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It appears the americans can.

New geopolitical events around Venezuela and Greenland have pushed President Donald Trump’s references to Canada as a “51st state” and targeting of Canada with tariffs somewhat into the background. Still, Canadians continue to protest the current administration’s hostile stance toward their country with significantly lower travel numbers. In November 2025, the last month for which travel numbers have so far been released, the number of Canadians returning home from trips to the U.S. by plane was down by 19.3%. Car trip returns were also down by 28.6% in the 11th consecutive month of such decreases. A recent report from the U.S. Travel Association now predicts that the decline in both Canadian and Mexican visitors will cost the U.S. travel industry more than $5.7 billion.

I had one of those. Never lost anything.

I just read where a number of states in America have outlawed the use of speed and red light cameras. “The constitutionality of automated enforcement laws has been challenged in many jurisdictions,” the National Conference of State Legislatures notes. In those states that do permit them, they don't send a fine or photo a couple of weeks later, they immediately notify police patrols in the area so the police can apprehend the perpetrators and get them to correct their ways immediately. The American who posted about it is holidaying in Australia, and could not believe we use cameras to detect people not wearing seatbelts or texting. These things are not fined in the States.

I have read that ICE agents do have bodycams but the images are not released so they cannot compromise their use as evidence in a trial. The video of the Minnesota murder were shot on the agent's phone camera.

Well I arrived back in Tassie and stepped off the plane into 29 degree heat (yeah I don't expect you lot to call that 'heat'). A total fire ban was imposed all weekend due to heat and expected wind up to 100kph. Tassie being tassie, whilst heatwave and wind stoked the fires ravaging the mainland, we got a cool weekend - dead calm and rain. CRIKEY IT'S WET! Thankfully only one vegetation fire down our way and it started in the middle of the night. Promptly dealt with by a couple of crews. Wilder fires are the new norm.

This is partially the same bike a year later. I bought it back from the insurance company and rebuilt it into this. It has the original tank, side panels, engine and gearbox, but everything else was replaced.

I totally agree.. That helps to even out the playing field for both sides of the thin blue line. I think it should improve public trust, too. I note that in US, the feds have prohibited the ICE from wearing body cameras. Are civilians permitted to wear body cameras?

I guess we all well know the power in a bolt of lightning, but a recent lightning strike on a Marri tree at my stepdaughters place in the hills of the Darling Range above Perth, has just reminded me about the power of lightning strikes. The lightning bolt hit this Marri tree that is about 20M high, and it struck an upper branch about 15M off the ground. It hit while she and her partner were at home in their house about 100M away, and the explosion made them both duck for cover. The lightning hit a big branch in the upper portion of this forked tree, and the strike force went down the inner side of one fork, then punched through the fork to come out the other side of the trunk, blowing huge shards of Marri timber up to 50M away! After the bolt hit the ground, it made its way to a nearby bore they have (also about 50M away), that supplies water to the house, and it completely fried their single-phase submersible pump. Luckily, their home insurance covers the repair cost. The lightning strike appears to have killed the tree, all the leaves have died off and are getting ready to drop. The lightning strike happened about a fortnight ago. The two photos below show the strike point in the upper branches (slightly left of centre, at the top of the first photo), and the second photo shows the damage to the lower trunk section that blew outwards. You can enlarge the photos by placing your mouse cursor on the photos, and left clicking on them twice.

You don't find it a bit cool in winter? Not to mention people yelling "go get some clothes on, you weirdo!"?

It's time to bump this thread. When is a war not a war? Answer:- When it's a Special Operation. That works for Pooten and his best buddy in USofA. It worked so well for orange-atan, that he has lined up a bunch of Special Operations...... such as Mexico (wasn't that where they got Texas & Mississippi?), Cuba, Panama, Greenland, Canada...... These have been mentioned.

It hit the curb at around 110mph and went end over end a few times before tumbling and sliding the rest of the way. You can see where the top rear section of the frame is flattened onto the rear wheel. That's where it was airborne at some stage and came straight down on that section, wiping out the seat and rear fibreglass tail section. Both rims are heart shaped from the initial hit on the concrete curb. All I have left of it these days is the number plate.