bruce t

FWIW there is no intention on the Australian government mandating vaccination. Nor will they entertain the thought of any sort of a vaccination ID. But as for flying etc etc. That's a different matter. A commercial enterprise, ie airlines, can set their own rules for flying. QANTAS has already proposed a no jab no fly rule on international flights when they restart.

So technically any business can set their own rules for entering their premises. A commercial decision is way different from a government mandated rule. I seem to recall a funny little man with a mustachio in Germany who decided to identify certain folks with a tattoo. When you start 'discriminating' certain folks you are at the top of a very very slippery slope.

But the USA already has an ID system that everyone accepts. It's called the Social Security Number. So maybe, just maybe when you got your shot it was recorded along with your SSN. Big brother!!!! Just being the devils advocate.

It seems Covid-19 isn't the biggest issue. The big problem has been the misinformation and politicizing of it.

I bet I can come up with a dozen web sites that quote different figures for vaccine results. So what's the true truth?

It's easy. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Wear a mask when you can't keep your distance. Get the jab as soon as you can. How hard it that? Why blame team blue or team red when you should take the responsibility yourself to stay safe?

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But just because you have an opinion doesn't mean you are right! Right?

Brisbane hasn't called a 2 week lock down. Where do you get that information? Brisbane has a 3 day lockdown following 2 small outbreaks. As of this morning there are 8 cases in a population of 1.7 million. All but 2 of the cases have come from health/hospital workers who havent been vaccinated. 2 are still being investigated. We have had 0 cases for sometime. The lockdown comes on the day the federal government stopped the covid job support money. The state and federal governments are from the left and right side of politicians. Many are saying the lockdown in the week proceeding Easter is simply politics between state and feds.

FWIW the last few cases haven't resulted in lock downs giving credence to the political nature of the lockdown.

Australia has gone several weeks with no community cases. The lockdown is seen as a political action by most folks. 

Covid has stopped a lot of folks going overseas for holidays. So they are buying an RV and seeing their homeland. Demand is up.

Here in Australia demand is crazy. Used prices crazy. Campgrounds hard to find. 

Here in Australia we have some US made pickups. Recently Fiat introduced the RAM and is now selling very well. (In 2020 there was only 2 vehicles that had increased sales in Australia. One was the RAM). But what we call Utes are the biggest sellers. But there's a different between a Pickup and a Ute. The Ute is one single body. Much like the El Camino.

Here's a history for those interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupé_utility  Scroll down to see many variations of the Ute.

GM flirted with selling Utes in the USA a few years back. Same time as Pontiac G8's were being sold. (A number of US police departments used Australian built Pontiac G*'s). But Americans didn't want a 'small' pickup!

Very common in Australia. Simple trays with drop down rear and sides.

Google bocar.com.au. (sorry I can't post a link. Bocar is just one of hundreds on offer. Just the first one I found. You can buy any variation direct from the new car dealer). 

RV a troll is only someone who you disagree with and have to revert to name calling. Sad when it's not appropriate for anyone to have an opinion other than the one you yourself have.

But this is how the world is now working. Those who disagree simply shout down or censor those with opposing views. Seems a tactic all too come to certain groups.

This argument/debate has a disconnect. Those in favour of renewables think that everyone else is an anti renewable and climate denier. That's not the case. Sure there are some who say dig more coal, drill more wells etc etc. Heck I would say I'm greener than anyone here. I wont step on an ant if I can help it. I go into meltdown every time I see a tree cut down. The debate isn't, or shouldn't be, about having renewables or not having renewables. The debate should be about how we get there. RV seems to think he's the expert on this subject or at least an expert on finding a web page that suits his view or the world. He thinks every one else is a neanderthal for still believing in fossil fuels.

Reality check. - While the likes of Europe, Australia and the USA fight among themselves on the best way to go green and in doing so destroy their economies there's one major country that is giving the middle finger to all of us. Most countries in the world signed up to the Paris agreement. The Paris agreement sees everyone cut their emissions by 2030 and 2050. Except China. Yes China is building all the wind turbines and solar panels to help us all go green. And in doing so they pollute like a drunken cigar smoker. In just 17 days they emit more pollution than Australia dose in a whole year. Yet the Paris agreement allows them to keep increasing their emissions until 2060. While we bicker here about details and facts we find on a web site China keeps on its merry way. Building more coal fired power stations. It cut cleaner Australian coal in favour of dirty Mongolian and Russian coal. China doesn't give a rats about problems in Colorado or Texas. It just wants to make more money from fools like us. Wrecking our economies for what? For making China richer. 

And what does China do with all its wealth? It's building a military force that will soon surpass the USA's. And then what? Here in the Western pacific there is a lot of action going re China's position. How many on this forum know what the Quad Group is? No Cheating RV. No looking it up on the web and being a know it all!! Let me tell you what the Quad Group is. The USA, Japan, India and Australia. Did you know they had a meeting last weekend? All the leaders not just the office boys. And the big concern was China's military growth and their bullying tactics. Look at yesterdays China, USA meeting in Alaska.

Why am I writing this? Because while many here are pushing to kill your economy you are distracted from the real enemy. And the enemy isn't emissions. It's China. RV are you prepared to send your grand kids to fight China just because you are so blinded by an ideology?

Wake up. We can go green. But not at the expense of the economy. This isn't a practice at getting things right. Its the real thing. If we can get China to cut just 30% of their emissions then we can all back off a bit. But until you have the b***s to stand up to China anything we all do is pointless. Drive your Teslar. Live in a cave. But without addressing China you are all banging your heads against the Great Wall of China.

"Now that we are winding down oil use for transportation in the next couple of decades those oil and gas subsidies should go away".

RV are you going to be the one to tell the trucking industry that they will be pulling into Flying J to plug in every few miles? How about the railroads? Who's going to tell BNSF or UP they will have to convert to electric locos? Same with the airlines? Huh? All those fancy EV cars coming from Asia on a battery powered ship.

The first electric car was way back in the 1800's. We are still waiting.

And no I haven't got a link to the common sense web site.

NamMedivac it's only there if you want to look for it.

And if you 'want' to look you can find claims that approx 1600 new coal fired power plants are in the making.

But I'm not going to do the work for those who simply want links.

Yes RV pick the sites that suit your argument. The Victoria government closed their biggest coal  fired power plant. Said it would cost no more than 30 cents per customer. Power prices doubled. Now find a site that contradicts that fact. RV some may be too polite to call you an internet know all. I'm not that polite. You claim to be an expert on the subject. But you are only a leftie pushing your leftie ideology. I'll repeat. we are living the experiment. Self interest web sites are all driven by their own agenda. I suggest you look at bigger picture than your tunnel vision of the world.

Any person can find suitable web sites to support their case. It's not hard. RV is doing it all the time. But I'm not going to play the game. Intelligent people can find the information on the web. Yeah and we know everything we read on the web is true dont we? Remember I'm living in the experiment. You folks are only just beginning. 

How about using Google to look at both sides of the story? Easy to find the ones that suit your agreement. If you only Googled Japan's new coal power stations I wouldn't have to do it for you.

None so blind as those who can't see!

RV you certainly have an obsession with this subject. I give you credit for that. But the above doesn't tell the full story does it? And you know it. Tell the readers what is replacing Japan's nuclear stations. No? Ok I will. Coal. Yup coal. Japan is renewing it's coal base. They use Australian coal. They are now buying Australian coal in record quantities. Hundreds of new coal power stations are being built in Asia. Inclouding China and Japan.

Keep cherry picking the information. But remember other folks are not dumb enough to fall for political ideology dressed up as power policy.

Now back to the river bank to check my fishing pole.

RV for every web site that you find I can find one that contradicts your web site. I've got more to do than sit on my butt all day butting heads with you. 

Simple fact is that I'm living this experiment. 

For those who bored ponder this.

The state of South Australia is about 50% bigger than Texas. With a population of just 1.7 million. Compared to almost 30 million. If they can't get it right here what chance in Texas. We have more wind, sun and heat.

RV you continue trying to convince others that your political ideology is right. I'm going camping.

RV I'm living in the SA experiment. I don't need a link. Besides last time I gave you a link you simply ignored it.

Can I send you figures on the tens of thousands of homes without power because they can no longer pay their power accounts. How about talking to folks who have given up resetting their clocks every time the power goes off?

You don't need a link to see SA has interconnectors to other state's power supply.

RV you are quoting figures 're the South Australia battery from the Gardian. You do realise that it's a far left, biased publication don't you? Figures 're the first year income from the SA battery have already been disputed. SA has a real power issue. It has gone 'green' with wind, solar and a battery. If you read about power prices you will also see that SA consumers pay the highest power bills in the world. SA has constant black and brown outs. Is that the future you want? (I pointed out your biased link in a previous thread). 

Before you get all excited and try to dispute the facts, know one thing. I'm currently camped in SA. It's raining, dark and no wind. So no wind turbines. No solar. The battery lasts less than an hour. Oh yeah SA relies on diesel generators, natural gas generators and a network grid taking power from Victoria that comes from brown coal via the Heywood connector. Industry in SA has all but collapsed. It's referred to here as the rust state.

Just let me know when you need real facts about the SA experiment. 

Masks are no big deal in many countries. They often wear them in place such as Japan. So IMHO no big deal if you choose to wear one. Question though. What about banks etc that require you to smile at the security camera. Come to think of it all security cameras. The bad guys will just love wearing masks.

We all make decisions all of our lives. Even getting in the car is a calculated risk. Do you get the flu vaccine is a calculated risk. Enough decisions of our own without telling others what to do.

Here's a site I keep an eye on. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Scroll down a bit to see the daily cases and daily deaths. Draw whatever conclusions you want from the information. But it seems the downturn was ahead of any vaccine roll out. India has dropped their number of cases. Why?

If thee downturn is natural and given a hurry up by the vaccine all should be fine. 😁

RV I live here. I know what SA has and hasn't got. What it has got is almost the worlds most expensive power. It has got inter connectors to get base load power from other states. It has a Tesla battery that will support 20 minutes of use. (See below). It has diesel generators as backup. It has constant black outs. Ask my inlaws, who live there, have given up resetting any electric clocks. In Australia SA is referred to as the rust state. Successive governments have run most of it's industry out of the state.

The link you provided is a self interest site with no 'real' facts. Just self promotion. Here's Musk's own quote, "Tesla said the project in South Australia “will provide enough power for more than 30,000 homes”, or reportedly a total of about 1 hour and 18 minutes of power going at full capacity."  OR. " The 80 megawatt-hour batteries can store enough energy to power 15,000 homes for four hours or 2,500 homes for an entire day." 30000 is only a fraction of the homes in South Australia. Doesn't include any industrial or business use. These quotes come from the governments own promotional material. Time has passed and many details are still a secret. Why a secret?

"Industry suggestions published by Forbes claimed the 100MW battery farm would cost between $A200 million and $A240 million." No one knows what it cost because it's subject to a confidentiality agreement. And FWIW it owned by overseas company who makes a huge profit from the subsidies.

The battery does help 'smooth out' variations. It's not built to provide constant power. It's simply a back up for unreliable renewable energy.

hemsteadc nothing wrong in your world if all you can find to comment on is a spellun error. And while you find a simple spelling error Tesla makes more and more money out of government subsidies.

I put up a long post with a very well documented, real world, experiment. Yet no one wants to see the reality of what the future holds. Instead it's a blame game of why Texas shut down. It's simple. Texas shut down due to unforeseen circumstances. Simple. Just like accidents they happen. Get over it. The question should be, do we continue down the same path and accept that 'events' MAY happen? Or do we continue to take the risk with new technology, ideology, increased risks of future failures and higher costs? Just like South Australia, Texas is the petri dish of the choices that we all have to make. Stick with what works or jump into the petri dish.

So do you keep what you've got and accept the occasional hiccup or do you go down the green path and accept more risk and higher prices?

RV you need to be very careful with what you read.

First  the Teslar batteries are all subject to confidentiality agreements. No one knows what they cost. Not even the federal government. So the figures in the report come from where? Second the South Australian Teslar battery with last approximately 20 minutes. Third South Australia has just 1.7million population. Fourth the Teslar batteries are backed up with diesel generators. Fifth. South Australia gets its bulk power via interstate connectors from coal power. South Australia is installing gas fired power after blowing up their coal fired power station in Port August. And finally South Australia has almost the highest power costs in the world.

The report is a self interest one.

Australia is way ahead of most countries when it comes to green energy. The governments heavily subsidizes green power. Most of the green energy projects are owned/run by foreign interests. They make money out of the subsidies. China makes the money providing the solar panels and wind towers.

South Australia's green experiment means they have frequent blackouts. Not just local blackouts. Recently the weather failed the wind and solar farms. One inter connector from Victoria failed and the lights went out in ALL of South Australia. My wife comes from South Australia and her family still lives there. They give up resetting any electric clocks they have because of power blackouts.

The state of Victoria closed the biggest coal fired powers station and the government said that power bills would go up by no more than $0.30 per quarter. They doubled. Thousands of homes have been cut off from power because they no longer can afford electricity. Victoria has banned all exploration of any fossil fuel.

Australia is the biggest coal exporter in the world. Australian coal keeps power cheap in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea to name just a few. Yet in Australia coal fired power stations are being closed down and heavy industry along with it. Green power is so expensive that it is destroying Australia industry.

So a warning to anyone that thinks green is the future. Just look at how the green movement is killing the Australian economy. You have been warned.

Barbarok I have no issues with terminology but rather how it is used. Too many folks throw terms around without giving them any real thought. Or understanding of what they mean. And this applies to all sides of the argument.

We ALL have to keep in mind what a power outage of any kind means in this age of high technology. In 1900 most folks would have thrown another log on the fire or gone to bed. Now we want to recharge our phone/s. Play on the internet. Keep the central heating on and the freezer frozen. The whole power outage just amplifies how dependent we have all become on a constant power supply. And maybe that's the issue. Us and not the network!!!