red750

You read some unbelievable stories. Today I read about a 93 year old man in the US, whose pilot training certificate expired 50 years ago, with no record of him ever completing any licence test, was killed when he was doing an engine runup test on a R22 helicopter on his farm, and it launched into the air, tipped over and crashed. There were photos of the wrecked chopper on its side in his yard. The collective lock was disengaged.

Earlier in this topic, there was a lot of discussion on the subject of cremation. Today, I found out about another option that I had never heard of - aquamation. It's like cremation, but using water instead of fire. It is much less polluting than cremation, but is more expensive. While an unattended cremation like we used for my wife during the Covid lockdown can be had for about $2,000, a deluxe aquamation costs close to $10,000. For more information, here is the website of the only provider in Australia - https://environmentallyfriendlycremations.com.au/

Particularly since there was another group on TV rescuing koalas from the bush, treating them for clamidia and releasing them into safe areas in an attempt to promote breeding to stave off the strong possibility of extinction.

You'd better sit down to read this. The eyewatering bill these people received will knock your socks off. This was sent to me by my ex-Shed-on-line mate, username bunyip, who regularly sends me stuff from the SMH. Sue Williams, SMH, 1 May ’25. Angry apartment owners say they’re being charged for electricity generated by solar panels on their own roof thanks to a confidential agreement signed between their developer and the energy provider. When they moved into the new building in Sutherland, in Sydney’s south, they assumed the solar would help with their common property electricity bills. Instead, they’ve been presented with a surprise bill for $28,717.06 for the past 12 months, seen by this masthead, with no indication of any reduction for the solar power. A sustainability report for the building attached to the contract of sale attributed hot water systems and outdoor pool heating to solar collectors. ‘‘It’s outrageous,’’ said one of the apartment owners in the 46-unit Dwell block, former NSW Police intelligence analyst Adam Denyer, 45. ‘‘They’re using our roof, but there’s no benefit to us whatsoever. When we queried the bill, we were told over the phone that the electricity was being sold to Ausgrid and a combination of that and the regular electricity was being sold back to us. They’re making money from us at every turn and now we’ve received this huge bill, and we’re only 12 months old. We’re being shortchanged continually, and fighting this, you feel like Darryl Kerrigan of The Castle.’’ The system is part of an embedded network arrangement (ENA), whereby infrastructure providers install systems such as electricity, water, sewerage and internet for free, or for a reduced payment, to developers’ projects, on condition they sign up their apartment buyers to service contracts, which can sometimes be well above market rates. It is becoming increasingly common as it can mean huge savings for developers, who would in the past have borne those costs themselves. But owners have no control over the terms of a contract that was signed at the start of the development. An Ausgrid spokesperson said: ‘‘Ausgrid does not purchase or sell electricity. It is up to the embedded network who they purchase electricity from and how billing arrangements work for the customers within their network.’’ Instead, the distribution network offers a range of pricing options to electricity retailers who then decide if, what and how they will pass them on. New NSW strata laws to come in later this year will mean that there are new disclosure requirements about embedded networks at the point of sale, three-year term limits will apply to embedded electricity supply contracts, and owners corporations will be protected against unfair contract terms. In the case of Dwell a 10-year contract for electricity, hot water and gas with Arc Energy was signed by the building’s then strata manager, Michael Lee of Result Strata. He affixed the Owners Corporation seal to the contract on December 1, 2023, the month before the building’s first meeting of owners, its AGM, on January 29, 2024. Owners claim they knew nothing about the contract as it wasn’t mentioned at that meeting, according to the minutes. Result Strata and Michael Lee didn’t respond to approaches from this masthead. There is no suggestion Michael Lee or Result Strata engaged in any wrongdoing. Lee and his company have since had their strata licence suspended until May 12 during an ongoing investigation by Fair Trading, pending possible disciplinary action, into separate complaints regarding other properties that do not relate to agreements. Arc Energy didn’t respond to requests for comment, but lawyer Michael Ayache of One Group Legal commented on behalf of Dwell developer Altitude. ‘‘ENAs are common in the construction of multi-dwelling buildings,’’ he said. ‘‘It is an express term of an ENA that the service provider is to provide the services in accordance with all energy laws as set down from time to time by the Australian Energy Regulator. In other words, as regulators regulate what rights consumers have in relation to the provision of services to their property, the service provider is required to comply with those laws and are unable to contract out of them.’’ Other owners are also furious about the ENA, with bills for individual energy including a charge of nearly a dollar a day to access hot water in addition to usage charges, seen by this masthead. Sebastian Mignacca said: ‘‘It’s unfair and makes us angry.’’ A spokesperson for NSW Fair Trading said: ‘‘Fair Trading does not have powers to vary contractual arrangements entered into between parties, nor direct schemes to run their building in certain ways.’’ Dwell owner Peter Bishenden, who works as a public servant in defence, says it’s not having a say in arrangements that makes it so difficult. For instance, the contract Lee signed states that the ENA can only be terminated in certain narrow circumstances and would incur a break fee payment of up to $139,752. ‘‘Certainly, it leaves us with very little option other than to just pay for this,’’ he said. ‘‘We haven’t had the chance to say yes or no to whether we want it. There’s no freedom of choice.’’ The developer’s lawyer, Ayache, said that individuals could choose to go to a different supplier for their own individual apartments. He supplied a brochure and pointed out that it reads: ‘‘However, you need to advise your preferred supplier that your electricity meter is part of an embedded network. Your preferred supplier will then make arrangements with Arc Energy Group to access the network.’’ To actually remove Arc Energy as the main supplier of the building, though, is a complex process only possible in certain circumstances, according to the contract, such as a breach of the service that’s not remedied within a month, and with a substantial schedule of fees. Karen Stiles of apartment owners’ peak body OCN, says the deals are usually free for developers or paid for by utility companies. ‘‘It means they’re then often trapped into expensive and lengthy contracts, to the detriment of owners,’’ she said.

Some great one liners from Paul Lynde.. Peter Marshall: "Eddie Fisher recently said, 'I am sorry. I am sorry for them both.' Who was he referring to?" Paul Lynde: "His fans." Marshall: "According to Tony Randall, 'Every woman I've been intimate with in my life has been...' what?" Lynde: "Bitterly disappointed." Marshall: "Paul, how many fingers in the girl scout salute?" Lynde: "Gee, I don't remember. The last time I saw it was when I didn't buy their cookies." Marshall: "Paul, does Ann Landers think there is anything wrong with you if you do your housework in the nude?" Lynde: "No, but I have to be terribly careful when I do my ironing." Marshall: "Paul, any good sailor knows that when a man falls off a ship you yell 'Man overboard!' What should you shout if a woman falls overboard?" Lynde: "Full speed ahead!" Marshall: "What are 'dual-purpose cattle' good for that other cattle aren't?" Lynde: "They give milk... and cookies, but I don't recommend the cookies." Marshall: "Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?" Lynde: "Because chiffon wrinkles too easily." Marshall: "According to the IRS, out of every 10 Americans audited, how many end up paying more taxes?" Lynde: "11." Marshall: "What's the one thing you should never do in bed?" Lynde: "Point and laugh!"

It’s barely 100 days into Donald Trump’s second term in office, and already, he’s suggesting he wants another job. After a reporter asked Trump who he thought should follow Pope Francis as the next pope, the non-Catholic president offered a response that was entirely in character. “I’d like to be pope,” Trump joked. “That’d be my No. 1 choice.” Trump then presented a less narcissistic option. “I don’t have a preference. I might say we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who is very good,” he said, referring to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has finalized significant tariffs on solar panels imported from Southeast Asia, targeting Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Tariffs range from 41.56% on Malaysian Jinko Solar products to a staggering 3,521% on Cambodian imports due to a lack of cooperation in investigations. The move follows accusations of Chinese “dumping” by subsidizing Southeast Asian factories to flood the U.S. market with underpriced panels. Despite these tariffs, the solar industry has grown at a rate of 28% annually in the U.S. A previous 30% tariff in 2018 led to a loss of over 62,000 jobs, with critics questioning its long-term impact. In June, the International Trade Commission will decide whether to implement these tariffs, potentially putting the solar industry at risk again.

A report on a recent meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, by a WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, someone who was present in the room, quoted below: From a WH Reporter: “ I’ve covered a lot of Donald Trump's press conferences over the years. I’ve seen him lie, deflect, and embarrass himself in countless ways. But what I just witnessed in the Oval Office may have been the most off-the-rails, unhinged display yet. Trump sat down with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — a serious figure there to talk about security and alliance unity — but Trump wasn’t interested in that. No, Trump used the opportunity to fantasize about annexing Canada. He actually said, “Canada only works as a state,” and gushed about how the U.S. would look on a map if we just erased the border and took Canada as our own. This wasn’t satire. This wasn’t a joke. This was the president rambling about absorbing another sovereign nation — while the NATO secretary general sat there watching this clown show unfold. And it didn’t stop there. Trump started pushing the idea of conquering Greenland too, saying NATO might need to get involved in helping the U.S. take it over — as if it’s a game of Risk. He literally said we "need it for international security" and tried to rope NATO into his imperial fever dream. The look on Rutte’s face said it all. Then, Trump pivoted to his usual bigotry. Instead of talking about defense cooperation or global security, Trump bragged about how he uses transgender people as political pawns to rile up his base before elections — saying Republicans should “bring it up a week before the election” to win votes. In other words, he openly admitted he sees cruelty and manufactured culture war nonsense as a campaign strategy. Despicable. When asked about American small businesses hurting from tariffs, Trump did what he always does: lie and bluster. “You’re going to be so much richer,” he said. Meanwhile, Medicaid is being gutted, Social Security is under threat, and Trump’s billionaire cronies are cheering as the safety net burns. Oh, and then Trump suggested we start sending drug dealers to the Netherlands — yes, you read that right — in a bizarre attempt at humor that landed more like a diplomatic insult, especially considering the NATO secretary general used to be the prime minister of the Netherlands. He kept rambling about how the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada, said the European Union is “very nasty,” claimed we can’t sell cars in Europe (not true), and then told an utterly deranged story about how he “invaded Los Angeles” to turn on the water — another lie pulled from his fantasyland. What actually happened was that he diverted water from Northern California, destroying farmland and hurting his own voters in the process. To top it off, he said our allies shouldn’t worry about Putin, brushing off any concerns about Russian aggression with a shrug. Let me be blunt: This is not normal. This is not politics-as-usual. This is a dangerous, unstable person with authoritarian fantasies, spewing nonsense in front of our closest allies while the world watches.” Keep speaking up. Don’t accept any of this as normal. Ben Meiselas

Canada gets it.

They voted the way they did due to Trump's desire to make them the 51st state.

95% of the things I worry about never happen. Just proves worrying works.

Canadian voters told him where to stick it.

Yeah, that's what bunyip sends me each week,

I received this from a guy I met online through The Shed Online a few years ago, the web-based version of the Men's Shed which no longer exists. He sends me lots of releases from the Sydney Morning Herald. It relates to AUKUS and our involvement that not many know about. https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/04/aukus-is-more-than-nuclear-submarines-and-thats-a-problem/

Elon has launched Tesla's phone with a cost of US$273, or A$426 with supposedly more security and features than an iPhone, which ccost from $1500 to over $3000 at Costco. It's called the Tesla Pi Phone (as in 𝞹 ).

Tension between the US and France over the Russian-Ukrainian conflict may have spilled over into Pope Francis' funeral as the French leader appeared to snub Donald Trump. Prior to the mass to honor the pope's life and work, President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss a peace deal with Russia. Before their pow-wow, French President Emmanuel Macron stopped by to say hello to Zelensky, grabbing his hand tightly as they exchanged some words. Trump appeared to reach out to touch Macron's arm before moving it in between the pair as they spoke for what many believed was going to be a handshake. Only the Frenchman never fully returned the gesture as the pair locked into a terse conversation. The video does show Macron's hands hovering near Trump's forearm as if he overshot the handshake and pulled back, bringing his other hand up to US leader's elbow. However, the two never locked hands. Despite what appears to be an awkward moment between the two, many have come to believe the European leader had purposely avoided greeting Trump with the same fondness and professionalism as Zelensky. However, Macron and Trump were seen grasping hands during the sign of peace at Francis' mass after Melania allegedly told her husband to partake in the Catholic tradition.

Typical ignorant Trump. First, he wore a blue tie to the funeral when a black tie was required. Biden and Zelenskyy also faied in this matter. But when it came to the part of the service where the mourners were requested to offer each other the sign of peace, a handshake, Trump didn't offer a hand till Melania whispered in his ear to do with it. Trump was placed front and centre, while Prince William was off to one side and a few rows back.

https://vt.co/news/world/zelensky-slams-trumps-ukraine-peace-plan-with-four-blistering-words?utm_source=vt&utm_medium=picturepost