JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
American jet shot down by Iran. One pilot rescued. The other being hunted and a reward offered for his capture by Iran.
Trump has been over confident claiming 2 weeks ago that he had won. Despite that Iran has fired numerous missiles at Western allies in the middle East and predictably has closed the straits of Hormuz, threatening the world economy.
We must hope the other pilot is rescued but perhaps this will jolt Trumps pride and he will finish the job he started. At present it has seemed he has blown hot and cold on his next actions, and has seemed to be on the verge of claiming victory and withdrawing from the area, leaving the world economy in a mess.
53
It is a very good thing indeed that the world economy was in such a healthy and robust state, nary a crack , right up until the end of February.
Imagine what things would be like if it had been a debt- riddled corpse when the crazy mullahs invited Israel to attack the civilian population of Iran.
There might have been an outbreak of de-dollarisation, and a collapse of the rules-based order which has seen peace everywhere on Earth for so long.
105
As discussed in recent articles in The Australian, this conflict has clearly exposed the many cracks in Australia’s “She’ll be right” attitude regarding our fuel supplies, and the problems that are emerging because we don’t use our own fossil fuels including oil, plus we don’t have sufficient refining or fertiliser production capacity.
And it’s certainly showing us that our politicians don’t have the will to do anything about these major problems.
150
Please don’t think that I am not disappointed with the obviously majority of Australian elected representatives who have either supported or goe along with the climate politics agenda hoax, if UN Agenda 21 – Sustainability was not obviously economic prosperity decline economic vandalism in their minds then emissions reduction targets and then net zero Glasgow 2021 should have been.
It appears that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was getting the messages;
https://www.scottmorrison.com.au/media/boosting-australias-fuel-security
10
For a brief period, Australia did store a small amount of oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest emergency crude oil stockpile located in Louisiana and Texas. This arrangement was initiated by the former Coalition government in March 2020 under then Energy Minister Angus Taylor.
During the pandemic, the Morrison government purchased oil when prices were low, leasing space in the US reserve to store Australian-owned oil for global emergencies. Taylor disclosed that about 1.7 million barrels were stored, equivalent to less than two days of Australia’s supply. In 2022, this oil was sold as part of a coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
30
I gather Morrison did that because Australia hadn’t built the storage facilities required to store 90days of fuels. We still don’t and won’t under these Labor governments. Apart from anything else, like ideology, they would never watch the debt grow further for something that is a security matter and doesn’t buy votes.
10
Refining is simply an industrial process which can only survive with affordable energy and other inputs. It is irrelevant that the product IS energy. Money goes where it is most welcome.
20
Should government build the refineries? They could become stranded assets when the free market economy returns.
01
Non-socialists would say No.
20
Even social democrats understand the fundamentals of free market forces.
‘Australia has only two operating oil refineries remaining—down from eight—because local facilities cannot compete with larger, more efficient “mega-refineries” in Asia. High operating costs, aging infrastructure, and a shift to “just-in-time” import supply chains have made domestic refining economically unviable.’
11
I propose a reinvigoration of the Morwell venture, coal to oil, and a mini refinery nearby totally dedicated to the development of fertiliser.
We import 70% of our fertiliser and I think if the market shows no interest in the build then government should step up. In the interest of national security.
40
Should governments build oil refineries?
Why not? They did it with water. How did that go?
00
The answer to that depends on how serious one takes the current fuels problem and whether Australia comes to its senses -that rules out Albanese and Bowen and hence the nation – and returns to finding and mining its own fuel resources currently so policy restricted. With our sea lanes so easily cut, we can mine the stuff but without refineries we are no better off. That’s our current position. I think I heard we would need 8 or 10 to be fully independent. We have 2.
In a perfect world we don’t need any of this. We can completely buy from overseas- and go broke. No exports that currently pay most of our way. With $1T+ total debt our governments are caught in their own trap. They have to mine fossil fuel energy resources to just keep the debt level that we can afford to pay interest on. Currently they see unavoidable proof the world is completely reliant on fossil fuels while they have to impress on Australians lies that the world is going greener and faster than us.
So we need refineries. The question then becomes ?2,4,6 or 8 more. Do we just have a number that could keep our promised 100day reserve supplied, figuring a repeat of the current status of the world maybe a long way away with the world having been taught the lesson. Or do we do a USA and aim to export as much as we can in the face of Asian competition? I have no idea.
However we learn our energy system must be guaranteed. A mix of nuclear power and ffs would reduce the dependency on one resource and lower the number of refineries needed. Imo, as unlearned as that is, our current circumstances cannot continue. Refining is essential for Australians to prevent any chance of becoming slaves to any nation that could chop our sea lanes. If private enterprise can’t or won’t do it we still must have more refineries. If that can only be sourced through government then so be it. That would reduce the number to minimal requirements anyway.
Note Chalmers ‘new ways of running an economy’ he developed during his first few months ie a big Business-Big Government model, would put this right down his alley. It’s not original and it doesn’t work but that wouldn’t matter to Jim. Bowen and Albo may not like it though. Its against their basic ideological messaging. But somehow Australia has to get refineries again and fuel may need to become even more expensive. Albanese’s infatuation with China – as with Carr and Keating- is a worry in all this.
40
The West’s economy was on life-support.
Trump was selected to take the fall, while lining his own pockets.
What is the problem?
718
Yes the US citizens have been coffing up to protect their trade for a long time.
Brave search engime summarises:
Let us not forget the crew of the USS Philidelphia when we think of the lost pilot.
Where is the ‘Ghost who Walks’ when you need him?
40
It was the Barbary pirates of a certain war-loving and hostage-taking demographic that led to the permanent establishment of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy.
Hence the USMC hymm containing the line “to the shores of Tripoli” referring to the Battle of Derna in 1805 and the adoption of the Marmaluke Sword as the official ceremonial sword of the USMC.
Obama made a big deal about the Koran owned by Thomas Jefferson but his main use of it was to try and understand why American ships in the Mediterranean were being attacked by the Mahometans as they were called, back in the day. He and John Adams met with Tripoli Ambassador to London Sidi Haji Abdarahaman in 1786 where it was explained to them that “the laws of their prophet” allowed them to wage wars on “sinners”. Nothing much has changed of course.
The First Barbary War was America’s first war on terror and its first foreign war.
181
“We dropped the bomb to save lives.
It was a necessary evil to end the war and bring peace to the world.”
– Harry S. Truman
“I saw my mother’s skin melt off her body like wax. I saw a city turn into ash in the blink of an eye. You did not save lives; you opened the gates of Hell. And now you call the silence of the graveyard ‘peace.”
– The Hibakusha
Lest the USA never do so again…
32
Speaking with a now deceased relative who was with the Australian Army Intelligence Corps and attached to the Headquarters War In The Pacific with General Macarthur (USA) and embedded with intelligence officers from allied nations, after the war became Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance – US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia – the fanatical Japanese military were fighting for their Emporer and committed to death before capture. The Air Force young pilots were called Kamikaze – suicide attack bomber pilots who wore a headband to mark their commitment and warrior status. Even after the war ended and Japan surrendered many soldiers located on islands and elsewhere refused to give up.
The bombs were deemed to be necessary to be a final solution to break the Japanese morale and threaten their Emporer’s life.
100
The Americans calculated that they would lose 500,000 soldiers when attacking the home islands. And the Japanese would lose millions. Under those circumstances, the bomb was considered a necessary evil to reduce overall casualties.
140
“The Americans calculated that they would lose 500,000 soldiers when attacking the home islands. ”
…or they could just blockade the islands until the Japanese surrendered. Oh wait, their war started BECAUSE they blockaded the Japanese!
13
The most stoopid thing any American President could do would be to pledge “Never again”.
It would be cheap: The whole defence budget would be saved bar customs and coast guard.
BTW Are you saying that in 1945 the US parents should have happily sacrificed a quarter of a mill of their sons and daughters and millions of Japanese of all ages and attacked the Home Islands because it would be NICER than the atomic bomb? Are you nuts?
I notice Graeme’s post above. I quote slightly different figures but that’s irrelevant.
20
The B-29 raids on Tokyo were just as horrendous. Just one example from Wikipedia ‘Bombing of Tokyo’:
‘The Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9 March 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II, causing more destruction than the bombings of Dresden and Hamburg, and even Hiroshima and Nagasaki as single events.’
And still there was no surrender. It took the atomic weapons to bring an end to it.
80
My father was part of the occupation forces in Tokyo immediately post war, he agreed with your summary. There was also a high degree of civilian deaths through subsequent starvation, diseases and sleeping rough which is rarely noted.
30
It is worth noting that carpet bombing is no longer on the menu of the art of war, replaced by bombs so smart that they can take out an apartment housing an enemy person while the whole building survives as an asset for later patch up and use.
By extension, who would want to use a nuke bomb any more? Are we seeing the end of mass deaths of bystanders? Geoff S
20
Trump is a wealthy man who has not been found guilty of anything worse than incorrectly filling out cheque butts.
With this in mind what are these sc@ms that are making him the sort of money of which you speak?
80
1st sentence – totally correct.
2nd sentence – total bollox. 😆
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He is personally funding the new concert hall/ballroom adjacent to the White House, while serving without salary. Geoff S
60
..and predictably has closed the straits of Hormuz to certain countries, threatening the West’s economy.
When America walks away the world will not return to what it was, the division between pro-West and anti-West will be deeper, making the peace a place of sabotage and terrorism and the next war bigger and closer.
Lets see if the Americans/Israelis bomb the ships that Iran lets through, that will be a moral tale.
11
What is the alternative after 47 years of religion based oppression and exploitation of the people of Iran and a continuous war against the perceived to be enemies of the supreme leaders and followers in the name of their god?
70
‘What is the alternative after 47 years of religion based oppression …’
Supplying small arms to Iranians who begin a guerrilla war, it worked quite well last century. Regime change takes time.
00
The supply of arms to help Iran regime change is so elementary a tactic that I suggest we can regard it as happening, starting months ago. Geoff S
20
A super tanker, at anchor, belonging to their good friend and ally China is ablaze. Iran has no friends, just useful idiots who see a common enemy.
30
“A super tanker, at anchor, belonging to their good friend and ally China is ablaze.”
There is NO reason at all for Iran to do that. There is plenty of reason for Israel/America to do it!
Always look for the incentives.
11
I fear that this will be the war to end all wars. I don’† think Trump fired the first shot. It looked to me that Israel saw a meeting of Iran’s leaders as an opportunity too good the let pass, so fired off one day early, leaving Trump’s plans stranded. His plan would have been to negotiate with the people the Israelis killed. It would appear that this was the purpose of that assembly
The US was then locked in by the commencement of the war.
They couldn’t win in Afghanistan. Iran is Afghanistan on steroids times over.
The US is now facing prospect of major wars on three fronts, which will leave them no friends around the world.
02
Step back, look at the forrest not the trees. THIS IS NOT WW III, it is but a skirmish, part of an unending war that started when Russia crashed into Berlin, dividing it so firmly.
That war has never ended even though Germany is now united but Reagan’s axis of evil has thrived in the chaos of West V Communism.
MAD will keep you safe. Believe in it. Wanna buy a bridge?
But seriously this is just business as usual, we will prolly muddle through as we have always done, thanking dead soldiers with faint praise.
21
>Reagan’s “axis of evil”
No. That was GW Bush, referring to Iran, Iraq, & North Korea.
Reagan used a similar pejorative, “evil empire” to refer to what used to be the Soviet Union.
Communism remains in North Korea and in The ALP.
10
Todays tally:
Shot down- 1 F-15E 1 A-10C 1 MQ-9
Damaged, RTB- 1 A-10C 2 HH-60 1 F-16D 1 K-135R
This, for those with critical thinking skills not deceived by their opinions of the regime, is the inevitable outcome of running out of/low on air launched stand off weapons and moving to weapons requiring airframes over Iran.
The USA has demonstrated since the Serbian air campaign that it is a “One Hit Wonder” with near zero ability to maintain high sortie rate air attacks beyond the two week mark.
Game theory thus dictates Iran do *exactly* what it HAS done: Hide/Bury/Husband all key military resources from the initial “Shock and Awe”, take out key AAD nodes and radar then US military bases, attrite Israel and US forces with constant missile/drone attacks, escalate horizontally by attacking Arab countries housing US military forces, when the US is forced to fly over Iran, bring out the hidden AAD and attrite.
This gives the US three options to choose from: Run Away, Nuke Tehran or reprise the Vietnam war (with the same inevitable outcome at a much higher US body count)
Anyone considering option 2 as viable, is invited to travel to Tehran and enjoy the sunrise at midnight….
14
Its OK, the Marines are coming.
10
Anyone considering option 2 as viable, is invited to travel to Tehran and enjoy the sunrise at midnight….
Isn’t this along the path that the “Twelver” subsection of Iranian Shia Islam think is desirable?
10
The destruction must continue until morale improves :-
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/senior-iranian-official-involved-reaching-out-vance-severely-wounded-airstrike
10
Sitreps:-
https://sonar21.com/is-trump-purging-generals-opposed-to-a-ground-war-in-iran-or-is-it-something-bigger/#comment-384628
33
Pete Hegseth has been purging top generals for months, the sort of thing you see in Beijing and Moscow.
We should consider the possibility that the military might disobey the POTUS if he orders boots on the ground. It would be a suicide mission without strategic value.
48
This bit-
“Dated Brent underpins a significant number of transactions where actual cargoes are bought and sold…The futures market, on the other hand, is weighted largely to financial trading in so-called paper barrels.
The Dated Brent price for real-world oil barrels surged above $140 on Thursday…“futures Brent” is only at $109 bbl. ”
Rather like the gold market… Lots of paper ‘futures contract’s to manipulate the price for political means (and political costs!), but the real price is quite different.
11
This is the bit most people don’t understand, the “Dated” or “Spot” price is what refineries actually pay for the crude oil they process, the “Futures” price is financial shenanigans..
10
Intel says the US is running dry on munitions, a few weeks at most left until they’re out, having sent most of it to Ukraine for years, and then it’s the big serious stuff.
01
They wouldn’t dare and even if its mooted (like Putin does) the US Secretary of War would invoke the 25fh Amendment.
Tactically and strategically this war has been a massive fail.
19
It made no sense at all from America’s perspective EG, I can only conclude Israel was behind it.
Did Trump get convinced he could bomb a country into surrender without boots on the ground in a massive army invasion?
Was he convinced he could seize Iran’s oil and sell it himself by wiping out the Govt and capturing Kharg Island?
Did he figure a quick regime change would give him a pliant country where he could control the production volumes, like Venezuela?
There was no way this would be a cheap victory, and it will diminish both America and Trump in the eyes of the world. He becomes an erratic, superficial, abysmal leader, his intel & analysis services become laughing stocks, his military weapons systems have their reputations degraded and his allies become suspicious and untrusting of him. There is no winning at all.
48
American Adventurism in this day an age is pathetic.
The good news is that we now have an opportunity to quit AUKUS and other US treaties.
16
There is no good news in this. Not even for us.
21
What will run out first: Munitions or targets?
With air supremacy and cheap guidance kits that’s a lot of potential damage.
30
1. The USA claims, but does not have, Air Supremacy.
2. Russia makes cheap iron bomb guidance kits, the USA does *not* ( even LUCAS is far more expensive than a Geran)and the build rate of the kits they do have is abysmal…
12
What’s the cost of a Geran got to do with anything. If they can turn iron bombs into glide bombs and can do damage at a much lower cost the expensive US MIC stand off weapons then they are ahead, or at least have tools to draw out the agony. All premised on some kind of air superiority.
11
If they don’t sort it out quickly Iran will get its anti-aircraft weapons replenished.
Would Israel/America blow up a ship carrying Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Iran? Civilian ship on the high seas.. Just like speedboats from Venezuela.. How to widen the war in one easy lesson!
00
People are very upset with King Charies III and his apparent lack of support for the religion of which he is head and “Defender of the Faith” and his embrace of the religion of UK’s replacement population, the same religion also supported by the Left under the auspices of the so-called Red-Green alliance (since fhey are useful idiots of each other and both support the destruction of Western Civilisation).
Video:
https://x.com/i/status/2040077171222282462
102
A US jet fighter (F-15) has been widely reported to have been shot shot down over Iran. One pilot has been rescued but the other is missing and apparently the Iranian regime has offered a reward for his capture. Presumably this is so he can be held hostage, something they and their proxies like Hamas love to do such as the US hostages in Tehran in 1979 by the same regime and Israeli hostages in Gaza, multiple times including after the Oct 7th atrocities. Taking hostages is also a war crime under multiple statutes.
92
POW surely, if the pilot is captured.
30
On trial for his/her life for ‘Crimes against God’.
A double edged sword for Iran: does a spot of feel-good bastardry by the IRGC create pressure, or resolve in the US?
42
A POW would be the case for a Civilised country but as I mentioned, that is not the practice of Iran or their proxies.
100
“A POW would be the case for a Civilised country but as I mentioned, that is not the practice of Iran or their proxies.”
I know, its a bit like snatching people off the street in their own country with black vans, then flying them illegally to torture centers in pliable countries like Turkey or Guantanamo Bay for water-boarding..
“The incident comes over a week after US President Donald Trump said that Iran’s military had been defeated to the point that “we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can’t do a thing about it.””
The absolute best was the Iranian Minister who said on Twitter-
“After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’”
…and..
“A second US Air Force plane also crashed in the Persian Gulf region. The A-10 Warthog went down near the Strait of Hormuz. The lone pilot was safely rescued. Iran has claimed its air defences shot the plane down.”
Its very tough for Western media, walking the fine line to push public sympathy for the pilot against the barbaric Iranians, while simultaneously doing all they can to make trump look bad.
513
It must be tough for you, living in great comfort in the West while constantly pleading the case for our mortal enemies.
132
“our mortal enemies.”
Only those under the sway of the Blob’s propaganda would see that. I’m much more a ‘live and let live’ kinda person.
I don’t stick my hand into wasp’s nests either…
25
You live your lazy, middle class life because STRONG MEN enable it. You are one of the soft men, the fourth, of The Fourth Turning.
Hard times breed tough men.
Tough men bring good times.
Good times breed soft men,
Soft men bring hard times.
Surely you are not so stupid that you believe no one intends to do you harm because you like kittens.
42
The Guardian has TDS and walks a fine line.
‘Donald Trump, other senior US officials and their cheerleaders appear to be embracing attacks – and threats of attacks – on Iranian civilian infrastructure, which legal experts say appears to constitute serious war crimes under international law.’
22
If simply held for the duration, Yes. If put on display, paraded in shackles [and worse], No.
I doubt anyone expects the first of these.
10
Many of the critics of the War against Iran (leaders) ignore their financial and weapons supply support of proxies, Hamas only one of what is described as tentacles of an octopus.
President Trump has pointed out that already the regime has been changed and the former leaders now deceased.
20
Do not understand the focus on this one individual. Thousands are dying all over the Gulf. You fly in a war zone, things happen , even with “ait supremacy”
10
Why are thousands dying, Yarpos? Does that include the 30-40 thousand protestors shot? Was anyone on the bridge? The questions are endless, a simple statement is hardly meaningful.
60
FWIW
Can BOM out-homogenise this?
“The Scandal of the Scottish Met Office Station Still Providing Temperature Figures Six Decades After it Closed”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/04/03/the-scandal-of-the-scottish-met-office-station-still-providing-temperature-figures-six-decades-after-it-closed/
90
FWIW – an update on yesterday’s problems on the moon mission
““This spacecraft survived hydrogen leaks, helium leaks, a faulty heat shield, and a broken toilet. Outlook broke anyway. The toilet actually got fixed faster.” ”
https://instapundit.com/787304/#disqus_thread
10
Fortunately the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System only uses Windows for non-critical administrative tasks but for critical operations it uses INTEGRITY-178B, the same as the Airbus A380, B-2, F-22, F-16 and F-35.
It is a Real Time Operating System, unlike Linux and Windows although there are RTOS patches for Linux and a customised Linux version is used by SpaceX.
40
Toilets on the world’s most expensive space ship and on the world’s most expensive warship having problems. Is there a pattern here?
The USS Ford has no urinals. Woke ya think?
10
Permits aiming practice for the male crew who are impatient enough to not sit for the exercise.
10
FWIW
“Former Climate Activist Perfectly Explains Why Net-Zero Leads to Disaster”
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/04/03/former-climate-activist-perfectly-explains-why-the-goal-of-net-zero-carbon-emissions-leads-to-disaster-n4951409
60
That is exactly its purpose as the smart countries are finding out, although Australia hasn’t worked it out yet. Or perhaps our Communist PM and his drones do indeed understand because this is what they want.
100
How could a former student activist who has not grown out of that mentality be reasoned with, he is a follower of the late Russian revolutionary Marxist Leon Trotsky and had associates in left side organisations including Communist Party of Australia.
As I have been posting here from time to time, see the beginning Fabian Society of Marxists UK late 1800s
40
Such a great spray over all politicians..relevant to Australia too.
https://youtube.com/shorts/m03Xw0XlW7w?si=QUolzQVpR5RR7nR_
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Excellent!
60
I’ve always liked her rants.
She doesn’t hold back in this one.
Absolutely 100% over the targets!
I wonder if the thought police will pay her a visit? It is the UK after all….that bastion of free speech…according to Heir Starmer anyway. 😉
60
FWIW
“One Picture to Personify American Media
April 3, 2026 | Sundance | 105 Comments”
Check the publisher
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/04/03/one-picture-to-personify-american-media/
And
“Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors”
“This is museum quality.”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/04/03/your-moral-and-intellectual-superiors-586/
20
DEI staff?
21
50
Had to laugh. Why should the Nullarbor fuel sites have to spend a fortune catering to the very few EVs out there? And in any case, everything is diesel powered.
90
I heard on good authority that the generators are fuelled by used chip oil.
20
One roadhouse generator was supposed to run on cooking fat. However, I believe that most times it used diesel.
10
The last time I was travelling in the NT before COVID-19 there were many triple-trailer fuel tankers on the roads from Darwin heading south and west.
I followed one on the return journey from Broome WA when leaving Katherine NT and with a medium size caravan behind my 4WD I could not overtake safely and the driver asked me to wait for his advice to do so. The acceleration speed was like a snail
00
All diesel generator supplied electricity of course, as are all road house service stations and other off grid locations around most of the areas of Australia.
It’s time to consider the mini-nuclear reactor based electricity generator alternative.
20
Imagine if there were only BEVs. A road trip from Sydney to Perth would be suicide.
30
Not many EVs on country roads in my experiences, but occasionally and most stick to 80 kmh regardless of the 100/110 kmh speed limit zone.
A curse for heavy road transport drivers.
40
Why would any idiot want to drive the Nullarbor in an EV, hope it costs him a bomb to get it towed.
30
Apparently the IPCC has tun out of money.
40
I forecast this a while back. I doubt AR7 will materialise. They cannot buy consensus without US funding. China might pony up but it will be a comical result and I doubt Europe will accept China buying their consensus.
Climate Change™ is withering.
It is not yet common knowledge but ocean heat content in the Southern Hemisphere is decelerating. Still increasing but rate of change is close to going negative.
30
Good!
00
After the Govt found that the American’s problems of Indian truck drivers were being replicated here, they have taken action-
“Border Force officers have uncovered unlawful drivers, cancelled visas and launched fresh investigations into trucking companies as part of a nationwide compliance blitz, amid warnings labour shortages are fuelling risky migration pathways into the industry…ABF officers cancelled three student visas after identifying breaches of work conditions and issued a further three notices signalling potential cancellations. ..That shortage has fuelled aggressive recruitment of overseas drivers, particularly from India.
Five businesses were found to employ unlawful non-citizens or workers without the correct visas, and another five are under investigation for potential breaches. ”
Excellent news, a guy with almost zero English will not have the knowledge for “work diaries, fatigue management practices, mechanical standards, permits and load security – key factors in preventing crashes, particularly during peak holiday periods when freight and passenger traffic intersect.”
The article is full of ‘exploitation of immigrants’, but it really just means cheap labour when locals don’t want to work.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/border-force-blitz-truckies-visas-axed-in-nationwide-freight-crackdown-20260402-p5zkx3.html
40
Chinese are marching openly in the streets urging citizens to quit the CCP. Not so long ago this would have been “discouraged”.
The odd thing is that the banners proclaim 445 million have already done so. This MUST be accounting with Chinese characteristics, a widely held opinion is that the Chinese pop. is only half the claimed 1.4 bil, hardly enough to have so many quitters.
If the US was in the economic trouble China is in now it would be called the “greater depression”. In 1929 the US [and subsequently us] simply had a massive hangover from the Roaring ’20s, there was no war and no plague but it still took a decade and a world war to shrug off, China could be so lucky. Their only growth industry is crematoriums and I have read that there are 17 funerals for every wedding.
BTW This morning I read: China’s Military Plunges into Chaos: Zhang Youxia & Hundreds of Generals Executed for Treason!
Maybe, maybe not, but noted.
A reprieve for Taiwan?
70
Do you remember when university students in Hong Kong years after that was British leased area was handed back to China, the new Constitution that was written by UK and lawyers from around the Commonwealth of Nations countries with Chinese associates, and signed by both sides, that Hong Kong continue to be governed and with laws as before the handover, were being breached by excessive impact on freedoms of Hing Kong citizens.
10
Dissent was so heavily repressed that during covid holding up a blank sheet of A4 was revolutionary.
40
It has long been claimed that the impressively large military and police forces of China despite the threats to Taiwan are primarily to keep the people oppressed, only party members are granted freedoms conditional and all others are strictly monitored and contained to deter an uprising and to divide groups for those purposes
10
China is facing a demographic cliff and Australia will suffer from it.
https://chinadata.live/data/china-births/
There were only 8.2M births last year. This compares with 17.8M recent peak in 2016.
The Chinese decline in births will hit Australian universities around 2034. But could be earlier because Australian universities do not offer much in the way of education these days. China has all the latest tech so that is where they should study if they want to be world class.
I expect the demand for iron ore will decline as well. That will hit Australia’s economy hard.
40
So the world is going to stop because China is in decline. I think not.
10
Hanrahan we finally agree on something!
China is just going through a business cycle, same as all countries, and always worsened by Socialist ‘big’ Govts. Their birth rate just shows a country that is now modernised, the same as the rest of the world. You know you’re in a 3rd-world place if the birthrate is high.
Until their ‘wages plus technology’ costs get too high they will always be busy buying raw materials and selling products to the West, they have a cheap labour pool, a good education system and an excellent technology base. Compare making a BYD with robots to recycling tyres in Pakistan..
Like Japan, they will earn billions of dollars to invest, grow a middle class, move away from Govt running everything and eventually get too expensive to manufacture and move it to SE Asia or South America.
How long before robots really take over?? Does it matter what your population is if robots are digging the minerals, refining the ore, taking it to factories and making the products so a small human population live in luxury. All we need is cheap energy!
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Comprehension H. He said Australia, not the world.
Its reality, adjustments will be required. Why people come to Australia for education escapes me. Maybe the just need a faux education citizenship pathway visa, and just be honest about it.
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Australia markets to the world, not just China.
If you recall, China recently broke trade agreements and refused to take delivery of many of our products. We survived and looked further afield for markets. Neither Brazil nor W. Africa have proximity to SE Asia for iron ore. W. African miners would have to undercut our V efficient Hamersley miners enough to pay for a month’s extra steaming around The Cape or pay $1 mill toll to use Suez and still take longer. We hold the aces.
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Why people come to Australia for education escapes me.
Have you recently compared the cost price for a year’s university study between the USA and Australia?
Add visa and travel costs from SE Asia.
Both are expensive ways to learn fluent English.
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‘Maybe, maybe not, but noted.’
I’m unconvinced, China Daily didn’t mention any of that.
‘A reprieve for Taiwan?’
Yes, Far East Russia is better pickings.
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Far East Russia is a development hot spot for the Govt. Encouraging people and businesses to locate there
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Are you suggesting that China would back-stab their dear friend and ally? Wash your mouth out! No honour among thieves it seems.
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How to solve the problems of distribution and supply of diesel fuel to the vast areas of off grid Australia;
https://a7dffb77-e855-4fa6-bd37-0bc063cdb46e.filesusr.com/ugd/e63596_57f326cd401146e09580d9c4f2024f51.pdf
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10 March 2020
Australia and the United States of America have signed a milestone Arrangement to bolster Australia’s access to emergency oil supplies in the event of a major global disruption.
The Arrangement will allow Australia to lease space in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to store and access Australian owned oil during a global emergency.
Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor signed the new Arrangement with US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette during the Minister’s visit to the United States today.
The Arrangement stems from discussions between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump in Washington last August.
“This landmark Australia-US Arrangement represents our joint commitment to maintaining fuel security and improving Australia’s resilience, as well as strengthening the close bonds between our two great nations,” Minister Taylor said.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world’s biggest emergency stockpile of oil. The US is a trusted ally which has been essential for global oil security and we are glad to be building on our strong, longstanding relationship, while ensuring Australia is best prepared to act during a global oil disruption.”
US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a critical asset for energy and national security that America has had at our disposal for decades. “There is no more secure or resilient place to store emergency oil reserves than the SPR, and we are glad that Australia is choosing to entrust us with their reserves.
“This Arrangement with Australia will strengthen the energy reliability of one of our strongest allies, providing them options in case of an emergency, and bolstering their energy security.”
Under the Arrangement, Australian Government owned stocks held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve can be counted towards Australia’s compliance obligations with the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Minister for Energy Angus Taylor media release
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Ya not allowed to say that ‘ere Dennis.
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It’s like the bad cops syndrome and when needed the good cops are called
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We have two refineries
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So what?
Showing results for
Australia domestic refined petroleum produced locally.
Australia currently refines approximately 20% to 23% of its total refined petroleum product needs, meaning the country relies on imports for roughly 80% to 90% of its consumption.
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More news as to how “climate Change”tm is affecting snakes. Apparently the ever warming climate is forcing snakes to migrate from inland areas to be nearer the coast and therefore more interaction with humans. Ignore the fact that many snakes live in quite specialised environments, ignore the fact that snakes have lived in suburbia since suburbia existed. Nah. hot weather, the very thing that reptiles require to thrive, is driving the snakes to cooler coastal areas. One question is if an inland taipan is currently living near Alice Springs how would it know to travel east or west. It gets pretty hot west of Alice, I hope they make the right decision.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/australians-warned-to-brace-for-more-encounters-with-deadly-venomous-snakes/news-story/f46924bd1cd1f1c9e81cc2bf5a43f4b6
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Talking of back-to-front and upside-down: their ABC is running an article on photos of the Earth from Artemis II
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-04/artemis-ii-moon-nasa-orion-astronauts-earth-images-pictures/106531232
and sure enough they’ve printed Africa, Spain & the Pillars of Hercules upside-down – maybe that’s the way astronauts see it as they hurtle towards the Dark Side or maybe NASA forgot to provide instructions to media: North is up ⬆️
Trust us – we’re churnos!
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Congratulations to Jo for providing the basis of Rowan Deans report last night.
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Reply to #16.
Unlikely. Newcomers from the west will try to eat cane toads. Snake populations in the area marked HERE are developing smaller heads and can’t eat larger toads.
Does this work?
https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0009/545571/MA52815775-Cane-toad-distribution.jpg
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A 15 yr old Camry Hybrid still better than a new Honda CRV Turbo. IMHO.
Did a trip to Toowoomba, flew to Bris and hired a car. I ordered another Camry, I am familiar with them and wanted to see if a new one had much to offer. It didn’t have sat-nav so I took the Honda. Driving around it was odd, it seemed to have turbo lag [have never actually driven one] which was disconcerting. In a hybrid cracking the throttle spools up the ICE but the electrics give instant torque. At my age, no longer a hoon, that can still give a 50m break from the lights. Next day I noticed the “turbo” badge. Apart from the lag, when the turbo cut in it got noisy. I’m no longer used to noise, a noisy CVT would sound awful, I suspect.
I never did get the radio working but I don’t like distractions in strange cities and the handbook was a tome. The lane alert drove me to distraction but I could get to like the proximity warning and loved the seat going back when switching off. But most would like it, there wasn’t really anything wrong with it.
$10 toll getting out of the city at 20kph on the motorway, but sometimes it would slow down. Have I ever mentioned that I prefer regional cities? lol
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CRV has a 1.5 l turbo engine with a CVT trans.
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Explains why it was so bad ’til the turbo cut in.
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I have the CR-V turbo and if you could feel the turbo “cut in” you’re a motoring wizard. I’ve driven many turbo cars, from 1980s high performance cars to today’s examples built for economy, and the old “turbo lag” isn’t a thing any more, at least until you start pumping out extreme horsepower. The CR-V has a tiny turbo and is built for economy, which it delivers in spades. So much so that I leave it in ‘Economy’ mode all the time. I average 7L/100km, including a fair proportion of town driving – using 91RON. And there’s your clue: a turbo that happily runs on low octane fuel. Cheap? You bet, especially for a roomy, versatile and extremely comfortable SUV.
But on the subject of turbos …
Perhaps the worst example was a Nissan 200SX I owned many moons ago, which I threw money at. Bigger turbo, inlet/exhaust work, modified head, tweaked electronics (an expensive approach at the time). It was a right bar steward, especially in the wet. Had it been a track car I might have been able to play around at the limit enough to deal with its digital power delivery, but it was my road car, so I rarely got to exploit its power. When I did, it was horrible. No power … no power …ALL THE POWER! I swear that, point-to-point, it was slower than it was before I spent all that money, because I lost so much time in “Oh crap!” mode.
But that sort of on/off power isn’t all bad. Back when I wrote for a motoring magazine in the UK, I spent a day track testing a bunch of racing karts for an article. They included 125cc, 210cc and 250cc, the last of which were the ‘big beasts’ of karting and incredibly fast. But the standout was a development kart brought along by a big tuning company. They had thrown every trick at it. It drove like an early turbo car. I had to keep the revs very high to access any power at all, but when I crossed into loony land (I think it was beyond 12000rpm or so) all hell broke loose and I was catapulted into the future. The power band was so brief though that the only way to cut a good lap was to constantly work the gears, keeping the revs stratospheric. I absolutely loved it. I doubt my lap time came close to the champ who was there too, but I had an absolute ball, finally turning back into the pits shaking like a jelly.
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Mmmm I thought turbo lag was a bit of a blast from the past, at least for modern consumer cars.
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Nope. Not if you drive a hybrid. A 1.5l ICE in a heavy car, by definition, has no low rev torque.
BTW I have a longer post in the naughty corner.
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Sorry Steve, it’s there. I felt it before I knew I was driving a turbo. Do yourself a favour and drive a hybrid with a decent size motor. A “gentleman’s” TO from lights works quite well.
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Besides I like sedans:
Q/ does the standard suv have different tires than an average sedan?
A/ Yes, standard SUVs generally have different tires than average sedans, as they are engineered to support the higher weight, taller stance, and specific performance demands of sport utility vehicles.
SUV tires typically feature stiffer sidewalls, thicker rubber compounds, and larger tread blocks designed to resist flexing and maintain control under heavier loads, whereas sedan tires are built lighter and softer to prioritize fuel efficiency, quietness, and agile handling for lighter vehicles.
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You’ve convinced me: I don’t like it.
It is 10% heavier than a Camry sedan and I wouldn’t give you tuppence for an SUV. I suspect better tyres would improve it but on good roads it tended to tram-track on the white lines. The listed and achieved fuel economy is worse than my achieved figures with short runs.
Visually I still prefer the lines of sedans. SUVs are boxy and try too hard breaking up those lines. To understand what I mean search on an FB Holden, the “Special” had a two tone flash. The much lower Falcon of the time kept it’s clean lines except in the station wagon.
AI search results before I’m corrected:
Search Assist
Yes, some Falcon sedans in Australia featured two-tone paintwork, particularly in limited-edition models like the Falcon Silver Edition. This style was part of the unique offerings during certain production years.
I had no idea that there was a “silver edition”.
Off topic: Good win for the Cowboys.
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Only two hours after posting. :yawn:
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“Visually I still prefer the lines of sedans. ”
Lexus IS200, one of the greatest classic designs. Hopelessly anemic motor, a 2L six, but great suspension and build quality. I had an Altezza, the home-market version never exported new with a nearly twice the power, for 20years, and sold it looking like the day I bought it. Best car I’ve ever owned, 1999-2004, some electronics but no seat-belt whining, no reverse noises, no lane dragging on the steering wheel, no braking when you don’t want it…
The pinnacle of automobile development.
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