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gotta larf. Just displays the level of Amerikan ignorance for the world to see. But the world doesn't neen any more proof. of course I question 'is that pic real?' These days truth challenges irony a lot.

No. It doesn't. There are a heap of factors that go into house prices including supply, number of tradies, planning rules, land zoning, capital gains discounts, short term holiday houses (Airbnb), etc. Again - looking for a simple solution to a complex problem.

That only happened with the LUST batch of Robots they Made..Nev

Like all 'end of use' engineering stories....... I'm still waiting to hear all about the grand innovative car tyre recycling plan. or the grand plastics recycling plan......... or the innovative nuclear waste recycling plan. We hoomin beans are not very innovative when we finish playing with our toys.

We had our local show this weekend. I got the chance to speak to representatives of the mob which is in the process of gaining approval for an eighty-tower windfarm within 20 kms of my place. Eighty towers seems like a big crowd, but when I was shown to proposed location of each tower, I saw that they were separated from each other by close on a kilometre. My first thought when I heard of the proposal was that teh towers would be visible from the Newell Highway which is located to the east of the proposed area. I learned that the closest tower woulod be about 5 kms from the highway, with a line of low "hills" between them. So that's no longer a concern to me. I think I've whinged before that around here it can be pretty windy, nd said that it would be ideal for a wind farm. Seems I'm right in some ways and mistaken in others. I experience wind as air movement within about 10 metres of the ground surface. That air movement is very turbulent compared to air movement 100 metres above ground where the turbine blades are. That turbulence, caused by the moving air particles colliding withthe ground and trees and ricocheting into air particles higher up. These collisions rob the air particles of energy due to loss of momentum. If the air movement is free of the turbulence, then there is more energy for the collision between the moving air and the turbine blades. That's why the towers are so high. I was also told that studies locally have shown that the most consistent air movement begins at these heights after sunset and stay pretty good until just before dawn. That means the turbines are best able to produce electricity at night in complement to solar panels. That sounds good. What about the effects on farm incomes? The builders don't resume the land they need like the government does when it wants to build roads etc. It seems that the land is rented from the landholders at a rate determined by the generating capacity of the turbine. An example was that of a property with two towers on it. Based on the generating capacity of the intended turbines, renting the land for two towers would return $100,000 p.a. CPI-indexed for a contract period of thirty years. That's got to provide a degree of stabilisation of farm income. I bet any landowner would love to get that sort of money, especially in the present circumstance when it looks like a drought is on the way. Why does it take so long to get a windfarm up an running. Would you beleive that it is in part due to the very people who pursue a renewable world? One of the environmental reports required deals with the effect of the turbines on bats and birds. Getting the data required a study lasting two years. Then there are the Native Heritage studies and gaining clearances from the local indigenous community. Then there are the geo-technical studies, planning permissions yadda yadda. We should consider the economic benefits. It is said that the workforce required to create the windfarm complex is about 500 persons. These people will be newcomers who will have to be fed, housed and entertained for several years. Already the local Council has allocated an area for an accommodation camp. Someone has to build it. An extra 500 people will hopefully boost local trade, although the proximity of the City of Dubbo, about 30 minutes' drive away might not do good for my town. Still, it's money coming into the district. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with this project. Really, it is going to be 'out of sight, out of mind' to teh majority of the population. And kn owing what I know about smart crows and blind bats, I don't envisage too many mid-air collsions with revolving turbine blades.

The oxygen locked into hematite is just as useful as the iron, because it is needed to facilitate the steel-making process. Oxygen is critical to many chemical processes which produce the products we need in our industrialised world. I agree, there's a large cost component in shipping iron ore many thousands of kilometres to furnaces in far-off countries. But those countries are prepared to pay that cost, and they often own the ore bulk carriers, as well as the iron and steel-making facilities. The simple fact remains that iron and steel-making is a business that just cannot be started from scratch without a monstrous financial investment, running into possibly multiple tens of billions of dollars, the need to find stable markets for that iron and steel, that are consistent purchasers of the product - and the end product goes into a world full of iron and steel products that are often sold cheaply. There are many "anti-dumping" legal actions against iron and steel manufacturers around the world, as the Chinese in particular, often dump iron and steel products at low prices during sales slumps, to keep their furnaces operational. They often over-produce iron and steel products. If we go into iron and steel making on a large scale, we are competing with huge global iron and steel producers in a vicious market. BHP and Rio Tinto are possibly the only corporations who could garner the huge investment backing required to indulge in large-scale iron and steel production. All businesses need to borrow money to finance big projects and you need to be able to convince lenders you can repay the borrowed money. Financiers would be reluctant to lend money to huge iron and steel manufacturing projects, as they are seen as low return. However, there is great interest in finding cheaper ways of making iron and steel, and especially "green" steel, where pollution levels from the manufacturing process are low. Iron and steel manufacturing is one of the worlds most polluting industrial production processes. To that end, there are three companies in W.A. currently either manufacturing or investing in "green" steel production on a modest scale. It appears the S.A. Govt is also intent on supporting "green" steel manufacturing in that State. https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-forges-a-future-made-from-green-steel

Even if you just if you completely skip the rest, forget it all, and just think housing. That one huge thing alone SCREAMS, stop effg immigration. Not rocket science .

Haaa was it ever. Only trouble is for such a gun mad bloody country as l say still none of them for some weird reason can hit the broad side of a house anyway, boggles the mind. Let alone a big old overweight fart like Chump. Also boggles the mind that someone like the man /person, Chump is, is somehow still kicken n place like the US, yet innocent and good people cop it everyday.

So what you are saying is that is acceptable for people to come from overseas and have riots in the streets of Australia because of some past disagreements on the other side of the world. I don't!

Nah I just Like to Talk FACTS with thinking people. Politics is often Fact free and a dangerous subject anytime in Most Places..I've had an interest in it from about the AGE of 11 (Because it is SO important to get it right) so I'm a bit unusual in that respect. . Nev

Are you referring to unsolicited phone calls? I totally agree. They are an insult to our intelligence. But we cannot blame the politicians for it, no matter what political party is in power. Further, I cannot stand the businesses that persist in using foreign call centres. Or A.I. voice prompts. But I still cannot blame politicians for such business decisions that create poor customer service (even the big profitable banks are often guilty of it).

I know they were late, but over 100 years late?

Hmm, I'm not sure about that. The Sahara has shrunk by about 8% in the last 20 years due to increased rainfall and greening programmes. In Asia jungles and rainforests have mainly been lost to plantations of oil palms, a lot of that is used to produce biofuel to replace fossil fuels. In South America it is agricultural expansion, logging practices, infrastructure development, and illegal mining. In Australia in the last decade, clearing for wind farms has had a significant impact.

Saying that sort of thing is a bit disrespectful don't you think? Does it advance the argument at all? IMHO Marty is one of the Last people I would accuse of living UNDER a rock. Perhaps one could ask Honestly what other Places are doing it a whole lot Better? I went across Melbourne's North east suburbs this Morning Laden trucks are everywhere. Fuel is at all Petrol stations at lower Prices than they were. No crime or Violence No rude or Bad driving. STOP Bl@@dy Whinging and get on with your Lives and be thankful Perfection is an illusion. Stop dummy spitting Over the Lib/ Nats self imposed failures. They got what they deserved. Time to rebuild and stop throwing blame around. The only Poll that counts IS on election day. We have FAIR elections although the Media is all one way, bar a few small and struggling notables. I don't want to Be anywhere BUT HERE. All things considered. Nev

Lift your game. You don't contribute much other than to have a go at people you don't agree with.. I have been browsing through this site and it's amazing how many times you have had a go at people. I thought I was special . apparently not.

About the "attempted assassination". The fellow who was involved in the incident recently has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, and others. Once again I come to the conclusion that US law is foolish. Just think about it. Trump was well away from the the likely entrances to the room and there were lots of people between those entrances and Trump. The fellow no doubt had the intention to harm Trump, but hardly a viable opportunity, given the layout of the site and the presence of armed security people. In my mind alledging an offence of "attempting" in this case is akin to charging someone with a thought crime. But we are talking about Yanks here, so anything goes. As an aside, I'd like to know what firearm fired the bullet that hit the security guard. The guard survived the hit due to a bullet resistant vest, so I reckon that the firearm was a handgun, not a rifle that the fellow was supposed to have fired. All I can say is that the incident was a missed opportunity. OH! There's a knock at my door. Must be the AFP acting on behalf of the CIA.

It's probably FAKE pic. Most of this sort of thing is NOW, Nev