Open Thread – Mon 18 Sept 2023
1,013 responses to “Open Thread – Mon 18 Sept 2023”
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Feeling a bit blue as have just heard that a motor bike rider died on the road in the valley this morning. Since the road has been improved we have had a significant increase in groups of enthusiasts driving this scenic and challenging route.
It is especially hard on local responders. One of our local farmers gave him CPR to no avail.
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Fascinating opinion poll reported in the Australian this morning. Over 50 per cent of Labor voters are open to the idea of nuclear power, roughly a third are undecided, and only 14 per cent are categorically opposed. To underline the point, these figures are for Labor voters, not the general population.
Then the SMH reported yesterday (a severe failure in censorship at the worker Soviet) that a majority of those polled in NSW would support spending restraint to get the budget back into the black.
The greenleftians must be in despair.
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And don’t imagine that the schools run by the mainstream churches are any different to state schools now in that regard.
Given teachers are all trained the same (need to have training courses registered by state teachers registration body), need to teach the same curriculum* (the teachers registration and school registration authorities), and school have to be registered, what does one expect? That’s why bodies NESA, ACARA, AITSL need to be full Rabz’d
* There is some scope for subversion 🙂 As part of computing and manual arts curriculums I have to teach “sustainability”. I do. I give the definition as per the UN, and then show YouTube footage of Lake Baidoa (was farming land, now massive lake of waste caused by solar panel manufacturing), carbon fibre windmill blades being buried, lithium fires, abandoned and rusting windfarms in California, the devestation of the rainforest above Cairns (windfarms) etc etc and ask how these meet the UN definition.
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At least the guy went out doing something he loved
Having his spinal cord snapped at the base of the neck?
Trying to breathe blood because the ribs in a flail chest have punctured both lungs?
Wondering what the involuntary spasms are all about?
Screaming, until the burns, multiple fractures and shock send him unconscious just before the brain turns itself off?
Very, very few people die instantly in prangs, despite what the papers would have one believe. Relatives and/or next of kin are routinely told that, though, rather than any of the above. For obvious reasons.
Apparently.
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There’s a whole lot to say about the missing F-35, none of it good (but some of it funny)
It’s not a news story anyone in America ever expected to read, although maybe two-and-a-half years into the Biden administration, we should have learned to expect the unexpected: An unpiloted F-35 combat aircraft is flying somewhere over America on a trajectory known only to itself.
The memes are wonderful, but the facts should disturb all of us.
The story sounds like a Cold War farce but, as the local Charleston paper reports, it’s very real:
A Marine Corps team is on the ground in the Lowcountry searching for a missing fighter jet after its pilot ejected Sept. 17 and surfaced in a North Charleston neighborhood.
The transponder on the jet that disappeared Sunday was not working correctly, which made it difficult to know its exact location, Huggins said.
Marine Capt. Joseph Leitner at the Beaufort air station confirmed that the plane was not carrying any live missiles. “There was no air-to-ground or air-to-air ordinance aboard the aircraft,” he said.
North Charleston police were called to a home on the street at 1:46 p.m. after the pilot landed in a resident’s backyard, according to an incident report. Security personnel from Joint Base Charleston arrived and took possession of the pilot’s parachute and other military gear. But a search was still underway for the cockpit seat, the report stated.
At least we know that the jet, which was designed to be a stealth fighter, lives up to that reputation.
Meanwhile
NEW: Zelensky finds missing F-35 jet in Kyiv
Says he will return it after the war (maybe)
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This imbecile is in parliament. Unless I’m mistaken she replaced Tony Abbott in the seat. As bad as he was in certain things, was he even .1% worse than brainless moron?
@zalisteggall
On nuclear:
How many reactors?
Where?
How long to get them?
How much?
Who will pay?
What % of energy grid?What is coalition’s 2030 or 2035 emissions reduction target?
Coalition doing everything to distract from climate urgency & delay transition to renewables. ?????
#auspol -
I especially loathe the ‘use by’ dates on yoghurt. FFS, it’s made out of soured milk! I keep it in the fridge for weeks and months, it’s never given me so much as an untoward burp
Have a friend’s young daughter who declined a glass of mineral water when visiting. She later admitted it was because she saw it was past its “best by” date two days before.
Water. ?
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Man, there’s supposed to be some awful flu going around. I caught the worst of it and have been flat on the back since last night. I’ve never had COVID, I don’t think, but it can’t possibly be worse than this crap. You may as well be dead with this strain.
And no, no Ukraine discussion. I’m not getting roped into that until I’m over this thing, except for one last point.
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Hi Cassie,
Apologies for a couple of accidental losses of upticks. I waited a long time for a tick to show up and when nothing happened tried again, only to find a rapid down in your uptick number. Why the reduction should show up so quickly when the addition failed to show remains a mystery to me. I just thought I’d not tapped accurately…sorry.
I really like your comments.
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Cassie of Sydney
Sep 19, 2023 2:00 PMI think I might complain to the owner of the Pilates studio. I don’t think a Pilates studio should be a place where a teacher proselytises for the Voice.
I am quite angry about it.
Cass, there’s a studio on every street corner. You should just tell the owner you are going elsewhere, as you took up membership for pilates and not political indoctrination. Tell him or her there are other members thinking the same way. The last bit may be bullshit, but strike the fear of God into them. That’s what I’d do anyway. Also, don’t show anger, just present with a cold blooded smile as that’s more threatening. 🙂
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Jeff Kennett:
Sing Fat Lady, Sing
The old saying “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings” so often proves itself to be correct (although I guess I will have a reader suggest it should be “the overweight person” now to be politically correct).
In sport, in politics, in life itself.
The AFL game between Carlton and Melbourne last Friday night proved the adage correct yet again, when Melbourne seemed to have the game won in the dying minute of the game before Carlton stormed from the centre and kicked the winning goal.
So too is it of politics when the polling favourite gets beaten on polling day. Perhaps the last example being when the Bill Shorten ALP got beaten by Scott Morrison’s Liberals.
So might it be true for the forthcoming referendum on the 14th of October.
Right now, the opinion polls are all predicting the referendum will be lost. But polls are often wrong, and we will not know until polling concludes on Saturday the 14th the votes counted, and the results announced. Or the “fat lady sings.”
I will continue to argue strongly for the NO case on the one principle I have referred to often in this column.
Our Constitution should treat and respect all Australians equally, regardless of race, gender, or religion.
Our Constitution should not discriminate in favour or against any one citizen or groups of citizens, yet this is what the Federal government is asking us to support.
If the Yes case prevails, we will have entrenched within our Constitution positive discrimination, in favour of one group of Australians against the vast majority of Australians.
That is fundamentally and in principle wrong.
As I have said before this referendum, in the way it is being framed is so divisive. Sadly so, for whatever the result, one sector of Australians will be upset. Already we have been witness to some of the most bitter and disappointing language being used.
The community is about to be bombarded with an advertising campaign in support of the YES vote, funded by many Australian corporates.
I am sure once this referendum is concluded, many corporates and sporting codes will reassess their so public involvement in the referendum, which is of course a matter for the public’s decision, not corporates and sporting codes who don’t have a vote.
There is more than enough to occupy the minds of decision makers within their businesses and sporting codes without putting fifty per cent of their workforce, clients and customers off-side.
These bodies should be focusing on their core business and customers.
Take Qantas, the airline with a range of customer issues and reputation to address which I am sure they will do, but we have planes with the YES logo on their fuselage, and we get “welcome to country” over the public address system when on the plane.
All the passengers wants, all we pay for, is the plane to take off and land safely and on time, for our luggage to be handled efficiently, and to be welcomed and looked after professionally when in flight.
If I had been the new Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson, on taking over from Alan Jones I would have ripped off the logos on those planes where they have been placed.
A small thing, but a message that the new management is more focused on the paying customer than being the self-appointed social conscience for their passengers.
Same with the AFL. People are attending the finals in droves. Why, because they want to go to the football. To get away from the things that so often cause them stress and anxiety, their families and place of employment.
But no, the AFL like Qantas wants to be the social conscious of the world.
A woman was turned away from the game in Brisbane for wearing a YES campaign T-shirt. Not allowed according to the message on the AFL seat and entry ticket because it is political! But what is Welcome to Country before each game?
Should not Qantas, the AFL and others just stick to their core business?
Have we not got enough serious issues to deal with every day of our lives, cost of living, crime rates, accommodation availability and so the list goes on and on.
I want Qantas to be again the Qantas of old. Reliable, a trip to enjoy. I want going to the football to be a football outing again.
Give me the leaders of the future, in all walks of life, who will stick to their core business, and discharge their responsibilities well.
After we, the “fat lady” sings on October the 14th, can we please get some balance back in our lives?
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re: C.L. and dover’s conniving about Meloni on Lampedusa,
MSM:Meloni said at a conference in Budapest that some legal migration could benefit Europe economically, but could not be a solution to the continent’s demographic crisis.
Meloni’s take on Ukraine was the tell, C.L.
What what what?
The shine has gone off Meloni in Catallaxytopia? Why? -
The comment above got me thinking about what Cernovich was saying on his Twitter feed yesterday about some on the Right wanting or demanding perfection.
It’s related to abortion, and if you want to read it, go there, as I’m not going into it.
He basically told people that, as they’re looking for the perfect candidate with zero ambiguity on the issue, protesters in front of abortion clinics were taken by the FBI and are now in jail for trespass as a result of federal indictments brought about by Garland’s DOJ.
Think about that. Also, just to remind people that while they’re looking for perfection locally, the Hunchback has placed a 7% tax on folks letting out their AirBNB properties as he’s desperate for money.
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The North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan is now available for feedback on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) consultation hub and members of the public have until 5pm AEDT on Tuesday 31 October 2023 to comment on it.
Visit the DCEEW hub to view the draft master plan in full as well as a summary document.
The draft master plan is a broad plan for North Head Sanctuary that guides the design and intent of the vision for the site. The vision proposed is one where everyone can:
Re – Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has tasked the trust, a federal government agency that manages former defence land around Sydney’s waterfront, with balancing the preservation of heritage assets while opening up the sites to more visitors.
Her view underscores a long-running debate about making money through adaptive reuse of heritage sites around the harbour.
Last month, Plibersek declared that the nine historic defence sites around Sydney Harbour that were managed by the trust must raise revenue and attract more tourists, even as the agency scaled back plans to revamp one of the sites, Middle Head near Mosman, in the face of community pressure.
The portfolio also includes Cockatoo Island and Sub Base Platypus. The trust is due to release a draft master plan for Cockatoo Island this year.
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Having his spinal cord snapped at the base of the neck?
Trying to breathe blood because the ribs in a flail chest have punctured both lungs?
Wondering what the involuntary spasms are all about?
Screaming, until the burns, multiple fractures and shock send him unconscious just before the brain turns itself off?
KD – Yep. My brother is a bike guy. He’s gone very near the freeway exit two or three times. Broken all four limbs in various stacks. He’s survived all that. Fortunately. Very fortunately.
I liked skiing for a while. That sport turned Michael Schumacher into a vegetable. I don’t regret it, and I don’t think he would. Although it was ironic he did it skiing not like his colleague Ayrton Senna. We can’t live in cotton wool.
We all knew this sort of thing was possible when we signed up. You know that. Yet you did, as I did.
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Face reality about transfer of power from coal
Governments should accept that they may well be managing end-of-life coal generators for decades and that each will be more critical than the last.
Matthew Warren – Energy expert
Transitioning from a coal-based electricity system to renewables is like switching from rugby to hip-hop. They’re fundamentally different machines, united only in their ability to generate electricity at scale.
The baton change, the handover, will be everything. Despite pleading by engineers and technocrats over the past decade, governments have refused to embrace any kind of organised transfer of power.
The NSW government is talking with Origin Energy to keep the Eraring power station open longer. Bloomberg
Energy has become so politicised that even the appearance of managing coal has become a bad look. It’s so 20th century. Like kids at a pantomime, activists scream tropes like “coalkeeper” at anything that even hints at any sort of planned exit.
It might seem counter-intuitive, but careful management of the twilight of coal-fired power generation will be critical to decarbonising our electricity supply. Hounding coal out with torches and pitchforks might make a pleasing soundbite, but it will create unnecessary and unhelpful reliability risks, a triumph of spin over substance.
Each step towards a renewables-based grid gets harder, not easier.
Sensibly, the NSW Government has opened negotiations with Origin Energy about deferring the closure of Eraring, Australia’s biggest coal-fired electricity generator. Origin planned to close Eraring in 2025, the result of reputational risk and increasingly marginal profitability exacerbated by coal supply problems.
The immediate problem with Eraring’s proposed exit is well documented: the replacement kit isn’t ready yet. There’s an epidemic of delay in electricity infrastructure.
Snowy Hydro’s giant pumped storage project, Snowy 2.0, won’t be ready until the early 2030s while its gas-fired generator at Kurri Kurri is at least a year late. New renewable zones are being held up by delays in transmission lines to connect them, caused by supply chain bottlenecks and stiff opposition by some regional communities.
Even after these reinforcements arrive, how Eraring and at least some of the other 17 remaining coal-fired generators are managed will be critical.
All other countries aggressively pursuing a big renewables future are connected to supplies of big hydro, nuclear, or both. Electricity systems rely on a core of big engines to maintain critical technical services such as system strength and inertia.
Renewables can provide energy and batteries can replicate some functions, but the provision of these technical services in a renewables super grid is completely unproven.
The world’s most advanced experimental renewable grid is located on King Island in Bass Strait. Launched in 2010, the King Island grid can run for a day or so on pure renewables. Overall it uses 65 per cent renewables, but is still heavily reliant on the island’s old diesel generators as backup.
South Australia now runs at 70 per cent renewables, made possible because it uses the rest of the east-coast to balance it. When islanded it runs, at a stretch, at around 50 per cent renewables.
That’s a better indication of what is currently technically possible at grid scale. Australia’s current renewables target, 82 per cent by 2030, will need to go beyond these technical limitations into the unknown.
Because electricity systems supply continuous, large-scale energy, they are designed around basic principles of contingency and risk. If we’re going to boldly go where no electricity grid has gone before, it might be a good idea to pack a reserve parachute.
Maintaining a stable of the fittest and most flexible coal-fired generators will help reduce these risks and be able to maintain these technical services while we discover what works and what doesn’t in the national renewables experiment.
Coal doesn’t hold back solar and wind. It’s the other way around. Renewables undercut coal generation because they have zero marginal cost (no labour and no fuel), and so dispatch ahead of coal whenever there is sunshine or wind.
The more renewables get built, the faster coal-fired generators go broke. The Northern power station in South Australia was as fit as a Mallee bull when it shut in 2016, its commercial viability destroyed by big renewables.
That means governments will need to find ways of keeping key coal generators operational as we get deeper into the renewables dive. In the west, state-owned Synergy is wearing the declining performance of coal on its balance sheet. Victoria has cut confidential deals with two of its three coal-fired generators.
Queensland’s energy plan basically consists of building a complete renewables system before dismantling the old one. They are even exploring the idea of snap-freezing selected coal-fired generators, mothballing them as backup generators to help manage future black swan events.
Demonising coal becomes an irreversible, self-fulfilling prophecy. Like all engines, they cost more to maintain as they get older. The shorter a generator’s predicted future, the less is spent to maintain them and the faster they become inoperable.
Electricity is an essential service where the consequences of undersupply are far more severe than having too much. Each step towards a renewables-based grid gets harder, not easier.
Maintaining reliability will be critical for governments, which means they should accept reality now: that they may well be managing end-of-life coal generators for decades. Each coal-fired generator will be more critical than the last.
This isn’t about running coal more, but smarter. Managing risk using existing infrastructure will be cheaper and safer the sooner we accept this simple reality.
Matthew Warren is a former chief executive of the Australian Energy Council, the Energy Supply Association of Australia and the Clean Energy Council.
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johanna
Sep 19, 2023 2:27 PM
areff
Sep 19, 2023 2:19 PM
No way motorcycling would be legal if invented today.
AFL likewise.
Or many household products like bleach, vinegar or even commonly used disinfectants.Most cleaning products today are useless as the effective ingredients have been eliminated*. Bleach for mould remains the only one left while scum and grease must be removed by scrubbing which then damages the surfaces.
*Recently I found a cleaning spray at the back of a cupboard in the laundry that must be over 10 years old yet worked a treat when I sprayed it in the bathroom. I checked the contents against a currently available cleaning spray and the ingredients were completely different.
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We were allowed to take our jumpers off if it got to 44 degrees.
We were allowed to take our ties off if it got to 100F.
Looxury!
When I were at school, if we wanted a cooling breeze, we ‘ad to run round oval wit’ windpowered generator on our back and small fan in our ‘and.
My classes were on first floor, which were annoying as all the buildings were single storey. And roofs in those days were made of corrugated iron wit’ bitumen on top to make ’em water proof.
But, we were ‘appy.
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Young people across the country are being urged to pick up their phone and help persuade their relatives to vote Yes in the upcoming Voice referendum.
Any of the younger generation, ringing me to urge me to vote “YES”, will be urged to consult a dictionary, as to the meaning of the word “Disinherited.”
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On skiing accidents, my sawbones had a horrid prang earlier this year. The tree did not give way, but his leg did in multiple places. He’s still in the process of recovery, with some procedures still to come.
Let’s just say the experience has made him very, very sympathetic to the use of painkillers. As and when required. Unlike my locum GP who handed out endone like it was De Beers diamonds.
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With regards to designer babies.
I ready a stat years ago how the ratio of Stanford grads having kids with other Stanford grads was the highest amongst the top tier US colleges.
Even scarier it was that ratio increased with the kids of Stanford legacies having kids with other Stanford legacies.
Eugenics in action.
In 200 years Stanford legacies will resemble the British royal family. -
Young people across the country are being urged to pick up their phone and help persuade their relatives to vote Yes in the upcoming Voice referendum.
Ah, the infallible wisdom of youth. Is there anything kids don’t have the answer for.
I hope one calls me because I would love to find out what of the many ostensible goals the Voice is meant to achieve that cannot be done now – and have it explained to me exactly how the Voice will make this will happen without the additional powers currently being denied by its advocates.
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Young people across the country are being urged to pick up their phone and help persuade their relatives to vote Yes in the upcoming Voice referendum.
Such a suggestion could come only from someone who is utterly clueless about family dynamics.
Not to mention respect for elders.The new left, they’re not like normal people.
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Australia’s fifth-largest bank, Macquarie Bank, has announced its transition to digital-only transactions. Starting from January 2024, the bank will begin phasing out all cash, cheque, and phone payment services in its 80 branches. By November 2024, all in-branch cash transactions will be completely discontinued.
“Between January 2024 and November 2024, we’ll be phasing out our cash and cheque services across all Macquarie banking and wealth management products, including pension and super accounts,” the bank said in a statement.
According to Investing.com, the bank has laid out a detailed timeline for this transition:
January 2024: Phasing out of new checkbooks for new cash management accounts, including any linked Macquarie Wrap accounts.
March 2024: Automated telephone banking services will be shut down, making phone payments impossible.
May 2024: Depositing or withdrawing cash or cheques over the counter at Macquarie branches will no longer be possible. Ordering checkbooks for existing accounts will also be discontinued.
November 2024: Writing or depositing cheques, including bank cheques, will be completely phased out. Superannuation contributions or payments using cheques will also cease.Perfect; only drug dealers welcome.
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“Cass, there’s a studio on every street corner. You should just tell the owner you are going elsewhere, as you took up membership for pilates and not political indoctrination. Tell him or her there are other members thinking the same way. The last bit may be bullshit, but strike the fear of God into them. That’s what I’d do anyway. Also, don’t show anger, just present with a cold blooded smile as that’s more threatening. ?”
You’re right JC, I’ll speak to the owner.
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FTB, ‘In 200 years Stanford legacies will resemble the British royal family.”
Great line in 30-Rock referencing Prince Gerhard the last male descendant of the imperial house of Hapsburg.
‘Do you think Gerhard is worried about several centuries on in-breeding? No, he’s too busy…staving off infection.’
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Young people across the country are being urged to pick up their phone and help persuade their relatives to vote Yes in the upcoming Voice referendum.
Another winning strategy.
Don’t have much left, do they? It’s as if all the corporate and government sponsorship, endorsements and media time has been to no avail.
Australians appear to remain defiantly stupid and racist. So disappointing for our betters.
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“There is something sinister about trying to mobilise kids with scant life experience to push messages on adults who have been through so much more – and the scars to prove it.”
Yep, classic totalitarianism, something the Nazis and Communists have always done, they’ve used children to push political messages. This must be repelled.
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Young people across the country are being urged to pick up their phone and help persuade their relatives to vote Yes in the upcoming Voice referendum.
We are taking our beautiful granddaughter out to lunch in Sydney tomorrow, but I doubt if we will be mentioning The Voice. The last time I tried to explain that the “Stolen Generation” was not actually stolen, nor were they the only children taken into the care of “welfare”, she ran off to her room crying.
That was some time ago. She recently praised my “mental strength” in volatile family situations – so I won’t be chancing it!
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Pretty sure a DEW was involved with the F35 disappearance.
Not much point looking for wreckage.
It would have been vaporised.That would’ve worked a whole lot better if they hadn’t’ve found the wreckage before you posted it…. 😀
The debris is in rural Williamsburg County, according to the Marine Corps’ Joint Base Charleston.
Residents near the wreckage, about two hours north-east of the base, have been asked to avoid the area while the recovery team works to secure it.
What ingrates, not letting the locals collect souveniers!
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Dunno about that, Frank. If you’re rich and have a dumb kid, enough money will get them into a top school, especially for a legacy. There’s so much crap that goes on too, and money counts there.
Wealthy parents have teams of people to help their kids. There are consultancies that help with the SATS, writing your entrance essays, coaching the kids through the interview process, and creating an interesting bio such as doing work on a Cambodian orphanage. You can spend 300K to get a useless kid into a good school, and that’s just the consultancy work. Then there’s the donation to the school, which can be as high as $5mill. All these numbers are pre-covid, so you need to take inflation into account for present day costs. 🙂
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Wealthy parents have teams of people to help their kids. There are consultancies that help with the SATS, writing your entrance essays, coaching the kids through the interview process, and creating an interesting bio such as doing work on a Cambodian orphanage. You can spend 300K to get
From my experience most kids are booked into top schools from birth. I will grant you, even that is not enough these days – and the next requirement is an “old boy” parent. I dare say monetary “contributions” take place quietly, but the former process has been the norm from my experience. Our grandson was also an exceptional athlete, and that helped considerably. Granddaughter excelled both academically and musically.
It is certainly true that full quotas make it harder, year by year, to place kids in top schools without special qualifications or parental influence.
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At least the guy went out doing something he loved
Having his spinal cord snapped at the base of the neck?
I think that one was used when Peter Brock died. I guess getting wrapped around a tree at speed is doing what you love. Likewise when a scuba divers was taken by a great white off Byron Bay back in the 90s the same phrase was trotted out.
I don’t think disappearing bodily into the maw of an 18 foot monster was doing what he loved.
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Chamath said they should just publish the rate card to get into the top tier colleges.
His view is that it would save time.
And lessen the need for a huge admissions department.And JC, it might not be 5mill anymore.
Chamath said someone in his circle paid 25mill to get their kid in to college.
But he’s a billionaire who hangs with other billionaires.
Maybe they get shaken down for more. -
Think about that. Also, just to remind people that while they’re looking for perfection locally, the Hunchback has placed a 7% tax on folks letting out their AirBNB properties as he’s desperate for money.
Which is entirely his own fault.
Yet many of my fellow Victorians keep voting him back in.
I, on the other hand, had an instant and instinctive loathing for the prick from the first moment I saw him, about 11-12 years ago.
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Zulu mentioned Roger Whittaker’s death at 87.
Benny Hill did a passable impersonation.
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And JC, it might not be 5mill anymore.
Chamath said someone in his circle paid 25mill to get their kid in to college.
But he’s a billionaire who hangs with other billionaires.
Maybe they get shaken down for more.Yeah, I never believed it but we heard of someone, whose son went to our kid’s school in the US paying 10 mill to get their daughter into Harvard. That was about 15 odd years ago, so a 25er wouldn’t be impossible these days.
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We were allowed to take our ties off if it got to 100F.
When I first started in the WA public service in 1968, about the second week in January, one of the clerks was sent around the building to let us know we were excused wearing ties and the ladies excused stockings. No, we had no aircon at all.
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“She later admitted it was because she saw it was past its “best by” date two days before.”
As previously posted:
“Pure salt, mined from 200 million year old salt deposits.
Best before December, 2023”Because, you know, 200 million years in the wild it’s still fine, but 6 months after it lands on the supermarket shelf, don’t you dare risk using it!
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I don’t think disappearing bodily into the maw of an 18 foot monster was doing what he loved.
I suspect knowing the risks is part of it. As Bern just said, NFL is not dissimilar in this respect.
Locking yourself in a basement eating tofu and drinking rainwater (without pure grain alcohol) is not how to live. The climate zombies seem to think this way.
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““There is something sinister about trying to mobilise kids with scant life experience to push messages on adults who have been through so much more – and the scars to prove it.””
One thing to be thankful for, with the disappearance of plastic bags from the supermarkets, the kids won’t be able to come after us “Pol Pot” style if we disagree.
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In 200 years Stanford legacies will resemble the British royal family.
Ha, more like an Indian software company
I was in Palo Alto, in the Bay Area of San Francisco, recently, and walking around the cafes and shops and also on the Stanford campus, is a very high percentage of Indian people.
An aquaintance who works at Google (Mtn View, just south of PA), said tongue in cheek, they all have at least one relative there, another at HP or Dell and the younger family members all studying at Stanford. There are so many tech companies who import Indian software engineers and their families to the Bay area and Stanford is the top school to go to.
Going back 25+ years, it was as white as Cinderella’s bum in that whole area.
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There is hope for our young while they tell jokes like this awesome little fella.
His parents must be fantastic.
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Things aren’t in your favour when things go wrong. Didn’t ride the Dandenongs often but sirens and helicopters never far away. No way motorcycling would be legal if invented today.
Yeah. Groups of riders are frequent visitors as the road is “challenging” down mountain eucalyptus forest road and into the valley floor. But what new visitors don’t know is that the forested areas are crawling with kangaroos. They are, naturally, frequent in early morning and late afternoons, and absolutely deadly at night. You have reasonable protection with a decent bull bar on a Landcruiser, but I have seen horrific damage to the front and windscreen of local cars of women picking their kids up from school half an hour away.
It is obvious to say that hitting, or swerving to miss a roo is not a good prospect. Kangaroo signs are so common that I doubt if they are even noticed. I think we should suggest to local Mayor that something more emphatic in a sign would be useful.
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My understanding is that Schumacher was off piste when he collided with a tree. This is where much of the fatal and near fatal spinal type injuries occur.
Also , to avoid injury, pick your time to ski and location so that you tend to avoid drunken clowns colliding with you on the slopes. Some resorts have reputations for that sort of thing if you go looking. And steer clear of the crowded locations, which is why we don’t ski in Oz. Japan and Canada we found safer. Especially Japan.
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Unless they are good a football.
One kid worked at the family business for about six months before Stanford undergrad. She got in because she was an excellent hockey player and scored like 99.5 in VCE ( not the business- Stanford) :-). We used to make fun of her suggesting she needed to repeat VCE as she didn’t score high enough. Boy though she was/is whip smart. She wasn’t just intellectually smart, but had an incredible street smart about her.
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Turtlehead
I get fake McAfee subscription emails everyday. They’re a scam, you idiot. Trust you to fall for one of the stupidest scams going.
I’m not telling you to help you but this highlights why you’re an idiot. Check the return address as it shows it has nothing to do with the company.
The scammer on the other side answered that way because he may only have a couple of morons a year calling in and you startled him.
Seriously, trust you to fall for a scam like that. Presumably, you gave them your banking details, which by now means you need to check your account to see how much they removed.
Call the FBI!
FMD
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Vicki:
We are creating nations of feeble wimps in the West. And it is stoked by the pollies, media and Big Business.
They’ll toughen up when they get what they claim they want – a completely renewable power supply. Which will be no power supply at all.
The crunch will come when they find the icecream has melted in the fridge*.
And the iPod doesn’t work.
*Gratuitous reference from the story “Alas Babylon”.
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