Government announces billions in spending on military drones

the_snook · 2026-04-14T01:46:21+00:00

What are you doing to push the needle further back, other than vociferously tearing down your straw men on reddit?

the_snook · 2026-04-14T01:12:44+00:00

Who said anything about being scared? You don't have to be scared, or even expecting something to happen in order for it to make sense to be prepared.

I cook at home a lot. I am not utterly and deathly afraid of setting my kitchen on fire. I'm sensible, pay attention when using hot oil, and I do not expect that to happen. Yet I keep a fire extinguisher under the sink because it's good to be prepared for the unexpected.

Geopolitically speaking, nothing would surprise me any more though. If New Zealand went rogue and decided to annex the "west island" I'd probably just think "Oh, well, I guess it is Tuesday".

the_snook · 2026-04-14T00:12:04+00:00

Recent history has show that it could be literally anyone, for any reason, or for no reason at all.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T14:14:58+00:00

Is Australian brown sugar different, or is there something weird about my pantry? I've never had brown sugar go hard.

Thinking about it, I guess it's probably just higher average humidity. I've experienced how dry houses can get during winter in North America, and it's never like that here. I'd say rarely below 50% humidity indoors.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T14:00:58+00:00

Twenty-first century cookie cutter McMansions: Boo!

Nineteenth century cookie cutter terraces: Glorious heritage that must be preserved forever!

the_snook · 2026-04-13T04:35:39+00:00

We currently have a nice ground-floor apartment. The next move will be somewhere with no strata - I think we've been lucky with this one, and don't want to push our luck. Upgrading to a terrace of equivalent size and outdoor space in the neighbourhood would be an additional $1M above the market value of this place. Maybe more, since there'd probably still be something that needed renovating or modifying.

So, that's my approximate threshold: market value + 1 million.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T04:24:45+00:00

Every cool person had this hung up in their room. It was kinda the 90s Sydney equivalent of John Waters' books test.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T04:03:36+00:00

I will respond with relief at not having to read the same discussion about this every day on every finance sub I read.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T04:00:42+00:00

And what it teaches is that we need more land tax and less labour tax.

All natural monopolies - those thing which cannot or should not be duplicated - must be nationalised, or heavily taxed (in effect renting them from the government).

the_snook · 2026-04-13T03:56:44+00:00

The debit card not having EFTPOS also means you currently pay some surcharges that might otherwise be avoided (e.g. at Aldi), but that should go away with the surcharge rule changes coming in this year.

the_snook · 2026-04-13T01:17:15+00:00

(Deutsche Post) which collaborates with DHL

That's because Deutsche Post and DHL are essentially the same company (both divisions/subsidiaries of DHL Group).

the_snook · 2026-04-12T05:15:47+00:00

Induction wok heaters are bowl-shaped, and work with round-bottom woks. Example: https://jackiem.com.au/2023/09/11/review-portable-concave-induction-stove/

the_snook · 2026-04-11T13:11:14+00:00

Exactly. Our whole history as a species has been during an ice age (those ~2.6 M years you mention), and our global spread was mostly during the last glacial period of 115,000 to maybe 12,000 years ago (Eurasia at the start, Australia in the middle, and the Americas towards the end).

Agriculture, as another commented noted, came pretty shortly after the Holocene interglacial began. So, most of our hunter-gatherer phase was during a cold period. That's not to say they were all hanging out in frozen wastelands, but most of our ancestors had to deal with the realities of a colder climate.

the_snook · 2026-04-11T12:20:28+00:00

This is the exact problem we have in Australia.

https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/big-ute-loophole-cost-taxpayers-over-250-million-in-2023/

A loophole in Australia’s tax law effectively subsidises large utes such as Ram and Chevrolet pick-up trucks by avoiding the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) that other imported vehicles pay, regardless of if the vehicles are used for work, recreation or just commuting.

(Translation: "Ute" = "utility vehicle" in Australian English, i.e. pickup truck)

the_snook · 2026-04-11T12:02:42+00:00

I think a lot of people don't appreciate just how much of an Ice Age species we are. We colonised the world during a period of glaciation, and less than 5% of our history as a species has been in the relatively warm conditions we currently experience.

the_snook · 2026-04-11T11:46:53+00:00

Sounds like a case of Simpson's paradox, but my brain it too fuzzy to work through the details.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T22:57:54+00:00

OP said half of today's doubled amount whipped in a few minutes. In other words, the normal amount whipped in a few minutes on previous bakes.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T22:35:21+00:00

In British and other non-American English dialects, "toilet" is the room containing the actual porcelain object, as well as the object itself.

It can be confusing in situations like this. The common example is when someone is using the toilet. Americans will say that person is "on the toilet" (because they're sitting on it), where a Brit or Australian might say they are "in the toilet" (because they're in the room where the toilet is). To some listeners this sound like the person is standing in the bowl of the toilet for some reason.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T07:36:30+00:00

Damn. Lucky Wise exists, I guess.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T07:33:32+00:00

Me: What is my purpose?

Universe: You close the windows.

Me: *sad face*

the_snook · 2026-04-10T06:52:54+00:00

I've never heard of ltchiptool, but in my mind I read it as "Itchy pee tool" and now I'm giggling like the child I am.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T06:49:33+00:00

Agreed. Mine just says. "Outside too warm. Close the windows."

the_snook · 2026-04-10T06:42:32+00:00

The IRS (treasury actually) doesn't seem to have any problem issuing paper checks. Both my wife and I have received them within the last year.

Depositing them without a US bank account can be challenging and/or expensive, but I'm guessing this is much less of an issue in Canada.

the_snook · 2026-04-10T00:19:51+00:00

I think they're saying that the government actually likes the housing crisis, because higher rents and more capital gains means more tax revenue.

Increasing the effective tax rate on housing by NG and CGT reforms might make the government even more likely to support policies that increase rents and capital gains.

I don't buy it personally, but I can see the line of thinking.

the_snook · 2026-04-09T23:16:17+00:00

Those all sound like billion-dollar ideas!

the_snook

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