nomadpete

Elon will have lots of targets waiting for him to practice his aim. Knowing his development methods, I'd prefer him to practice aiming away from me.

At the end of the day, it is all about money. Idealism comes next. It is a great way to make money. The general public comes last. But they are essential to support the idealism. That's how capitalism works.

True, but.... Our politicians seem to do well at making dumb remarks, and making decisions that seem silly to us. Maybe if they worked on transparent communication they would garner more respect and trust. Let's hear the real logic behind their actions.

Pretty sure you are right. I just wanted to justify my view that pretty much the rest of the world now has a dim view of the American administration and the whole country. Their leader is a source of global ridicule.

Thought this Wall Street article belongs here. Looks like Elon-the-Muskovite might get some serious space contracts. Just think of the possibilities! "Starship will make it possible to use low Earth orbit as a parking lot for a giant space-based arsenal. This would allow the U.S. to pre-position conventional munitions with ablation shields and inertial guidance systems to strike anywhere on Earth within minutes. Putting tens of thousands of small munitions into orbit would become cost effective, by my estimate, at around $100 a kilogram. Munitions could include bunker busters, kinetic weapons, antipersonnel, incendiaries, fuel-air explosives, cluster munitions, and antitank, antiaircraft and antiship capabilities with sophisticated terminal guidance. Starship’s payload capacity promises to be so great that it will enable the deployment of much larger single munitions than today’s biggest airplanes, enabling conventional effects of a greater magnitude against even the most deeply buried targets. New kinds of strikes would become feasible. Imagine a strike package of a thousand of 200-pound bombs, each landing precisely, at the same time, on electric grid sites, government buildings, railway crossings, border stations and road intersections—without putting planes or military personnel at risk. This wouldn’t be limited by the number of available missile launchers or by the need for multiple sorties by strike aircraft. Such a system would obviate the need to establish air superiority before bringing in bombers and the need for large numbers of expensive cruise missiles." On one hand we are developing micro war devices (drones), on the other,........ https://www.wsj.com/opinion/elon-musks-starship-heavy-could-revolutionize-warfare-04930487?st=aUntwK

I stole this from another thread. I think it captures the level of the world's respect for TACOtrump. Apologies to it's originator.... Around the world, non-English news outlets are finding creative ways to translate the phrase “chicken out” for news consumers who are more familiar with an egg-laying bird than the proverbial presidential clucker in chief, and to explain that the acronym has no relation at all to Mexican food. In Japan, TACO was introduced in news headlines last year during Trump’s repeated tariff announcements and reversals. At the time, it was a new English slang term spreading in the financial services industry for buying stocks cheap after a U.S. tariff announcement drove the markets lower, then selling for a profit after shares inevitably rebounded from a Trump reversal. This week, the word was back in the news, with commentators discussing the difference between TACO and “tako,” which means “octopus” in Japanese. A news segment on Fuji Television explained to viewers the origin, meaning and connotation of the acronym with the fastidiousness of an educational program. “T-A-C-O,” a newscaster spelled out, before enunciating: “TACO.” “Tako? An octopus?” another asked, mimicking the tentacles of an octopus with his arms. “Among friends, you might say, ‘Don’t chicken out,’ but it doesn’t feel like appropriate slang for a president,” a third commentator said, noting the element of scornful criticism in the English meaning. The term became so widely used this week on social media and in news coverage that shortly after the ceasefire announcement, a popular illustrator, Irasutoya, released what appeared to be two new Trump drawings: one with the president wearing a taco (of the Mexican cuisine variety) as a hat, and another of him wearing an octopus on his head. One Japanese economist invented a new linguistic format: “TACO-ru,” using a Japanese conjugation to turn the acronym into a verb, meaning, “to TACO.” In the French press, TACO has turned into “Trump always deflates,” while in Italy, some of the national papers used an Italian turn of phrase that translates roughly into “always wets himself” — pejorative takes implying fearfulness. In the Arab world, several media outlets have published explainers on the acronym, largely translating it as “Trump always backs down.” A Spanish television segment described it as “doing the chicken,” while showing an illustration of Trump carrying a chicken. As the term gained popularity last year, a Mexican news outlet made sure to distinguish that when it came to “Mister Taco,” it was not referring to the food but to Mr. President. South Korea’s version of Wikipedia, Namuwiki, has an entire entrydedicated to TACO, complete with AI-generated photos of Trump dressed in a chicken suit. It translates the phrase as: “Trump always gets scared and runs away.” The term originated last year in a Financial Times column describing the “Taco trade” among investors making sense of the quick fall and rise in the markets in response to Trump’s tariff announcements. Trump has bristled at the term, and the White House and some Trump supporters describe his approach more generously as strategic unpredictability. The use of the term to describe Trump’s change of mind on Iran has drawn criticism even from some Democrats, noting that a decision to spare the lives of 90 million Iranians shouldn’t be minimized to a meme. But in many countries, TACO has become a shorthand to make sense of the president’s extreme threats that reverberate around the world — from tariffs to military attacks — and a TACO moment can have severe repercussions for the global economy. In oil-dependent Asia, for example, the prolonged Middle East war has resulted in economic tumult and a supply chain crisis comparable to the coronavirus pandemic. In China, where the term “chicken out” does not exist in Mandarin and the taco remains an exotic dish in many parts of the country, state outlets and social media users have come up with various ideas to make the TACO meme more accessible. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV uses the phrase “back down at the last second” as its translation. Some commentators are harking back to the term “paper tiger,” an old proverb that Mao Zedong popularized in his description of American imperialism — someone that appears powerful but is weak when challenged. Others compare TACO to stalled “rotten-tail” property projects, a notorious problem of abandoned construction projects in China’s housing bubble that create legal and logistical headaches for property buyers left in a limbo. On TikTok sister site Douyin, at least one user proposed using the transliteration “Takou,” literally a “mouth/verbal flop” — a faux pas, something you shouldn’t say or you’d regret. A viral meme compared Trump’s claims of an imminent victory over Iran to e-commerce giant Pinduoduo’s gamified marketing stunt in which users are encouraged to invest a lot of time trying to clinch unattainable rewards. Another shows Trump casting a TACO spell — with firepower emanating from his hands — in a game of cards as a last resort for salvaging the stock market. Zhang Jiaqian, a meticulous translator of Trump’s social media posts, said he has not yet seen a perfect Chinese translation of TACO but shared his own view that the TACO behavior is not a sign of weakness but a scheme to maximize gains — in this case, squashing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We can laugh at TACO all we can want,” Zhang said, “but shouldn’t underestimate the results.”

Strategy has never been simpler....

Ok, this one is from the Kyiv Post, so it just might be hopeful propagana.... “The enemy has begun using new drones called ‘Martians,’ which, unfortunately, have a cruising speed of up to 300 kilometers/hour [186 miles / hour], no longer fly under operator guidance but are controlled by artificial intelligence,” Prikhodko said. “They are undetectable by electronic warfare systems, and drone detectors don’t spot them.” https://www.kyivpost.com/post/73593

Former CIA director: "Russia no longer has the upper hand’ in Ukraine war Former CIA Director David Petraeus said Russia no longer has the “upper hand” in the war against Ukraine in a recent interview describing Moscow’s receding strength. “I think what’s remarkable is that Russia no longer has the upper hand,” Petraeus said in an interview published Monday by CBS. “Russia heavily outnumbers Ukraine. It outguns Ukraine. It has an economy 10 or 12 times the size of Ukraine’s. And yet the Ukrainian forces right now are stopping the Russians cold on the front lines,” he added." https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5818227-david-petraeus-ukraine-russia-war/

And here we are, spending gazillions on big oblolete submarines. Unmanned vessels do wgat these do on land.... "These ground-based systems executed over 9,000 combat and logistics missions on the front lines in March alone, up from over 2,900 in November, the ministry said in a statement."

Oh boy! When I zoom in on the reflection in his visor, I can see the film crew!

Yes, although the long term effects of burning oils and coal are well proven, the polititians worldwide are only acting for an electoral cycle. The biggest problem right now, is the world wide health cost of pollution resulting from the entire cycle of digging, transporting and burning fossil fuels. This problem is well researched, in dollar costs, but is swept under the media carpet. This is a known undisputed problem that can be addressed right now. If our politicians act on this, my grandchildren might not have to deal with the the long term climate problem.

I think my post went straight through to the catcher. My bedroom window is 3m wide and faces east. I don't need a TV.

I watch sunrise most mornings. I don't get closed captions. Just twitters, bluesky and a colour show. The wrens come out first. Best of all it has no merdok.

Marty, that's fine whilst you live in the sweet spot of having good income and totally owning your property. Do you really think that reverse mortgage is great? What if you outlive that mortgage? Do you lose your home? It sounds like a way of bleeding the ownership away. Then what? Are you expecting to die before you need to sell up to pay for your aged care expenses? I will more likely drop off my perch before needing to liquidate my assets to pay for aged care. My mother-in-law thought that too.

I think there are a lot of us in the same boat. I did have partial pension until recently. My once affordable rural bushland block is now a financial burden. So after some expense and 3 years dealing with state titles office, getting a full survey, we got a archaic property boundary reinstated. We just sold that bit for what our whole block initially cost. Hurrah - money to sustain us. But then our remaining land theoretical value went up. And combined with our new bank balance, we will never get a pension. So when the cash runs out, we will sell up. By then the sale won't buy a little townhouse in suburbia. What then? The system is already set up to remove any accumulated wealth of the average wage earner. The elite live in a different financial world. If you think there is a safety net just take a look at the average pensioner. The social obligation to the aged has been eroded.

Wow. Awesome pics. I wonder,,, since our moon always has the same 'side' faving away from earth, does it actually stop a lot of incoming asteroids,etc, that would otherwise hit earth? There seem to be some big impacts in these new pictures of the 'dark side'.

Well, there already is. For any homeowner that has more than two hectares. According to our accountant my mother-in-law pays CGT on the majority of her land. Her 100 acre 'farm' is in a rainshadow and never produced an income. Due to urban sprawl it now seems closer to town so it has been revalued as an asset which precluded the age pension (lost that a couple of yrs back) and now around 70k will go as CGT. You might think that's small bikkies as a % of 1.6 million (less commission), but matters - it is costing 650k to get her in the door of a nursing home. The nursing home still charges substantial monthly costs, so the rest of her wealth will be whittled away by that. Her present temporary residential care is costing about 1.5k per week until the property sells and the market is flat so that might take a while. Some people have to take a mortgage on the home to tide them over until the home sells. Aged care is a different issue but CGT comes into it. So CGT is not a simple thing. Tax reform isn't either. But successive governments have dragged their feet on that.

Globalisation works in mysterious ways.

I am helping my mother-in-law into a nursing home. We are struggling to rearrange her "wealth" to provide aged care (dementia) in a manner that the funds from sale of her home will last her life out. And that is with the present CGT rules. I object to people blaming the oldies for the present housing crisis. When an average person has struggled to pay off a home with tax paid worker's income why do they have to pay tax on the sale of the home? It may look like a profit but it isn't enough to buy an equivalent home at today's prices. So there is no real 'profit'. Even though the numbers of the cheque are massively bigger. As for redistributing this ficticious wealth, my mother-in-law's estate won't pass on enough for any of the younger generation to even put a deposit on their home. The bank of mum and dad (in this case of grandma), is empty. However, owners of multiple properties are investors, and should pay tax on those financial gains.

Same cynical comment from my late dad. He was on the big guns around there. He said the American warships arrived, pounded the island with heavy fire from a safe distance until there wasn't a palm tree standing, then ping off and send the Aussies in to "mop up". Then the Japanese would come out and the real combat started.

But only when he holds all the cards

I am concerned about losing the CGT relief for primary home owners.

Fine. A nice step, but only a little step. When do you think they will address the big players who offshore their profits to avoid tax? A few billion recovered there would help Australia's bottom line.

Firstly, TDS is certainly a thing to worry about. Observing the derangement of trump should be a warning to us all. Yeah I do know the intended meaning of TDS.... but the yanks were seldom good at irony. It would be clearer if they put the apostrophy after the middle word, but the yanks don't do proper grammar either. The positive side of watching 'Good Ole USA' going down it's own self made gurgler, is that we have the option of learning from it. The lesson goes way beyond "Don't put a raving nutcase in charge of the place!". Our leaders SHOULD be taking notes on how badly certain policies can turn out. Are they watching the cause and effect of eash fiasco in the american clown show? It should make it easier for our political observers to work out smarter ways to run our own country. Sadly (In my opinion) we are following too closely behind USA instead of steering clear of the biggest sinhle cause of government erosion. The rise of the oligarcs - the ones with obscene wealth. The ones who can and do buy and sell just about every politicion and policy with their small change. The ones who fund 'Super Pacs' etc. The politicians (not just their party leaders) do not sing to the tune of the majority of the populace. There is no point in saying 'Oh but there are some pollies with ethics', unless the majority have ethics, the political system is owned by the big players. So, my challenge to you is this..... what would you propose to change this ? Cos I have no effin idea.