nomadpete

Poo-ten is so much more efficient at cutting bureaucracy than Musky's DOGE. Maybe the new American administration just needs more open windows?

Putin's oil boss plunges to his death. He had a problem with a window. Reported in 4th July. Apparently the public remain sceptical...... https://www.dagens.com/world/putins-oil-boss-plunges-to-his-death-the-window-curse-strikes-again

Well that might ease the food shortage in NK.

Well I think that has been the case all along. Also, blind freddy (but not donny) knew all along that poo-ten is fixated on conquering Ukraine at all costs.

Anyway, "Who is Elon Musk Really?" My answer is.... The next King of America! (If he isn't already that)

However, sad to say, that echoes my view of our Australian two party system. How can we balance between voting for one mob of bullies or a slightly different mob of bullies. Each mob is promoting their sponsors interests instead of their population's interests.

I once gave my mum a mother's day card on my birthday. At the time I thought it was better than giving her a sympathy card.

Here's my Random Thought for today...

Sounds reasonable. Quite a lot is also consumed in bulk

Well thats different. All is forgiven.

Was that a good thing?

Aaaargh! Where is WH&S? Not wearing hi viz Not wearing hard hat Not wearing gloves Not wearing safety glasses Not wearing SPF50 long sleeves, No seatbelts No seats No Prework Risk Assessment..... Probably wearing thongs. Probably more passengers in the vehicle than vehicle is licenced to carry.... And yet, impossible though it seems, you are still alive.

So we became "One Nation". Pauline would be chuffed.

And with the light front end, the front wheels aquaplaned before the back ones. So when I hit an inch of water at 60 mph, .... no steering ! And the front gets a fright and tries to get behind the back ones. That was a fortunately brief lesson on the Newell Hwy, forever etched in my memory in 1969.

Our trusty labor hasn't changed much. Good old Clark n Daws got it right years ago... https://youtu.be/QYnLjPl8a7w?feature=shared

All true for modern motor vehicles. But my 1955 Austin champ had a safe fording depth of 6 feet. Safe depth if you stood on the driver's seat.

Rain shadow areas are very prone to floods.... But only those rare unexpected ones

As a simple nonexpert observation, 1. I don't see many broken down cars by the wayside. All cars have become unbelievably reliable over the past 30 yrs. 2. I have NEVER seen an EV stranded by the roadside. This leads me to unscientifically conclude that the the published stats about 'failure rates' of EV's must include trivial 'faults' such as failed cupholders. Basically BS to be filtered out. There is obviously less to fail mechanically in an EV than a comparable old style vehicle. Hence obviously, the reliability, and whole of life cost will be lower for the EV.

Looks like you are stuck in a rain shadow. I bet you are hoping for some climate change 😉

Digressing for a moment (it's about time someone hijacked the thread)...... I think it won't be long before mr musky is toppled from his billionaire pedestal - by the chinese EV industry. Followed by the collapse of Apple. What will this change of billionaire influence do to USA politics?

And the foreign owned salmon industry getting law changed just for them. And a "Laws to guarantee salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour pass federal lower house" "Labor came into government promising to strengthen Australia's environmental laws, but appears set to end its term by instead scaling back a part of them." And the Australian taxpayer is paying $37 million to oxygenate Macquarie Harbour - a virtual government gift to foriegn businesses that are causing the environmental problem. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-25/pm-albanese-introduces-legislation-to-protect-salmon-farming/105088538

The removal of climate consideration from environmental approvals for mining projects? From ABC, regarding approving Woodside's gas drilling... "It is his first decision since changing the government's greenhouse gas emissions policy last month to strip the EPA of the power to regulate emissions." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-12/wa-environmental-minister-approves-north-west-shelf-extension/104654110

Bearing in mind that charging times are steadily becoming less inconvenient..... Now that the integrated batteries can last a million kilometers and 15 years, the argument against swappable batteries is as invalid as suggesting swappable engines and fuel tanks on petrol cars. Up until around 1930'ish your petrol was hand pumped up into a glass container for a visual check of colour/impurities, then drained by gravity into your car. And only a couple of gallons delivered at a time. I don't recall anyone suggested we should have prefilled swappable petrol tanks stacked up at a servo back then. Sure, we now have fast electric powered petrol refilling nowadays. It was only a minor inconvenience anyway. A process of improvement similar to what is happening as the EV transition develops.

Personally, I agree with that statement. IF I was buying a new car, AND the infrastructure was already there, I'd go for swappable batteries. But our cars are both over 15 years old. I repair stuff. In Australia the average age of registered vehicles is about 10 years. The average car does surprisingly low mileage 12,000 k's per year - (120,000k in ten yrs). So I cannot fathom the range anxiety issue that is so prevalent. Anyway, my point is that most people don't keep their car long enough to warrant the extra costs involved in manufacturing a swappable battery. Excepting the commercial users. Many people replace their car after the first set of tyres wear out. These days, in spite of the pollution crisis, everything is 'throwaway' Further, there is lag in building the support structure for chargers. Consider the lag and expense involved in rolling out the support infrastructure required for a standardised battery swapping industry. In short, a car with swappable battery will be more expensive, heavier, more complex to engineer, and for the average motorist, offer little in return for all that.

Clearly she is a thoughtful, generous soul..