I haven't reported here lately about the progress in The Lions for quite a while. Here's the latest dashboard output. (Two pages).
We donated about $1000 to a member earlier on and then $500 each to Andy Lee and Sheldon.
The third nominee was the Coutts Three and it turned out that that the way to contribute is to their lawyers who also defend a wide range of freedom-related suits. Somehow I never got around to sending them the money and about then Stripe stopped paying out the money due to new government regulations and forms that I had difficulty filling out because they assume this is a business, which The Lions definiotely is not.
I'll have to look at that again because it looks as if we have accumulated some money to donate. I hate government forms.
Getting Stripe working again will also make it easier for people who want to subscribe because I think credit cards might work again, although I never have figured out how the coins and credit card thing works and there have been a number of changes. It appears that some people have figured it out anyhow.
I'm not particularly fond of how Locals operates but that's what we have. When I vist other Locals, I find that in the ones I looked many or most posts are for paid members only, making them useless to me because I can't afford to pay for each site just to see what's in there from time to time.
I'm happy that The Lions is almost entirely open to everyone. I think, though, that non-paying subscribers may not be able to participate in the comments and sometimes that's the most interesting part of any post.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments or PM me if you don't have access to comments.
And, thanks to those who post interesting things here, things we might not see otherwise.
Usually when Ministers build industries they like to cut ribbons, wear hard-hats and brag to locals about how many jobs they are creating. Instead, it’s almost like the government doesn’t want Australians to know about all the Clean Green transformation.
Perhaps because it looks like this?
From the press release: The Truth Map totals include:
31,000 wind turbine towers — six times the current national number to be replaced every 15-20 years, operating 30% – 40% of the time.
28,000 km of high-voltage transmission lines — longer than [half] a lap around the equator*.
7,800 km of undersea cabling — cutting through fragile marine habitats.
44,000 km of new haulage roads — longer than Australia’s coastline.
350–550 million solar grid panels covering 443,755 hectares — an area larger than metropolitan Sydney to be replaced every 25 years, operating 18% – 25% of the time.
$1.38 trillion in total costs — overwhelmingly subsidised by taxpayers.
...
Attacking the US and 'elbows up' really pays off doesn't it?
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick didn’t mince words this week. Speaking at the Eurasia Group’s U.S.–Canada Summit, he made clear that Washington’s trade agenda under President Trump has one simple priority: America first, Canada second. According to multiple attendees, Lutnick’s tone was unusually “aggressive,” signalling that the White House intends to pull vehicle assembly and production back onto U.S. soil—even if that means shattering the decades-old economic framework that underpins Canada’s auto industry.
But the deeper story isn’t about Trump’s aggression. It’s about Canada’s weakness. After a decade of governing by virtue rather than strategy, Ottawa has no leverage left. Successive governments prioritized moral signalling over industrial policy—chasing green targets, expanding bureaucracy, and taxing productivity—while the ...