old man emu

I can't prove it meterologically, but I think that I live on the boundary of the northern and southern climate regions. That being said, it does rain here enough for agriculture to be profitable. It just hasn't rained sufficuantly for nearly are year. Prior to that rain we had a stinking hot summer and another one since.

A lot of you blokes have griped about the amount of rain you have been getting over the past few months. My gripe is waking up every morning to blue, cloudless skies for months on end. It's not as though I live in a desert, but it would be nice to see a few inches of rain falling over a week or so. We got a downfall a few weeks ago from a passing frontal system. That sprouted plants in the paddock, but since then it has been dry, warmish (low 30s) and wind. The green tinge is truning grey, and there does not appear to be any chance of rain in the offing. I live where once the usual farm raised sheep and grew wheat. OK, new cops like Canola and beans have come in, but that doesn't change the basic fact that it is a crop growing area. I wonder how many farmers will be taking the punt and dry sowing. I expect that teh financial risk is too high when combined with the high fuel prices. Well, I'm not worrying about cropping, but I sure am missing the rain.

I think I found out why petrol in the USA is cheap. Leaving out any taxes that might be applied, the reason is that the lower grade fuel, RON/MON 87, which most vehicle use contains lots of ethanol, which is so much cheaper than petroleum. They do have non-ethanol fuel, which has a higher octane rating, but the majority of vehicles don't require it. Remember when E10 came in? We were told that it could not be used in engines built before a certain date becasue teh ethanol destroyed rubber seals in various components. I imaging that with the introduction of ethanol-based fuels vehicle manufacturers got the heads-up from the fuel companies and changed over to ethanol-friendly seals. Remember that we are told NOT to use ethanol fuels in small engines like lawn mowers. I'd like to back what I am saying about the ethanol in US fuel by posting the video from which I learned this. While the title suggests a scam, it is not really. For a quick look at what I mean about the ethanol in their fuel, watch from about timestamp 3:30. If you watch the whole video you will see the simple test the presenter did to make a point of the video. NOTE: I don't think fuel pumps in Australia are plumbed the way these Yank ones are.

Nev, The Wright Brothers did in fact put a lot of R&D into their machine, and from that gained deserved success. But, then they did the American thing and patented the very thing that gave control - wing warping. The details of their patent prevent others from improving on that by replacing wing warping with ailerons. Those patents restricted the further development of aircraft for many years and cost heaps in legal fees. Meanwhile, they were able to profit from the patent by licensing others to use the concept in otehr designs. Admittedly the Wrights did give open usage for their data on wing curvature as it affects Lift/Drag. Locating the elevator device at the front of the machine did not last long as designers found that putting that device at the rear was effective and provided some other advantages such as being able to attach a wheel at the rear for ground handling.

Is it really Trump's idea? The idea just came to me that the USA has been planning moves to control oil producing nations for a long time. Can you remember the old riddle: Q: Why doesn't the USA invade (insert name of country)? A: Because it doesn't have any oil. I reckon the US military has been planning these actions for decades, however previous Presidents have been relatively reluctant to implement those plans. I think that we can all agree the Trump is unlike any previous President. Theodre Roosevelt once said, "Speak softly, but carry a big stick". Trump's versoion is, "Yell loudly and thump with your big strick".

A land of droughts and flooding rains. If it's not one thing it's another impacting on agriculture. While we are well aware of the problem of fuel supply coming into sowing season, there is a biological problem that is impacting the pollination of our food crops. In June 2022, varroa mite was detected in sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales. The mite is a parasite of European bees which kills them. When it was detected, thousands of bee hives were destroyed in an attempt to control its spread. That didn't work too well. The upshot is that commercial bee-keepers were not able to place their hives amongst the plants that need bees for pollination. As a result many crops, such as apples, pears and nuts failed to produce. Worse still, while 'domesticated' hives were reduced in numbers, escapee broods headed off into the native forests, taking the mite with them. Control or eradication of the mite in Australia is now impossible using current methods.

Talking of wasting taxpayer dollars, how does the government justify spending $20M on an advertising campaign to tell us to drive sedately to conserve fuel. $20M is enough to give every licenced driver near on $1m each. How many people are curtailing unecessary travel due to the price of fuel? At least 91 Octane is only $2.15 at the servo I go to.

If he was fixing a worn balt, it was probably becasue it a had a fault.

GON, I was talking about the conduct of the trial - the presentation of evidence to prove the allegation, or the rebuttal to disprove it. Also the judge can rule on the admissability of evidence. These things take place before the jury has made its decision. Once it has, the jurors are dismissed and play no further part in the trial. Thereafter comes the sentencing process if the accused has been found guilty. The judge has a number of sentencing options which can be used, ranging from no penalty to the maximum prescribed by the particular law. There are other intermediate sentences, usually called diversionary sentences which aim at rehabilitation.

This is an interesting telling of the story of Iran post-WWII.

Just a bit of history about Iran in the 20th Century.

Guess you are not a member of a Southern Baptist Church. Theres Scopes of room for discussion of your statement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_trial

Perhaps the reason that teh Bondi Gunman has slipped from the front page is due to a lot of other stuff for the front pages. Things like Iran, fuel, cyclones, and Roberts-Smith are the short term attention grabbers now. Also the Bondi Bomber is awaitng the actual start of the Court appearances. He is currently On Remand.

It's the jury which will have the hard job. The judge is simply there to see that the game is played by the rules. So, Nev, are you thinking abour replying to my friendly challenge?

I think that those were fair comments, not likely to affect any juror. I was just saying that in my opinion, being on that jury is going to be a hard job.