Jerry_Atrick

Not that I get any satisfaction from it, but there are tragedies all over the world all the time where the people need help and there is little, if any coverage or news time given to them. I feel sorry for them and anyone who loses irreplacable memories or posessions.. A teacher of mine had his house burnt down, and when he returned, that was the loss that hurt him, all the other stuff,, he said was replaceable. Nor do I take any pleasure from hearing from the deaths, and of course extend condolences.. but I also lament the many others were it not for celebrity or in a big city in the US, would unlikely be more than a passing reference in the news. The other thing is that these people are probably the bigger contributors, on a per person basis, for personal contributions to climate change, Big houses, cars, bizjets, etc... I also live in a big house that requires copious energy just to keep warm.. And of course, I drvie to London weekly.. But I am trying to divest myself of all that crap.. I have written to the The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and local council that the listend building rules are cazy that we can't just replace single glazing with double galazing, we can just put solar on the rooves, etc.. without significant cost and time in getting planning for it... I can't wait until the place is dine up so I can live less carbon intensively.

In this case, she was quite visionary in making sure there was more money to handle the increase in homelessness 😉 I haven't watched that clip as Sky Australia is not exactly an impartial news source, and it has been shown that they use clever editing can take things completely out of context before.. But it does highlight a real challenge to politicians or more accurately, administering public services; where is the balance against the immediate needs? Could a fire like this have been predicted and what probability, against the need of remediating a bigg issue in the US (and getting bigger in Aus) - homelessness. And did she had to tackle it with resources that are in real terms dwindling. They only have limited resources, and they have to ptioritise things. Fires, especially like this, historically don't happen.. new data may adjust priorities. Also, what other factors are in play. You can have a million firefighters, but it will be next to useless if, as had happened, they ran out of water. There is some discsussion about a water redirection project from Nth CA to south CA, whiuch was rejected, but, again, why? Have to look behind the headlines and agenda pushing. It may be she did make bad decisions, or ideologically driven decisionsm ignoring striking a proper balance. But I am not relying on what sky pushes out, as I can point to many things they suypport that, when you look beyind ideology, are advasntageous to their owners and advertisers, but disadvantageous to most of the population.

Such as?

I need to go to specsavers.. for some reason, I though it was the George of the jungle 2 actor.. who has been promptly forgotten...

To be fair, it is more likely something I would do, except I would look to use fireproof material in case the sparks set fire to the brace.

I don't see how any news organisation can't get involved in reporting politics, and the ABC are not perfect, but on balance, are more objective (or less biased) than others. Despite the BBC copping a lot of flack by the same players, and yes, some very public faux pars in terms of bias, they are also the least biased of the lot.. And they certainly don't play their piper's tune.. Well partly because in the UK there is a TV license fee payable separate to general revenue which goes straight to them. Of course governments can change that, and the conservatives have very subtly over the years to significantly reduce funding in real terms, but the separation of revenue from general taxation does give the BBC an air of independence that maybe someone like TASS doesn't get. Of any news organisation in Australia, which do you trust the most, or distrust the least? (that is a general question and not targeted specifically to @Grumpy Old Nasho

Yes, ironically, how un-Australian is that newspaper?

Who taught the first person to fly? Are you suggesting we go back to being self-taught?

Different actors- the young fella is the second George of the Jungle Just benig pedantic

The media, or their owners, hide behind the veil of free speech. It is accepted the media hols great influence over the people, and are granted access to information and events that mere plebs aren't. With this, they are effetively the 4th arm of government, but with no, or little accountability. In a privileged position in society, whose purpose is to hold the government and others to account to the population, they should not be afforded free speech in the way free speech is meant which is to air one's own views - at least without making very clear that it is a view and ensuring the facts they used to back it up do not intentionally mislead. Sadly, the press hide behind this free speech shield to disingenuously push their agenda. It is conflated with fearless and free reporting.

Built by scammers for scammers should be their motto.

Do you have a reference for that, because everywhere I have looked and there are plenty of resources to say it is OK to live off grid in Sydney.. and here is an example of one such house: https://medium.com/@BrendonWalsh/the-self-sustainable-story-1db49db24fd3 There is a case where the council aren't allowing solar on the roof of heritage listed houses, but, given the space, that won't stop you going off grid with Solar in the back yard (she doesn't have any back yard to speak of, looking at that house). And the council is reviewing its rules to allow it, apparently: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-18/off-grid-inner-city-sydney-house-plan-laura-ryan/104734666 Whoever is telling you that is crapping you. Always pays to do your own research

One of the real issues with the media today, and I include the ABC in this on certain issues (see some of their Question Times, where the panels are stacked on one side of the issue), is the lack of providing a balanced viewpoints against the facts. They tend to run a story or show where the facts are presented in the context of one partisan viewpoint, with scant, if any coverage of the other side (whether it is politics or some other issue). Fro some media organisations, this is expected, but how good would it be to have two authorative or knowledgable people presenting their take on an issue in an objective context. Although this has been the case for a long time, thee was a modicum of differing views in the MSM, until I guess social media made them realise click bait and echo chambers bring in more eyeballs.. I guess.

F! Me.. Those bank fees over there are expensive.. Over here, the only fee I have to take my money is (as opposed to borrowing whether intention or not)... well.. there are none. It's illegal.. I think maybe there is a fee for terminating a term deposit, but it is not huge and can only be on the basis of reasonable cost. Also, over here, we have things called ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts). For adults it allows you to deposit up to £20K/year in cash and equities on permitted markets (European, US, Canada - not sure about Aus), and any returns are tax free. OK nothing to do with the banks per se, and they are sneaky as the returns are lower than fully taxed accounts (something I have personally taken up with the regulator as there is no cost difference to the banks), but shows what can happen if a government wants things to work for the consumer and betterment of the economy (yes, typically lower income people can't afford to deposit as much as higher income people). I haven't checked the Aussie retail banking scene lately, but would have thought with all the fintech around, someone would work out that you could make a killing by going techhie and not charging all those fees. But, there is consumer intertia - too hard or too lazy to change banks, which the oldies rely on. I think at the retail and small commercial level, it seems from the above, the Aussie banking sector is amongst the biggest scammers in the world - and governments of both stripes don't do much to curtail it. I am definitely keeping my UK accounts when I move to Aus. Geez, with all those charges, I am surprised cash is still not king, take what you need for the month out on payday and don't incur any other fees.. Of course, it shows what people are willing to pay for convenience when there is no real competition (I would almost assert a cartel). @octave - ISTR you use your credit cards to pay for everything and clear them monthly.. What charges, if any do you pay as a result (I know the CC gives you something like 30 or 55 days interest free)? With respect to HSBC, look up HSBC deferred prosecution agreements on the internet and you will see a few. But, alas, they are not the only ones; any of the bug European and US players have them.. as no doubt many others. I subscribe to various regulators' news feeds, and there is nary a day where there isn't an announcement of one of the major global players being fined for something. Some of it is genuine incompetence or the result of failing to control an organisation with too many tentacles; Some of it is malicous. Oddly, Aussie regulators are still not high on the number of enforecement stories that I receive.

Agreed.. This site desperately needs someone to keep the likes of me in check! Happy new year, @octave

I think that is a little out of context. Like all organisations, you will get the occasional rogue for genuine mistake for whatever reason. Ignroing the sensationalism of Sky and the Daily Wail, the ABC are announcing an independent inquiry into what went wrong: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/sep/17/abc-australion-troops-afghanistan-helicopter-footage-editing-ntwnfb I have not found anything subsequent. How often is the ABC embroiled in this sort of shennanigans compared to, I dunno, a record payout for continually and knowingly pedalling untruths about certain votyin machines in the 2020 US elections, and the other voting machine company are just getting started, too? And how much does that and other private press organisations get themselves into hot water, or are clearly manipulating stories? And how many even abisde by the guidance issued by the Aussie Press Council, as they have no teeth, let alone appoint an independent inquiry. You can think the ABC arre tainted, and they may be.. but if they are, they are miles behind the others..

A couple more including the view from my office but could not get the reflection of the interior lighting out of the shot

Taken just now. Beautiful London winters morning waiting for a train. -2.5 degrees.. nary a cloud in the sky and a plane on finals for Heathrow

Of course it's not anti-semetic to criticise the IDF< Israel, or Netanyahu. What is anti-semetic is when a Jewish state seems to be singled out to have to hold a higher form of morality than an islamic or Christian state. And that is what I am trying to call out. Where was the mass civilian outrage and open prejudice against Russian diaspora when Russia, unprovoked invaded Ukraine and targeted civilians (scorched earth policy) and continues today - just last week didn't they strike a hospital? Hardly hear anything from the pollies these days, let alone the civilians. At least there was some political outrage, but not enough to actually properly sanction their war machine for , what, about a year or so... And even then the known circumvention's around the sanctions are yet to be plugged. Where was the mass civilian and political outrage and the Yemeni/Saudi wars claimed over 500,000 civilian casualties of war each (including famine for Syria).. wars that seem to be about ethnic or tribal cleansing than a territorial gain.. I don't recall pollies saying too much other than it should stop. I certainly don't recall universities shutting down or Saudi/Yemeni/Syrian diaspora being openly discriminated. And each of these countries clearly delineate their civilian and military infrastructure.. Yes, Syria was a civil war, and this was therefore not as cut and dry. but still the numbers were well over the current conflict. Fun fact.. each of the other wars claimed over 100K civilian lives per year. The Iran and Iraq war, which lasted 20 years and only finished when the US invaded Iraq and Iran hated the US more than Iraq.. how many civilians did that take with it.. As I recall over 1m, but it could have just been under 1m.. either way, if its 50K per year.. and yes, both countries clearly delineated their military and civilian population.. Even this war has fewer than any of those casualties. outright and per year, but if you go back to 1948, And not long before 1948, the allies in WWII killed how many German civilians to get the job done? Oh, and not to mention the killing of how many citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with WMDs being dropped after, yes, after the Japanese emperor communicated willingness to surrender or at least a cease fire. That is all OK, right? And, I can go on.. Oh but the Jews evicted the Palestinians and this is different? Not quite, but again, even in Australia, we just voted down that didn't even guarantee a displaced population, having a bigger and in no way definitive voice in how the government runs their affairs.. Yet, I don't recall Aboriginals willingly saying, Hey, whities, have our land... (that was my point in the posts above). Oh, but that was all years ago and Israel is much more recent.. Tell that to the displaced Christian Kosovans. And how much noise is made about that? None.. things change, people move on. I could go on. Yet, when a sovereign and democratic country has had war declared against it, by a militia that decided to target civilians at a civilian festival and the last remnants of the socialist structures of a kibbutz, where there have been alleged recordings of these combatants calling their mother and boasting about killing jews; where they were alleged to be atrocious and brutal about it (decapitating, sodomising, etc). and that attacked country responds like this: Informs the world and Gazans they are going to invade to get Hamas.. Amass outside the gates to Gaza for a long time, I recall about 7 days, warning civilians to move to safer areas Enter Gaza and seek out Hamas who bunker where? Well, where the Civilians are (or at least where they forced them to stay, or as is being more commonly alleged, though I don't necessarily believe, civilians are willingly participating in. That before an operation they allegedly generally give a 10 minute warning of where they are going to strike to give civilians a chance to get out (what other country or fighting force does that?) They target where their intelligence says Hamas is hiding out, but Hamas make the decision to not delineate themselves from their civilian population and are alleged to force the civilians to remain as human shields, knowing full well they have engaged in a war with Israel.. Yet, despite all this, Israel still cops mass political and civilian process and their diaspora are openly targeted, including the Rippon Lea synagogue in Melbourne.. you know the one firebombed. Everyone who is calling for a ceasefire is really calling for Israel to stop. They have persistently said they are happy to stop withthe release of the hostages and the disarming of a world recognised terrorist organisation. How often do you hear of public pressure being brought against Hamas to do that? And you are telling me that is not some form of collective, if not individual double standards, discrimination, and for Jews, antisemitism? That is my point. Enough is enough.. It's time Hamas stopped targeting its own citizens knowing full well an internationally recognised and legal sovereign country has the duty to defend and protect from further threat its citizens. But people seem to he holding Israel to some higher moral standards..or some greater level of expected capitulation..

I was expecting that response.. countries are changing all the time.. why is the establishment if a Jewish stare different to the establishment of, oh, I dunno, Australia or the USA or Canada or New Zealand.. Yet, apart from the fringes of society, I don't see anyone in a mad rush to hand back the land lock stock and barrell to the indigenous populations... anything to do with it being a Jewish state that makes it different? Look at Kosovo.. previously a Christian enclave only changed to a Muslim state in the 90s if you want to use the passage of time as an argument.. no one is out there saying hand it back to the Christians.. I'll tell you one difference.. the Jews legitimately purchased a lot of the land they were to later lay claim to their country- and started in the 1800s.. so to quote all Palestinian land as people think.. or are told.. isn't quite accurate, either..but I don't recall evidence of the other occupations I listed resulting from purchasing land legitimately, either.. and while we're at it, how many are calling for California to be returned to Mexico? The Nakbah? Well the narrative is Arabs we're forced off their land.. and they were.. but different sides will tell different stories - the Arabs us it was the Jews; the Jews say they were happy for the Arabs to stay if they laid down their weapons but chose not to; then I hear Mossab Youssef (I think that's his name), the son of a Hamas founder say the Arab armies told or ordered Arabs off the land and they could return when the Arab armies defeated the Jews. Which didn't happen. Who to believe? I don't know . But I agree the root cause is institutionalised religion; get rid of that and a lot of the worlds problems go away.. But that isn't going to happen any time soon In terms of the current problem, like it or not Israel is a sovereign country, recognised internationally, and is by no means the youngest. So the root cause, has now moved.. sort that out and you will have peace. Not sure what oil has to do with this one.

I agree.. enough is enough.. but what has to happen to stop it. As usual everyone is piling it on Israel.. Who took the action to target 100% civilians in a country that clearly delineate civilian and military populations? And knowing (and arguably desiring) the response that was to come- not a response that targets civilians, but targets the combatants who do what? Hide behind civilians. Don't forget, Palestinians we're given in today's money billions to build a country and they chose tunnels and enriching their PLO and then Hamas elite.. and allegedly hide behind their civilian populations waging a war of terror. And what do you think will happen if Israel move out and allow Hamas to re-arm? My guess is this will never end. As far as I am aware there have Been quite a few ceasefire demands on the table... and Israel's conditions are generally two: return the hostages and Hamas to disarm.. Yes.. it has to stop.. but tell me any country in the same position that would react differently.. So when saying something has to be done, look at the root cause. Also 500,000 Yemenis, 300,000 Syrians, and how many Africans and what does the world do or say about it? De Nada. I can't help but think Strip out religion and a lot of problems would go away

Walking with my daughter to the pub for NYE, she came up with this out of the blue: How do Elon Musk's robots procreate? SpaceX (Normally that would be a dad joke!)

I can't remember the exact dates, but I think it went in on something like the August or October before COVID lockdown for what should have been a month, but apparently there were some issues with the build quality and someone used a lot of bog on the skin, so they cut things out and reparied them, but at this stage other work was backing up. It came out of the shop I think in March 2020, literally 2 days before lockdown. Thanks to a government tax change and a slow down in the work I was doing at the time, coupled with a long lockdown, I had all but shut my consultancy down as figured I wouldn't be working in London anymore. As the aircraft was based at Blackbushe, in Eastern Hampshire, I figured that keeping ownership of the share was not practical. Also, I was looking for work in Aus,, because thanks to the banking royal commission, the work I was doing at the time was starting to see demand in Aus. However, in the end, family would prevent me from moving on it. To give an idea of the distance from my place to the airport the Shareoplane is based (Blackbushe: EGLK): But one Saturday I took my son for a flight, the drive was three hours (I hadn't been able to fly from London and base it at my closer airport in Dunkeswell for the weekend). In late 2020, a friend of another shareholder was asking if anyone wanted to sell their share. I didn't want to, however, with little money coming in and them wanting to update an already advanced avionics set (the shareholders were serious buffs with one having over 10,000 PPL hours and most having a share in a twin as well). With little money coming in and the prospect of having to hand over £8K in a cash call for the avionics upgrade, as well as the fact this syndicate didn;t charge an add on per hour flying to generate a maintenance fund, reluctantly, I sold the share. However, I did make about 2K on the purchase price, which covered the call for the paint and most of the monthly subs I was not able to fly it. But, emotionally, I do regret it even though, at the time, it was the right thing to do financially, Of course, having come out the other side in OK, but not as good shape, I do now regret it. But, it has meant I have been able to push through the refurb, despite us not estimating the windows in the original plans, and that adding the cost of a decent early 80s Piper Warrior to the cost of the refurb. And while the shareoplane was a TB20, there is a tidy TB21 for sale in Aus at the moment, that if it doesn't sell, will look at when I get there, and if I can nab it, will syndicate out to three or four others. In the mean time, as I suspected, the new member would be turfed out, and he was. They invited me to buy his share back, but I wasn't really in a position to, so for a while, paid a bit extra on the monthly and hourly rate - which was about the commercial rate for hiring a clapped out spam can Warrior, and flew it until a new syndicate member bought in. It is a darned good aircraft though.. Can not understand why the (I think they are referred to as) Bermudan series of aircraft didn't have more commercial success, at least in Europe. The aircraft is here: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n20tb In lieu of a TB series (have also flown the TB10 - equivalent of an Archer, I guess, but soooo much better), maybe a Commander 114, or a PA32 (Lance II probably).. Mooney's cabins are too small in the rear as I tend to take pax (never share costs though) and so use (not need) more load carrying capability than most LSAs have. Otherwise, for Aus, would definitely go LSA.

Slower than I want.. but hadn't originally planned to do the windows

Well, time for an update. More of the floor above has been done (on the other side of the room). My partner is fastidious about filling the gaps in the flkoor boards (because anything that gets between them shows up like a sore thumb against the dark stain). The welcome side effect is the room is a lot warmer now. A lot of the new windows have been fitted.. Long post: Upstairs Dunny window as it was: and for some reason, don't have an outside shot of it. Upstairs Dunny new window: (Hmm No outside version) Upstairs Shower Room Window as it was (note, the area around the sill was previously tiled - this was taken while work needed to be completed). (Again, for some reason, no outside version) New upstairs shower room Upstairs Main Bathroom that was (the top one) Upstairs bathroom that is: Upstairs single bedroom as was: No Outside Shot for some reason Upstairs Single Bedroom Now Upstairs - First Larget Bedroom as it was As it is Middle Large Bedroom as it was Middle Large Bedroom as is (the top one - the bottom one is the formal dining room...) Main Bedroom as was As is: 2nd smaller bedroom as was Don't have an outside one for some reason As is: Formal Dining Room as it was And now as it is: (Bottom one) And here are the ones to go, apart from the kitchen door replacement and the new bifolds which will replace the formal living room windows in the Bat, This is for this kitchen/diner window: The three verticles replace three of these on the flank wall of the kitcheN: The panes to the left of these are for the kitchen/diner window above, I think. The below, I can't get rid of, for some reason... But labelled Formal dining room - new Basemint windos -to be painted and taking the bars down to the concrete. Basement window to the boiler room. Original - can't touch them - just a slight restore to be done. Study window to be replaced by another window maker who specialises in curved windows. You don't want to know how much that is costing me. Kitchen door - to be replaced with wood (it is PVC, as are a few of the others) First of the larger bedrroms Dining room again. The bay window to the formal living room. Will be replaced with bi-fold doors to the garden. Inside of the Bay with an undecorated xmas tree. Inside of the study window. Used to be the private chapel room for the rector. PVC informal dining room - kitchen diner to be replaced from the inside. Study again Kitchen door from the inside. Kitchen door again from the inside showing the gap tha we will be remediating with the new doors. It is PVC. New one will be wood.