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[SaintsSeptember]

The Collins class subs had a bad reputation because Murdoch used them to assassinate Kim Beasley's reputation. He signed for them as defence minister and as they were being built he was ridiculed for the cost and awarding the contracts to be made in Australia. The media made them out to be hillbilly bathtubs that you could hear coming from the other side of the world. The latest subs are getting the same treatment as cost blow out and all the strange tender processes get unravelled. If you believe the current media about them, these French monstrosities are going to sink and not move either.

The Australian build was simply not an issue in the end. The actual build quality is very good.
The noise was largely propeller cavetation, which was recognised by the Australians, and they used a USA company to fix it.

The Swedish company did an OK job with the overall design, but it was new work for them as well and they made some major stuff ups.

Poor welding of some of their sections.
Some aspects, they said weren't specified, but should have been regarded as the norm for military equipment. IE A streamlined periscope.
The system of ballasting the fuel tanks with sea water not up to the task as it was designed.

Their reputation ended up shot and they've won no more business.

 

[George]

 

[Kildonan]

NEW PUBLICATION: SETTING THE PRIME MINISTER STRAIGHT ON HAZARD REDUCTION

“Mr Morrison needs to listen to the experts. Focusing on hazard reduction rather than emissions is another diversion so the Coalition can drag its heels on what’s really needed: effective climate policy,” said the Climate Council’s CEO Amanda McKenzie.

“We need to be clear. Hazard reduction is an important tool but it’s not enough to protect us from catastrophic bushfires driven by extreme weather. We need to take action on the root cause, worsening climate change,” said Mr Mullins.

 

[Stewart66]

I generally agree with your post, except this bit:



Completely untrue. People across the world start companies every day which get to $100m+ value, even $1b+ value.

Just not enough of them in Australia.

Innovation is different to research and development. I've worked in startups for many years. Sold a company, worked in companies that grew enormously, I've got multiple mates who started companies worth $100m+ which employ 100s or 1000s of people.

If you help out people who want to innovate then these are the sort of results you get. You said "no-one to employ them to do so" - the people I'm talking about aren't waiting for someone to pay them a wage to innovate. They're ready to change the ******* world, but if they're going to do it in Australia they just need policy settings which are less bone-headed, and to be surrounded by people with some risk appetite.

The main problems are:

- Aussies don't work super-hard, so it's hard to find someone to help drive your startup forward.
- Aussies don't have high risk appetite, mainly because house prices are super-high, so they all just want a comfy job at a big company.
- Big companies are massively protected here so it's relatively hard to launch.
- Our local market is small.

I wish some of those would change but not sure it'll happen soon. I'm very worried about how our economy will look in 10-20 years.

Plasma Waste Processes - PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis is the world leader in the design, development, manufacturing and commercialization of advanced plasma processes.

www.pyrogenesis.com

 

[pebblesofsand]

So Morrison has referred a decision on whether his Minister has breached Morrison's Ministerial Code of Conduct to the Head of his Department who will then decide if the Minister has breached Morrison's code.

Wow - so decisive - that's what you want from a "leader"

Scott Morrison refers Bridget McKenzie’s handling of sports grants program for investigation

PM’s department to investigate whether McKenzie’s allocation of $100m in sports grants breached ministerial standards

www.theguardian.com

 

[gringo2011]

So Morrison has referred a decision on whether his Minister has breached Morrison's Ministerial Code of Conduct to the Head of his Department who will then decide if the Minister has breached Morrison's code.

Wow - so decisive - that's what you want from a "leader"

Scott Morrison refers Bridget McKenzie’s handling of sports grants program for investigation

PM’s department to investigate whether McKenzie’s allocation of $100m in sports grants breached ministerial standards

www.theguardian.com

Porter got a grant in his electorate. Can't see any conflict of interest considering he has no interest in prosecuting her in the first place.

 

[bergholt]

Plasma Waste Processes - PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis is the world leader in the design, development, manufacturing and commercialization of advanced plasma processes.

www.pyrogenesis.com

Looks interesting, Canadian though?

 

[Stewart66]

Looks interesting, Canadian though?

We had the technology just let it go , we can still do it.

The point you raised was we have systematically ripped the guts out of the CSIRO & research and development.
Laughable what we do with water in this country , pumped effluent out to pristine parts of the coastal area ,
allowed storm water to be simply run down the drain , ripped Mangrove habitat out when it provides
the very thing needed around entire coastal areas of Australia, allow massive amounts of water in Northern
half of country to simply run back into ocean .
Rip out trees , roundup anything within inch it’s life , allowing soil to simply fly off into the wind .
Recommend anyone watch doco with Peter Andrews & Tony Coote ( Angus & Coote jewellery)
on the way land /water system should operate , instead corrupt politicians want more mines.
Green technology is available for roads & footpaths now ...all available , everything recycleable .
We don’t need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on defence it’s just making Lobbyists relevant.
currently we are spending the same amount as China per GDP ...and it’s sent to the ridiculous conflicts
that we are involved in the other side of the World rather than staying here .

Led by morons , both sides , but the current mob in Government have made it to an art form.

 

[Mowman]

Well that didn’t take long, charities been accused of holding back millions in donations for bush fires

Every f:;ken time

 

[Stewart66]

Well that didn’t take long, charities been accused of holding back millions in donations for bush fires

Every f:;ken time

and Insurance....and the Banks .....

 

[Stewart66]

We had the technology just let it go , we can still do it.

The point you raised was we have systematically ripped the guts out of the CSIRO & research and development.
Laughable what we do with water in this country , pumped effluent out to pristine parts of the coastal area ,
allowed storm water to be simply run down the drain , ripped Mangrove habitat out when it provides
the very thing needed around entire coastal areas of Australia, allow massive amounts of water in Northern
half of country to simply run back into ocean .
Rip out trees , roundup anything within inch it’s life , allowing soil to simply fly off into the wind .
Recommend anyone watch doco with Peter Andrews & Trevor Coote ( Angus & Coote jewellery)
on the way land /water system should operate , instead corrupt politicians want more mines.
Green technology is available for roads & footpaths now ...all available , everything recycleable .
We don’t need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on defence it’s just making Lobbyists relevant.
currently we are spending the same amount as China per GDP ...and it’s sent to the ridiculous conflicts
that we are involved in the other side of the World rather than staying here .

Led by morons , both sides , but the current mob in Government have made it to an art form.

'We can fix all this': Could this be the solution to Australia's drought crisis?

Is natural sequence farming the secret to restoring our water-starved continent? For more than a decade, two farmers have shown that parched landscapes can be revived. And finally Canberra's listening.

www.abc.net.au

Called Natural Sequence Farming .

After Peter restored massive amounts of land the government sold it to mining again because of corruption.

 

[gringo2011]

Pretty shitty that an Indian mining giant gets paid subsidies to do this to our own people. The Adani lawyers set out to bankrupt this guy by the way and have a policy of bullying anyone who stands up to them.

Aboriginal Australians Lose Land Rights to Coal Mine | Ancient Origins

The Queensland government has transferred Wangan and Jagalingou ancestral lands to Indian mining giant Adani.

www.ancient-origins.net

 

[gringo2011]

Well that didn’t take long, charities been accused of holding back millions in donations for bush fires

Every f:;ken time

I think they try to do it so that it's not all used quickly and opportunists don't come and take it. I know in the black Saturday fires in Gippsland a lot of people thought they weren't worthy of charity except the scammers. There are always a few campaigners and some charities have such a huge amount of staff and expenses a lot gets swallowed up. It's still better than nothing and shouldn't make people less generous.

It's going to cost a bomb to put this all back together. The best charity is going to these places and spending cash. We go up to Marysville and places like that and spend cash. It's the only way to get 100% of the money to the locals and let them do it the way they like it without waste. Most people would rather that than get some crap handed to them and projects that the locals aren't even interested in.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

In New Zealand, during the 70's they built some power stations which were gas turbines, using a stationary version of the Pratt and Whitney JC4A engine, the jet engine off a DC8 plane.

When they wanted to double the size of one of the plants during the mid 90's, they had to apply to the government ( good system ) , who had environmental concerns. In the end a new "Combined Cycle Gas Plant" was built and the old units de-commissioned.

Other similar plants in NZ, running on diesel were de-commissioned as they were deemed to be too expensive.
NZ later faced an electricity shortage and installed a lot of single cycle gas stations. ( albeit not 1950's designs ).
( New Zealand has really expensive electricity , and many of the homes there don't have any means of heating , which forces people to spend a fortune on portable electric heating ).

Now , Who can tell me what happened to the DC8 Engines.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

NEW PUBLICATION: SETTING THE PRIME MINISTER STRAIGHT ON HAZARD REDUCTION

“Mr Morrison needs to listen to the experts. Focusing on hazard reduction rather than emissions is another diversion so the Coalition can drag its heels on what’s really needed: effective climate policy,” said the Climate Council’s CEO Amanda McKenzie.

“We need to be clear. Hazard reduction is an important tool but it’s not enough to protect us from catastrophic bushfires driven by extreme weather. We need to take action on the root cause, worsening climate change,” said Mr Mullins.

It depends what he's addressing.
IMO first and foremost we need an energy policy.

If we are addressing bush-fires you won't be able to fix it with Australia's climate policy.
Time to devise a policy , 1 year if we rush.
Time to implement CO2 reduction activities a decade.
Expected reduction in global CO2 in the next 30 years if we stopped emmitting ANY .... NONE.
Amount of bushfires prevented in the next 30 years by rigorously addressing climate change within Australia. NONE.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Diesel back-up on power cut days - MPNEWS

DIESEL generators have been brought onto the Mornington Peninsula to avoid power outages over summer. Outages can be expected up to five times each summer, usually when thousands of holiday-makers turn on their air-conditioners at around the same time. Network provider United Energy says the...

www.mpnews.com.au

What's wrong with this picture?
If they can have Coal/Gas/Solar/Wind with Diesel Backup, why don't i just have Solar on my roof ,and a small diesel for Backup?
Then i can go off grid and avoid the transmission costs and horrendous markup.

Stuff it if they can have Dodo energy, why not have ME energy.

More seriously, what is actually involved in an Energy Supplier? I assume they have largely computerised system that buys at the lowest price and collects data , mostly from smart meters, for billing.
I wonder if that could be done by "not for profit" Co-op organisations, and given that everyone needs it , why was that aspect privatised in the first place?

.

 

[gringo2011]

Diesel back-up on power cut days - MPNEWS

DIESEL generators have been brought onto the Mornington Peninsula to avoid power outages over summer. Outages can be expected up to five times each summer, usually when thousands of holiday-makers turn on their air-conditioners at around the same time. Network provider United Energy says the...

www.mpnews.com.au

What's wrong with this picture?
If they can have Coal/Gas/Solar/Wind with Diesel Backup, why don't i just have Solar on my roof ,and a small diesel for Backup?
Then i can go off grid and avoid the transmission costs and horrendous markup.

Stuff it if they can have Dodo energy, why not have ME energy.

More seriously, what is actually involved in an Energy Supplier? I assume they have largely computerised system that buys at the lowest price and collects data , mostly from smart meters, for billing.
I wonder if that could be done by "not for profit" Co-op organisations, and given that everyone needs it , why was that aspect privatised in the first place?

.

Yeah, imagine if a non for profit, say like a government who didn't need bigger amounts for share holders every year and didn't price collude to increase all at the same times so that consumers have competition but not real actual value. That would be awesome. What kind of utopia could possibly have all that and free health care and education. We'd need companies to pay tax and to get some of the billionaires to stop sending money into tax havens for their own avoidance. Imagine if instead of spending on refugees in the pacific we spent on buying back our energy production and distribution capabilities.

We could do it for things like Health insurance, communications etc. It would be ideal.

 

[gringo2011]

Interesting how BRW and Forbes type publications are running different narratives than Murdoch and his cronies. They were traditionally the voice of the traditional Liberal voter. Now it would be the Herald Sun.

Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity By 2050

We need to build a new system: one that will balance economic growth with sustainability and human flourishing.

www.forbes.com

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Yeah, imagine if a non for profit, say like a government who didn't need bigger amounts for share holders every year and didn't price collude to increase all at the same times so that consumers have competition but not real actual value. That would be awesome. What kind of utopia could possibly have all that and free health care and education. We'd need companies to pay tax and to get some of the billionaires to stop sending money into tax havens for their own avoidance. Imagine if instead of spending on refugees in the pacific we spent on buying back our energy production and distribution capabilities.

We could do it for things like Health insurance, communications etc. It would be ideal.

I can accept that different energy generators can be privatised ( though it tends to favour lower capital costs vs better efficiency which is bad for the environment, so then we need to have a system where they aren't allowed to just build anything they like, such as second hand DC8 engines ). I can accept the privatisation of the supply infrastructure, though it has essentially created a monopoly, which now needs to be controlled. At least there are real costs involved in that. ( When it was operated by the SEC , wooden power poles were going to die out, the concrete pole solution was gong to deliver real maintenance savings over the long term. Now its short term fix ...wood all the way ).
But the energy companies are almost virtual companies. Their sole purpose is to bill us.

 

[bergholt]

But the energy companies are almost virtual companies. Their sole purpose is to bill us.

Yep, three parts to them:

- advertising
- billing
- financial hedging

The last is handy because it smooths out costs, so we don’t pay super-high prices when costs spike.

The second is a commodity, they all use the same software to do it.

The first is completely useless.

 

[CursingFijian]

Three US firefighters killed in NSW waterbomber crash tragedy

The American company that has been helping with the Australian bushfire crisis has grounded its Large Air Tanker fleet as a "mark of respect" for three US firefighters who died in a plane crash.

www.abc.net.au

 

[CaptainRisky]

Well that didn’t take long, charities been accused of holding back millions in donations for bush fires

Every f:;ken time

All Three of the Flockers , how dare they , its sh1t like this that sends me over the edge, I didnt spend hours and hours organizing donations from our group and donating hundreds of dollars so these lazy fat bastards can put the money in their bank account , ScMo needs to get off his ass and do something about these crooks , Damn im so fuc,,,ing p1ssed off

 

[SaintsSeptember]

All Three of the Flockers , how dare they , its sh1t like this that sends me over the edge, I didnt spend hours and hours organizing donations from our group and donating hundreds of dollars so these lazy fat bastards can put the money in their bank account , ScMo needs to get off his ass and do something about these crooks , Damn im so fuc,,,ing p1ssed off

Red Cross denies claims it is stockpiling bushfire donations for future disasters

9now.nine.com.au

Take a chill pill, it doesn't make sense just to drop cash from the air tankers.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Yep, three parts to them:

- advertising
- billing
- financial hedging

The last is handy because it smooths out costs, so we don’t pay super-high prices when costs spike.

The second is a commodity, they all use the same software to do it.

The first is completely useless.

The smoothing of costs actually works against the system.

Imagine if you had an indicator, with green orange and red. When it went to red you were paying the maximum cost for your Energy. Green the minimum.
People might be inclined to not use their washing machine, their dishwasher, even turn their aircon off, if they knew they were paying huge spot prices.
By smoothing it , you take away any incentive to turn off your appliances at those peak times.

 

[CaptainRisky]

Red Cross denies claims it is stockpiling bushfire donations for future disasters

9now.nine.com.au

Take a chill pill, it doesn't make sense just to drop cash from the air tankers.

Ok expert, your right again