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Well he didn't impress the Hungarians neither did Just Dumb Vance. The UK & the EU have a collectively larger economy by some margin than the US & Trump has alienated the rest of Nato and pretty much everyone else. The only thing the US has is a bigger military with the biggest most sophisticated weapons and some excellent technology though no better than Europe, China or even Australia. The problem is the country is run by the billionaires with Trump as their figurehead. The US has never been invaded but they are always at war with someone as well as themselves. They haven't invented many things on their own but have exploited most of the inventions from elsewhere, mostly the UK & Europe. The UK & Europe have some very large armament companies but have been happy to play second fiddle while the US has provided most of the defence hardware. Not any more. The invasion of Ukraine and Trumps re election has changed everything, The US is an empire in decline, it is already technically bankrupt and Trump is costing the county dearly. I don't know when it will eventually implode but I am sure it will eventually. There are companies that have been deemed to big to fail like GM but there is nothing that will save a country when it all turns to custard/

Meanwhile, back in Ukraine.... "Ukrainian forces have successfully taken control of a Russian position using only drones and ground-based robotic systems." Wars are getting ironically impersonal. Or is that non personnel? https://united24media.com/latest-news/for-the-first-time-ukrainian-unmanned-systems-capture-russian-position-without-infantry-or-losses-17874

That's because some governments, like Norway, had the foresight to create a sovereign wealth fund and not just give away their resources to mining companies, the way we do

Let the People who want to start them do it with Clubs and there wouldn't be any. They are ALL Brave with OTHER Peoples Lives. Some even Make a Lot of Money out of it.. Nev

I don't think trump gives a flying fark about the damage he does to Japan, Australia, Malaysia, etc. Nor about the wellbeing of American citizens.

It's VERY Personal with Putin. Nev

Sounds like a real rave. Check on what is really being done and be thankful. Borneo has plenty of Oil and isn't far away. They are doing something about what others caused.. without any help from the Press or the Opposition who seem to want everything to fail . Nev

Vance should be known as Kiss of Death Vance. This week, JD Vance had two jobs: get an Iran deal and keep Hungary's Viktor Orban in power. Neither happened for the US vice president. Then there was his visit with Pope Francis, who died a few days later. And he's the default President if Chump carks it?

I was taught to earth to the body of the car - e.g. via a bolt (not of lightning), mount or similar.

Yes, and I agree with you.

Marty, there's also a certain connection sequence for safety that ends with a connection to the vehicle earth. Normally connect dead vehicle positive to live vehicle positive, then live vehicle negative to a non battery earth on the dead vehicle. That way if there's a spark when the circuit completes, it's further away from any possible battery gas emmissions. I wish I'd remembered that about twenty years ago when I blew a battery up. It went off like a shotgun blast, split the seams from top to bottom.

Yeah, but you knew what was needed for your work. The average joe goes down to Super cheepie and buys jumper cables labelled 300 amps but they lack copper in the middle. They are not suitable for carrying starting current. Chinese amps aren't as big as Australian ones.

Make it democratic - elect your team. Best of three rounds. No killer drones allowed out of the ring. No casualties.

Pete, the ones I carry in the vehicle are nice and heavy. You could start a D9 with them no problems. I would have bought them about 30 years ago and am glad I did back then. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the current price of them, hundreds of dollars.

I didn't realise Kharg Island (red pin) was almost 850 km from the Strait of Hormuz.

Some cut Diamonds are Facetious. You Might have to reflect on that. Nev

And what happens when one side has beaten the others drones? Unless the winning side is virtous and that doubtful they might then unlease the drones on the undefended population and kill at will. Drones are been used to kill civillians as we speak.

How come, if someone posts a topic tht is not related to politics, the follow-up always seems to fly into politics? Prhaps I should have included in the original post an allegation that the mites were introduced to Australia by the CIA on the orders of Trump.

Wiring on Motorcycles Goes brittle with Bending and Vibration. In Line 4 engines Buzz. ( Have Vibration Periods), often at the speed you Like to cruise at.. That's why I've never owned one. Some control it better than Others but It's somewhat inherent in the design. Nev

Trump treats competition as the enemy and He's Not smart or educated or likely to Listen to anyone's advice. He's also vindictive and a chronic LIAR who cares not for former Allies and a lot More negatives. Nev

Within minutes of posting that A.I. pic, he posted one of a gilded Tower on the moon. Next morning the god picture was pulled from his social media. He must be on some really great drugs!

And I was pointing out that China is protecting it's own interests too. And to be expected. Donold seems to be pushing China to see how far he can damage their economy (energy wise) before they push back. The Chinese comment is an example of diplomatically warning trump. A deliberate contrast to trump's rants. It is unlikely that trump has a grand plan to secure control over the global oil supply chain. But it is possibe he got up one morning wondering how to get the most attention in the world. That's working. Everyone is talking about him.

In the time you spent scratching your head, the flat battery also absorbed quite a bit of charge from your good one. Modern jumper cables are too thin to fully crank by themself, they are 'boost' cables that rely on the flat battery contributing. Always start up and run your donor car for a couple of minutes to put something into the flat battery before trying to start that car.

A lot of you blokes have griped about the amount of rain you have been getting over the past few months. My gripe is waking up every morning to blue, cloudless skies for months on end. It's not as though I live in a desert, but it would be nice to see a few inches of rain falling over a week or so. We got a downfall a few weeks ago from a passing frontal system. That sprouted plants in the paddock, but since then it has been dry, warmish (low 30s) and wind. The green tinge is truning grey, and there does not appear to be any chance of rain in the offing. I live where once the usual farm raised sheep and grew wheat. OK, new cops like Canola and beans have come in, but that doesn't change the basic fact that it is a crop growing area. I wonder how many farmers will be taking the punt and dry sowing. I expect that teh financial risk is too high when combined with the high fuel prices. Well, I'm not worrying about cropping, but I sure am missing the rain.

3.12 here yesterday.

Well you eliminate one Lead. When that happens, feel all ends and cables for a high resistance indicated by warming. . Nev

I think I found out why petrol in the USA is cheap. Leaving out any taxes that might be applied, the reason is that the lower grade fuel, RON/MON 87, which most vehicle use contains lots of ethanol, which is so much cheaper than petroleum. They do have non-ethanol fuel, which has a higher octane rating, but the majority of vehicles don't require it. Remember when E10 came in? We were told that it could not be used in engines built before a certain date becasue teh ethanol destroyed rubber seals in various components. I imaging that with the introduction of ethanol-based fuels vehicle manufacturers got the heads-up from the fuel companies and changed over to ethanol-friendly seals. Remember that we are told NOT to use ethanol fuels in small engines like lawn mowers. I'd like to back what I am saying about the ethanol in US fuel by posting the video from which I learned this. While the title suggests a scam, it is not really. For a quick look at what I mean about the ethanol in their fuel, watch from about timestamp 3:30. If you watch the whole video you will see the simple test the presenter did to make a point of the video. NOTE: I don't think fuel pumps in Australia are plumbed the way these Yank ones are.

Nev, The Wright Brothers did in fact put a lot of R&D into their machine, and from that gained deserved success. But, then they did the American thing and patented the very thing that gave control - wing warping. The details of their patent prevent others from improving on that by replacing wing warping with ailerons. Those patents restricted the further development of aircraft for many years and cost heaps in legal fees. Meanwhile, they were able to profit from the patent by licensing others to use the concept in otehr designs. Admittedly the Wrights did give open usage for their data on wing curvature as it affects Lift/Drag. Locating the elevator device at the front of the machine did not last long as designers found that putting that device at the rear was effective and provided some other advantages such as being able to attach a wheel at the rear for ground handling.

If this silly picture is fake, it even fooled Thr Guardian. No wonder little donold is giving advice to the pope.

Slightly off topic (sorry Jerry) but involving car electrics... The other day I pulled into a parking space at the supermarket next to a car with a young mum and her kid. As I got out she tried to start her car and it did that slow laboured turnover which tells you you're not going anywhere. So I offered a jump start, she accepted and we hooked up the jumper cables. However it made no difference! Checked the cables were on properly, gave the clamps a twist to ensure connection, still nothing. We're scratching our heads when a young bloke and his girlfriend walked over and offered to help. The girlfriend told us he's a mechanic. He disconnected the negative cable on her battery and clamped it to the engine itself (starter motor housing I think). Tried again, it started straight away. So there you go - apparently you get a better earth from the engine than from the battery terminal!

I wonder if there are any motorcycle electricians in the world? Most motorcycle mechanics don't like anything involving electrickery. However, the charging system on a bike is relatively simple. Totally unlike automotive alternators, though. If you have a multimeter, measure the battery voltage. Firstly after it's been standing, then after start and run at fast idle. Expect it to rise steadily to 14v. With or without lights.

Perhaps donold's spineless yess men didn't tell him that China now has a pretty big stick too.

Do you think that poking a tiger ever works out well?

Still paying $3.20 for diesel where I am. Petrol is a fair bit cheaper.

I agree with that. He certainly didn't go into it for Netanyahu or Israel. He went into it for himself because he thought the Iranian leadership would fold in a couple of days and he'd be famous as the President who had the nerve to take on the Iranians and show the world how weak his predecessors were. He wanted the world to applaud how smart and amazing he is. All he's managed to do is demonstrate how vain and stupid he is.

This has been in development for some time: https://aptera.us/

One of the disadvantages of global trade and movement. While it is bad news, forewarned is forearmed; and the more people that know about it and its potential conseuences (think $12 lettuces), the more pressure that can be put on government to put resources intol finding a way to solve the problem. It only becomes depressing when no-one oof who we entrust and pay handsomely to look after this tries to do anything about it when they should.