nomadpete

Couldn't understand a word they sang. But I get the impression they appreciate nice firm chicken fillets.

Not just free speech by the privileged. Free speech for all, as long as the speakers are accountable for outcomes of their words.

Fantastic story. Thanks OME. DCA was as bad as CASA.

Was that Len Beadell making comments on the site?

I rather like this one. https://worldwidewind.no/pages/technology At last, a new engineering solution to an old problem. It looks like the cutter out of a jumbo blender. Maybe not a device that would be popular near the kite surfers at the beach!

Give that man a koala stamp.

The whole episode is riddled with material for potential conspiracy theories (for both political sides). 1. How was it possible that nobody noticed a spectator entered the area carrying a rifle? Maybe all Republican MAGA supporters carry weapons anyway? 2. At the distance alleged, why did only one shot get close to target? - I counted 7 shots in the video. 3. With all the people crowded around, why did only one of 7 shots actually hit a spectator? Maybe there are others, or all 7 hit the same person? 4. Are the special services guards so incompetant that they were not scanning the area? Did they not do a survey of area in advance to assess likely sniper opsitions? 5. When 7 shots missed, and Don stood up to pose in defiance, he stood tall and made a stationary target. That would have been an easier target, but no further shot was fired. 6. Why was there such a small flag hanging behind that spot? Usually at these do's the background is crowded by big american flags. 7. Why did special services evacuate Don by taking him up to a high exposed point on stage? If it was up to me, I would want to head low for cover. Note they allowed him to stand tall at that exposed location. There are lots of things that one could make a story about. But in reality, the event didn't need a complex conspiracy to happen. All it took was one angry young man. Sure, it plays right into the hands of MAGA brigade. And they will make the most of it. Maybe it would be an opportunity for NSA to ferret out a bunch of political manipulating social media bots.

OME.... Pleast stop reading all that porn. The old testament is so full of sex, violence and immorality, I fear for your sanity.

Aside from the ethics of using a change of ownership to avoid responsibility for lingering expensive baggage, My beef was about media not bothering to note that this story is about a foreign owned industry failing to do anything meaningful about the present health hazard posed by their business. And "The executive director of Health, Protection and Regulation at SA Health, said this could be a result of historical factors and climatic conditions." As if to say "too bad, they just have to put up with it". I guess the executive director of Health doesn't happen to live near the smelter, so has little interest in the problem.

But in THIS day, I thought ethical owners of a business might feel it important to house their employees and families a safe distance from the toxic environment that their business is responsible for. Risk management 101 - the best way to control a risk is to eliminate it. Since the historic bad environmental practices have contaminated the town, it should be declared uninhabitable and safe habitation should be provided. The pollution was part of the existing business. When they took ownership of the smelter, they should also inherit the responsibility for remediation, along with the potential profits.

I don't often open this thread - because it generally depresses me. But I came here hoping to see a Well known (orange) personality who might have passed away recently Alas, no such luck.

Damned Democrats. They are so incomptant they couldn't even organise an assassination even when they have the whole military arsenal at their fingertips. (The best, of the best, Sir!). On the other hand it just might have been one of numerous unfortunate misguided nutter attendees at the rally.

Early days yet, and I am sure there will be clarification coming. All I can say at this stage, is either the alleged sniper needed more practice, or they might have been a really great shooter. To get just the tip of a target's ear? Wow. And now look at what all that publicity does! I say that from the perspective that there was a bunch of trained secret service agents present. And probably private ones as well. They should have been scanning constantly for threats. And multiple shots but only one near target? Any reports of others injured, with him surrounded by noddies? I may end up eating my words.

I have previously griped about journalists seemingly failing to dig deep enough into a story. Maybe there is a political bias, but more likely it is simple laziness. Case in point. Recent article about lead levels in children and pregnant women living at Port Pirie. Tests show a recent doubling of lead shown up by blood tests. "The executive director of Health, Protection and Regulation at SA Health, Chris Lease, said this could be a result of historical factors and climatic conditions." Another comment reported says... "We've got 132 years of smelter operations, we've got emissions over a long period of time, there's a lot of lead in the environment, it'll take us quite a while to resolve that issue," Mr Dolan said. A little websearch gives some background...... Port Pirie boasts one of the world's largest smelters. It is owned by Nyrstar, a Dutch international producer of minerals and metals. It was founded in August 2007. But that may have just been a recent 'amalgamation'. Anyway, Nyrstar was acquired by Trafigura (Singapore based), in 2019. They also own Puma oil/fuel. Google them and there is a list of interesting business behaviours. Environmental scandals, Russian oil exports that avoided recent sanctions, etc. In my opinion a business that, personally, I would not welcome to my country as a beneficial investor. So, we are all supposed to stop worrying about the wellbeing of all those families whose body's are permanently carrying twice the WHO internationally recommended maximum lead levels. Nothing to see here. I'm not even sure if the parent companies concerned even pay much tax to Australia. To me, it reads like a story I'd expect to be about the Ivory Coast.

Does this pave the way for the new Pres to save gazillions of dollars that is presently being wasted by the entire legal system? All you need is a thumbs up, or thumbs down by the pres. Judge Judy will be out of a job and Donny can rule over any disputes. Or perhaps he'll simply overrule the law.

My gripe regarding this thread drift..... I came from a trade background and at one stage (for misguided reasons unknown to me) I was sent along to a series of Management Training love-ins. Some were at resorts (they call them Convention Centres). And rather well catered, with a generous bar tab. Anyway, the theme was 'team building' and applied basic psych. What I really learnt was how untrusting and self centred most managers are. Put a bunch of tradies on a job and they mostly muddle themselves into suitable groups to get a task done. Teamwork is a given. I think that management in general spend too much time watching their own backs. I'm glad that I chose not to mount that corporate ladder.

I have this displayed in one workplace - and it was key to a happy and productive employment. As with raising children, people are quick to see through false praise (and see it as an insult). The trick is to 'catch them doing something right', combined with praise in proportion.

That's the downside of managing staff..... You find yourself surrounded by an extended surrogate family to watch over. And, like your real family you start feeling responsible for your brood. Good luck with it. And don't blame yourself.

Gripes.... Just spent a fortnight trying to help my 85 yo mother-in-law through her cataract operation. Today I took time out to visit an old friend who suffers from small airways congestion (carries around her O2 bottle everywhere). Two people who just can't afford to catch a respiratory disease. At the time I thought everything was ok, and we were set to head off travelling home via Perth on Monday. This afternoon I suddenly came down with a cold..... which just came up positive on a Rapid Antigen Test for covid. Now I am feeling really bad !!

Not sure where this is, but it gives you an idea of the impact of csg energy supply. Multiply by thousands, then Add in the evaporation dams, salt damage, pumping stations, electricity grid, substations. In contrast (we are talking about the impact of EV'S), there are increasing numbers of households using their own rooftop solar panels to charge their EV. It all looks like a win for the motorist, and for the environment.

The implication from Octave's post (on ANCAP testing), is that the vehicle 'impact sensor' will trip the battery's internal circuit breaker. So I think that explains why their crash testing failed to cause any electrical or fire risks. Further, the usual location of EV batteries, is away from the usual crumple zones. So physical damage is unlikely. Not saying I expect them to be totally bulletproof, but I don't see EV's as mobile bombs.

I haven't seen much deforestation relating to wind turbines. Especially when compared to the deforestation caused by open cut strip coal mines, or the massive clearing done to make way for coal seam gas wells. Every csg well requires a cleared access road and there are around 32,000 of them in Qld alone (that was the planned number)

My mother-in-law cooks this way

West of Toowoomba the mice are usually in minor plague proportions every year. It is common to leave the bonnet open when you park up for the night as this discourages rats and mice from setting up nests. Damaged wiring (and small hoses) is very common. I sometimes wonder robust the wiring is on new cars (both EV & legacy types)

Where can you buy replacement rats these days?