Gorth

I'm not much of an economist, these are the guys you'll have to convince: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107919/1/Hope_economic_consequences_of_major_tax_cuts_published.pdf (this is the research referenced in my post)

That the trickle-down effect of tax breaks for the rich (top 1 percent ) somehow benefits the economy is an urban legend... it only makes the rich even richer and doesn't create any positive side effects, like jobs or stimulating the economy. https://www.salon.com/2020/12/27/50-year-study-of-tax-cuts-on-wealthy-shows-they-always-fail-to-trickle-down/ The result of a study spanning the last 50 years. Ediit: You can find the same study referenced on multiple sites, including nytimes and washington post, but they just offer their own take on the result.

Footage from the 3rd annual Fastracs auto football (soccer) game... ⚽ 🚗

War is not a human exclusive thing apparently. I've never heard of this one before (having only watched old BBC series showing ants going to war) 🤔 An analysis of the Gombe Chimpanzee war 1974-1978 when two Chimpanzee communities went to war against each other Yes, the spears are a stupid post-op by someone, the war and the bloodshed was real though...

I'm sure I once saw a TV series called Kindred (iirc). I kept thinking the old VMBL game was based on the same setting. The clans sure had similar names, so I'm curious to see what they would do with something made this side of the millennia (the old series was from the 90's).

Tim Minchin covering some very important subjects... feminism, poverty, the environment and boobs!

In a first for Australia, it's now a criminal offense for Australian citizen to return to Australia... if you travel from India that is. Australian citizens returning home from India could face up to five years in jail and fines after the government made the journey temporarily illegal. The health ministry said the ruling had been made "based on the proportion of people in quarantine who have acquired a Covid-19 infection in India". https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56953052 "From Monday, anyone who has been in India within 14 days of their intended arrival date in Australia will be banned from entering the country. Failing to comply with the new ruling could result in a five-year jail sentence, an A$66,000 (£37,000) fine, or both. The decision will be reviewed on 15 May, the health ministry said." "Anyone" meaning Australian citizen as they are currently the only ones allowed to enter Australia (except Kiwis, who also are free to travel from NZ to Australia).

More like herd mentality, but I'm prejudiced against populist governments.

Look on the bright side. Even if you are the unlucky 10% one, being vaccinated means its very unlikely to kill you or give life long aftereffects. Your family might appreciate it

Maybe not all was well in the Fuhrer bunker? A bit of petty rivalry about who is the most favored follower? Or maybe he just forgot it was his boss that holding the leash of the head of doj at the time. Not surprised if Fox would have tried to pin it on Obama though. He's behind everything from Covid to Global Warming in their world 😁 Edit: Just kidding of course, in the world of Rupert Murdoch (Fox), there is no such thing as global warming, it's all a hoax. Not kidding about that part, he did try to pass off the bushfires down here as an organized army of arsonists running around in the bush starting fires, because there no such as climate change.

Not an anti-vax'er per se, just a bit apprehensive. Australian roll-out is a complete disaster (thank you Scott Morrison for your ineptitude), so no appointments yet. As for being apprehensive, it's a sort of traumatic childhood experience where my small pox vaccine almost killed me and I ended up hospitalized. Makes me glower very suspiciously at any needle approaching my skin with the intent to penetrate said skin 😟

Stated a new game of Pillars of Eternity. I never completed the game. Ended up last time struggling to decide which companions to keep and which to drop. Still not sure who I want to keep this time, but I still got some time to think about it, as I only just made it to the main map. Edit: I didn't have the dlc's first time around, so as good a reason as any to pick up the game again

Not questioning the science. Questioning the Bolsonaro governments handling of the pandemic and all things around it... Ok, maybe just all things Bolsonaro and his motives. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56913943 "Only around 13% of Brazilians have received one vaccine dose and 6% both shots: slow procurement is one of the issues a senate inquiry will now examine, since the government turned down offers of tens of millions of shots from Pfizer last year. The parliamentary commission could recommend the president's impeachment or even criminal charges. Mr Bolsonaro has been bullish as ever, threatening to send in the army to stop states locking down. And his supporters claim the government could not have purchased vaccine doses sooner, since it was waiting for approval from Brazil's health regulator." Yeah, sending in the army to prevent lockdowns and measures that could prevent the spread of the virus. Refusing not only the Russian vaccine, but telling Pfizer to take their vaccine and leave, not wanted here.... You would think the guy really want his people to die in droves.

Introduction to genetics...

Australia is not happy with Facebook... (not that I personally care, never posted a single thing there, but apparently a lot of Aussies do use Facebook) https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56920992 Facebook approved adverts targeting teenage children interested in gambling, smoking and extreme weight loss, a report says. Research by the lobby group Reset Australia created a Facebook page under the name Ozzie News Network to explore the advertising options. And it was able to create targeted ads, based on profiling by the technology giant, for as little as A$3 (£2.16). Facebook told BBC News it reviewed each ad before and after publication. Facebook approved all three Ads! "Facebook appears to use teenagers' data in the same way as adults," Reset Australia executive director Chris Cooper told the Guardian. "This opens a can of worms about just how Facebook profits from under-age data, and exactly what protection they have against inappropriate targeting." "Should a 13-year-old who lists their single status be getting targeted ads for a sugar-daddy dating service? "Should a 15-year-old profiled as interested in alcohol see ads that suggest ****tail recipes based on their parent's alcohol cabinet? "Do we want 16-year-olds to have ads about gambling or political extremism targeted at them?" I might be a relic from the past, but I think Facebook is something the world doesn't really need. But also that it may be a symptom of some underlying issues with today's society rather than the cause.

That's the weirdest description I've ever seen for accidents on powerplants with release of nuclear material into the environment 😂 (as for Russia, I'm not talking about Chernobyl, that was an Ukrainian powerplant, I'm talking about the Mayak incident in 1957, the worlds third most disastrous nuclear accent after Chernobyl and Fukushima, beating Three Mile Island by miles)

That would probably be my biggest concern with a widespread use of nuclear energy. Sure, a lot of countries can handle it responsibly (sort of, except Russia, The US, Japan etc.), but there are also a number of countries I would feel uneasy about having nuclear facilities and stockpiles of nuclear material.

I guess I just got lucky then. 200+ hours of playing and I never noticed technical issues 🤔

"Anvisa’s decision doesn’t affect a separate request from Brazilian company Uniao Quimica for emergency use authorization of Sputnik V produced locally, according to an emailed statement from Anvisa’s press office." So, it's unusable if they have to import it but not if the same product is manufactured locally. Smells "fishy"?

Because people tire easily of all the peace talk, back to something more confrontational... The love affair between Scott Morrison and China seems to be over. Regardless of whether he wants it to end or not. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/11/hong-kong-activist-welcome-to-campaign-in-exile-in-australia "Hong Kong former legislator and pro-democracy activist Ted Hui is welcome to campaign on political issues in Australia and his arrival was not a matter for China, the chair of the Australian parliament’s intelligence committee said on Thursday, angering Beijing, which warned of further damage to already strained ties between the two countries." Ok, just kidding. Scott Morrison wasn't consulted on the matter. Not his style to show any backbone. Two different takes on the sudden increase in spending on improving existing military infrastructure in Australia's north: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/28/australia-to-upgrade-military-bases-expand-wargames-with "Australia will spend $580m to upgrade four military bases in its north and expand war games with the United States, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce on Wednesday, according to extracts of the announcement seen by the Reuters news agency. An airstrip in the Northern Territory will be lengthened to support larger aircraft, firing ranges overhauled and new training facilities set up for defence personnel and US marines." Scott Morrison of course has a different version of the truth: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/scott-morrison-mike-pezzullo-war-conflict-china-australia/100100038 "Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied a major investment in military bases in northern Australia is aimed at sending a message to China." "At the same time, he has also defended comments made by new Defence Minister Peter Dutton that the possibility of conflict with China over Taiwan should not be "discounted". Mr Morrison was in Darwin to confirm a $747 million upgrade to defence facilities in the Northern Territory, part of $8 billion set to be spent on military infrastructure in northern Australia over the next decade. Mr Morrison said the goal of properly resourcing the Australian military was aimed at keeping peace in an "uncertain" region rather than preparing for conflict." The problem is, everyone knows Scott Morrison is a notorious liar. If little old me knows it, China probably knows it too. Doesn't require much effort by any intelligence service. Speaking of China, England dreams of ruling the waves again... maybe they have a score to settle over the breach of the agreements on Hong Kong? https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/27/uks-queen-elizabeth-aircraft-carrier-to-deploy-to-japan-s-korea "Royal Navy flotilla will stop off in India and Singapore and also sail through the contested South China Sea." "The United Kingdom’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will lead a flotilla of Royal Navy ships through Asian waters on port visits to Japan and South Korea on its maiden deployment, the British embassy in Tokyo has announced, as Australia warned of threats of conflict in the region. The high-profile voyage, announced by the British embassy on Monday, is aimed at bolstering security ties in East Asia and comes amid tensions in the region as concern grows in Japan over any threat posed to neighbouring Taiwan by China, as well as increased tensions in the disputed South China Sea." ... "It will be joined by vessels from the United States and a frigate from the Netherlands and will carry out exercises with forces from Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, the UAE, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel, India, Oman and South Korea, the British government said in a statement. Other foreign ships currently in Asian waters include a French amphibious carrier and two US navy aircraft carriers, one of which, the USS Ronald Reagan, is based in Japan." Lots of troops from faraway countries meeting in South East Asia An Australian perspective: https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/home-affairs-boss-warns-drums-of-war-are-beating/news-story/183c411ad712c199182b4ee597fda42f "One of the Federal Government's top national security officials has warned the "drums of war" are beating amid rising tensions with China. In an Anzac Day message to staff, Home Affairs Department Secretary Mike Pezzullo said Australia must work to reduce the risk of war "but not at the cost of our precious liberty". "Today, as free nations again hear the beating drums and watch worryingly the militarisation of issues that we had, until recent years, thought unlikely to be catalysts for war, let us continue to search unceasingly for the chance for peace while bracing again, yet again, for the curse of war," Mr Pezzullo said." Could it be the price of being the flea caught between two fingers maybe? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-21/us-china-preparing-war-drumbeats-conflict-australia-crosshairs/13260084 "Last year, at the 70th anniversary of China's triumph, Xi Jinping warned the Chinese people "the road ahead will not be smooth". He called on people to revive the spirit of the Korean War, to "speak to invaders in the language they know … to use war to prevent war". Simply: tell the Americans that China is not afraid, it was victorious once, and will be again."

Bad news for arms exporters and oil investors... Iran and Saudi Arabia caught in the act of having secret peace talks https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/28/mbs-us-and-riyadh-strategic-partners-with-few-differences "Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has struck a conciliatory tone towards the kingdom’s arch-nemesis, Iran, saying he sought “good” relations after reports the rivals held secret talks recently in Baghdad." Edit: The Financial Times article with more details is behind a paywall, so not going to link to it.

Are you going to hold it against me if I pull a @Gfted1 here and confess, in all honesty, that I'm probably too old to care, because I'll be dead and gone when it becomes a problem? Let youmg engineers find new solutions to new problems, not grumpy old forum residents that survived old problems Edit: Buy a SpaceX 42 rocket and ship the junk to the sun? Might help your tan. Edit2: I'm old enough to remember the old Space 1999 series. The solution to the worlds problem with radioactive waste was to store it in giant junkyards on the moon.

That's based on the assumption that those sources are going to be your only sources of energy. Even Denmark, despite getting so much electricity from alternative sources now, doesn't put all the eggs in one basket. Diversification (sp?) is important. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you could always add a few nuclear power plants to pick up the slack on rainy day and use the renewable energy when it's there (and scale the storage as needed,if possible). Not sure what the better alternatives would be? Not trying to be snarky, genuinely curious (with the caveat I don't believe oil and coal is the future for humanity).

Not sure how "tremendous" it is, but Aussies like big batteries for things like wind power on a day with no wind: https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/1/16723186/elon-musk-battery-launched-south-australia The world's largest lithium-ion battery is now live in South Australia after being delivered a few weeks ago, easily beating the promise Elon Musk made of "100 days or it's free." The South Australian Government notes that for the first time, clean wind energy can be siphoned to the grid 24/7 improving the system’s reliability, whether the wind is blowing or not. The 100MW battery farm has enough storage capacity to power more than 30,000 homes. ... Of course, Australia does have a few places here and there, that are less populated, so wind farms, solar cell farms (and the batteries for temporary storage) etc. can be made less intrusive esthetically. Edit: I know from a local newspaper that the 30.000 homes is for 8 hours in case anyone wondered for how long Edit2: Which has a web page with the number... https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/huge-tesla-battery-in-south-australia-primed-for-big-upgrade-20191119-p53byo.html "The battery system's capacity will now be increased to 150 megawatts under an expansion plan put forward by French energy giant Neoen, the owner of the site, with the support of Tesla and the state and federal governments. Paired with the adjacent Hornsdale wind farm, Tesla's grid-scale battery, known as the Hornsdale Power Reserve, has helped reduce intermittency and manage increased demand during summer when the grid is under the most strain. In its first year of operation, it saved consumers more than $50 million, according to Neoen."