onetrack

China has supplied Iran with a modest number of missiles in recent months - but those Chinese shipments have probably been a lot less than Iran lost in the 12 Day War with Israel in June 2025. It's reported that Iran had reserves of around 2500 missiles before the 12 Day War, but lost around 1000 of them to war use and damage from Israeli strikes. There are reports the Iranian missile stockpile has returned to something like 2000 missiles. Sending those missiles off at a decent rate will reduce their stockpile, as they couldn't build them as fast as they fire them off, in a decent punch-up. However, Iran still has a dangerous number of major missile-building facilities, and a refined missile-building capacity, with a number of hardened underground manufacturing facilities. The bottom line is that Iran is dependent on raw supplies of dual-use electronics, sodium perchlorate for rocket fuel, and more than likely, goodly amounts of steel for missile casings - and China is their major and eager supplier. There are agreements in place to keep the missile raw materials flowing from China, but whether they will continue with an Iranian administration and military forces in some level of disarray, remains to be seen. China is accepting payment for all this military support in Iranian crude. Iran is in a bit of a bind as regards blocking the Straits of Hormuz for lengthy periods, because it needs the Straits open to be able to ship crude to China and the rest of the world. Iran will try to seriously disrupt international shipping in the Straits, mainly to drive up oil prices, and make the American war effort more costly to them, and to try and disrupt the U.S. economy by sharply increased oil prices. Of course, sharply increased oil prices only benefit Iran, when it comes to oil income.

It appears the U.K. DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) requires specific character heights (64mm), widths (44mm), and font thickness (10mm) on British motorcycle numberplates. Accordingly, the required character size, spacing, and margins results in a standard large size, most commonly 9 inches by 7 inches, or approximately 228mm x 178mm. In addition, the large rear plate holder acts as an extended mudguard, reducing spray and road grime being flung up the riders back, from the rear wheel.

The problem now is that Iran is not a united country, never has been, and there are plenty of different groups within Iran ready to take over from the Ayatollahs - and fight each other for that dominant position. Look for a replication of Libya. The worst part is, the Iranians will be planning a revenge attack from out of left field, and that will likely be either an economic attack or a military attack. They will mine or block the Straits of Hormuz and make the whole world pay in terms of a vastly increased oil price. We can look forward to rising oil prices this week, simply due to the attack by the U.S. Then there's the fact that the Iranians are the worlds best missile experts, and we know little of what they have hidden. They could quite easily launch a large warhead missile at an American city, and even if it's not a nuke, they could cause a lot of grief. They're like an injured snake, it might look like it's fatally injured, but it can still possess a vicious bite and lash out, too.

Wars in the Middle East will never be finished. There is too much long-held tribal hatreds there, that have festered for centuries, and which hatreds they will never let go of. Plus, their "gun culture" puts the U.S. to shame.

Possibly very obtuse to most Aussies, but it's a well-known phrase to Americans - "Shave and a haircut, 2 bits". The saying originated from a 7-note musical rhythm pattern (5 knocks, pause, then 2 knocks), which first appeared in the 1899 tune, "At a Darktown Cakewalk" by Charles Hale. The musical rhythm pattern was later aligned with the commonly repeated phrase, "Shave and a haircut, 2 bits" (2 bits being the American quarter dollar, or 25c), which was the standard cost of a shave and haircut for many years in the U.S. in the early 20th century. The "riff" of the 7-note musical rhythm is identical to the word pattern in the barbershop saying, so it was soon used to align with the note pattern. The most commonly known tune to use this musical rhythm pattern is at the very end of the "Looney Tunes" cartoon music. Now, "the Darktown Cakewalk" is a whole 'nuther American story in itself.

The problem is - as regards replacing nasty, terrorist-run anti-democratic regimes, with democratic, peace-loving, fair-minded, just, and civil Govts - America's record is pretty dismal, when it comes to wading into a foreign country in their best gung-ho manner, armed with the worlds finest cutting-edge armaments, and blasting away at everything that moves. There's not a single country where any American attempt to install a democratic, Western-style, fair-minded and just Govt, has succeeded. In virtually every case, any country they have invaded has eventually returned to tribal militias, and gang warfare.

Had a good laugh about the latest American, "shoot 'em up, and ask questions later", mentality. It seems that U.S. Customs and Border control were running a drone looking for illegal immigrants near the Mexican border, and they strayed into a U.S. military area. The Pentagon ordered their latest laser drone-killer into action, to defend against the "military threat", and blasted the Customs drone out of the sky, no questions asked! 😄 Naturally, Customs is furious, and is raging about everyone doing their own thing with no consultation (led by the White House, of course) - and even the FAA is getting dragged into it, with their over-arching control of airspace, and no reference to any other Govt authority. What a typical, complete CF, of American gung-ho adventurism!! https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/26/us/pentagon-shoots-down-cbp-drone

Willie - Yes, the days of our proud local engine manufacturers such as Ronaldson Bros & Tippett, and Southern Cross are long gone, but their good products still survive in restoration groups and museums. When I was a kid, my father purchased a twin cylinder Ronaldson Bros & Tippett engine, type CK, rated at 25-27-1/2HP. It came from the powerhouse in Williams, about 160kms ESE of Perth, so it had probably done tens of thousands of hours before we got it. The thing must have weighed nearly a tonne, and I have no idea how Dad got it into the shed and set up. Dad bought it to drive a 4" Stalker centrifugal pump to pump water for our dairy and to do some small scale irrigation. We had an unlimited water supply at 6M deep, in deep sand, from the Gnangara Mound. Stalker pumps were another great local (W.A.) manufacturer, they had their own foundry and produced thousands of good pumps. The engine was a monster to me as a kid, and my two older brothers did some workouts cranking it up. I think they only did about 1000-1200RPM. Here's a bloke in Victoria who got one running again. The video is crap, and the engine is running half disassembled, but it sounds just as I remember it. The fool is running it with no water in it. I can't believe the idiocy of some of these restorers. The valve train arrangement is curious, I never saw ours apart, so I didn't know about this weird arrangement, and can't figure out the design principle behind it.

The previous W.A. electricity provider, the State Electricity Commission, started this "usage estimation" technique in the 1990's in rural areas, because they deemed it too expensive to keep sending around meter readers every couple of months. So then they'd send readers around every 6 mths to read the meters. They wouldn't trust property owners to read the meters correctly. Nothing has changed with newer corporate entities that now control our energy supply. If your property is remote, or the reader can't access your meter, due to locked gates or big threatening dogs, they estimate the power bill based on previous usage levels, until they can finally access the meter to read it. You can challenge estimated meter readings.

The upraised middle digit is for those departing vehicles that refused to give you a lift! 😄

Neil Sedaka has died at age 86. Another one of my favourite musos from my youth gone. But never fear, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are going to live forever. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-28/neil-sedaka-dies-aged-86/106400078

When I first left school and started in the earthmoving business with the brother, we lived in a rented farmhouse that had been built around the early 1950's, and it had a 32V power supply. This was a bank of 16 x 2V lead-acid Exide batteries backed up by a Southern Cross YB 4HP engine that drove a 1500W 32V generator. But the batteries were largely buggered, so the YB was run most of the time - except after bedtime. But the genset and batteries were set up in a shed about 200M away from the house, so it was a chore to go out on a dark, cold wet night, to shut the engine down. But it was even worse trying to get the YB fired up on cold Winter mornings. It wasn't unusual to have frosts on many Winter mornings in the W.A. Wheatbelt, and it certainly gave you a workout, cranking the YB into life. Fortunately, the engine had a cold start assist system which was a short length of enclosed pipe screwed into the rocker cover. You unscrewed it, filled it with engine oil, poured the oil into the hole, replaced the piece of pipe, and the oil sucked into the intake increased the compression and ensured a prompt start - most times. These blokes below are mucking around endlessly with a very tired old YB, and I fail to see where they use the original cold start assist system.

Yes, an extended drought can be quite depressing. Even more so, when your income relies on reliable rains. But we live in country that regularly sees extended drought periods, and then often followed by excessive amounts of rain. The people in the Gulf and the SE parts of the NT are probably looking forward to that long-awaited rain finally stopping.