Jerry_Atrick

I get your point (I thiink). The only thing that I can see that Australia can do to defend against attack is to bolster its defences. And, of course that takes money. But, selling all the coal and gas in Australia isn't going to cure that situation. Here are the reasons: Australia is, relatively speaking, a free and democratic society. We don't use authoritarian tactics like artificially keeping wages low and people in economic servitude to bolster the soverign economy. Our foes you speak of do, which means they can basically force teh development of an industry and the military or equivalent of the Stasi will step in if you don't comply. On the economic front, we are fighting with one arm tied behind our back. As Australia lacks the economies of scale of a large population, we are further hindered in that role. We receive very little recompense for the extraction and sale oversears of our natural resources. Shareholders, and a decent chunk of them are foreign, so the money provided from these activities direct into the government coffers to support the massive real increase in defence spending is really not that great. Yes, the indistries employe a lot of people on very good salaries, and this contributes to taxation through wages and the local economy, but these people still need roads, schools, hospitals, art galleries, police, and the like.. Our successive governments have been reliant on foreign powers to protect us, and foreign countries (mostly) to equip us. And in a global conflict, when the chips are down, especially with AUKUS, which basically has us paying over the odds for subs that are operationally less appropriate for the defence of Australia, if we are to get them, we play second or third fiddle when it comes to the supply of parts. We've now got Tomahawk cruise missiles (or maybe they are coming). Problem is, the operators are US, and sit in the pentagon, and guess where those ones with the Aussie flag painted are going in the time of need.. Not to the targets that Australia needs, if at the same time stocks are low and there is a pressing US threat. But, on the bright side, operationally, Australia is a very difficult country to sttack and take over because it has the natirual barrier that surrounds it, and keeping supply lines open is key. Also, as the Ukraine war has shown, you don't need all the expensive kit if you ar innovative - but there still is, albeit a slower, brain drain of Aussie talent as it headed overseas where their skills were more able to be utilised at a more mass scale. Sadly, meglamaniacs are always around.. there's not much we can do to stop them, but we can make sure we are ready for it when it happens. However, climate change can be addressed in terms of continual change... it takes the will of people. We can still use coal and other fossils.. but they are, at the end of the day, just energy sources. The won't go away, but for civilian use, we can move right off it, and remove the impacts.. and we stand a better chance of building a decent economy if we do move off it because our costs will be lower.

Working? In Canberra? Didn't know there was such a thing (military, emergency services, and cleaning staff, excepted).

Do you have grand kids, and if si, are you happy leaving them an increasingly ruined world? If so different values, I guess. The "economic advantage" just means two things.. first - remove the artificial subsidies and it is no longer economically advantageous anyway; and secondly, the deferred costs will have to be picked up by future generations- except it won't just be starvation, but war, too. And they will be our sproglets that will be caught up.. The only real saving grace from the above is that the western world population is in implosion territory, so global energy demand will naturally reduce.. But, from the iea website, advanced economies are removing their reliance on coal.. the great thing about new generation technologies is that the investment unlocks massive power sources very cheaply and efficiently.. which means cheaper input costs to production. Coal does not become cheaper to produce and is exhaustive, eventually. The coattails of coal is shrinking. Even according to the iea snspshot, the coal demand is forecast to plateau in 2025. China uses it because it is cheap, but they want out if it. Sadly, India is not as progressive with its investment policy. We don't use horses anymore, nor do we ubiquitously use V8s to get a lot of power from a clump of metal. we have been getting over 100hp oer litre from smalker engines in retail cars for 20 years now. If fact, it looks like we will be decreasing using crude oil based gasoline in transport. My means if transport to work today was entirely electric from the double decker bus to the train, to the tube.. Like it or not, coal is slowly dying despite its uptick in demand. It fires less than a third of all power generation and is likely to continue to fall relative to others. It is still necessary for steel milling, but hydrogen is gathering pace in Europe and, based on cheaper power from non-coal sources (except nuclear). There is no doubt coal and other fossil fuels are still profitable and will be for some time. The world is too reliant inthe mass scaled infrastructure.. But the transition is happening, and those that own the manufacturing and infrastructure in newer technologies will gain heaps. Unless, of course armageddon beckons

Have you got a reference for that as the only thing I could find is an AFR headline thst says the taxpayer has to cover the latest budget blowout.. which is stating the flaming obvious as the tax payer funds everything public

There is more info here: https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-mid-year-update-july-2024/overview But what's your point?

Clearly this company is a tax write off for its owners. SFM's track record of failure is well known and he is hardly going to get a sympathetic ear in Canberra. Who better to ensure the demise of a company?

His post does have the ring of spammer about it, but Ihave yet to see him markting anything, like this which I am forever being spammed on: https://oxford-onlineprogrammes.getsmarter.com/presentations/lp/oxford-artificial-intelligence-programme/?cid=15279691602&utm_contentid=687878416552&ef_id=c:687878416552_d:c_n:g_ti:kwd-624886762712_p:_k:oxford ai course_m:e_a:132808167594&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpbi4BhByEiwAMC8JnWWx1ZRQDjSKOexWNUpavat_jud9t9fRUSNN2kI_U6gE54qUA62CxhoCB-4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's OK.. I was more coming from an occupational/career perspective.

Agree, OME, but at that point, them offering me a cuppa would probably inflame things for me.. I want the bloody thing fixed or my money back, not a cuppa! woudl be my reaction.

Actually, how many of you use Google, or Ecosia, or any of the popular search engines? They all have deployed AI for years.. how do you thhink they understand "what is a xxxxxx?" These are all forms of AI and AI has been around for around 50 years. The modern advances in chip processing power, and some sifty use of massive parralel but very small instruction set processeors (or GPUs, Graphic Processing Units) has allowed AI to be far more interactive. In analgous terms, it has moved from the DOS command line to early versions of Windows, to now mid-versions.. Do we need AI? No. Do we really need any technological advancement? No. But technoclogical advancement brings significant benefits - or advantages; as it brings significant disadvantages. The trick is to harness the advantages and minimise the disadvantages. AI, like many businesses, will be used predominantly in the commercial sense. Can a company massively increase their productivity? We are trialling it with a popular online meeting software package to remove the need for a minute taker. The reality is the scribe or however known the person who was in meetings for minute taking as long gone the ay of the dodo, so there is no employee savings to be made; the benefit is the in crease in productivity in minute taking, summarisation of key points, etc. Even if it gets it only 80% right, it is a massive inprovement in productivity. I think AU is near the point where it will be a net remover of jobs from the economy. While automation has removed a lot of jobs from the production line (think car manufacturing), it has given other jobs, which admittedly require more training and a desire to move into those areas. But history is full of change.. Want a career in agriculture? Better be preapred for training at a tertiary level because there aren't too many labouring jobs around anymore - least not compared to those in days gone by. AI online systems doesn't mean how to program AI, oether; there are AI courses in how to use it effectively - I have seen jobs a "AI Prompt Engineers" that pay handsomely. Using AI properly to generate code; write prose, or create images (save for the copright challenges) does require some getting used to. There are courses to understand its application, its limitatins, ethical uses, etc.. It may not be a career choice, but for a lot of people, neither is maths. But if it becomes so uniquitous it is important to learn about it, then should we not learn about it? Is life not a long learning experience?

Quite an interesting, but valid observation...

Dat was da turd Irish joke today.

I don't go to Sky, Australian, AFR and the like. I steer clear from Murdoch as much as possible. My sources are ABC, Guardian, indepdedents (think fugitive journalst, Shane Dowling; Micahel west Media, adn the like). And I do go to the Age as wll, and AFL.com.au, but that doesn't count in this context. I often will check against offical sites (organisation, government, etc). as well, because I have found all sources of media will present the facts in a biased way. Of course, when an opinion is formed, it also take into account my personal experience/values and anecdotal observations. In this case, my observation is Albol isn't a great leader. That does not mean he is a bad politician. When I contrast him to an unpopular PM, but respected leader, who I think Albo draws mentoring/inspiration from, Keating, or other leaders such as Hawke, Albo strikes me as a good deputy. He is not able to connect with the electorate; he is not able to take courageious decisions, or in the case of stage 3 tax cuts, which I think most knew his government were going to change, was not up front with the electorate. The small target strategy doesn't work, except in the unusual case where the opposition were completely stuffed as ScoMo was. Albo's history as PM and even leader of the Oppo seems to be littered with schoolbiy errors. I am not saying I am any better - but I don't pretend I am a leader.

Well, for once the MSM seems to have go it right.. My opinion may be consistent with the MSM, but it is not based on purely what the MSM have to say.

That does not excuse no action, and justice delayed is also justice not done. ScoMo's conduct certainly looked like a prima face case of perjury; and the evidence tended certainly looked like a prima facie case of public malfeasance. The others also have allegations to answer. The NACC said they wouldn't investigate as the Royal Commission had already investigated and there was nothing more to investigate or be gained by investigating. Their remit is not to make political judgements, but to investigate poential corruption and abuse of position. They did not come out and say that there was no case to answer. It makes no difference whether those involved have moved on or not. If there is a case to answer, there is a case to answer. Of course, the sealed section of the rRoyal Commission report, and the secrecy of the NACC means the public don't have the opportunity to scurtinise. And, BTW, if the consequences of the government actions has been that people are alleged to have taken their lives as a direct result, if that is not exceptional enough circumstance to make the information public (of course, there is no requirement in the legilsation to do that - only the hearings), than what is? Easy way to keep it from the public - don't have a hearing!

Yes and no. Offically, under the UK's unwritten consititution, the Monarch is "the found of all justice", which means the mondarch (and only the monarch - not the rest of the royal family) have absolute power over the law. The monarch, if so desired, can dossolve parliament. In my dealings with the military here, as in Aus, they made it clear their allegiance was to the monarch and not the government (It was back ion the 90s for the ADF). The practice though is that the monarchs are figureheads and I would argue the governor general has more real power in Australia than the monarch has over the UK. But, the military actually has the power, because if they decide to go rogue, good luck to anyone stopping them. Just look at all the military coups and the dictators that have been put in and ousted by them. What saves countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, and the like going rogue? Two things; First a genuine belief in democracy and freedoms (yes, both are under attack); and 2) a respect for the rule of law. There is also a respct for free speech but consuequences for a its abuse. We can see the USA departing from these principles far more than others, and they are for further down the line of civil war than others.

Yes. when leadership was required, they were found wanting.

A quick call to Business Angels (https://yourbusinessangels.com.au/) probably would have sorted that out.

Absolutely agree there was a lot wrong when they got in. And I think that they haven't been given a fair run by most press organisations, including the ABC. But, the NACC was their doing, not ScoMos.. I would suggest that there is nothing confidential about the gas poluicy consultation/recommendation policy unless it specifically lists confidental contractual clauses, but these can be redacted - I would not think the bulk of the document that was redacted would reference these. These are within the Albanese government's remit, or gift, not a constraint on them from the previous government. Do I think they are doing a better job than the LNP? Yes, marginally. Would I vote for them over the LNP as they are today? Yes, I probably would in a two-party race. Do I think the presenter of the above vid is biased? No.. He calls out all sides and in this case, he is reading from a West Media article, anyway. And I wold hardly call Michael West biased against the ALP. What I think is that Australians are victims of one of their most endeared traits - easy going, which leads to apathy. The problem is, it is coming home to roost in may ways. Cost of living that doesn't need to be as high as it is, public finances stretched because of waste and the corporate welfare (of which Japan is one of many beneficiaries), environmental disasters through lack of government action as they acqiesce to the lobbysists, (and probably work to secure their personal futures (https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-party-insiders-line-up-pay-day-from-morrison-government-policy-20241008-p5kgog.html), virtually no action from the Robodebt, Banking, Veterans, and other royal commissions that were extremely scathing... Wha about makinng progress on greening Australia? Plibersek seems to have gone very quiet laterly. Maybe Aussies need to give a bit more of a ship and let it be known and be prepared to votet the other way before it gets untenable, as it did with the ScoMo government. On Albanese, I said it before, and I will say it again. He is not a good leader - a good deputy - yes, but he, and his advisors cannot read the room. When Albo took over, the electorate was calling for change and looking for someone to take bold decisions for the country - from economic to environmental. Instead we got a well deserved pet project at the wrong time and so poorly handled, dilly-dallying on stage 3 tax cuts until they did more damage to themselves by not coming out even before the election and saying it was crazy and we will fix it. The fact his team probably handled the economic issues far better than the LNP would have with the same government is not lost, but the public still see they are worse off and the government seems distracted and pushed around. On the transparency thing, they made promises they would be the most transparent government.. This is something totally within their gambit, but they have no intention of fulfilling that promise. First scam of the week talks about it, too:

I agree, the rules of parliament are a farce that breeds farcists.. But at some stage someone with enough quality can rise above it and still land those media suckered punches to their opponents? Sadly, despite having a great opportunity after the previous mob, Albo is not the right person to do that. Nor is his government proving to live up to their own promotion of themselves as being the most transparent. I think the secret hearings of the NACC have now proven them already to not be anywhere near the transparent government they promised to be, but this takes the cake: Quite frankly, Juice Media's labelling them the less ship party is misleading... they are worse because the Libs don't pretend where they stand... these fellas do

Just recently riots were sparked thanks to Farage quoting "reports" of a Muslim refugee teenager having killed a toddler up North. Garage then baited the mob by saying the police, By not naming the accused was agaist British people and for the Muslims. Farage is, and at the time was an MP and knew it was agaist the law to release the name of an accused minor until a charge had been laid. The police had already released the fact they had a minor in custody, and the source of the reports that Farage was relying on was Andrew Tate (if you don't know who he is look him up). Of course Farage didn't disclose the source of the reports but implied they came from official sources given he is an MP. This sparked mass riots against Muslims and their property.. by thugs who went to the area of the murder (none were from the area). While clearly Farage and Tate are insidious, I don't believe all of the rioters or Muslim bashers are.. but just joining in.. I could of course be wrong, but I can't help but think breaking down barriers through education and integration would go a long way The teenager was eventually identified as a local kid with a history of mental illness and not Muslim

@newsaroundme - how is your Pythin coming along? There have been changes at my work, where although I run a risk technology product team (meaning, effectively business analysts to deliver risk management systems), with new senior management, we are going to change a lot over the next couple of years - not that that will impact me as I won't be there too much longer. But one of the things my new manager has hinted at is that she wants us to be both product and development teams, and with AI looming, wants us to pick up Python and the various libraries. As I am sick of management (I have already told my manager I am not interested in a more senior role, as the current one I have is not what I signed up for), I am looking forward to using company time to learn advancec Python and put together an application framework along the lines of numpy, pandas, matplotlib, and scipy, but wondering what AI libraries you are using in your new quest?

Corowa is a sleepy town in the Riverina district of NSW, near the border of Vic. It is a pretty town and a hit with tourists to the region for the Rutherglen winery region as well (does the Rutherglen Red still rattle along)? I have flown into Corowa a few times as an alternative destination to Tocumwal, and in my flight planning it was always the diversionary airfield. In fact, it is too pretty a town, otherwise it would be on my retirement list ahead of Tocumwal. So, I was a little shcoked to see this in the news today: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-12/white-supremacists-rally-in-country-nsw-town-of-corowa/104465704 Corowa doesn't strike me as a home to white supremacists or other fanatical type groups. But it did get me thinking.. What do we do with these groups? Firstly, I don't condone them, or any others for that matter (yes, black people can be racists, too). But, I remember tThe Age and Huffpost expose a couple fo years ago, or so, of the Nazi white supremacists in Melbourne.. And I recall reading about how there were a few leaders who were alledged to have been quite nasty, but for the most part, they members were lower socio-economic or "poor performng" types, and the feeling of the articles that they are the forgotten and best kept forgotten people, who have found belonging in the Nazi/white suopremacists groups - groups that validate them and either instill or validate them blaming others for their plight. This may be the case, but can we go on ignoring these people, lest these grups continue to gather steam, or do we need to do something else. Look at the Maga movement in the USA. Willing to blame everything on everyone else, but also, they may not have the capacity, for whatever reason - nature or nurture - to rise above it? I have a feeling the white supremaicsts, and other fanatics largely come from the same mould. A couple of evangelical evils offering the "down and outers" for want of a better term a home, belgonging, and a voice... something they lack in mainstream society. Our capitaliistic society does not really cater for them. We won't employ them because they may not be up to the job. The state system also lets them down - The education system isn't geared to handle anything other than the mainstream (the gifted are as poorly catered for as the ungifted), welfare is a dole check and that is about it.. What hope do they have, except when these groups offer them hope? And of course, when they engage in this behaviour, we are quick to cast them aside as evils, when what they may be saying is "hey, we don't have a voice here, yeah we are blaming the dagos (or is it spelled, dagoes), and we want them out so we can have their jobs. You won't give us the jobs anyway, but we don't care now.." etc. If you look at what Trump said about them, there are "good people" on both sides. While the world decried it, I will admit, I agreed.. the trick is how to get the good to come out. Maybe by that stage, all is lost. Or maybe if we can constrcutively engage and find a place for them (some, most, who knows) to feel part of mainstream society, maybe the good can come out? I don't condone the behaviour at all, but let's face it, these groups are gathering steam; we can see it in the USA, in Europe, in the Middle East, and now in Australia.. Yeah, there is a core of these groups that are just like that and there's nothing you can do, but, like Germany in the 30s, and Poland and a lot of Europe, good people turned bad when someone offered them someone (or a few groups) to blame for their problems. Maybe a concerted effort led by government and community groups to engage with them, hear their fears and talk though things can make a difference to some (hopefully) many of these groups. It will take money approipriated from other welfare recipients (like the corporate welfare recipients), but can result in a more stable society. Something is going to have to happen, or we will see very similar things that we saw in WWII... Or, am I just too much of an idealist?

Well, not much has been happening on the reno front, still. My partner has done some painting of the open plan kitchen/diner, and the joiners have started making the windows and frames. The sparky was in last week for a day, but as he is fitting us in between other jobs, he coudn't come in this week. Hopefully he has a couple of days next week and is done. We had quotes for an alarm (need it for insurance) and the range was, well, bloody enornous.. from $2K to about £8K for the same system and very similar configuratioin! It does pay to shop around. I have two exams next week.. Tuesday and Tursday.. Both 1am my time (Aussie examinations). Once done, I will take a couple of days off and get into it. Plan to have the whole place done by mid November, and on the market.

There can be,. When I bought the small holding about 9 years ago, now, it came with a David Brown tractor.. A work mate of mine at the time, a wholesale loan originator of German persuasion was very excited when I told him I had an old David Brown that came with the property. He was thinkings well over £100K, informing me David Brown was the designer or founder or something of Adton Martins (hence the DB designations). Alas, I think mine was a 770 or something like that. In the condition it was, it was worth about £3500, and in top condition, about £8K.. and it would have toaken about £4K to get it to top ondition. Though, @willedoo, you may want to check yours. An old petrol one may just be the lottery ticket barn find...