Jerry_Atrick

Agree. .that was my point.. And I hate to say, it does include those you mentioned.. To then be locked up and slowly have pain inflicted on them... Revenge is best served cold.

Well, it sort of depends on your viewpoint, doesn't it. As a species, generally, one procreates to ensure survivial of that species.. therefore to that species, that species life is most valuable. At a macro level, though, the whole ecology has evolved such that most life forms are required to maintain the balance. Systemically, to tne environment, how valuable is each life form - even viruses? Very important would be the answer. For example. get rid of dingoes, and the land is destroyed - grasses gone, etc.. Why? Because dingoes do a better job of controlling the roo population from overgrazing the land than people. Infividually, a dingoe's life is unimportant.. but on scale, they become very important. On that basis, you would have to question whether human life at scale is really that important - in the numbers it is in and continues to grow relative to other life forms? That is not to say we shouldn't continue the western notion of the sanctity of human life - in fact in western societies, there seems to be a natural balancing act of reducing population through less reproduction (more practice, but less babies popping out). Other cultures thought, are developing at rabbit speed.

A woman I met at work a few years ago was of Italian descent from Melbourne. Apparently her grandfather, with a couple of other Italians, started importing the espresso machines into Australia and started the trend in Aus. While I agree that US adfvertising and culture has helped, apparently the coffee in Aus is far better than the USA, anyway. Otherwise, Starbucks and the like would have made it big time in Aus, but instead, went broke (I think starbucks is having another crack). I don't drink tea of coffee.. don't like the taste and and dissuaded by hot drinks (I used to buy hot chocolates in the morning when commuting on a motorbike - to warm my hands up in winter - rarely actually drank the stuff). Daugher, though. at 19, is a precocious coffee nut (or bean.. not sure - maybe both)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-24/meadow-creek-solar-farm-charles-sturt-king-valley-farmer-fight/104366698?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

While Chump's populariy is in decline, the fact is that the Democrats are still behind him, according to most polls. Of course, the only day that matters is the elections, but we have him for at least three years.. and if he gets his way, it will be until he pops off his perch.

First world problems..

I was at a fly in many years ago at Sywell airfield, Northamptonshire. A prominent Wiltshire farmer was leasing his land to a sloar company to create a huge farm. His motivation, and I quote, "the more money, the better!"

Holy thread resurrection, Batman! OK.. I have been remiss of posting. The reality (in case people haven't guessed), is we hit a pause. There have been a few personal things arise that needed dealing with, attending to forum posts, work things that have cropped up. Plus, we ran out of money. But we have some more now, so things are going to start. There has been a heap of windows, wood, and debris outside our back door for months.. But nothing like the fear of cost rises to put one into action. The cost per ton of disposing of rubbish is set to rise from $4.20 to over £120/ton! So, the skip arrives today, and all of the crap will be gone, ASAP. The budget is late this year because the government is broke and is looking behind the sofa cusions.. so best get the rubbish out before the budget announcement later in November. We don't actually have that much to do in terms of complexity - mainly decoration now and the final electrics. There was a booboo with some kitchen panels though, so that has to be fixed. And some electrics to be completed. Lots of garden work though. And there is a lot of decoration, but we have been at it for quite some time now. She does the fiddly bits; I get new toys. But partner and I have resolved that Christmas will be our last one here and we will move on ASAP. She has thrown me an incentive - as soon as the house goes on the market, I can go flying again! Yippee! Booking in a medical for both CAA and CASA enbd of November. I'll post some pohotos this weekend!

hear, hear! Also, as a pilot, they make great landmarks, too (though perferably away from airfields).

That is a perfectly valid objection. It doesn't pretend that facts aren't facts and myths are facts. Even if, after considering all the facts, you prefer fossil fuels, that is totally valid, too. Who is anyone to argue with personal opinions - these are value judgements. I may not agree with your value judgement and express why, but my value judgement is no more valid than yours. But if you are justifying your opinions by misstating facts, or by following mob rulle, well, expect to be challenged, because you are signalling your judgement is based on flaws. That goes for everyone. Many times I have had to eat humble pie (and many times more I will have to), because my opinon was on flawed knowledge. Knowing the full facts sometimes changes my mind; sometimes doesn't. Personally, and people will probably find it hard to believe, aesthetically, I like industrial plants and industry in general. I saw the refineries in Altona as awesome as a young fella; I loved working at the Williamstown Naval dockyards - not because I have a love of boats/ships, but the industrial complex was beautiful in a skill I will never have (engineering), and a display of human ingenuity. I have worked on power stations, processing plants, military complexes, etc and to me, they are aesthetic. I know ecologically open cut mines are ecologically devastating, but they hold an aesthetic beauty to me despite the damage they have done. Of course, things like ash ponds in coal plants are ughly - you have to take the good with the bad, I guess. So, for me, the first time I saw a wind farm proper - driving from San Fransciso Airport to downtown SF, I was in awe at the myriad of turbines on a hill that spanned probably 50 or so acres. The hill was barren (I had seen it many times before), so what for you would be a spoilt vista - for me was an enhanced one. But that's just an opinion, and I know I am in the minority by far. The problem I have is that, as the the ABC article implies, we are starting to witness the modern day mobs with their pitchforks and scythes intending to burn land owners at the stake for installing clean renewables that will improve lives and economies, based on total misinformation and mob mentality. Recuded land values, reduced employment, higher long term costs, etc.. are all bovine excrement made up to preserve existing industries and profits. The reality is the world keeps turning; even if there was no climate crisi looming, human nature is to compete and progress and (hopefully) make life better.. these people are trying to stop it to rpreserve their profits, come what may. What is more, is the real threats to employment and what remnants of wealth remain in the middle and lower classes - you know - the ones that cry renewables will take our jobs, being technology and AI - are somehow spared this mob mentality to be attacked with piotchforks and scythes. Could it be because mooney controls the message?

Ok.. let me get this right.. the ant-climate change lobby can't win the argument on facts and peer reviewed science anymore, so they are pushing contrast and compare to medieval witch hunts by papal or monarchy decree, at a time when there was little peer review of the basis of those decrees.. let alone science? Is that now the argument? Says it all, really. Oh wait! Hold my beer, etc! The witch hunts are back: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-31/anti-renewables-campaigns-fuel-community-division-in-regions/105938440?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Erm.. last one I officially did (in London) caused a big traffic jam in Reggio Emelia in Italy, very temprarily threatening world supplies of Parmesan cheese (well the first bit is true, the second bit about Parmesan cheese is for effect only).

Sort of a positive.. My typos are becoming legendary... Just yesterday, the salutation on one of my emails started with "Fear all,"... F and D are close, and spell checker didn't pick it up. A few weeks ago, when referencing a big data product, Data Bricks, my typings was "Data Pricks"... B and P are miles away; someone suggested a Fruedian slip given who I was addressing the email to.. This morning, signing off an email. "Kind retards,".. T is above the G.. Could have been a Fruedian as well.. Take solace that fellow forumites do not suffer alone.

To be uite honest, I am ambivalent to the BOM (and UK MetOffice) sites. I use Skydemon for my weather, or third party sites. In the field of technology, relatively recent specalisms are UI/UX. UI = user interface, and UX = user experience. The latter is about the expeience of the site, and the former is the physical implementation of the desired experience. Personally, I think the specialisms are... hmm... immature. UX evolves from different areas, but the UK government User Experience standards seems to be either the genesis or distiallation of these principles. And, they suck, One of the things UI/UX people have to do is cater for the different capabilities of users - and the range of disabilities they have - hearing, vision, motor, muscular and no doubt many other types of impediments need to be catered for to ensure accessibility as much as possible to everyone. And that also includes the mental impediments, and even just ignorance of the particular subject. That is a good thing that user interfaces seek to cater to the vast arrany of people that would otherwsie be left behind. The problem is, they tend to wrap it up in one user interface - a sort of one size fits all. The problem with that is the majority of people don't have all of the impediments they are seeking to cater for. The result is generally able bodied and minded people are presented, what to them are inefficeint or even patronising user interfaces, and in fact some mixes of impediments are disadvantaged. One solution is to have different UIs for different types of users - but there are too many variations to be practical. Where do you draw the line? However, the MetOffice (whose site I haven't been on for a while) took a different approach, although it seems to have changed... there are different use cases for weather.. There is general use, agriculture, aviation, etc. The MetOffice had microsites for the major use cases and everything else was in the general site. It seems to have changed to when I was last on it, maybe they are now charging (I didn't spend enough time on it): https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/business-industry/agriculture This is where the UI/UX profression has, IMHO, a long way to go.. The one sixe fits all is terrible. The uk.gov websites may makle it accessible to disabled people, which is good, but there is no option for abled people to do their business in an optimised manner, which is bad - but I guess with the investment budget available, they can't please everyone and the better of the two options is to be inclusive. I think one of the problems with these site revamps is no 12 of this humourous internet salvo from days gone by: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/car-balk/ Re the UI verus cybersecurity vulnerabilities - the site could have its sybersecurity flaws addressed without chaning the UI itself (no doubt code would have to change, but the UI could have been faithfully replicated - but with improvements to scrolling, area selection, etc). I don't mind the BOM website, but in honesty, I wouldn't see myself using it anyway.

I don't know why you bother responding. Haven't seen so much bovine excrement since Chump himself. No need to feed the constant p155 in the wind

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-29/bureau-of-meteorology-ordered-to-fix-website-after-backlash/105945832?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Gripe of the Week: I am sitting in a new city commuter train.. very nice and comfy and shiny new. I need to go for a leak and guess what, even though it is a city commuter, it has toilets (dunnies for you people downundah). Open the door, the dunny isn't flished and there mound of dunny paper next to the dunny all with shit streaks. Some of them are stuffed in the hand towel bin. FFS! What is wrong with society today.. why are people so shit, sometimes? Yes, we had graffiti when we were kids and the occasional accident, but this was intentional. How hard is it to put dunny paper in the bowl and hit the button marked F. I hit the button and whoosh - all the stuff in the bowl was cleaned away. Sometimes humanity pisses me off. Foul fingered rant over.

From an ABC News Quote quiz: After reasing this thread, it was an easy guess. The site looks OK to me..

I ended our family netfix subscription about 6 months ago or more.. A lot of the movies I wanted to watch aren't on it, and it was numbing the kids minds. Well, one has flown the coup and the other doesn't seem to miss it.

Both Montague Street and York street are iconic. Wouldn't have either any other way.. you can see the water under York street and the height and warnings under Montague street. Shows up human numpties..

These types of laws are already in place over here.. can still get rentals

Aye, it will

The "You hear?" in my poultry (intended) attempt at humour was meant to be interpreted as urea... Should have said you're ear.. but that would have been worse!

Reconstituting it, you hear?