site
contact
newsThe USA has a new President
Here in Australia, we were watching from the outside; the
election was a time to sit in front of the TV with drink and
snacks. Entertaining, but very serious implications.
I rarely make a political blog post. Once or twice a year. Well,
there was one about the US economy, in May 2024:
"The US economy and de-dollarization"
https://bkhome.org/news/202405/the-us-economy-and-de-dollarization.html
Not political exactly. There was a political post about
misinformation on YouTube, in August 2023:
"Misinformation and more misinformation"
https://bkhome.org/news/202308/misinformation-and-more-misinformation.html
Making political posts is going down a rabbit hole. Better to
stick with my custom trike project and EasyOS development posts.
However, I am motivated to post an observation, just before the
US election. The media that we get here is, apart from Fox News,
just about all pushing that the Democrats are the Good Guys. But,
a strange thing happened...
I was watching Donald Trump being interviewed by Tucker Carlson
on YouTube, then the next day, it was all over the news that
Donald Trump was inciting violence against Liz Cheney. Kamala
Harris announced that Trump should be barred from running to be
President and prosecuted. Liz Cheney and others echoed the same.
My reaction was surprise. "Huh? that's not what Trump said." He
was taken completely out of context. I saw why they did it; right
before the election, they wanted to sway enough people to get them
over the line. But it was low, a dirty shot.
Elon Musk commented on this, reiterating what Trump actually
said. Can't find that right now, but this was the interview with
Trump that caused the big stir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtkHA9O_Mvo
And here is CNN's reporting:
Quoting:
While campaigning in Arizona, former President Donald Trump
told Tucker Carlson that former Rep. Liz Cheney is a "war hawk"
and said she should be fired upon.
That is a complete misrepresentation of what Trump actually said,
and is another contribution to me reconsidering everything that I
had been fed by the media that dominates our news feeds in
Australia.
I could post more about other observations that have put "chinks
in the armour", so to speak, of who are "the good guys".
Ah, found it, Elon Musk's response to Trump's Liz Cheney comment
(9:55 in):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl4VMD6lADg
Yeah, I know Trump is a narcissist, and lot more colourful words
apply. He is going to shake things up; it is certainly going to be
an interesting four years ahead.
While I'm in the mood of political commentary; I was shocked by
the banning of all Russian contributors to the Linux kernel.
Mostly I objected to the manner in which they did it, and the,
what I thought to be disgusting, post in support of the ban given
by Linus Torvalds. Some details posted here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4PMwpMGTdY
What worries me about this is that the USA is even able to
weaponize open source GPL software. This is in addition to
weaponizing the Dollar and control via various alliances. Oh yeah,
and ...Barry, you had better stop, right now! Ending this post.
Ha ha, one final comment; there are hats available for sale in
the US with "Kamala can be Indian again" printed on them. That is
very funny. You would have to watch certain YouTube channels to
understand that one.
Tags: ethos
Kindness with Amy
I have been watching some of Amy's podcasts about veganism, on her "Kindness with Amy" YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@KindnesswithAmy-yd5nu/featured
I recently had a blood test. Don't like going to doctors, but wanted to get a professional opinion about my itchy skin. The skin is very sensitive, and if I scratch an itchy spot, it flares up. He prescribed a couple of products -- which didn't have any effect -- and also had a blood test. On the follow-up visit, he went through the test results and it was mostly very good.
I was quite impressed with the comment he made, "the test results are good, as expected from someone on a vegetarian diet". Not a comment that I would get from most doctors. I've been a vegetarian for over 50 years, a "lacto vegetarian"; that is, someone who also eats diary products such as milk and cheese. Also eat eggs sometimes.
There was just one test result that needs attention; cholesterol
is a little bit high. We talked about what can be done to lower
cholesterol, and first up, I decided to cut out the store-bought
iced coffee. I had become addicted to this, drank it every day;
apart from containing milk it is also has a lot of sugar. Went
cold-turkey on that, now drinking just black coffee, one small cup
per day.
We also had a discussion about causes of skin itchiness. Our
water is heavily chlorinated and is a possible cause of skin
irritation:
https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/chlorine-allergy/
He also showed me that my skin is very dry, a possible indication of chlorine sensitivity.
He recommended water filters, both under the kitchen sink and also attached to the shower-head. I said that I could buy spring water in bottles, and he replied no, don't do that, as they are plastic bottles.
My place has an outside water tank, with runoff from the roof,
but that tank is plastic. Sigh... But if the tank is flushed a few
times, perhaps that will reduce plastic chemicals migrating into
the water.
Anyway, regarding diet, reckon will move more toward the vegan
end of the diet spectrum.
Tags: ethos
Ten reasons not to move to China
I have posted about foreigners living in China, showing what it
is like from the inside.
Lizzie is one of those. She is from South Africa and is teaching English in China. Her posts in channel "Because I'm Lizzie" are very positive about China; except for this one, "10 reasons NOT to move to China!". Ha ha, very frank, and I can relate to some of her posts. This is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfSqb2tE_M
It is going back awhile, I visited India many times, the longest stay about 3 months. In regional areas, foreigners always attract attention, you are always the foreigner. I stayed with some Indian people in a regional city, and as my habit back in Australia, I was going for a daily walk -- until my hosts told me not to, as I was attracting attention. Like, people commenting, why is that foreigner snooping around, or words to that effect.
Lizzie has learnt Chinese. Ha ha, easier said than done! Mandarin is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. I'm reminded of an American living in China who posts business-related topics on YouTube. His channel is "Inside China Business". He gave up trying to learn Mandarin; said that no one could understand what he said. Here is his post "Welcome to Inside China Business":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMYDrtGgmtQ
...a short distance in, he explains about the language problem.
Very interesting channel.
Tags: ethos
The US economy and de-dollarization
The last political post to this blog was in August 2023, and a little bit before that I puzzled over why the USA hasn't become bankrupt:
- Misinformation and more misinformation — August 25, 2023
- When will the USA be bankrupt? — August 22, 2023
However, there was a more recent post about spin in YouTube channels that touches on international politics:
- Spin, spin and more spin — December 26, 2023
I'm still immensely puzzled over how the global economy works, and in particular how the USA survives given the huge foreign debt and budget deficit that just gets bigger year after year.
I've taken to watching Lena Petrova. She is a Chartered Accountant, so does have a few clues about what is really going on. She is predicting, basically, that for ordinary Americans there is going to be a steady decline in their buying-power, also infrastructure will continue to crumble, and social services will dry up.
A big question; do the leaders in the US Government understand the economic dangers they are facing? Lena posted this quite shocking interview with Jared Bernstein, the President's chief economic advisor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcxlWFSQnnU
...yikes!
I don't understand everything she says, but do try and pick up the salient points. I never came across her predicting a marked collapse of the US economy, or maybe I missed that video. However, recently she posted a talk by a Chinese economist, that not only predicts likelihood of financial collapse, but also sets a date; about 4 years from now.
Hmmm, I can't find that video. The talk is probably still there in one of her videos. What particularly interested me about the talk were the factors that might affect the outcome of the US economy; he said it depends on the the ability of the US to continue to "harvest" foreign countries.
That word "harvest" is startling. But yes, that is how the US
survives, or so it seems from my understanding so far, the Dollar
being the main medium of international transactions. Many
countries and foreign entities are trying to de-dollarize
international transactions.
On the topic of de-dollarization, here was another video, Lena again I think, quoting what Donald Trump will do if he becomes president. He has stated that he will go all-out to sanction any country that tries to de-dollarize. Found this though, from Palki Sharma:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTLHlAZnAis
There is something else that shocked me a little bit, though it shouldn't have. I have posted previously that George W. Bush committed war crimes by invading Iraq under the false pretext of "weapons of mass destruction". After that, amazingly, he got re-elected, which spoke volumes about the lack of truth in US media. Anyway, President Bush covered himself from being charged with war crimes by the International Court in Brussels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3noqdHnSA
...yikes again!
You might have contrary viewpoints to what is presented above. OK, I'm just posting this as something to think about, viewpoints that are probably different from what you get in the mainstream media.
EDIT 2024-05-11:
I found a YouTube video where that Chinese economist is giving a
4 year timeline for USA economic collapse, subject to various
conditions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5VnpVs4Nx4
While searching for it, I stumbled across "Double Down News" channel. This Australian guy is posting how the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, was caught telling lies to President Biden, that Biden then repeated publically:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxfnya3ZRc
Reminds me of another Aussie guy, Jerry Grey, residing in China, who has "Jerry's Take on China" channel. He got upset by ongoing Western media misinformation about China, so started the channel.
He counters the many who have accused him of being a "Chinese shill" on the pay of the CCP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9LUhxsAMDs
EDIT 2024-05-17:
We have to be so careful; take everything we read and see online
with a grain of salt.
I received an email from Paul. He carefully studied the video of the interview with Jared Bernstein, frame by frame, see Lena Petrova's video link above. He determined that it is clips cut out from some longer interview. It seems these clips have deliberately been done to show Mr Bernstein in a bad light.
I found a video where a guy said that yes, that is what has been done. However, I have not been able to locate the original longer interview.
The clipped video went viral and Lena found
it somewhere. She has used it, which somewhat lessens my opinion
of her. She doesn't show sources either.
Tags: ethos
Spin, spin and more spin
I was browsing on YouTube today, and came across a video by MGUY, who claims to "put a realistic perspective on the mad dash to EVs". In this video, he shows the appalling conditions of child labor mining cobalt in Africa:
"The SHOCKING Human and Environmental Cost of EVs"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LMeqKJQSSc
I am disappointed with MGUY. I have watched a couple of his other videos and found them to be quite good. Unfortunately, there is obvious spin in this video. MGUY must surely be aware of the spin. The commenters, though, these are the people he is targeting, and I don't expect balanced understanding from them.
Anyway, I read through the comments, and there are some with interesting information; contrary to MGUY's spin. And I found one guy who posted about EV batteries moving away from cobalt. I replied:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LMeqKJQSSc&lc=UgxdG4SDB40XkV34m714AaABAg.9wZb47_iJ969ykJsJyvqHLI sometimes watch "The Electric Viking". He is the opposite to
MGUY, and unfortunately I find pro-EV spin in Electric Vikings
videos. Though, in his case it is more a case of being
overly-enthusiatic sometimes and not carefully checking before
pumping out another video; I do continue to watch his videos.
Just to clarify, the word "spin" is an indirect form of telling lies, usually by omission.
Of course, this blog post is me expressing my opinions; they
cannot be guaranteed to be correct, just what I understand at this
point in time. So, having expressed that disclaimer, read on...
A further note about cobalt used in lithium batteries; these are what is known as "lithium ternary" batteries, or "NMC" -- meaning lithium battery that contains nickel, manganese and cobalt. LiFePo4, also known as "LFP" batteries -- meaning lithium, iron and phosphate, do not contain nickel, manganese or cobalt.
You can buy EVs with LFP batteries, it is a consumer choice. I have posted about the recumbent trike I recently purchased from China. Unfortunately, it came with a NMC battery. Not only do LFP not contain cobalt, they are safer (higher ignition temperature) and last for many more charge cycles.
So, I have purchased a 48V LFP battery for my trike. There was no choice when ordering the trike, I got the NMC type, but now I have a problem; how to dispose of it? There is no place locally where I can take it. Not that I know of anyway; there are two local places, Battery World and Supercheap, but they only take lead acid batteries.
Question: why hasn't our oh-so-pro-green government, State or Federal, provided, or legislated to provide, local dropoff points to recycle lithium batteries? Even better, verge pickup?
Another question: why hasn't our pro-green government legislated to allay our fears about EVs catching fire? As well as take a stand against child-labour mining cobalt in China? One very simple temporary solution: legislate a minimum ignition temperature, which will force all vendors of cars, trucks, ebikes, scooters, not to use NMC type.
I'm just throwing out some questions, that seem logical to me.
On so many of these YouTube channels, the popular ones employ clickbait and bias to attract people with certain beliefs. They will pander to these beliefs, conveniently ignoring any contrary facts.
It is not just YouTube; in the USA, you have right-wing media and left-wing media doing the same thing. Even if media outlets and companies tell lies and get fined, that doesn't stop them. I could name organizations, but probably better not.
It is not just the USA, it is worldwide. There is a huge
propaganda war between China and the USA, both sides spreading
misinformation about the other.
For example, US officials announced that the Chinese government
is commiting genocide against some muslim minorities. This, coming
from a country that carpet-bombed North Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos, killing hundreds of thousands of people, sprayed Agent
Orange over vast areas knowing how dangerous it is to humans.
Bombed Bhagdad on the false premise of "weapons of mass
destruction". Turned a blind eye to vicious dictatorships
that were on "their side". Now standing by while Israel forces
kill thousands of civilians in Gaza. Sent cluster bombs to
Ukraine.
I investigated that "genocide" claim in China. My tentative conclusion is that it is not genocide. It is an emotive word, that causes a certain reaction in those hearing it -- which is why the word is used.
It is a more mild example, but we had emotive words being used by the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) here in Australia, during the recent "The Voice" referendum. This was whether to change the Australian Constitution to formally recognise the indigenous people. I posted about this:
https://bkhome.org/news/202306/the-voice-referendum-in-australia.html
...on the day, I voted "NO".
The Federal Government was pro-Voice, especially our Prime Minister. The language used by the pro-Voice people was very insulting toward the "no" proponents. Many of those within the ABC, despite supposing to be impartial, would use words like "misinformation" and "racist" in reference to those promoting the No vote.
Actually, misinformation and racial bias was rife in those campaigning for the Yes vote, but that was never mentioned.
It used to be, years ago, that I believed that the ABC was an impartial source of information. No more. I have come to realise that there is a lot of filtered news. Anyway, I will continue to watch the ABC, as the less-evil news outlet.
Reading this post, you recognise that I am in a bit of a down-mood, different from my usual blog posts. In this mood, I am wanting to withdraw from everything -- don't know what form that will take, should I decide to action it -- maybe throw away the TV and go offline. Anyway, I'm getting toward the end of this life-span, which is actually a feeling of relief. But then, I believe, and I have what I consider good reason to believe, that I will continue beyond death, so the event of death is not a worry for me, more of a freeing from a prison.
Postamble:
I came across something very interesting. Our Federal Government is considering legislation to fine companies that spread misinformation:
Sky News Australia and the The Australian newspaper, part of the
Murdoch empire (as are most of the daily newspapers in Australia),
are strongly opposed to it.
Tags: ethos
Brand new ebike catches fire
Poor guy. Going for the first ride on his new US$6,000 ebike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxr1iXEf9lY
...the bike starts smoking just past midway through the video.
We are discussing EVs and lithium batteries in the off-topic section of the Puppy Forum (requires login to see):
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=9965
Tags: ethos
How to protect yourself in the Australian Outback
This applies to anywhere in the world, where you are in a remote
region on your own. In the USA, you can carry a gun, which is an
equaliser as the other guy is likely to have a gun. A gun will also
protect from wolves. Here in Australia though, the citizens are
disempowered; we are not allowed to effectively protect ourselves.
I recall a TV ad. from 2006, an Australian TV tourism advertising
campaign; a bikini-clad Lara Bingle saying "So where the bl**** he** are
you?". The swear words were allowed in Australia as the goverment took
the position that they are part of the Australian vernacular; however,
the ad. got banned in the UK and Canada. It's on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ZLr9ePuj8
There have been some sendups of that advert., including this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9DQgai4-C0
...yeah, human predators, the worst kind.
In Australia, getting a license to carry a gun is very difficult. For
a long time there was a racket in Western Australia; a landowner could
give permission for someone to shoot feral animals on their land and the
person could then buy a gun. It was a racket because some enterprising
landowners had a nice little income selling these permissions to people
who never ever did any actual shooting of feral animals on their land.
Recently there has been a crackdown, all of these permissions have
been revoked. Gun owners must reapply and each application will be
considered on its merits.
Another way to get a gun license is to join a rifle or pistol club.
However, the gun must be kept locked in an approved safe at home and
only taken out when going to a club event.
This report shows the benefit of owning a gun in a remote region.
Chris, a prospector in the inland-north of Western Australia was
attacked by dingoes earlier in 2023:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-08/wa-dingo-attacks-prompt-prospectors-warning/102451042
Chris was fortunate to have a small pistol, but what about most other people?
You could have a knife. The dingo would chew on you a bit before you manage to get the knife into him.
Then there's pepper spray. As I mentioned above, Australians are
completely dis-empowered by our governments, Federal and States. WA is
the only State that allows ownership of pepper spray; in the rest of the
country there is an enormous fine, even prison, if caught with it. Even
so, here in WA there are strict guidelines on who can own pepper spray,
as explained here:
https://ursafe.com.au/pepper-spray-is-it-legal-and-where-can-you-buy-it-in-australia/
So, I have that option in WA.
But there is another self-protection option, that probably hardly
anyone considers; an ultra-bright flashlight. Most useful at night; it
will temporarily blind a dingo or human. But possibly some of them are
so bright they would also be an effective deterent in the daytime. I'm
thinking of these:
https://flashlightgo.com/blogs/guide/what-do-you-know-about-flashlight-with-fan-cooling
...they are not usually advertised as a security deterent, which I
can understand. Up to 150,000 lumens, that is so incredibly bright;
needs a heatpipe and dual fans. But look at the prices!!!
There are many cheaper ones on Aliexpress, but beware lots of false
advertising. I found one that looks like genuine 45,000 lumens, at
AU$150, but it doesn't have active cooling and can only run at full
power for a maximum of 20 seconds; when reaches 50 degrees C will
automatically drop down to 5,000 lumens.
Another possibility is a prospector pick, which I do own. If have
other prospectors equipment and a Miners Right permit, can quite
legitimately carry the pick.
There are other options. Awhile back I was reading a forum thread
discussing these. There are other spray cans, that are legal to own, and
effective if sprayed into an animals eyes. Don't recall any details.
Tags: ethos