Litespeed

We can winge about architects all day but the elephant is developers and councils. Buy into a new development and you are often stuck with rude rules designed by the developer to boost his power and profit. All designs must meet very strict rules on colour, materials, window frontage, parking, style, roof colour and paint colours. They all end up looking the same, cost a fortune and reduce amenity. My bro just built and was forced to do a landscape plan before he could be approved to build. No landscaper no build. So it forced owners to get way overpriced work just to meet picky developers wims. Surprise only mega dollar landscapers would quote and get approved. Landscaping $180 k for probably $50 k of work. What a setup and all bolstered by developer friendly council, with a rep for paper bags. And to top it off the buggers won't allow you to park on front of block or road, and boats must be around back or garaged. Good luck, the steep driveway they will not allow changes to, even though simple to allow a trailer to get up. So my brothers $2.2 million home on 1700 metres can't use his mandated mega garage to hide his boat as per by laws. A absolute joke. It is only a 5 metre light boat. But if you park it on the road they will fine you and or make life difficult. Niehbour has spent same and can't access driveway down to garage as way too steep and a normal car gets stuck going from gutter to driveway. No changes were allowed to modify it to be usable at all. $ 2.2 million and can't use her four garages or even driveway but banned from parking on street. This is a exclusive estate in big blocks on farm land. No help for the owner just the developer from council. No architects were involved in this debacle. Even half drunk and one eyed architects would have seen this problem. So lots have spend big to have homes they can't properly use and threat of legal action if you use your home like everyone expects. The peak of bend over and take it by a council rigging the game for a developer. Hawkesbury council needs to be taken out back and flogged at least. My brother now has a home meant to allow him storage of a boat that can't. So he is forced to pay storage fees just to use it. $3000 min a year. Absolutely pathetic.

That news.con map of the fires is bullshite. Propaganda but why?

Fortunately that is a fake image of fires. Beware fake news

No it will not recover. The area is too large for species to escape for those that can't fly or hop fast. Way too hot to survive. A lot of the tree and undergrowth will not recover for the same reason- far too hot. The epicormic growth after a fire needs live tissue under the bark. Many have burnt far too hot for that. The same will seeds, they will have been destroyed in most cases. At least 1/2 billion animals killed including complete species. This a catastrophic fire not a normal one. If a human can't escape on foot then most wildlife has no chance.

A food tool to core a fruit or vegetable or remove a section of it. Has a sharp blade so must be to cut stuff. Probably from a tool that has changeable heads. Used in torture of food.

Fellas, You do not want a big heavy car in a accident, especially a separate chassis 4wd. Great at low speed destruction of others but often kill everyone on board in a big one. They are mostly way too heavy and stiff to have adequate impact absorbtion in the impulse of a collision. They also love tipping over and killing all by squashing the roof, happens all the time. Sure bigger cars have bigger distances between the front and cabin but normally a lot more stuff that's heavy and crammed in there. Heavy cars have a great deal more inertia to absorb in such a small amount of time. Any forces it cant easily absorb will go to the cabin and its occupants. Yes in a ideal world, bigger and same safety features but bigger crush zones would be great but normally we drive compromises. The worst are the shortish and heavy for their size cars. Its all about the force being four times for a double weight increase. So it has to be four times as good in every area to save you. I have had a nasty in a big 7 series when hit by a 4wd turning into me at 90 km closing speed. The 4wd was toast and the BMW whilst fixable was written off by idiot insurance. In that case I would not want to be in a average car. No injuries to us but were in the 4wd. But I expect the smart would have done very well. Sure it would be punched sideways at a angle but that reduces a lot of the energy been stopped in a millisecond. Glancing blows are even better, if you can maintain a foward motion even at a large angle from straight- you are giving time for the forces to be absorbable and liveable on the body. Your crash zone can go from centimetres to metres. In the Smart test the angle shown really makes a huge difference to the effect compared to a flat hit. I am really impressed for how well it does compared to much bigger cars of its time or even today. Just watch all the biggest forces been transmitted around the cabin not into it. It might be tiny but its actually very safe. Extremely well engineered I have seen tests of smart vs much larger cars and it was safer- with the physics of crashes not all is what you expect. At uni we called it Lilliputian physics- because its is all a matter of scale and weight.

Peter, The law is an arse. But we can not allow the cops and lawyers esp the defence ones just make things up or change the rules to suit themselves. That is what dictators and facists do. Yes, he should be held and retried, and very very very slowly. The cops and prosecutors involved should all be charged with perverting the course of justice and immediately held without bail until trial. They have committed a most serious crime and should have no expectation of mercy. They claim they were unaware it was wrong- what bulldust. That is virtually impossible. If they did not know then every conviction in their career would be completely suspect. Society can not allow the courts to be used and abused by the police, ever. Yes, it sucks some pricks might get out, Karma might catch them. And Simon Overland claims he knows nothing and never even had diaries of it all- until they find them in a search. Throw the absolute full weight of the Law and crush the criminal cops if found guilty. Now some will say - they deserve just a slap on the wrist, after all they served us for so long etc.... NO. They deserve the utmost contempt and full time prison. They are the ones who rule over us and have extraordinary power imbalance in their favour. Just like priests or teachers abusing students. They must be expected to hold a higher standard and punished accordingly. The danger they may face in prison is no excuse for a slap, they can stay in confinement safely. They say that about everyone else. The rule of law is sacrosanct.

If only it was just one in ten- you are right check the aircraft. But with Global heating it is 97 of 100 say we are in big trouble and most of us can easily see, feel and smell it. I have no qualms about saying it is definitely happening. I put my life on it. We are all betting our lives and those of every organism on the planet. Putting our own life and only our own at risk- is a moral course. We have no right to destroy the planet for greed.

And not all young are progressive. Just look at the growth in young turks in the LNP and their IPA mates.

You poms sure have bad taste. You realise we sent you Fosters as revenge.

Does not matter what they are accused of ,they are Australians and owed protection and the ability to return home. Citizenship is paramount and should never be a plaything of politicians or racists.

Sometimes the comments really show how far we have yet to evolve to a acceptable state of humanity. It amazes me the ignorance and paternalistic attitude some display. I could write a treatise like war and peace, but no peace will be found when they refuse to open their eyes.

Racing minstrel?

I was I had a huge set of bowling balls. A game the local tribes could really benefit from.

Yes, obviously the problem is labor trades its principles for pragmatism at times. The LNP have no principles.

There is a hope all the policy bungles will hurt the economy enough to make voters think. The farmers,miners, metal and car workers are suffering worse than before and he promised a job and wealth. The economy will start to tank just like ours is.

Back to the rock, It is their land and their sacred site. If anyone can't accept that, fine, get off the planet. A stupid girl almost died this week climbing, her parents should be ashamed. They should not have given any grace period for climbing. It should just have been banned the day the decided. Bruce, what is sitdown money? Or is welfare only for white people?

Saw a little on ABC and the Guardian. The solar cars have come a very long way since Hans Tholstrop started the challenge. A awesome education program and pushing the tech ahead quickly.

I find a minute looking at trump makes me dump

Boris the man who makes Borat look a genius.

Magnifico

Fortunately the powdered milk is actually a export success. Why.....the Chinese do not trust their milk products over chemical poison scares. So for a lucky few its big profits.

As a side note, Jabiru sells lots of motors for drones. Quiet, light and economic.

As a sick side note, Tone deaf has been added to the War memorial board. The bloke loves war but couldn't give a stuff about the service personnel. Anyone remember " shit happens" when commenting on dead soldiers.

That simulation is very rosy. The numbers dead would be a great deal more than stated and neglected a very big target that is essential to command and control for US forces. Yep Pine Gap, you can bet it would be a first strike target. No a pretty thought. Real deaths would be in billions with a huge amount of fallout. Nuclear winter is a real thing.