kgwilson

The timber industry from planted Radiata Pine is huge in NZ. It started during the depression in the 1930s as a way to employ people planting trees. 30-40 years later and they were ready for harvest.This has continued ever since. A lot used to be exported as logs to Japan. Logs & Chips are still exported. Good straight ones now go into house framing timber. A lot is exported to Australia and most is treated to be borer & termite resistant. Ply is also made from it. The lesser quality is chipped and made into MDF & chipboard. My brother used to be Chief Engineer at Golden Edge, a huge MDF plant near Nelson at the top of the South Island. It is a fascinating process & MDF is a great product for all sorts of things. When areas are harvested they are replanted within a year & the cycle continues. There was a news article recently in NZ that they were struggling to find people to plant trees as the reckoned $400.00 a day wasn't enough.

So before humans built dams there were rivers but they didn't flow?

Various right wing politicians plus hansenites, independents that got in on 19 primary votes etc keep rabbiting on about new coal fired power as if it was the evangelical saviour. The coal industry even has TV ads about what they call clean coal technology which doesn't exist. It is just less polluting that what our existing 50 year old coal technology delivers. Not only is that 100% wrong but NO ONE on the planet is prepared to finance it. Why do you think that is? Those who have the finance, assess the risk before taking into account any consideration of the pollution that may be caused. They are not going to put their money into some long term investment that is guaranteed to fail are they? No they are much smarter than that. Wind and solar provide positive gains in the very short term. They are gaining momentum exponentially because the cost per mwh is lower than any fossil fuelled generation and the gap is widening by the day.

I first visited India in 1973. Then there were 593 million. Now there are over 1.3 billion and they will become the most populous county on earth surpassing China in 2022 according to some experts. It is no wonder the poor lead such miserable existence. Their caste system sees to this anyway but the more than doubling of the population in 45 years has enhanced their misery. I remember oppressive over 40 deg heat in Delhi in June 73, the sun just a big orange ball as there was so much dust & smoke from cooking fires in the atmosphere. Plenty of slums in the big cities, people living in cardboard boxes or anything they could find but most seemed to accept their existence & just got on with life. Walking through the old city one day I came across a bloke who had just died in the street. I stopped & looked around & people just went on with their day. A short while later a couple of blokes with a hand cart turned up & unceremoniously bundled the body on and wandered off. The pollution was bad then but now it is just atrocious. Many have respiratory problems & the wealthy stay indoors most of the time. The worst contributor to their polluted atmosphere is sulphur dioxide & guess where most of that comes from? And our politicians want Indias Adani, one of the worst polluters in the world to build a coal mine here.

The real problem is us. There are just too many of us. I was born in 1950 and there were just over 2 billion inhabitants of this planet. Now there are 7.7 billion and it is forecast there will be 8 billion by 2023. I reckon we will hit 8 billion by the end of this year. There are more than 6 million extra people on earth since new years eve. This is just unsustainable.

The human race is incredibly resourceful. Channelling that resourcefulness in the right direction is the eternal dilemma. On the one hand we have the money and power philosophy and those with it don't give a flying fuc! about climate change or what they are doing to the planet as they will have lived a very nice existence and will be dead before the sh!t hits the fan. On the other hand are those who fear for the future of their children and grandchildren and really want to move to a sustainable lifestyle but still buy consumer goods as never before, use fossil based energy without a great deal of concern other than supporting renewables and sticking solar panels on their roof and hope things will sort themselves out. Then there are others at the extremes of both philosophies. The professor who says we have only 10 years to go may very well be right & if so why not do nothing as we are all fuc#ed anyway. Personally I think it will take longer, maybe 50 or 100 years but we WILL cease to exist. Our resourcefulness is not as powerful as our greed and greed always wins.

Your eyes tell you that the Sun obviously delivers energy to Earth in the form of visible light. If you think about it a bit, especially in terms of the choices you make about UV-A and UV-B protection when you shop for sunscreen or sunglasses, you'll also realise that you know that the Sun also bathes our planet in ultraviolet "light" or radiation. The Sun, in fact, emits radiation across most of the electromagnetic spectrum... from high-energy X-rays to ultra-long wavelength radio waves. If you think it is all good for us wander round in the summer sun naked for a day & let us know the result.

The biggest most intense source of electromagnetic radiation is the sun at around 1.37 kW per square metre in the upper atmosphere. This gets filtered by the atmosphere but most gets to us. Mobile phones & wifi use specific sets of EMF frequencies at extemely low intensity. A few minutes in the sun & you will have more exposure to EMF than all of your wi-fi and mobile phone use for a month, probably more.

If there is a meteor strike the nuclear power plant would likely be stuffed or damaged to a degree that it runs out of control (worse than Chernobyl) & blow up. Then you would have rampant radio active fallout to deal with as well as the cold.

This is the last thing I can find and it was reported in the Guardian on 23 October. The Morrison government has held out the prospect of government support for new coal-fired power stations “where they meet all the requirements” of yet-to-be determined mechanisms to boost investment in new electricity generation. This was just after losing Wentworth and was the beginning of multiple incoherent statements which are still happening in some sort of incomprehensible effort to appeal to different groups of society to gain voter support. It isn't working.

Most wind turbines rotate at about 12 to 15 RPM. These have blades of 30 to 50 metres giving a diameter of 60 to 100 metres. The latest very large turbine installed offshore in Scotland produces 9.5 mW of power from blades 83.5 metres long meaning a diameter of more than 168 metres. This one turns at between 6 & 9 RPM. A 2009 study using US and European data on bird deaths estimated the number of birds killed per unit of power generated by wind, fossil fuel and nuclear power systems. It concluded: wind farms and nuclear power stations are responsible each for between 0.3 and 0.4 fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while fossil-fuelled power stations are responsible for about 5.2 fatalities per GWh. That’s nearly 15 times more. From this, the author estimated: wind farms killed approximately seven thousand birds in the United States in 2006 but nuclear plants killed about 327,000 and fossil-fuelled power plants 14.5 million. In other words, for every one bird killed by a wind turbine, nuclear and fossil fuel powered plants killed 2,118 birds. Since then turbine blade design has improved and the bird mortality rate has decreased dramatically. Interestingly the Bald Hills wind farm in Victoria (now complete) was originally turned down in 2006 by fossil fuel political interests on the basis that it endangered the orange-bellied parrot that was said to be at risk of extinction within 50 years, despite the fact that the bird had not been sighted in the area in the previous 25 years.

89% of Australias population live in the Capital cities. Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the word which is hardly surprising given it is the hottest and driest place matching Antarctica which is the coldest and driest place.

Plenty of Muslim women don't wear hijabs & only a few wear burqas. Given that Muslims make up only 2.2 percent of the population, only half of these are female and only some of these wear hijabs you would have had to look really hard to find one amongst all those 2500+ kids in the Schools spectacular.

Don't mention ANZUS to Trump. He probably doesn't know it exists but once he is told he will want Australia & NZ to pay for everything even though there is nothing to pay for. ANZUS is defunct and a complete waste of time. If we are attacked the US will determine whether it is in their interests to help & if so it will wade in boots & all. That goes for any atoll or island anywhere in the Pacific if the Yanks think the Russians or Chinese are getting too friendly with the locals by parking a few ships or planes on their little patch of paradise. The US still thinks it is the worlds police force whether we like it or not. Telling them to bugger off won't change anything.

When I moved into my new house it had a smart meter but all 3 tariffs were the same. I put in solar panels. The power company said it will be cheaper for you to stay on the single tariff. I checked, it wasn't. I complained & it took them about 3 months to sort it out. Then I asked for a refund from the original date based of the 3 tariffs. After about a dozen phone calls & emails I got the refund. As soon as that happened I switched suppliers.

The Washington Posts fact checker was up to 6420 false or misleading claims by 30 October, 640 days into his Presidency. The worst day was the 7th of September when he made 120 false or misleading claims.

It is all so simple and your intelligent controller will know what prices are being charged and what price you can get for your power at any millisecond in time.

The Aboriginal culture has developed over 40 to 60 thousand years. Europeans come along, kill of as many as possible, steal their land and tell them to assimilate and integrate. We told them to change their culture but wouldn't modify ours. Where does the problem lie?

Smart meters are only smart for the energy supplier as they have determined what the software does and that is to benefit themselves. Distributed supply is coming and is being developed all around the world including some large companies such as Siemens. Closer to home Paladin Energy in NZ have produced a solar power controller that monitors the mains power in and out 3700 times a second and diverts solar produced power to the water heater. This effectively stores energy as hot water so your water heater becomes a battery. It can also divert power to heat the pool, charge batteries & the EV etc so you benefit dramatically rather than send it back via the so called smart meter to the energy company who will pay you a pittance like 6 or 7 cents a kWh & then sell it back to you at 38 cents a kWh during peak times. In a distributed system every individual with solar panels (& batteries) becomes an energy supplier as well as a customer. During the day when demand is low the batteries are charged, water is heated etc. At night if you have excess power then that goes into the system and may be bought by your neighbour. This can all be coupled with huge wind, solar, pumped hydro, battery farms and other renewable energy systems to ensure 100% renewable energy supply and use. It is just simple and effective use of well designed energy management software.

We've all heard the term "Head in the Sand" & that pretty much sums up IMHO the NRA and redneck America, Trump & supporters etc when it comes to their attitude towards gun control, right to bear arms & everything that is wrong with the USA.

My only personal experience with Russia was in 1974 when it was part of the Soviet Union. I travelled with 3 friends in a Combi van where we went through Scandinavia & into Russia via Finland to St Petersburg, then called Leningrad to Moscow & back via Poland. It took about 6 months to get visas & we were provided with a female chaperone who travelled with us in the van & went everywhere with us. We had a specific itinerary with designated stops and accommodation. I found the people very warm and welcoming but very frightened of getting too engaged especially when our guide was watching which was most of the time. We fooled her a few times and once decided to call in to a village that was not on the route saying one of the girls felt ill & needed to stop. Within minutes the police arrived and we were escorted out again. The young people then were desperate for information about the west, were totally apolitical & loved the Beatles, Rolling Stones & almost any other Rock band of the era. Moscow was fantastic. I loved the underground with its crystal chandeliers etc. Food was crap and there were queues for most things. The iron grip of the Soviets was showing cracks & I believe it was largely the younger generation that was responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union. We only had 2 weeks & were glad to leave but paid for most of the trip by selling all our Levi jeans. It was pretty easy as one of us would distract out chaperone while the others did the deals getting the equivalent of about a hundred pounds in roubles per pair that cost 10 pounds in London. One very memorable moment was crossing the border into Poland where our official chaperone got off. The Russian side was all very strict & they checked everything in the van. We trundled across no-mans land to the Polish side where the border guard was asleep & we had to toot the horn. He woke up with a start, tidied himself up, put on his hat & came out the the van & with both arms stretched out wide and a broad smile on his face yelled in very bad english "Welcome to Poland". He then gave us food and coffee & wanted to hear stories. He even forgot to check our passports till the last moment when one of the girls asked him if he was going to check the visas & stamp them. It wasn't until a while later that I recalled that I could not remember any Russians actually smiling. On a historic level my wifes mother was from Ukraine and her great grandfather was shot dead at point blank range in front of her at a very young age during the revolution. They were White Russians. Then in her early 20s she was taken away by the Germans to a labour camp where she met her husband & they came to Australia as refugees after WW2. Of course Russia is a very different place today. The people are pretty smart & savvy but their violent history still shows in the attitude of the government today. It is hardly surprising given that they have been invaded several times and also from within. They lost at least 11 million soldiers in WW2 & 20 million civilians during the Stalinist era.

Nope I hate it too & the other thing I can't stand is that pathetic chant "Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi". What the hell is that all about? Anyway written by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers many years ago & recently revived for ABCs self promotion video clips this is a far better and more accurate anthem for Australia. AAF is crap. I am Australian I came from the dream-time From the dusty red-soil plains I am the ancient heart The keeper of the flame I stood upon the rocky shores I watched the tall ships come For forty thousand years I've been The first Australian I came upon the prison ship Bowed down by iron chains I bought the land, endured the lash And waited for the rains I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife On a dry and barren run A convict, then a free man I became Australian I'm the daughter of a digger Who sought the mother lode The girl became a woman On the long and dusty road I'm a child of the Depression I saw the good times come I'm a bushie, I'm a battler I am Australian We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian" I'm a teller of stories I'm a singer of songs I am Albert Namatjira And I paint the ghostly gums I'm Clancy on his horse I'm Ned Kelly on the run I'm the one who waltzed Matilda I am Australian I'm the hot wind from the desert I'm the black soil of the plains I'm the mountains and the valleys I'm the drought and flooding rains I am the rock, I am the sky The rivers when they run The spirit of this great land I am Australian We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian" We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian" "I am, you are, we are Australian"

The thing about going off grid is that it is now feasible and cost effective to do so rather than pay the exorbitant amount energy companies want to put in a couple of poles and 3 wires. They then charge a ridiculous supply charge which is a large percentage of the total cost of energy. Before affordable solar, wind and small scale hydro, the only option was expensive fossil fuelled generators. Some of the tiny inexpensive hydro systems produce just enough energy to pump water from the stream that drives them up to a storage tank on a hill. A farmer friend of mine & fellow pilot decided to build a new house on his property some way from the available grid supply about 4 years ago. He went 100% solar with the battery technology of the day including a backup diesel generator. His house was built with the most energy efficient appliances including 2 big freezers for home kill meat etc , LED lighting and in 4 years he has only used the generator the check that it still works. The only gas he has is for his BBQ. Total cost was less than 70% of getting connected to the grid. Factoring in battery replacement & maintenance he reckons he is still well ahead & of course new batteries are far cheaper and have greater storage capacity that what he now has. If I was in his situation I'd do the same.

Where are the seals? Those 2 don't look very tasty.