old man emu

Need and MRI? You might have to wait. MRI machines need Helium for their functioning. Guess where a lot of Helium comes from. The global helium supply is currently facing a significant, immediate disruption due to geopolitical conflict, with roughly one-third of global production halted after attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan facility.

At least supermarkets don't charge you to get the money. Banks hit you if you use an ATM (that's not you bank's).

Can you imagine the amount of destruction to infrastructure in both Iran and the other Arab countries that have been caught up in this madness? How long does it take to clear a bombed electricity generating facility of rubble and then build a new on in its place? Years. We bitch and carry on if our electricity is knocked out by Mother Nature for a day or so. Imgine having to go through a MIddle Estern Summer and winter without air conditioning or heating. Don't forget that the Iranians are not tent-dwelling camel drivers. They are the descendants of one of the longest running urban societies in the World. They are smart, sophoisticated people, despite their religion. They aren't even Arabs. They just follow the same religion. After WWII, the USA poured money into restoring Europe and Japan. One reason was so as not to repeat the errors of the Treaty of Versailles which battered Germany and lead to the rise of Hitler. The cause of the war with Japan was, would you beleive it, the USA trying to stiffle Japan's idea of an Asia run by Asians, not Europeans. Now, the USA is just about bankrupting itself waging an unwinnable war. There will be no money from that source to rebuild Arabia.

That's a pretty high ranking.

Melbournian slang?

Just a comment on that. Are the figures quoted in teh form of "incidents per thousands of population'? Quoting the figures using the same "per" values lets you compare figures more sensibly.

Just another consequence: I work in an OP Shop which gets a lot of its income from sales to caravaners. Last year we distributed $40,000 to local organisations. A lot of that money came from caravaners. If the fuel dries up, they won't be coming in to buy, so our ability to support the community will be less.

Yes, today's weapons are much better, but the logic remains. Thrown enough shit at a wall and some will stick. Swarms of cheap drones can overwhelm limited numbers of expensive rockets. What is needed are Australian designed anti-drone weapons. But Trump just insulted us, so why should we sell the US any of them?

All I've got is 10/10 cloud and wind. I wouldn't mind if that cloud gave up its moisture.

What?????

Do you think the US Navy can open the Strait of Hormuz? Histroy might be repeated. NB: This video is not AI. WQell known and long time creator of some good military stuff.

Trump had a shot at Australia for not supporting his unlawful war against Iran. I wonder how much Intelligence information is being collected at Pine Gap. Also, what US operations are being conducted from Tindall? Is Albo doing the right thing by keeping our noses out of that mess?

I'm not a bearing expert, but I have been watching a few videos of a bloke who fixes electric hand tools. That often requires replacing bearings. He often comments that while bearings are often made in China, to quality depends on whioch company they are made for. In other words, they are manufactured to specification. If the spec is good, then the company name is imprinted on them as well as the Made in China mark. If they are El Cheapo, they are marked simply with China. One thing that I have learned from those videos is that the cheaper tools from names like DeWalt and Milwauke use the cheap bearings. That means that it is often not worth the labour to replace them so the tools are throw away.

The usual paths of the pressure systems really seem to have been out of whack this year. Also the strength of the winds has been incredible. It seems that every morning the news reports lots of storm damage in places that never seemed to get it before. Victoria is coping it and Sydney has been plastered. Even the most recent tropical cyclone moved in a direction contrary to the usual. I wonder what winter will be like.

I told you it was dry! I copped a dust storm today. This afternoon a fast moving front passed over. The winds were very strong and had picked up dust from far away. I went outside and could feel the grit in the air. The sky was darkened, as if a thunderstorm as about to hit. I looked up into the dust cloud and was sure that I saw a bolt of lightning. I felt sorry for the horses in the paddock next door as they stood with their rumps to the wind and their tails blowing about. As relief, after the dust cloud had passed it began to rain. Not torrentially, but enough to wet the top of the soil. That little bit will further help the feed in the paddock grow a bit more. At least there is some green where there has been brown for so long.