onetrack

Unfortunately, at this time of year, that green tinge is likely to be unsupported by more timely rain and it will all die off pretty quickly with more Summer heat. We are having a hot start to Summer here on the Left Coast, I hope it cools down a bit, I have plenty of work to do, outside.

You jest, surely?? These are people who live in privileged, exalted positions of power and social standing, with pay levels that look like weekly Lotto wins, to the person on the average wage. They have expense accounts that the average employee can only dream about. They have massive levels of perks, from Commonwealth cars on call, right through to a Parliamentary dining room that provides subsidised meal costs (via the allowances or by offering cheaper food prices). The basic salary of an MP is $233,000 - then they have "additional salary" (determined as a percentage of the base salary, and based on "additional duties"). They get allowances galore, including a "deceased members allowance" - which payment goes to their estate. That death allowance is determined by the formula (A x B) divided by 26, where "A" is the base salary and "B" is the number of years served as an MP. The perks, gratuities and entitlements of MP's are excessive, and have been for decades. Whitlam even advised Mark Latham to rort the entitlements system, as much as he could. These people have the ability to pay a lot of their own costs, that ordinary everyday people regularly have to do, when they travel.

It's Putins aim to destroy any economic lifeline for Ukraine, and the attack was likely loosely designed just to hit the port, and the Turkish vessels would have just been collateral damage. Russia is intent on buggering up Ukrainian grain shipments, and imports of useful equipment to support the war. Regardless, it's not the way to improve relationships with a big neighbour who has a tendency to waver between supporting the West and supporting Russia. You win wars by garnering big heaps of supporting countries, and Russia is not garnering any more support for the war, than the few countries he already has onside. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/13/russia-damages-turkish-owned-vessels-in-attack-on-ukrainian-ports

I can recall a deadly wood chipper accident here, in Jan 2004. A crew were widening a road down near Busselton (W.A.), clearing the roadside vegetation with a tractor/backhoe, and feeding it into a big wood chipper to mulch it. The highway was still in use with traffic control, and a low speed limit for passing traffic. The chipper was operating on one side of the highway, and the tractor/backhoe was operating on the opposite side of the highway. The disc in the woodchipper broke in half due to a faulty, sub-standard repair earlier in its life (these discs hum at about 4000 RPM). The disc was 1650mm in diameter and 57mm thick. The biggest portion of the chipper disc departed the chipper and went spinning vertically in a boomerang fashion, straight across the highway. It sliced the entire front off a passing car (in front of the front wheels), glanced off another passing car, then kept going, still with massive levels of energy, and it hit the cabin of the tractor/backhoe, tearing through the heavy steel square tube sections of the cabin ROPS, and going halfway through the tractor/backhoe cabin. Unfortunately, in doing so, it killed the operator of the tractor/backhoe. A truly dreadful accident, but there was no reason for the chipper owner to know that his chipper disc was defective, as it was all hidden inside the machine. Worksafe conducted an extensive inquiry, and could never find out who had repaired the disc, as the machine had earlier been purchased secondhand in the Eastern States, and there were no records of any previous repairs. Worksafe set out a lot more stringent controls over big woodchippers as a result of the accident, with frequent close inspections of chipper discs, and requirement that no repairs or modifications were to be carried out on the machines, without the input of a engineer or the manufacturer. There were photos of the chipper disc damage levels to the cars and the tractor/backhoe on the 'net at the time, but they have since disappeared. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/12323073/17-04-wood-chipper-disk-failures

Didn't know where to put this - but this bloke needs to go buy a Lotto ticket!!

It's surprising the number of WW2 veterans still left alive. And the widows of WW2 veterans. They number in the tens of thousands, still. As OME points out, there were plenty of boy soldiers - and a lot of people do live for a long time.

A former farmer client of mine turns 105 on the 20th of this month, and he's as fit as Dick Van Dyke. But did anyone see Colin Wagener, the South Australian WW2 veteran, who turned 108 recently? He still runs a 60 acre (24ha) property in the Adelaide Hills, and still drives his mower, and rides his motorbike! His advice for a long life? Steer clear of alcohol, don't smoke, and keep up an active lifestyle. https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-oldest-wwii-veteran-108-birthday/2d8381cf-2c85-409e-a685-47e03cd2ef49

Peter will go straight to Guantanamo if he ever rolls up at a U.S. entry point, after they read all his postings here. Here's something to ponder - I wonder how big the U.S. Customs and Border Protection bureaucracy has become, now that they need to read 10,000 social media postings on every entry to the U.S.? Perhaps they only need to read one anti-Trump statement, and that's it! - you're out the door! 🫣

Here's a list of some of the high-flyers as regards spending up big on the public purse, on travel, food and accommodation. Julie Inman-Grant, the e-Safety Commissioner, gets $444,000 in annual salary and booked up $102,769 in travel expenditure just in the last year. I'd have to question just how much of this travel is really necessary, seeing as most ordinary employees have to do video conferences - and I don't think all the family needs to travel business class - which fares are often 5 or 6 times the cost of an economy fare. Note how the travel bookings by public servants surged by 20%, when Qantas offered a double status credits promotion! https://www.senatorpaterson.com.au/news/millions-spent-on-travel

Well, give the MAGA mob a break - at least they've still got the Donkey!

Sounds like a paragraph from an Onion skit.

I reckon Willie got a new lease on life with his new hip and he's probably built another couple of sheds by now, as well as finished a heap of projects. He hasn't got time any more, for BS'ing on forums. 😄 I trust Spacey's O.K., and hasn't taken a turn for the worse. For most, the old body starts playing up, once you're over 80.

Maybe randomx is a long way from the nearest Centrelink office and has trouble getting there. Randomx, it would help for a start, to let us know where you live and if you have problems travelling. Some local councils have pensioner assistance people, and Legal Aid NSW can also assist with pension applications if you're in that State.

One of the beauties of running stock around solar panels is they keep the vegetation short, so it has less chance of carrying a big fire.

And right there, is part of what's wrong in this country. Add in the number of top public servants "on the make" as well, and we're well on the way to being a 3rd world country. So many of the pricks getting caught lately with helping themselves, based on straight-out criminal greed. The penalties should be doubled for these greedy pricks in exalted positions. https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/commonwealth-employee-among-three-people-charged-over-alleged-multi https://www.nacc.gov.au/convictions https://www.counterfraud.gov.au/case-studies/senior-public-servant-involved-australias-largest-public-sector-fraud We've one prick who was working for Fremantle Ports Authority, he scammed $5M out of the Authority, took off for the high life overseas, and they still haven't caught him after more than 6 years. https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-family-s-alleged-freo-ports-rort-blows-out-to-5m-as-contractors-hit-with-new-charges-20200915-p55vqw.html

God helps those who help themselves, but God help anyone caught helping themselves. Old sign from an orchard.

Anika Wells has to go, she makes Chopper Bronnie look good. What a prime "snout in the trough" merchant, Wells is. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-09/wells-spends-thousands-on-comcars-for-grand-finals/106117742

Arson is responsible for about 40% of bushfires - but a lot of that is accidental arson - i.e. - carelessness, such as grinding or welding near dry grass. Dry lightning strikes are responsible for about another 40% of bushfires, leaving about 20% being caused by fallen powerlines or electrical faults. I would be very surprised to find that the solar farm caused the fire, they're designed to ensure safety in operation.

Trump has just handed American farmers US$12B in subsidies, to make up for all their farming losses, thanks to his tariff policies. Last time he was President, he gave them $23B because they lost out big-time, due to his trade policies back then. No wonder U.S. farmers keeping voting for him! https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-farmer-bailout-tariffs-b2880213.html

Samuel L. Jackson for President!! 🙂

Sumer is icumen in. Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu! Groweþ sed and bloweþ med And springþ þe wde nu, Sing cuccu! Awe bleteþ after lomb, Lhouþ after calue cu. Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ, Murie sing cuccu! Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu; Ne swik þu nauer nu. Pes: Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!

Aww, C'mon Marty - Stop the diplomatic descriptions, and tell us what you really think of Trump.

The developers, combined with the vast sums of money available in the sporting arena today, will always get their way. I think this stadium is idiocy, especially the siting, and the monetary burden on such a small number of the Australian population. It's not like the money is being thrown into a major energy or water or food security plan, or other future national civilisation security outlay - it's just the equivalent of a Roman amphitheatre. The W.A. Govt outlaid £2.5B ($5B) for the massive (for its time) Kalgoorlie reticulated water scheme, between 1899 and 1902. The project involved a large new dam, a 600km pipeline, 8 large steam-driven pumping stations, a sizeable number of storage tanks, and all the associated infrastructure. The State population was only 140,000 people at the time, and the howls of outrage over the massive repayment burden (for centuries, claimed the opponents) on the W.A. population, were loud and long - and the loudest and most virulent opposition came from the editor of the local Sunday Times, one Frederick Vosper. Vosper's continuous vicious attacks on the architect of the scheme, Charles Yelverton O'Connor, led to O'Connor committing suicide under the stress of the attacks, and overwork. Regardless, the scheme has been a major success, and has returned its outlay in spades over 123 years, and Kalgoorlie has produced hundreds of billions worth of gold and other important minerals, thanks to the ample supply of water available to the W.A. Goldfields. I see no similar success or monetary return for the Tasmanians on their sporting outlay. The only beneficiaries will be that small number of people involved in major sports, and sports events are not energy, water or food security plans.

If there's power spillage, it shows electricity is being generated and could be used, but it's simply going to waste. So the simple solution is to store or use that currently wasted energy. That's where big batteries or other forms of power storage come in. Hydroelectric dam water could be pumped to substantial height with surplus electricity, if the system was properly organised. The current system is simply disorganised, and money needs to be thrown into it to ensure it become organised. In future, I see AI playing a big part in organising surplus power to be distributed to prevent generated power loss. China currently has huge amounts of solar power being generated, but lost due to disorganisation. They are throwing money at it to try and solve the problem. There's a "fossil fuel" mindset amongst many that cannot get their heads around fossil fuels always being required to "back up the grid". It's not. It just requires a grid organised to deal with the more unpredictable power generation style of wind and solar. W.A. is pouring billions into huge batteries, this is needed to stabilise the system and to provide the backup needed for windless and heavy cloud days. There's probably a lot more can be done, and I believe generating power where it's needed, rather than generating it 500 or 1000 or 5000 kms away, and then distributing it via very expensive and hated power transmission lines, is wasteful and costly.

That's exactly what he said, as the deer went under.