Australia has been caught napping with just 28 days of its emergency oil left – now it might be forced to strike a deal with Trump

• Australia is at the biggest risk of an oil emergency shortage in years, with recent strikes in Saudi Arabia threatening the global supply, and Australia’s own reserves less than a third of their mandated level.
• Accordingly, the Australian government has been trying to negotiate with the Trump administration for months to gain access to the US supply to relive pressure on it and reduce the possibility of running out.
• That puts Scott Morrison in a tough negotiating position when he meets with the President at a state dinner in Washington this week. The US has previously signalled that it wants to place missiles in northern Australia and expects Australia to help secure the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran tensions.

The strike over the weekend on two major refineries in Saudi Arabia immediately wiped out 5% of the world’s oil production – and it’s Australia which could be most at risk.

That’s because Australia has long ignored its commitment to the International Energy Agency (IEA) to hold months worth of oil in reserve in case of disruption to its supply.

“As a Member of the IEA, Australia is obliged… to maintain oil reserves equal to 90 days of net imports of the previous year,” according to the IEA.

However, Australia maintains less than a third of that requirement — holding just 28 days worth of petrol and crude oil in reserve, according to the latest figuresfrom the Department of the Environment and Energy. Even if you adjust those figures against net imports, Australia has less than 60 days – or two thirds – of its mandate.

That’s partly because despite monitoring Australia’s compliance, there’s no enforcement or penalty for members that don’t meet that quota. In fact, for a country of its size and wealth, Australia has some of the smallest stockpiles. Compare that to Australia’s allies. New Zealand has 92 days of coverage, Japan has 185 days, Britain 280 days, and the US a world-beating 700 days.

Be interesting if she goes cap in hand to Trump and asks for some oil. Oh the shame. What will the woke greenies say?

A Self-Solving Rubik’s Cube That Floats In The Air Is Completely Hands-Off

You’d be forgiven for assuming that this video was the work of a talented animator, a visual effects artist, or an illusionist. But the only magic at play here is magnets and a magnificent execution of miniaturized robotics. This is a real Rubik’s Cube that can completely solve itself while floating in mid-air.

We first saw ‘Human Controller’s’ creation about a year ago which started life as an off the shelf Rubik’s Cube puzzle that was invisibly upgraded with servos, electronics, wiring, and even batteries allowing it to spin any of its multi-coloured sides without any human intervention.

It was also able to automatically “solve” itself once scrambled, but in reality, there wasn’t much logic required to pull off that trick. Since it required a human to do the scrambling manually, the electronics inside could just record every twist and turn, and they recreate them in reverse to create a colour-solved cube.

There don’t appear to be any improvements made to the self-solving Cube’s speed: it would still be trounced by the fastest robotic and human solvers in the world.

But thanks to some strategically positioned magnets inside (and a cleverly hidden magnetic base) the upgraded Rubik’s Cube no longer needs a human to precariously grasp a corner while it performs its self-solving feats. It now gracefully floats in the air like an illusion straight out of David Copperfield’s repertoire — but somehow even more captivating because you know how it works.

After yesterdays revelations that a user had deleted all their posts and the posting of unauthorised photos, changes are being made. These will improve the performance, security and look of YSB.

Please be patient while these changes are being done. it will take about 4 days.

Australia’s one & only ‘not halal’ butcher stands his ground

A butcher shop in South Australia has refused to change its shopfront signage despite being told it was “inciting hatred” towards Islamic people.

But the judgment panel took issue with the sign’s wording and the use of Australian animals, saying it gave the impression Islamic people might not be welcome inside the store.

Infidels are not welcome wherever Mohammedans have been able to settle in large numbers. Why would they want to go to an infidel butcher to buy non halal meat?

A complaint over the signage said it “pokes fun of a specific group of people based on religious belief”.

There’s no fun in Islam. Is that ‘judgement panel’ trying to enforce the sharia?

“Using the phrase ‘non halal certified’ in conjunction with imagery of Australian animals was a suggestion that Islamic dietary practices are not Australian,” the panel said in their judgment, which was handed down in August.

A majority of the panel also ruled the signage gave “a strong impression that people of a certain religion or ethnicity might not be welcome in the store”.

“Had the sign stated ‘not halal approved’ or ‘unfortunately, non halal’ this would be less likely to have been considered discriminatory or vilifying signage,” the Ad Standards panel concluded.

The business has since changed the sign so it now reads “not halal certified” instead of “non halal certified” but is refusing to remove the images of the emus and kangaroos.

“As long as we own the shop the sign won’t ever come down!” a Facebook post read.

Surfer warned of lurking shark by amateur drone operator using speaker system

A surfer, unaware of a shark lurking beneath him, has been warned of the impending danger by a quick-thinking amateur drone operator.

The predator was spotted just offshore at Werri Beach, south of Wollongong, as the board rider waited for his next wave on Sunday.

Christopher Joye says he used a speaker on the drone to alert the surfer, who quickly headed for shore.

“At Werri Beach today this large shark was approaching a surfer, and I used my drone’s speaker system to warn him,” Joye wrote.

“He looked up at the drone, then bolted, with the sudden splashing warding off the approaching shark.”

A good use of drone technology in an time of bad reports recently. With the world waiting for the oil prices to jump following the drone attack on a Saudi oil refinery yesterday, and the threatened drone strikes at Heathrow last week.

Not all drones are bad. I have a fishing drone still waiting to be used for the first time. Just need to find the time to use it.