thought just about everybody had. Nev

There is a super critical co2 turbine being developed. Based on a gas turbine but used co2 instead the atmosphere and heated through heat exchanger instead of combustion. Supposed to be a lot smaller physically then a steam turbine. Apparently China have one running. Developer are looking at high temp NPP to run them. Still would require a "condenser" of some sort.

Back when folks were worried about pollution and water shortages, US coal and nuclear power companies toyed with air cooling instead of water cooling. The use of air reduced the power station outputs. Especially during heat waves. The idea was largely ditched due to that loss of efficiency. Same here in Australia. Although, more recently, Kogan Creek thermal power station uses air cooling. Water is not plentiful out west.

'twas not a formal statistical analysis.. I didn#' have the baggage capacity for that and I would be heartbroken with every one I would hand to people that I did not know.. But, it was a side by side taste test. As the chocolate is shaped differently here, it was hardly a blind taste test - and yes, I could have flaked the chocolate to make it a blind taste test, but I thought given the statistical population deficiencies, it was not worth the effort. In fairness, SWMBO has insisted for the most part that our kids wouldn't eat junk.. they are partial to dark chocolate as a result, but yes, the one who went for the UK version was a younger member of my family, and has a penchant - like me - for junk food. And I do mean junk when I say it. He liked the first taste of the Aussie one better, the but the after taste left it a little worse in the end. I think the one that did not like either could not bring themself to admit the Aussie one was better.. although in fairness that person prefers another brand of consumer cheap chocolate, so I may be being unfair to that tester. Newsflash: After hauling two packets of BBQ shapes across the world, I found that in my first sojourn into Waitrose since being back, they now stock them.. and cheaper than Aus normal retail price. I am going to launch a campaign to have Chokitos stocked in every supermarket now.

What do you grease Palms with? Nev

I would think that the middle east power station planners might be a little concerned about their unstable warring situation. It's bad enough to hear about bombing of civilian infrastructure, but there is a big difference between a big crater, and a big crater that used to be a nuclear power station.

Now that's commitment. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-11/eltham-pilot-turned-baker-quit-flying-for-climate-change-vic/106945332

The middle east runs on oil they pump from the ground. However, they are looking to nuclear for the future. Iran has the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant: this plant has one operational reactor and provides around 2% of the country's electricity. It was completed in 2011 and is part of Iran's extensive nuclear program (!) Barakah Nuclear Power Plant: Situated in the UAE, this plant consists of four reactors and is expected to add two more. It generates about 25% of the UAE's domestic energy needs. Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant: This facility is nearing completion and will have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts. It is part of Egypt's comprehensive energy strategy and aims to provide clean electricity for sale abroad.

Energy industry is not a level playing field. Just look at the financial assistance we taxpayers presently give to the coal industry. It would be fair play if our governments (all brands) simply stopped subsidising coal. But failing that, alternatives need some subsidy to level the financial playing field. I asked A.I. and this is what it said about subsidies: "Yes, coal mining in Australia receives government subsidies, with federal and state assistance totaling $16.3 billion in 2025–26,......"

Whe worst thing about the whole demise of USA, is that it confirms my worst fears. My mum was wrong! Cheats DO prosper. Bigtime!

Not sure how much you listen to Radio National, but there's been a LOT of commentary about Albo's ill-judged dinner and his subsequent avoidance of questioning about it. There's only so much you can put in a news bulletin. So no, they didn't just let him get away with it.

Your Politics are on another Planet about Australia. . The only Potential Dicktators are Murdoch and Gina Reinhart with PHON as a Puppet. The "beaten at every stage," T A Bot thinks he is Still a Mover & Shaker and Policy Maker. To Legitimately do that HERE You have to be ELECTED to office. HE Lost the safest Blue ribbon seat in the whole Nation but as he Infamously said with Gillard. "But SHE won't Lie down and DIE." Abott hates being beaten but especially when it's BY a Woman. He's currently on Rupert's Payroll also. They don't shout that from the rooftops for Obvious reasons. Abbott was/is always in contact with Murdoch. News corpse as always had too Much Influence here. He's got Monopoly Control in Queensland. None of these (MSM) Media People are going well financially at the Moment. They are shedding staff in large Numbers. It's also why Pauleen ( the"P" in PHON )is SO against the ABC and SBS as well as any Journalist who dares to ask hard Questions. She's BANNED them from Interviews. Nev

This one's for @red750. Just watching an episode of "Around the world in 80 days" (latest series, with David Tennant). Anyway, for some context, this is PG rated and very mild. The scene is Phileas Fogg and his companions rolling up to Government House in Hong Kong in a carriage. Miss Abigail Fix exclaims "Look at the security! It's like fucking a palace!" Well that's what the subtitles said, anyway. She actually said "Buckingham palace". 😂 Made me laugh!